Owning it

A few months ago I got busted by a traffic camera for running a red light (in my defense, I didn’t think it was red at the time- I don’t habitually run red lights… I know it’s the most dangerous driving mistake you can make, and I really don’t have a death wish). I felt guilty for MONTHS for making such a stupid mistake (even though it wasn’t intentional, I still carried the burden until I completed traffic school).

I always dread having to use that intersection because I’m always reminded of the horrible feeling of putting other people’s lives in danger and being a bad citizen.

Well, today I had to use that intersection again, and there’s TONS of construction in that area right now, and I totally misjudged the timing of the light… I followed a truck in to the intersection and wasn’t able to get out in time. I slammed my fist on my steering wheel, frustrated with myself for making such a DUMB mistake. I did notice that I didn’t get “flashed” by the traffic camera that caught me last December… I figured I just missed it and would get a ticket in the mail in about a week. I changed lanes to get out of the intersection and as I pulled around the big truck I saw them. Two motorcycle police officers.

I smiled and waved (I really did) turned on my right blinker and pulled over immediately.

I knew I’d done wrong. I absolutely deserved a ticket.

(As a side note, I suffer from severe “Black and White Fever”- I’ve been known to make wrong turns simply because I saw a police car. You’d think I was a fugitive or a drug lord or something… I have no idea why this is- I was raised to believe that “Policemen are our friends”… I have a cousin who’s a police officer, and I’ve never done anything illegal in my life (okay, that’s a lie), but still… I have NO REASON to be afraid of being pulled over.)

I had my iPod touch on playing music and I’d just picked up lunch and was headed back to work when “the incident” took place. When I pulled over I got really shakey and nervous (see note above). I couldn’t turn off the music on my iPod to save my life and I certainly didn’t have the wherewithal to just TURN THE VOLUME DOWN so I proceeded to sit on my iPod to muffle the sound. I rolled down my drivers side window expecting him to walk up to my door and almost jumped out of my chair when he scared me by knocking on my passenger side window. (btw, I also scare easily.) He laughed at me. I knew he was coming, and he still scared the crap out of me.

So I roll down the window and this is the conversation that followed:

Police Officer: Do you know why I pulled you over?

Me (excited, scared, and trying really hard to not use my little girl voice): Yes, sir, I do… And I’m REALLY sorry!!

P.O.: I know with all this construction everything around here is really crazy but what you did was really dangerous.

(by this time I’ve got giant tears in my eyes, but I’m holding them back. I will not cry…)

Me: Yes, I understand that. I shouldn’t have entered the intersection without knowing I could get out of it. I’m really sorry... I MADE A BAD CHOICE!.

P.O. Do you have your driver’s license? (I hand it to him) Do you still live in Mission Viejo?

Me: Yes

P.O. What brings you to Huntington Beach?

Me: I work at Vanguard University (which, by the way, ladies and gentlemen is next door to the Police Station- we share a parking lot)

P.O.: Oh really? What do you do there?

Me: I do helpdesk

(he looks at me and I know he wants to think I’m lying but he knows I’m telling the truth because really, why would you lie about that?)

P.O. Do you have your Registration and proof of Insurance?

(I’m thinking- here it comes… I'll hand him my paperwork, he'll say “Okay I’ll be right back” and he'll gonna go back there and write me up a big fat ticket. One that I totally deserve. 100%)

I reach for my glove compartment and I can’t open it! I yank it and the handle/lock breaks off in my hand and the glove compartment falls open. I look at him, wide eyed with the handle in my hand. He smirks and asks “Is your car gonna make it?”

I let out a little giggle and say “Yea… I think so”

I give him my registration and proof of insurance and he looks at them both (they’re both current, btw) takes a deep breath and says “I’m gonna let you go. Please. Please. Drive safely.”

Me, yelling to him like an idiot as he walks back to his motorcycle: "Oh, I WILL! I promise!! Thank you! and I REALLY AM SORRY!!"

Stop talking Amber.

focus is key...

I was having trouble coming up with a new topic to blog about, so my dear friend Shanda suggested that I blog about fireplaces.
Uh... no thanks.

Today I was reminded of a GREAT topic, one that I know a LOT about- locking your keys in your car.

This is something I used to do often. In fact, I did it so often that AAA told me that if I called them again that year, they would charge me $50 to come break into my car for me (that was in March). I wisely decided to have a few spares made for just such an occasion and handed them out to the people closest/nearest to me. One went to my roommate, one to a close friend and one to my parents.
This was probably the smartest thing I ever did.
I've locked my keys in my car at least 20 times. At least. I remember once sitting outside of Alberto's in Riverside (the clean one) for three hours waiting for my friend to get off work...

That was four years ago. It's been over a year since I've locked my in my car... until today. Today was a crazy day at work and I was really looking forward to going home and enjoying a nice relaxing evening. I was going to watch Waiting for Guffman (it came in the mail yesterday!!! I found it online for A PENNY!) while I did some laundry and cleaned up a little bit while I waited to watch Lost.
Key words: going to.
On my way home I thought to myself, "Maybe I'll grab a kids bowl at Wahoo's for dinner" and as I was sitting in the parking lot listening to Coldplay's "Yellow" for the third time on my way home, my mind totally wandered.
When the song was over I grabbed my cell, my wallet and was fiddling with my hands free device as I got out of the car. It was then that I changed my mind- I really wasn't all that hungry so opted for an iced coffee from the Starbucks that was in the same shopping center. A little boy chatted with me while I was in line- there was a dog in the car outside and he wanted to know if it was mine. He wanted to pet it.
I didn't have the heart to tell him that I'm afraid of most dogs (I am) so I just told him no, it wasn't mine and he then showed me how he could hop in a circle backwards without falling down.
He fell down.

It wasn't until after my drink was up and I was headed for the door that I realized that I didn't have my car keys.
The girl at the counter SWORE she saw them in my hands and accused me of flushing them down the toilet I didn't use.
Whatever lady. I think I'd REMEMBER using your nasty bathroom...

I went out to my car and sure enough- there they were. My keys.
Car key in the ignition, hanging on my super cool key chain (ask me to show you sometime- it really is pretty nifty) with my house key, key to my parent's house, key to my Aunt's house, work key, heart thingy my cousin gave me with my name on it from when I was in her wedding, fob to get into the church office, LA Fitness barcode, church barcode, cool little keychain thing that has my brother's airforce photo on it, and a skeleton key from the house I grew up in...

Yup. There they were, just "hanging out" if you will... taunting me from inside my vehicle.

So I hung out at Starbucks until my mom brought me my spare.
I kind of felt like I was in highschool, waiting to be picked up.
While I was waiting for her to meet me, I thought about how lucky I am that I've never given my key to someone who's big on practical jokes....

What made my heart smile today...

Man-tastic man magnet...

A friend of mine has the CUTEST little brother who loves to give high fives and gives you the most gigantic RUNNING HUGS and has the sweetest most infectious smile... yup. That kid is his CHICK. MAGNET. (Hi Jon)
Well, I've discovered the female equivalent of a guy having an adorable younger sibling/small puppy/tray of delicious cupcakes... and I found it at Costco.
Someone wonderful (my grandma) gave me a Costco gift card a few months ago, and I've been saving it for something "really good." After much thought and consideration, I decided this last weekend what to use it for.
Yesterday I decided to go to Costco for lunch. After grabbing lunch for less than $3 (heck YES!) I headed inside and made a bee-line for the DVD table. After grabbing the boxed sets of Star Wars Episodes I, II, III and IV, V, VI, I headed to the check-out line.
Let me just say that 3 separate men stopped me on my way out of Costco.
First, the "boxer" (Costco equivalent of a supermarket "bagger") who, since I was only purchasing two items, had nothing to do but stand there and chatter on about how excited he was for me to be "finally" buying these- he wasn't sure how I lived until now. (I honestly don't know how I've made it this long without owning these incredible films... Especially 4,5,6)
We chit-chatted about nerd stuff- about The Hobbit that's expected to be released sometime in 2012 and how (at this point his eyes got as big as saucers, as if to say "you're in luck. there's a cure for you") Clone Wars was already out on DVD "You really need to pick that up, too."
I promised him it was on my "list" and we parted ways.
I had my handbag on my arm and was holding my drink and in my other arm I was holding the movies and as I walked out the door, a man standing in line to return something got VERY excited for me. He pumped his fist in the air and exictedly said "Oh, wow! Today's a big day for you!" I told him it was and that I was looking forward to enjoying my new purchases.
I went back to the food court to grab a napkin for my drippy drink and a man grabbing a straw saw the movies in my hand and said (in the least creepy way possible- he actually looked surprised and proud of himself at the same time) "Are you going home to watch those? Do you want some company?" I smiled and said "No, I'm going back to work now, but thanks for offering to protect me from Darth Vader!"

Yup. This is MUCH more effective than smelling like bacon all day...

Do you smell... bacon?

At work, my department (IT) is "buddies" with the Business Services Department. We're like the black sheep of Vanguard- no one really cares when things go well, but if stuff goes wrong, it's always our fault. One of the girls in the BSO, Miss Kristi, is expecting a baby and we bet if she was having a boy or a girl. I honestly thought she was having a boy. I still believe she's having a boy. Sonograms lie all the time. But that doesn't matter.
Four other guys (and two girl student workers) and I signed up that she was having a boy and EVERYONE else (all 20 of them) thought she'd be having a girl. Well, the doctor says it's going to be a girl, so the six of us got to make breakfast on Monday for everyone.
When I say "breakfast" I mean bacon, eggs, saussage, pancakes, waffles and mini-muffins (okay, those were store-bought). So guess who got to make saussage and bacon on a hot plate in the other office? ME!!
I had a TON of fun cooking with the boys (even if one of them did whine like a little girl the whole time... I told him to knock it off and threatened to cut him with my serrated spatula) and the girls were all so gracious- it was a really great morning!
When I got back to my desk, one of my IT co-workers walked by my desk and stopped, turned around, walked back to my desk, inhaled deeply and said "I smell bacon..." and floated off to his desk.This happened several times in a five minute period...
I then smelled my clothes. Bacon.
I smelled my arm. Bacon.
I smelled my hair. Bacon.
Bacon. Bacon. Bacon.

A friend of mine stopped by my desk that afternoon. He smiled and said "You smell amazing."
... to which I replied, "Get away from me."

I posted as my status on monday that I smelled like bacon- Lisa insisted that every man reading my facebook status that day would want to make-out with me.
My friend Rick posted this awesome link to a Taco Bell commercial that perfectly depicts the reaction I got from the guys in my office on Monday.