Last night I was seriously too tired to really comprehend what I had just gotten away with, but it hit me this morning with full force.

Like whoa.

I had somehow gotten out of a $1,200 ticket!

=X

Last night I was seriously exhausted. Like...I was so tired I thought I was going to fall asleep kind of exhausted. I know this isn't anything unusual, but I've never gotten close to dozing off on the road before last night. Anyway, I was leaving the bf's (sweetie fed me and introduced me to some of his family that was visiting from Virginia) and took my usual route, making my way towards the 22. Now, when I got to the entrance there were flares on the ground. First thought going through my head was "Why on earth is the lane lined with flares?" and then "Holy crap!" when I realized that there was one directly in my path. At this point I was almost on top of the thing, and couldn't stop before I had passed it. Yes I realize this was beyond moronic but I was really tired and almost in a stupor. Yeah, that's my lame excuse. But yes, the highway patrol had already spotted me plus this other white pickup that had driven onto the exit right besides me. I stopped my car as soon as I saw an officer walking towards me but the other guy started backing out, so they sent three after him, yelling at him to stop his vehicle. I rolled down the window and kept both hands on the wheel. The officer was pissed. So yes, he stood there and asked for my license, asked for my age, and yelled at me for a few minutes. It wasn't until he got to the "$1,200 ticket coming your way" part that I started to panic. All I could remember was Apes telling me how her cousin started crying after getting pulled over for speeding and got let off the hook. So yes, I started to work on those tears. I could get them into my voice but dammit the actual tears weren't coming! I think I was too much in shock to be able to really cry, so I was concentrating on faking it. Three more minutes and I'll bet I would have been able to deliver, but next thing I knew the officer told me "I'm going to help you back out now" and when another officer called out "You want me to write a ticket?" the officer who had been yelling at me said "No." I think the other guy got ticketed =X First he wouldn't stop his car, and second, I have the feeling he threw attitude. But *whew*! I'm telling you this, I am not above crying to get out of a ticket. Especially a $1,200 one. I don't know why he let me off, but he did. Gawd.

Mm. Talked to Mogy and KQ for a while this afternoon. I think I'm luckier than I'd previously thought. I have close friends and family, a boyfriend who cares enough to put effort into making me happy, and direction in life. I have something to do. Things certainly aren't perfect, but I'm luckier than most. I'm not tangled up in much huge messy drama, and I have people to turn to when things go wrong. I know who I am, and I'm able to let a lot of unimportant things go. I know who and what matters in most cases, and that cuts down on a lot of worrying. I know I'm a complainer, but that's only natural. We only seem to acknowledge the things that go wrong, and take the things that go right for granted. It's human nature, but I think we would be a lot happier if we took some time out to focus on the good that's in our lives.

Congrats to Mogy (aka neenerface) on winning the trip to Japan with her mos def AWESOME Japanese skills!