Seven Quick Takes - 8/7/09

1. I love driving by myself. But put me in a car with another person and I am a nervous wreck. One time I drove a guy who worked as a driving instructor and it was like I had never driven before. I may or may not have almost run off of the road. And cut someone off. And run a red light. It was bad. But when I’m alone? I’m golden. This used to be one of my great stress relievers back in the day. I’d hop in the old Sentra (oh how I miss your ugly ’94 awesomeness!) and crank up some music and just drive. It was wondrous. Glorious. Tremendous. And any other “ous” adjective that you can think of. I’d often sing a lot of Dixie Chicks and Fiona Apple at the top of my lungs while driving on some back country roads. It really helped me clear my mind and just enjoy some good, solid Cora time.

2. In honor of this love, I took out our new car for a little spin Monday night. Jack was down for the night and Alex was all, “Go! Enjoy yourself!” I didn’t really want to go very far, but I wanted an Icee. (It’s an addiction. A real, sad addiction.) I thought I was really smart because I went in the store with just the sleek Honda key and a single dollar bill in my hand. And I splurged with 32 ounces of Coke and Cherry goodness mixed together. I waltzed on over to the cash register to pay feeling all hip and cool and independent again. (Because the GAS STATION is where I go to feel “hip” and “cool” and “independent.”) And the guy rang up my Icee and it was…$1.17? What? Huh? Aren’t they, like, 85 cents? Nope. Turns out that promotion is over. And you know, I had nothing with me but a Honda key and a dollar bill. I dug in my pockets for change even though I KNEW I only had a HONDA KEY AND A DOLLAR BILL. So I was all, uh, let me run out to my car for some change. And the incredibly kind woman behind me stopped me. “How much do you need?” And she gave me a quarter to pay for my Icee. She refused the change and told me to put it in the bucket for donations to the children’s hospital. So thank you nice lady at the gas station on a Monday night with the super cute Vera Bradley wallet!

3. I drove home from the Icee debacle feeling pretty stupid. I called Alex to tell him the story, but he didn’t answer. So I decided just to enjoy the drive home. Relax. Whatever. The lady gave me the quarter. I’d do the same for someone else! No big deal! People can’t afford stuff at stores all the time! As I was about to turn onto our street, I noticed it seemed a little…dark outside? Shouldn’t there be more light? Oh wait, did I just drive to the store AND BACK without my lights on!? NO LIGHTS? AT ALL? And no one noticed! Nobody did the friendly light blink thing. I had no idea AT ALL. The inside lights in our car light up all the time, so it creates the illusion of lights being on. But they are NOT ON. I was pretty thrilled to get out of that car unscathed from my idiocy.

4. And when I got home? I realized I had 30 bucks in my back pocket.

5. I’ve wanted to get Jack an exersaucer for at least a month now. Every time we went anywhere that sold anything remotely related to exersaucers or jumperoos, I HAD to look at them. I knew they recommended them for four months and older, so I kept myself from buying anything. UNTIL NOW. We went to Target last night with gift cards in hand and I was SO EXCITED to buy a freaking exersaucer. I’ll let Alex tell the whole story, but we eventually decided on this hideous creation.


Yes, it is U-G-L-Y. SUPER UGLY. But if you had seen the joy on that child’s face the second we put him in it in the store…well, you would have bought him the ugliest, gaudiest toy in the world too.

6. Part of staying at home with a small kid is that you never have any idea what day it is. EVER. I thought it was Wednesday all day yesterday. I finally figured it out when Alex came home from work. I was all, “Wait a minute! It’s Thursday!” And he was all, “Yes? Duh?” And really, it’s like this every day. I’m always asking what day it is and always surprised by the answer. The same is true with dates. In fact, I originally titled this post with the date of “6/7/09.” Yes, that’s right. I briefly thought it was June. So my birthday is next week, right? And every morning this week, I have logged onto Facebook and noticed some notifications and thought, “Oh? Is today my birthday?” EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. And every single day, Facebook has told me that, no, today is not your birthday, MORON. I can’t even grasp the idea of when my OWN BIRTHDAY is happening, people.

7. I bought new work out shoes! I am really excited to start using them. Especially since I haven't worked out in almost a month. I'm not sure how that happened. One minute we went to Louisiana and the next it's August. So who knows! I'm sure my trainer is going to be THRILLED with me. THRILLED.