Has it really been almost a week since I posted last? Wow, time flies.

Anyway.

You would think that after all of the work I've done, all of the spiritual exploration I've experienced, all of the emotional triumphs I've managed, that it would take something pretty significant to rock me to the core, right?

Well today, that ground-breaking, earth-shattering event that threw me for a loop was misplacing my wallet.

Here's how my day started:

Stumbled out of bed. Stumbled into sweatpants and a t-shirt, fumbled for the MP3 player and my keys, and headed off to the gym.

Worked out (begrudgingly).

On the way home, I remembered that I needed to buy gifts for three people who were going to attend my presentation this afternoon. Stopped at Starbucks and bought really nice (and expensive) gourmet coffee for each of them. Paid with my credit card. Bought myself a coffee and paid cash, separately.

Got in the car and drove the 6 blocks home. On the way home, I realize that I left the coffee that I bought for myself on the counter at Starbucks. Damn. Oh well, right?

Gave Brian a quick kiss, got on my first conference call of the day at 8:30. At 9:30, I quickly did some photocopying and other little preparations for my presentations today and tomorrow. At 10, I hopped in the shower and started packing. At 10:30, I realized that I needed to leave within the next 30 minutes if I wanted to be able to grab lunch before the meeting (which promised to be several hours). Hurried up, packed the car, took the dog out.

It's now 10:52. Car is gassed up. Dog is watered, fed, and taken out. Ready to go? Yes. Grab the keys, lock the door, get in the car. But something is missing. Shit! Forgot my wallet... run inside, look for it in the kitchen. No sign. look for it in my office. Nothing. Go outside and look for it in my car...not there either.

It's 11am. I still have 30 minutes before I absolutely have to leave to get to my presentation on time (with no lunch). I must have left the wallet at Starbucks with my coffee. Shit.

I call 411 to get Starbucks' number and call them. No answer. Rings for five minutes, no answer. Starting to panic! Hop in the car, race to Starbucks. They look at me like I'm an alien and tell me that they don't have my wallet (without looking). I not-so-calmly ask them to look, figuring that it's right there in the lost and found drawer, but they just haven't seen it.

Nope. Nada. Nill. Sorry, lady.

It's 11:15. And I'm freaking out. I can feel that lump in my throat and I realize that I could probably drive to my presentation without my wallet, but there's no way in hell I can drive to Richmond after that without my credit card/cash/ID to pay for a hotel.

At this point, I break down in tears.

Then I call Brian and tell him what's happening. As I'm on the phone with him, he gets up, leaves his desk, and gets in the car to head home.

Brian comes home ten minutes later and I'm nearly dry-heaving I'm crying so hard (WHAT was my problem!?!? I never get like that!). He looks for the wallet, looks EVERYWHERE, doesn't find it.

Fast forward to 7:15 tonight (which is right now). I'm sitting in a Panera in Richmond. Did I ever find my wallet? Nope. Brian found it about ten minutes after I gave up and left the house (with 50 bucks of his money and two of his credit cards in tow...).

Here's what happened: while I was in the shower, Mara (the puppy) was left unattended in my office. She took my wallet off of my desk and put it behind my big relaxing chair that I never sit in. There are tooth marks in the wallet to prove it.

More and more I'm realizing that it doesn't take much to throw me off my rocker these days. But it doesn't take me long to bounce back either. Of course, I have no idea if my hotel will let me use Brian's credit card to pay for my room. I guess we'll see, right?