i tripped up the stairs today and banged my knee. i was running up the secret stairs at work. because it was a hidden stair there was no one to see me. on the one hand then no one understands my sore knee, on the other hand no one feels sorry for you because you did something that would have embarrassed them. but i had to tell some people because i wanted some commisseration. and then they gave me the looks and comments that tell me i should have been embarrassed. so it could have been in public afterall. hmph. (don't take that hmph personal bethany!)

falling up the stairs was the least of embarrassments i had to face today. the worst involved my keys and my car. it's not what you think. i didn't get out of the car, lock it and leave them dangling in the ignition. no i didn't do that. it wasn't exactly a crime of absent mindedness per se. it happened at superstore. wendel volunteered to come shopping with me for the big two buggy shop. my usual parking spot was taken, so i had to park in a smaller one. this is important because when i was getting out of the car, i had to squirm out in an effort to avoid scraping my long door on the black suv beside me. i was almost out when i realized that i left my water bottle in the back seat. i thought of leaving it there, but i get so thirsty when i shop! so i squirmed back in to retrieve it, and squirmed back out. wendel hadn't locked his door, but i saw that with my selective eagle eye and locked it for him. i didn't notice that i didn't have my keys with me until all the groceries were bagged and loaded up in the two carts. i like to have my keys ready at this point, but they weren't there. "i don't have my keys!" i confessed to wendel. "you gotta be kidding me." said wendel. i wheeled my cart out of the store as speedily as two legs and four wheels could take me, the whole time saying a prayer in my heart. "please no, please no, please no." vain repitition. at the car i heaved a sigh of relief. they weren't taunting me from the ignition. maybe they fell out in the store! piece of cake! all i had to do was find them. i started back to the store, but before i reached the entrance i turned around. i should check around the car first. i turned around and i saw wendel walking forward like he saw something. and he did. he saw the long red ribbon attached to my keys hanging out of my car door. they must have fallen out while i was manuvering out of the car. so there i was on a tuesday morning with wendel and two carts of groceries. wendel said i should phone lisa. "i know you don't want to, but you have to." he said. darn rights i didn't want to. i just locked my keys in my car a month ago! and was bailed by the kindness of debi and i had promised to put my spare key in my wallet. and did i? no i did not, although i had seen that very key on the weekend and told myself to put it in my wallet. "later." i replied to myself. well i knew lisa was going to be very unhappy with me. but i decided to face it head on. what else could i do? so lisa sent someone to come for the groceries and i called a tow truck. wendel and i ate lindor chocolates while we waited. soon una showed up shaking her head and saying "laura, laura, laura." wendel opted to stay with me because he's a good guy. the tow truck guy said he'd be fifteen minutes. in my flustered state the phone number i gave him was half cell phone half home phone. later i phoned back to give him the right one. he was longer than fifteen minutes but under thirty five. bigger than a bread box as lauralai gilmore would say. it took him a while and i had to hold the light for him, but he got it unlocked in the end. i was on empty and usually i would have pushed my luck and waited until i got home to fill up but i told wendel it was my unlucky day so i put ten dollars in at the superstore gas bar. the price was one oh two and it killed me to do it too, but i wasn't taking any chances. then i drove past the clubhouse and had to drive around the block. i don't know what my problem is and i don't want to know. if anyone else out there knows, keep it to yourself. write it in a memo to yourself for your records. then you can be real smug one day when your analysis is proven correct. anyways when i walked in i cheerfully confronted everybody knowing my dumbness. and everyone seemed to know. "did they scratch up your car getting the keys out?" troy wanted to know. "i have some suggestions for you..." said dave d. "hey laura, sorry about your car and your keys." sympathized mark l. this was all within the first ten minutes of arriving back.

when i was pulling into the covered parking i saw a lady in a silky red track suit with white stripes on the side and a blue bandana. she even had red shoes. she was fiddling with her walkman and didn't notice me pulling in at first (her walkman was resting on the wall that my car rests next to). i went upstairs, dropped off my stuff, grabbed my purse and went to deposit some money into my account so as not to bounce my car insurance payment. i walked out the back door and there was lady in red doing her marshal arts to the music emimating from her walkman, still resting on the wall next to my car. she didn't pay any attention to me, but i felt like i was walking in on her, disrupting her privacy even though she was out in the open and in our parking lot.

i walked to the bank and it was nice. it's almost always nice to walk. it was crisp and cool and getting dark. after the bank i decided to stop and check out characters, a used book/coffee store that i've been eyeing with longing for some time. i found some finds but i don't need new books. i need to read the books i have. i had a nice browse and stopped at safeway to buy a few needed items. and then i walked home. it was dark and lovely. the trees were lit up. i don't know what exactly lifts my spirits but they are lifted none the less. at home i put on elicia's new neil diamond cd and danced around the living room to sweeeet caroline! bum, bum, bum..., cooked up some pork chops with karey's cream of mushroom soup, and steamed half a squash in the micro with some butter and sugar and spice and everything nice.

i even started divvying up the bills. that's progress.

i'm going to be so sorry tomorrow that i'm up at one am. nuff said. good night.