Here I am once more in Cedar Key, Florida, visiting my wife’s family…and once more I’m alone in the house while my in-laws works and Christy, Jenny, the girls, and Sam do something water related. I believe they’re scalloping. At least, that was the plan. Of course, they may have just ridden the boat to a beachy area and swam. Either way, I opted to stay indoors and as far away from the water as possible.
I did have a mission this morning, which involved me driving to Chiefland and stocking up on supplies that I left at home. Strike that–I left everything at home. In the rush of packing, taking care of the cats, and keeping Sam occupied, I left my bag. I always take my laptop bag with me when I travel, and I cramp it full of all my necessities (laptop, glasses, contact stuff, medicine, Ipod charger, books, etc). And I just left the blasted thing, which I’ve never done before. I didn’t realize I was without it until we pulled into Cedar Key around 9:30, at which point I nearly had a seizure. For those who don’t know, I have a touch of OCD. Okay, maybe more than a touch, and certainly heavier on the obsessive side than the compulsive.
I just stared in the back of the van, willing my bag to reappear. “Can I help with anything?” my mother-in-law Barbara asked.
“No,” I sighed. “I left my bag. It has everything.”
“Oh,” she said and, wisely, went back into the house and left me to have a fit. After cursing and banging my head against the van, I trudged inside and drowned my sorrows in wine.
I can certainly live without the contents of my bag until Monday, but I’m still extremely irritated with myself. And so it goes…
