Stuck at home

Yesterday I was honored to be on the Scoutie Girl blog. I did an interview on art and process and inspiration and things like that with the brilliant and lovely Amy of doobleh-vay and one of my all-time favorite Etsy shops, Little Alouette. So please check it out if you have a moment.

And if you would allow me to lead you in another direction, I'd love for you to check out my new friend Susie's shop - MishMish Market. Susie does lovely watercolor prints, some with personalization available. She's also participating in The Miracles of Hanukkah Sale this week and that's how I ended up buying this print for V's room just a few minutes ago.

So, unless you're Alexis, who has heard just a wee bit, or Kim, who has heard the whole story, you might not know that I've been stuck at home for a few weeks now. I blame the recession and my own procrastination.

See a few weeks ago, I had an errand to run so V and I were in the car. We were on our way home and I decided to drive around a little bit and see the sights because I still don't know my new hometown very well.

So I was keeping up with traffic and all was well when we all came to a police roadblock. The officer let the car ahead of me through, but had me pull over. So he could give me a ticket. For speeding. I fail to see how I could've been speeding when the car ahead of me was not but I decided to keep my mouth shut - which was probably a good idea since the officer kindly informed me that my Tennessee license plate is expired.

Oops.

Two citations and a couple of days later, we got to add a third. On his way to work, R was not even out of the subdivision when he was ticketed for a rolling stop in the neighborhood.

Oops again.

So that's about $350. Normally I don't like to complain because I feel like this blog is my happy place. I've seen in the news that counties are not making enough money in taxes. So it seems logical to me that they would think they need to go out and get that money from somewhere. But should anyone from my local police department happen upon this post (not likely, but you never know), I would like them to know that we will have to find that money somewhere in our budget. And that means that we will not be spending it in our local shops. So you're not really generating tax revenue; not from me anyway. I won't just charge it and forget it. I am staying home and not spending money.

Now, how do I do that? Stay home and not spend money? Easy - I'm a procrastinator. I still haven't gotten my new tag yet. And, because I fear another ticket, my car is in my garage. I haven't driven it since. I'll get it soon, but first I had to get my birth certificate. I know I have one here somewhere, but I couldn't find the box it's in from the move. But I got it and I was all ready to go get my license/tag when I found out that I also need my marriage certificate to prove my name change. So now I have to order that.

And it's on my to-do list, so I'm sure I'll get that done by January, February at the latest. (I'm only half kidding.)

So I'm stuck at home. That doesn't bother me too much - there's no place like home to me. But V asked me the other day why we never go to the park anymore. She will again, just not yet. Instead, we'll work our way through Preschool Art this winter and hang out in the backyard whenever there's a small patch of sunshine. I figure that if nothing else, it cuts down on the chance that we'll be exposed to H1N1 - a silver lining if I ever saw one.

Comments

[Ehwin]

Ah - and yet again, us common folk must find a way to move things around in our budget to help out the budget of larger businesses/government offices/industries.

It's amazing how we're able to do that when they can't :)

Just being snarky, but I've been hearing about this with police departments in more places than one.

[Monkey's Momma]

Love the pics, Maya, you Lawbreaker, you! And thanks for the Scoutie Girl link.

[Melinda]

These pictures are lovely, Maya. I especially love V's expression in that last one and the one of the hug with her daddy. Such sweetness!

So sorry to hear about your tickets. A friend of mine was just telling me last night that she got a ticket for a rolling stop (on a Sunday at 8pm at empty rural intersection) and she was fined $224. She asked if she could do community service instead of paying the fine (she's broke right now) and the judge gave her 26 hours of service. She ended up loving her volunteer time with a homeless shelter but what a crazy deal.

[maya]

I would love to do something like that Melinda, but I couldn't take V with me. I couldn't even take her with me to contest the ticket - no children allowed in the courtroom. :-\

[sheri]

Oh man, sorry. That sucks. Hey, another positive spin, less gas=less polution.
But seriously, hope it works out soon for you. Is there a park within walking distance?
Now, I am going to sit my behind at home today too.

[melissa]

hooray for the interview on scoutie girl! i am so glad to see you getting attention for your amazing and beautiful work!
(oh and wouldn't it be lovely if you, claire and i could get together some day for knitting and photographing and enjoying eachother's company.... someday perhaps...)

sorry about all the bad luck with tickets lately, that really sucks. at leas you've given it a positive spin by spending more crafty time at home with the sweet miss v.

[Puna]

At least it will give you some time at home with the little one. She's so cute!

[Sarah Holcombe]

One time I got stopped for a "rolling stop." I told the officer a joke and he laughed and didn't write me a ticket. (I know! I still can't believe it myself!) Here's the joke, if you ever wanna try it.

A man slows down at a stop sign instead of coming to a full stop, because he can see there's nothing coming, and besides ... he's in a hurry. An officer of the law hits the blue light and pulls him over.
The officer walks up to the window and asks the driver, "Do you know why I stopped you?"
Man: "I suppose it's because I didn't stop at the stop sign, but I slowed down and I could see that nothing was coming."
Officer: "Slowing down and stopping are two different things."
Man: "I don't see what the big deal was."
The conversation goes on like this for a while with the man arguing every time the officer tries to talk.
Finally, annoyed beyond endurance, the officer says, "Let me just show you the difference between slowing down and stopping."
He takes out his night stick and proceeds to pummel the man with it. After a minute of this, the officer says to the beaten man, "Now ... do you want me to slow down or stop?"

:)

[maya]

hmmmm...i wonder if that joke would've worked.

[spread your wings]

oh no! that's a run of some bad luck. But you have a good attitude. V looks just as happy right there at home.
hey, i posted a photo of your yarn on my flickr. You wouldn't believe how well it matches my sofa. I can't wait to make something with it. If I needed more of the same, could I get it?

[Sandra Olensky]

Oh no Maya, that's awful but pretty funny too! Way to turn it around and find some humor in it all...4.5 years laters, I still haven't changed my last name because of all the work it would involve for me to find all the proper paperwork. I completely understand the pains and hassle of paperwork. I wish I would have known you were homebound, I could have picked you and V up, put her in the backyard with a dog and a swingset and put a paint brush in your hand! As the post says above, you do have a good attitude!

[margie]

oh well, at least you are over the "three things" rule. on to good things.

[Tammy]

Holy cow. Well, thank goodness for the internet, right?
And you're right - at least you're not going to catch any germs at home.

I hope everything comes to a good end with all this soon! Keep up the good spirits.

[Toni]

I like that joke up in the comments. I wonder if I can remember it??? Our local cops are horrible that way, too. Luckily I knew both of the cops the last two times I got pulled over and they didn't write a ticket. (Sigh of relief.) (Telling them you really have to use the bathroom works, too, if you are speeding and heading in the direction of home.)

[cmv]

i love these posts where you tell such a dramatic story whilst sprinkling such serene gorgeous images along the way. sorry for your run of bad luck-- at least you've now gotten it out of your system- on to the good luck now!
these pictures are stunning. they speak volumes within such simplicity. the last one, especially, just takes my breath away. gorgeous!

[Gayle]

I'm a procrastinator, too. I'd be home for a while!

These images are so good! I love them!

[Kelli]

I really like this one. : )