Good Evening Amazing Patriots,
I hope you all had a wonderful weekend and are taking full advantage of this absolutely perfect Utah weather. I have a feeling the leaves are going to start changing any day now and before we know it, sweater weather will be just around the corner.
I don't know if y'all felt it at home, but for me, trying to keep up with the craziness at school last week was like attempting to herd kittens on roller skates that had just been bottle fed a case of Mountain Dew. It was chaotic to the point that it had tipped the scales to comical.
The feeling of overwhelm brought me back to a time about 18 years ago when I had four little kids, two of which were baby boys, with very cranky teeth attempting to make their first appearance into their little lives. I had spent the day doing my best to entertain our two oldest, while also simultaneously trying to soothe the two tiniest humans, so that by about 10:00 AM they were all starting to sound and even resemble tiny velociraptors that were on a mission to rip to shreds the last bits of my young mom sanity.
By late morning, I had depleted my chocolate stash, my patience, and had determined my only option for some peace and quiet was to load the babies in their carseats, get myself a McDonalds Coke, and see if a long drive with a little bit of wind through the windows would help calm both the boys, and the mom that was clearly out of her mom league.
Ten minutes after having the boys buckled in, and a large drink in hand, I decided that the frontage road down past the mall would be perfect for a Sunday drive. With no stop lights, nice winding curves, and little to no traffic to ruin the vibe, the velociraptors started to fade, and sweet little sleepy boys were left where the angry dinosaurs once laid.
Relieved to have a break from the screaming, I rolled down the window, let my foot relax on the gas pedal, and basked in the glorious sounds of the silence and wind. Turns out I may have let my foot relax on the gas pedal just a tad too much.
Not more that ten minutes into my joy ride, on what was SUPPOSED to be an empty road, was a perfectly perched police officer, parked in plain sight, politely checking the speed of passersby. As I passed the officer, I realized I had no idea what the speed limit was, as I was only interested in the curves of the road and the noise level in the car. It didn't take more than a few seconds after seeing the officer to realize I was going 47 in a 35, and being that I was the only one on the road, I was about to pay for my lack of speed limit observation.
At this point knowing I had broken the law, and not wanting to make this officers job any more difficult than it already was, I put my right signal on, pulled the car over, and started to get the paperwork out he would need to complete the ticket and the stop. I sat there for a couple of minutes before the officer finally turned on his lights, and pulled up behind me.
As he walked up to the car, he came to the window and with the most puzzled look on his face started the conversation like this...
Officer: " Ummm I guess you know why you pulled yourself over??"
Summers: "Hi Officer, yes I do, I was speeding, so I thought I would just save you some time and pull myself over. Also, here is my licence, insurance, and registration."
Officer: " Thank you, ummmm are you okay?"
Summers: "No not really. No matter what I tried today, the babies wouldn't stop screaming, and I was about to blow my top, so I decided to get a McDonalds Coke with extra ice and see if a car ride would calm them and me down. Which it did, but now because I chose to channel my inner Mario Andretti rather than knowing and then obeying the speed limit, I have landed us both here on a Sunday when you should be relaxing, and I should be singing a little Journey, Don't Stop Believing. I'm tired, I haven't washed my hair in days, and now I had to give myself a ticket!"
Officer: (Looking super concerned): " Mrs. Summers, Let me go take a look at your paperwork, I'll be right back."
Summers: “Okay sir, I know I deserved the ticket, I'll wait right here while you write it up.”
About five minutes later this sweet officer came back up to my window and handed me all of my paperwork and with a smile said. "Mrs. Summers, I appreciate you pulling yourself over today, but I think I am going to override your citation and instead just ask you to slow down a little bit, and try to get a little more rest if possible."
I tried to protest his choice to not issue a citation to which he gently reminded me, he had the final say, and there was no appeals available for this one.
With that, I thanked the officer, and headed home to share what happened with Mr. Summers to which he just laughed, and shook his head in disbelief saying "Awbree, in the future even if you are speeding, please don't pull yourself over. Let's leave that job to the cops."
Patriots, as keep moving through the different phases of life, you are going to be amazed by the amount of stress and chaos that can come with everyday life. Stress, anxiety, overwhelm, and the desire to just throw in the towel is going to be a constant challenge during all phases of your life.
Here is what I want you to know. When life gets to messy, and hard, and I PROMISE you it will,
YOU always have the power to pull yourself over and do a speed check on what is going on in your life. If your choices, friends, or habits are not making your life better, adjust your speed or issue them a citation and get back on your way.
What I challenge you to remember Patriots is that pulling over, making adjustments, and pausing is very different than, parking the car, getting it towed, and walking away.
You are strong and brilliant humans!!!
As always Patriots
Remember...
You are L❤️VED!!!
Mrs. Summers
Mrs. Turley
Mr. Joyce
