opps..... ?

Let me start off by explaining that if I am in the car with my husband, he sits in the drivers seat. I like to look it as a team effort though. Yeah, he has his hands on the wheel but I make sure he is driving the correct speed limit(he calls this back seat driving), is aware of all the lights that are changing colors, and I always point out weavers. For the speed limit, I have this rule and it has always worked for me. My rule is you drive 8 miles an hour over the speed limit. My theory is that if you drive faster than that you will get a ticket and if you drive slower than that you are wasting my time because you could be driving faster and not get a ticket. The hubby doesn't like my rule and I will leave it at that(ok so maybe there have been a few arguments about my rule).

The other day we were driving home from Beaufort and I see a police car in the middle of the road and immediately look over to see the speedometer. It was about 10 over and dropping. I think to myself F*** he is about to get pulled over. Sure enough we had blue lights behind us. Hopeful about not getting a ticket I thought that chewing him out would make the situation worse so I didn't say anything to him. I had just read Carole's Blog about how to instantly predict if you were going to get a ticket or not. She says that if the officer walks up to the car and immediatly asks for your license and registration without any prior chit chat you are done, and there is no way to get out joke, cry, flash, or pay your way out of it. Much to my dissapointment, those were the first words out of the officers mouth, and I thought to myself, "damn here comes the ticket."

My husband does the normal pull the license out of the wallet, fumble with the registration/insurance and hand it to the officer thing. Now let me explain, my husband has a very Latin name(Jose Angel Fuentes). However, he is very fair skinned and speaks without any accent and this has caused him trouble more than once with his id/cc/bartenders/ect. because people don't believe that he is showing his real id. The officer glances at the license, looks at my husband and says.... "that makes sense, sorry sir. I was looking for the car with the jeep behind it. Have a nice day." The officer then hands the id back and walks away. Jose and I look at each other completly confused and unsure of what to do. It was the strangest thing.... After a few seconds we drove off without a ticket or even a warning. So, sorry Carole, there must be some exception to your theory, I have no idea what we did, but I sure am glad to have gotten out of that one.

My recommendation on the issue is to just drive the 8 over and not get pulled over in the first place.

Northern Fun

I know Thanksgiving was a week and a half ago and I am just getting around to posting about it, but we had so much fun that I have to post about it even if it is late!

We always go to Annapolis for Thanksgiving to visit my husbands family. His mother is a triathlete, his father a sailor, his older sister has two great daughters(our only nieces), his little sister is probably one of the coolest kids I know(ok so maybe she is 21 now and not really a kid anymore but I still see here as the 12 year old she was when I met her), and his brother in law works for the Boston Globe and is always good for some great conversation. I am very lucky to have this group for inlaws they are always ready to have fun and we have many common interests!

Luckily, this year we arrived to a nice warm front that hung around until the last day we were there. Normally it is what I consider ungodly cold and I HATE the cold. Despite the cold weather my mother in law, being a dedicated triathlete herself(2x kona qualifier and age group record holder at IMLP) always sees to it that we have plenty of training opportunities. In past years she has introduced us to the "4:40 group"(a crazy group that starts their 6 mile run at 4:40am and then hits the pool), arranged multiple turkey trot races, and took me on my first 30 mile bike ride(from which my husband had to bring the car and come pick me up so she could finish her ride!) As always this year we had a couple of treats. First we hit the basement for a little computrainer ride.

That's right they have 3 of them networked together in the basement for winter racing! What a blast. Then she took me to Masters swimming(a great group) and introduced me to her friend Maureen to get advice on cold water swimming. I have signed up for IMSG and have an absolute terrible time swimming in cold water. Of course with all the great advice I got, I wanted to try it out right away. Since the water temp was 53 and beach access less than a block from the house I thought it was the perfect opportunity. My mother in law(Crissy), and husband were not going to let me suffer alone and tagged along. Sadly Jose didn't have a wetsuit and went in a speedo and Crissy gave me her booties, gloves, and cap.... so they were a little colder than I was, but real troopers for supporting me. My father in law(Joe) grabbed the camera and we headed out!

The swim was the coldest water I had ever been in and it sucked. Although Jose and Crissy were cold they were able to swim a bit. However, I was fairly warm but unable to swim because every time I put my face in the water it would take my breath away. I will be looking for any advice to overcome this issue, but that's all for another post.

It was another successful Thanksgiving in Maryland and I can't wait to see what the inlaws have in store for next year!