The Sunny Side of the Street (where there are NO stop signs!)

Ok, so no doubt this month the struggle in my head has become more pronounced than usual, but I'm determined to talk myself out of it. There is absolutely nothing I can do to change any of the stuff that's going on in our respective bank accounts, and it's clearly not to the point where I feel like I need to take on a second job for the summer (eee-gads!), so we're just going to make due.

Speaking of eee-gads! I just got our utility bill for the month. And people, I know you believe me when I say it's HOT in Texas. And you know how they say EVERYTHING'S bigger here too? Well that includes utility bills. But I guess that's the nice bonus we get for buying a 3,000 sq ft, 2 story house with tall ceilings in which each and every one of the thirty-five windows is COMPLETE ENERGY INEFFICIENT. The bill ain't pretty in the summer time. Just trust me on this one. But I still look around me and say, Hey. I'll pay. It's not too shabby around here. We'll just crank the thermostat up a few notches and drink lots of ice water.

See how I'm being positive?

Then I got another sweet surprise yesterday from one of Dallas's Finest. As it turns out, the City of Dallas decided to throw an odd-ball STOP sign in on a "median-divided" right turn lane (where normally a YIELD sign goes). So naturally, since I've been driving and turning right for oh, nearly fifteen years now, I yielded and went on my merry way. WHOOP WHOOP! Flashing lights and sirens. I was clearly clueless as to why the officer had pulled me over. I had my seat belt on, I wasn't texting and driving (you're welcome, Oprah), and I was pretty much the only white girl in the downtown neighborhood. (Reverse racial profiling? You tell me. HA!)

Ma'am, you just rolled through a stop sign back there at the intersection. You slowed down, but you have to come to a complete stop when there's a stop sign.

I was confused. There was a stop LIGHT. But I wasn't at the stop light. I was in the median-divided right turn lane where there's always a yield sign. You look, and when traffic is clear, you go.

So I said, "Stop sign? What stop sign?"

He laughed. LAUGHED! WHAT STOP SIGN?! He mocked me.

And at that point, I was very confused. What was the right answer? Did he want me to tell him, "Oh yeah, I saw that stupid stop sign but figured, screw it. I'll just go anyway." Uh, no. I didn't see a stop sign. And anyway, what's a stop sign doing there? I just went through four intersections this morning with divided right turn lanes and every single one of them had a yield sign.

But he thought it was funny. So funny, in fact, that he wrote IN QUOTES on my $200 ticket, "Stop sign?! What stop sign?!" Oh, funny guy, are ya? I'm considering mounting a case complete with pictures of like TWENTY Dallas intersections with divided right turn lanes with YIELD signs and taking that ticket to court. I doubt I'd win though. DPD and DFD are laying off guys right and left because of budget cuts. They need the revenue-- I get that. But don't mock me, dude. That was not okay. P said he probably thought I was lying to him and that's why he laughed. I clearly was not lying.

But anyway, I guess I'll just chalk it up to a $200 lesson learned and a blow to my dignity. Dallas has odd-ball stop signs, so be careful if you're ever driving down here.

So yeah, I could choose to get really depressed about the mere pennies in my bank account at the moment, or my $415 utility bill in JUNE no less, or my $200 ticket for running a stop sign I didn't even know was there, but no. I'm not gonna do it. I'm gonna look at the bright side.

All my bills are paid. There's a ton of food in my fridge. My mom is here and not 8 hours away in Kansas City. My husband is HOT, and my credit is GREAT. And I don't have to do a darn thing this summer that I don't want to. Life is good. And it'll only get better.

And there you have it. :)