Today something happened that I never would have thought possible — I felt like a 16-year-old again.
Want to feel that way too? Forget the anti-wrinkle cream! Forget the supplements! All you have to do is spend at least a few weeks stuck in your house without ever getting behind the wheel of a car.
Yes, today was a big day: I had not only one, but TWO errands to run — to Michaels to get something I need to make more masks and to Petco for some stuff for the fish tank. My other half has been doing all the errands on his way home from work, but not these. No! These ones were MINE ALL MINE!
Giddy with excitement, I waited impatiently for hubby to come home and then went to work preparing. First, I pulled out an actual bra (haven’t touched that drawer in a very long while), then I did my hair (some sassy little wavy curls for outing), finally, I topped it all off with some earrings. Turns out I still have holes in my ears! Cool!
Grabbing my purse, I stood at the door, smiling ear-to-ear. Hubby walked over to me with a weird smile that managed to convey both “I love you” and “Wow, this is just sad,” at the same time. That’s fine. I’ll take your pity — and the keys, thank you very much. I’m a genie out of a bottle baby!
I have to say, I fully expected to be peeling out of the driveway, but instead, finally sitting behind the wheel again I had a “moment.” For just a split second there the phrase “hands at 10 and 2” popped into my head. “Yup, gas on the right. Check the mirrors… Holy crap what is WRONG with me?”
A few minutes later, however, I was in full teen freedom mode — powering the mom wagon down the interstate, blasting Bon Jovi’s “You Give Love a Bad Name.” (Judge all you want but the “Slippery When Wet” album was basically the soundtrack of my first crush. Mr. Bongiovi will always be a lyrical god in my book.)
So, I wasn’t actually going to be getting out of the car — curbside pickup for both. The first stop was Michaels. I pulled up out front and a nice lady came over in a mask. She got my last name, grabbed my order, placed it through my passenger window and left.
That was it. It felt…anticlimactic. I had finally had actual contact with a human outside my family and I didn’t even get her name. Has she worked there long? How was her day going? Could we be friends?
The guy at Petco, sadly, remains a mystery as well, and about 20 minutes into my big adventure I was done.
But I was not going home! I put on earrings dammit! I headed instead to City Park to at least observe some more humans out in the wild from a safe distance. I drove around for another hour, during which I saw a woman hugging a big tree. Nobody else around her. Just a full-grown woman hugging a tree. “Feel ya, girl,” I said out loud, saluting her as I drove by.
Sadly, as they say, “All good things must come to an end.” As they also say, “When nature calls, you gotta answer,” safely, at your own house.
So, like a brace-faced kid watching the clock tick dangerously close to curfew, I reluctantly headed home. The adventure was over. I didn’t even bother to stop for gas — 86 miles to empty? That should last through August.
Till tomorrow,
Stay safe and sane out there.
