Lost!

Today's 100 words:

I have a tendency to get lost when I'm driving. A couple of years ago, I wanted to take my son to the children's museum downtown. I'm not from here, and I rarely venture out of the suburbs and into the downtown labyrinth of one-way streets and traffic, so I Googled the directions and set off, hopeful that we would get to our destination. I missed a left, however, and couldn't see a way to turn around in the traffic. Somehow I ended up miles away, near the lake, and only a frantic call to my husband got us home again.

Regrets

Today's 100 words:

 

I used to proclaim that I had no regrets in life, but lately I've realized that I do. Today I regret getting angry with a truck driver who didn't move over as I was coming up a freeway entrance ramp, causing me to run out of lane and drive across the rumble strip. I was upset and showed him, but once I calmed down, I wished I hadn't let my temper get the best of me. The trucker didn't move because he couldn't; the cars on his left wouldn't let him. It was just one of those stupid, unfortunate events.

Just one of those things...

As I was driving my kids to storytime today, I thought of a great opening for my current story. I'd been trying for several days to get the beginning just right, and suddenly I had it! Cue the problem: I was driving. Not knowing what else to do, I started reciting the sentences over and over, hoping the repetition would help me to remember them. My son thought I was talking to him, though, and trying to explain that Mommy was talking to herself caused me to forget the exact wording of the sentences. Traffic was too heavy for me to stop, so my only hope was to get to a red light, then use the voice notes recorder on my BlackBerry to record everything I could remember. Now, most days, especially when I'm running late, I hit every red light. Today, of course, green lights prevailed, which is the way it always goes, isn't it? When I had almost reached my destination, a red light finally caught me, and I was able to set up the recorder. I placed the phone in my lap and continued driving, reciting what I could still remember. Unfortunately, the wording I recorded wasn't the "perfect" wording that had made me so excited. The good news is that I think I have enough to work with, so maybe I'll be able to re-create the sentences--or even make them better.

This was just one of those things, I guess, but I learned my lesson: always have the voice recorder ready so that if I can't write something down, I won't lose it.

Has anything like this ever happened to you?

Not the Mommy Guilt!

I'm feeling some Mommy Guilt today. We were supposed to get a huge storm last night, and I decided early this morning when I was awakened by sleet pinging against the window that I wouldn't take the kids to storytime today. It's held at the Barnes and Noble across town, and I worried the roads would be icy. I dislike driving in the winter, particularly since I was rear-ended a little over a year ago. Snowstorms cause me to clutch the wheel in a white-knuckled grip, praying all the while. I decided not to put myself through that today, and so I slept in a bit and woke up too late to get them to the bookstore.

 

When I looked out the window, however, I saw a gray day, yes, but only a light dusting of snow: no sleet, no blizzard, no trees bent in high winds. And so now I feel that infamous Mommy Guilt, that "I should have taken them to storytime since they love it so much" thought playing on repeat in my mind. I know my kids won't care; they may not even realize that today was a storytime day, but I feel guilty nevertheless, just one more guilt to add to the already towering pile.

 

Mommy Guilt: bah!