Tuesday, August 3, 2010

because little things make me hate california

it's 7:32 and i've been awake for 2.5 hours and my favorite thing that i've done so far is eat a bowl of raisin bran.

it's been an eventful morning so far.

i woke up at 5:00 this morning to take chris to the airport.  then i realized that that was stupid to wake up 15 minutes early because i didn't need to do anything before walking out the door (later i found out how very wrong i was) so at 5:15, i woke up again, got baby girl (who i'd put to sleep in her carseat after her last feeding) and headed to the car with my honey.  he's going to be gone on business until tomorrow evening, so, just a quick morning airport run.  no big deal.

well, about four minutes into the car ride i realized i'd forgotten to put my contacts in.  i always wear them except these last two weeks when i've been home with baby girl all day, i just put them in when i leave the house.  but i'd forgotten to put them in yesterday when i went to walgreens and it was a pain.  not to mention the whole trip ended up being a colossal waste of time anyways since they were out of the contact solution i wanted.  but that's off the subject.  the point is, even though i'd set out my contacts on the bathroom sink so i wouldn't forget to put them in, i forgot because i didn't even step foot in the bathroom after i woke up.

i panicked for just a few seconds before i calmed myself down.  "it's okay, i can deal, i'll just follow the gps.  i can see all the cars and everything important.  if i have the gps, i don't need to be able to read the signs from far away."  more minutes passed.  then chris mentioned, "oh, by the way, i have to take the gps with me because i'm going to be driving all over the place once i get there."  i don't know why this didn't occur to me since he very frequently needs the gps on business trips.  oh well, that's just me forgetting... once again.  so then i said "uh oh, but i just realized i don't have my contacts in."  how am i supposed to find my way home from an airport i've never been to without the help of contacts or a gps?  he asked if we needed to turn around and i told him i thought i'd be okay. 

well once we got on the highway i realized how blurry those signs really were.  i got very worried.  he said we were kinda far to turn back now.  "it's okay" i said, "i'll just take the longer way back and it'll be a straight shot on 280 instead of having to get on 101 and three other highways."  then he told me 280 didn't go by the airport.  what?  how does 280 not go through san jose?  "we're going across the bay.  you forgot?  i'm flying out of oakland."  UH OH.

i got all hot and started sweating.  i swear i felt lightheaded and got even more blurred vision.  hardcore panic.  it's still pretty dark out.  if i take a wrong turn then i'm lost forever.  if i don't get home super fast i'll be stuck in traffic til noon.  and, just for good measure... i have a baby with me.

i think he could sense the ongoing worry in my face and voice.  he told me i could keep the gps and he would find a way to rent one.  MY KNIGHT IN SHINING ARMOR.  i was elated.  but then as the time went by (oakland takes a long time to get to!) i was still really worried about the trip since i didn't have my contacts and the more i looked at signs, the more i considered myself completed blind instead of just a -1.00.  i prayed a lot.  in fact, the whole rest of the way there.  my previous prayers had been answered (now i would have a gps!) so i just kept that up!

told my honey goodbye and almost cried.  i get very emotional when he leaves to go out of town.  i have major separation anxiety when it comes to my husband.  i got it every morning before work too... especially on mondays.  it's bad.  continual prayers as i pulled away.

i made a wrong turn before i even got a mile away from the airport!  luckily, tomtom recalculated and got me back on track.  let me just say that there is no way whatsoever that i would have made it home without that thing!  what did we do in life before the gps, the cell phone, and CONTACTS (i will now be keeping an extra pair of contacts in my purse in case of emergencies) just to mention a few.

well, have no fear, i made it home.  end of story.  anti-climatic huh?  i don't care.  that's a good thing!

i'm not a good story ender so i'll just start a random ramble instead.

baby girl is my new favorite travel accessory, with the exception of the gps (sorry, baby girl).  because of her, we flew by bay area morning traffic on the 880, 237, and 101 in our very own HOV lane.  seriously, we were the only ones in it... except for two motorcycles.  it was just glorious.  not that my time is very important, and i know baby girl would have slept through it all (she's still sleeping actually) but every second in that car without contacts WAS NOT FUN.  have i made that clear yet?

anyways, now it's 8:02 and still, the best part of my day has been eating that bowl of raisin bran.  the second best has been getting this story out of my brain so i can erase it from my memory.

now i need to wake baby girl up for her breakfast. 

how's your day been so far?

4 comments:

Jeff said...

That's really funny. My day was fine, but I'm really happy that it's almost bedtime. Thanks for asking.

Sara said...

Good heavens. That's far too stressful for any day before the sun is up.

I'm glad you made it and that you didn't throw up in your lap.

Marianne said...

I 'second' your love with the HOV--I just took Andrew to the ATL airport this morning during rushhour and driving home with Lucy in the HOV made me oh so happy!

Congrats on making it without any sight--you truly are so talented!

Whitney said...

Oh my goodness, you are brave! If I left without my contacts, I wouldn't even be able to reverse out of my parking spot. It's true, I am that blind. I totally understand about the whole separation anxiety thing. I am the exact same way with Jeff. It doesn't matter if it's only a couple of days...I still tear up when one of us goes out of town.