I've been a bad, bad girl

Maybe this is kharma cleansing, maybe the guilt is eating away at me...I got in trouble today.
I was coming home from a solo afternoon after work. I went to the dermatologist for my annual mole check (where I looked fabulous in my backwards pink paper t-shirt), swung by HT and the PTA, hit the gas station and I'm on my way home. So with no kids in the car I was heading up Hwy 54 when I got behind a guy going unpleasantly slow. They guy behind me passed us both and for some reason I decided to do the same. Let me just say that I'm not usually a passer. I usually drive contentedly down the road at a safe, reasonable speed letting all the impatient people pass me by. But for some reason I made the decision to pass the guy. I started passing at the double dotted line but by the time I got back over I was officially out of the passing zone. A minute or so later I just happened to notice flashing blue lights behind....ME. I actually said to myself "Me? He's pulling over me?" I pulled over and the State Trooper - the memories keep flooding back of my last pull-over when I was 18 going 94 in a 65 - walks up to my window. I passed in a no-passing zone he tells me. Yes, I'm sorry, I say. I give him my license and he heads back to his big scary state trooper car. A few minutes later he comes back and drops the bomb that my license expired back in August. News to me! So in an effort to make this already long story short, $170 later I can go to court and talk to the D.A. and hopefully get some amount of it reduced. Um...oops? This is not the kind of behavior expected of a 35 year old mother of 2!

Any suggestions on appearing in court or getting a ticket reduced is appreciated. Only free advice, please, we're kinda strapped!

And the upswing is that I don't have skin cancer! All moles check out fine.

November News

Sorry, loyal readers, for the long pause between posts. With fewer hours of daylight now, hopefully I'll feel inspired to sit by the fire (TV), sip some mulled cider (red wine), and focus on the age old tradition of quilting (blog writing).

(L to R: sawyer, noah, eliza, caeden, rivers, josh)

We at the Cherry Tree have had a busy fun transition into Fall. Last weekend we gathered with all the cousins and had some great fun at Family Camp a.k.a. Earthshine. Sawyer and Eliza enjoyed every moment. We fed and pet the animals, explored a creek, hiked to Cherokee Village, pressed cider and even made a candle. It was good, wholesome fun and could not have come at a better time.

Now that Halloween is over we can move full steam ahead into Christmas. Ugh...are you serious? This is ridiculous. We've been observing the various "Christmas decorations" at the big box stores and I finally just told Sawyer that I think they are tacky. He is welcome to look at them in the store but there is NO way I'm putting a 8ft. round plastic snow globe in my front yard. I mean let's count the things wrong with this product: 1) plastic - and lots of it 2) styrofoam snow which is being blown around by a 3) electric fan and finally 4) what's so wrong with a nice, little glass snow globe?! And then there's the twinkly light covered animetronic deer! Ok, those are just creepy. As I told Sawyer and Eliza, why would we need those if we have real deer in our front yard? I think he's getting the picture - the poor kid.

So in response to this nauseatingly blatant consumerism I have imposed some Holiday Shopping rules for my family:
1) Must be bought 2nd hand / antique / vintage
2) Must make a positive impact on the environment
3) Must be edible or home made
4) Must be locally made

Those are my rules, but I'm happy to share if you feel moved to impose any or all onto your Holiday experience.

Only 51 shopping days left!!