Speeding tickets!

How many speeding tickets have you gotten?  I must admit, I have not gotten any, but I do have some crazy good stories to tell about some warnings I've gotten!  But, the best story is not about me at all - it's about my big sister, Patty!  You see her in the first picture.  Patty was driving on the freeway and was speeding.  The policeman turned on his lights and instead of pulling over immediately, Patty drove into the rest area.  She jumped out of her car, ran over to the policeman's window and said, "I PROMISE I'll be right back!  I just really have to go to the bathroom!"  You see, she had been speeding because of her need to use the bathroom!  He gave her a warning.  I wonder if he told that story to his buddies back at the station!

I've had trouble with locking my keys in my car (as you can see from my photo with the Bonneville).  I've gotten a ticket for parking my car in the wrong place in Moorhead.  I was so mad as I sent that ticket in the mail with my hard-earned moola!  But, I've never had a speeding ticket.  I've been pulled over FOUR times and been given warnings.  Let me tell you about them....

     The first warning was given to me when I was in high school.  I was driving along Nokomis Street in Alexandria and I was going 33 in a 30 mile zone.  I was on my way to one of my early morning activities (Carolers, Jazz Band, Rainbow Strings, Yearbook) and the grumpy cop was there waiting for me!  It all turned out okay and I wasn't even late for my activity!
    The next two times were in my blue Oldsmobile (Tiara) that you see in the photo.  Both times were along highway 71 going north from Mountain Lake up to Alexandria.  There is this crazy slow area before you get to Redwood Falls and it often caught me offguard.  Thankfully the policeman was understanding the first time.  The second time I had balloons in the car and a birthday cake on the front seat and a backseat full of luggage.  I was going home for the weekend to celebrate my mom's birthday.  He seemed touched by that and told me that even though I was excited, I needed to obey the speed limit.  Yes sir!  Thank you, sir!
     And, my last story involves the infamous Angie Arthur and Sarah Olsen and a certain birthday party we were rushing to.  But, I'm ahead of myself.  Let me start at the beginning....
     Sarah and I had worked hard to plan a special birthday for Angie.  We had written our own version of "My Favorite Things" about Angie.  We had planned that the youth group kids would all be at Tim and Lynel's house with gifts of fun socks for Angie.  Sarah and I would drive her over after having lunch at Grady and Carolyn's house.  The picture you see is at the lunch before the fateful drive to

Tim and Lynel's house.  You see, someone suggested that we call Pastor Pavel in Ukraine about the possibility of David and Natasha coming to visit Becker.  We were all quite excited, so we all drove to church and listened to the conversation on speaker phone.  Unfortunately, this made us quite late for Tim and Lynel's gathering.  We jumped in the car, filled it with leftover balloons, put a blindfold around Angie so she wouldn't know where we were going and hit the road.  I was imagining all those dear youth kids with their hearts pumping waiting for us to arrive.... and here we were..... VERY late!  So, I sped.  I went like 70 in a 55!  Yup, I did.  Sarah and I were trying to communicate about a new way to get to our destination to throw Angie off (complete with a stop in the middle of Highway 16 to make her think we had a stopsign - pretty tricky, eh?)!  Sarah was using her arms to motion for me to "KEEP GOING" and I was lifting my arms saying, "WHAT?"  Angie was sitting in the back with her blindfold on.  And, the policeman was seeing the three of us.  It was only moments before we were being pulled over.  I felt sick.  Instantly sick.
    The policeman rushed up to my window and urgently asked, "Is there some kind of kid-napping going on here?"  My response?  "Um, only in fun.... it's her birthday!"  He wanted to see my license.  I thought it was in my trunk, so I got out to look.  My hands were shaking.  I was so upset!  It wasn't in the trunk, so I went to look in the glove compartment.  It was there!  Uff-dah!  The policeman wanted to know if I realized how fast I was going.  My guess?  "65?"  Wrong!  I was going 70!  I felt green.  I felt ill.  Then all at once he was saying we would just get a warning.  Sarah was saying thank you.  Angie was smiling - perhaps to assure him that she really was not being kid-napped!  I managed to gulp out a thanks and we were on our way again.
    We drove a little ways and Angie declared, "That was awsome!  This is the best birthday ever!"  My response?  "I feel ill.  I'm shaking.  That was awful!"  Two very different ways to respond.  We got to the party and everyone loved our story.  I let Angie tell it!  Angie loved her socks and her song.  The day was a success after all!   
   And, here is the song Sarah and I created:

An Ode to Angie (to the tune of "My Favorite Things"

Ice cream and movies
A snort and a giggle
A chicken that screeches
And knuckle toes that wiggle
A truck that is bright red
A chalet full of moose
These are a few of her favorite things

Youth group on Monday
Middle school on Wednesday
Sunday school on Sunday
And Bible study on Tuesday
Worship team on Thursday 
And small group Sunday night
What a great leader
She's really out of sight!

Chorus:
Worms and Spiders
Cleaning toilets
When all her socks have holes.
She simply remembers her purpose in life
And how God can use her to save souls!

Trombone and guitar
And lots of big words
"Blessed Be The Name"
Can often be heard
Missionary stories
And a cell phone with many tunes
A goldfish named Specks
Are there SPAM-eating baboons?

Chorus!