Somtimes you should take advice from your 12 year old...

Quinn, Shayna and I headed out to the garage to take Shayna to school this morning. I opened the door to put Quinn in and... no carseat. We had taken it out yesterday to fit Evan's friends in for the ride to the Meeker rec. center for his birthday. I tried unsuccessfully to buckle the car seat in and, running short on time, decided to take Zack's pickup, which has a car seat all strapped in and ready to go. We walked around to the front of the house. Can I just mention that I was wearing slippers and no socks and the snow on the side of the house was quite deep. Brrr! We got to the truck and I realized I had no key for it. I went back in the house, managed to locate a key, got Quinn buckled in, and turned my attention to the windshield. This is precisely why my car is kept in the garage! I couldn't seem to locate an ice scraper, and spent some time searching, only to find it hiding under Shayna's backpack. I scraped off my side of the window, and left the passenger side icy. Shayna said in her 'I know everything cause I'm almost 13 voice', "Aren't you gonna do the other side?" I snapped back, "No, you're already late for school, and my hands are freezing!" I drove her to school and had just turned out of the school parking lot, when I saw the familiar and panic-inducing sight of patrol car lights flashing behind me. So he comes up to my window and asks me why he pulled me over (Why do they always do that?). I proceeded to explain to him my very stressful morning. Can you believe he showed very little sympathy?! He only wanted to see my license, insurance and registration. I'll give you one guess where my license was... yep, in the other car! I also couldn't seem to locate a current insurance card, and gave him the registration for the trailer by mistake. Good grief! I'm surprised he didn't haul me off to jail right on the spot! He took down my name and birthdate and the correct registration and went back to his vehicle. Aside from my embarrassment at being parked on one of the most highly trafficked streets in our small town, I was in a complete panic... no license, no proof of insurance, an icy windshield (not to mention the inappropriate footwear I was hoping he wouldn't notice). I was certain I was going to get multiple citations. When he reappeared by my window he says, "I am going to give you a good deal. You may not see it that way, but I do. I am not going to ticket you for the windshield, which would have been $60. I am also not going to ticket you for not having your license. I am only going to cite you for not having current proof of insurance." Are you kidding me? Of course I thought that was a good deal. All I have to do is take my insurance card in, and it all goes away... a minor inconvenience. Lesson learned -- Sometimes the almost 13 year old DOES know more than her mom. And on the bright side, my day can only get better from here... Right???