God's Purse Lesson

Well, the blonde hair strikes again! I have done something stupid. For those of you that know me, you know this is not uncommon. I can easily create my own drama with little to no help from anyone or anything around me. The stupid thing I have done has upset my son, made me call the police, cancel my credit cards and given my husband a good laugh in Indiana.

The stupid thing started when I was scheduling an appointment to be finger printed for my new preschool job. They wanted my driver’s license. So, I went to get my purse. I am not one who puts her purse or other important belongings in one specific place. It lands where it lands- usually after I find landing places for the child, diaper bag, keys and shopping bags. Well, panic set in when I couldn’t find it in one of the many, many landing places in my house. So I immediately looked in landing places outside of my house. Sometimes it lands on the freezer in the garage. When it lands there, I usually have every intention of going back to get it after I put down child, diaper bag, keys and shopping bags. However, as many of you know I am easily distracted and sometimes I forget to retrieve the purse from the freezer. In fact, it isn’t just sometimes, I admit, it is many times. It wasn’t on the freezer! Then I remembered that my son left the garage open for a short time this evening when he went to ride his bike. That is when I was sure that it was stolen. I have never had my purse stolen before. So I went into super panic mode. Unfortunately, it involves a complete interrogation of my son. I tried really hard not to upset him or lead him to believe that it was his fault in any way shape or form, but I don’t think I was successful. He is a bit of a worry wart and I failed him by even telling him that my purse was missing from the garage while he was riding his bike.

The first thing I did was check the credit card and bank card on line. No one had used the cards. I called and reported them stolen. Then I called the police. They took about 45 minutes to get here. In the meantime, I called my husband. He is in Indiana. He is never in town when drama erupts in my life except during the birth of a child and we were both out of town for that. That is another story I am not going to get into tonight. Of course he is from Mars and I am from Venus. He asked all the questions a man would ask. Are you sure it isn’t in the house? Did you check the car? Did it fall out of the car? Did you look under the car? Are you sure it isn’t in the house? Did you cancel the cards? Can I still use my cards? Etc… At the time, I didn’t think he was sufficiently panicked. He had an “Oh, well I am sure it will work out” typical man attitude towards it. I wasn’t impressed with his support. A woman’s purse is an emotional thing in her life and he totally doesn’t get it. What is wrong with him?

After I get off the phone, the very nice supportive police officer arrives. He asks me about my purse and the contents. After I tell him that the purse itself was worth $10, there was no cash, phone or other valuables in it, he decides that the thief probably didn’t see any need to keep it and maybe discarded it somewhere near my house. I was a little insulted that my purse wasn’t worth stealing, but relieved that he was so optimistic about finding it. He went to look. While he was looking, I looked at the dead petunias in my flower bed, victims of the 110 degree days we have had here lately. I decided to pull them up. Then, I went inside to get a wal-mart bag to put them in. And sitting on the counter in the kitchen was my purse. OH MY GOD, how embarrassed I was but incredibly relieved at the same time. I went back outside to find the nice supportive police officer. I had to yell for him down the alley, which of course drew out a neighbor. I am sure I will have fun with that tomorrow. I told him I found it followed by many apologies. He said not to worry- it made his job easier. This was no big deal and then he told me about the similar calls he gets about parents misplacing their children. That made me feel better, but since I have blonde hair, I am really going to be keeping an eye or two on the children.

After the very nice and understanding police officer left (with a good blonde story to share with his buddies), I went inside and woke up my poor worry wart son and told him I found my purse and it was in the house the whole time. He still was worried and we talked everything out for another 30 minutes. He admitted to me that he needed to come downstairs to get water and saw the police car which really means that he heard me talking to the policeman, immediately became thirsty and curiosity got the best of him. I think having to call the police was a little scary for him, but I think and hope I talked all the scary parts out of him. I am sure that this will be one of the many stories about his mother he will share with his therapist in his adult life.

I am really happy to have found my $10 purse with my identification in it. And in 5-7 business days, I will be able to spend money again. I look back on my conversation with my dear husband and now I realize that he knows me too well. I am positive that my stupid thing is another lesson that God has placed in my path: I need to make sure I know where all the precious things in my life are landing.

On Being 30...

Well, it has been 352 days since I turned 30. I am still trying to get a grasp on the situation. Turing 30 is a big shock. When you are in your 20s, you are still young, stupid and have your whole life ahead of you. Mistakes are made and you are shaped and made wiser by their consequences. And you shake them off because you have your whole life ahead of you. You are in the wonderful place in society where the “old people” consider you an adult and the “young people” consider you cool. You are in style, keep up with all the trends and understand everything about today’s pop culture. When you are in your 20s, aging is still a lifetime away.

When you turn 30, this whole philosophy of life is turned upside down. You are becoming one of the “old people”. You are too wise to be foolish. Mistakes made in your 30s are almost embarrassing because you know you should know better. When you turn 30, keeping up with the pop culture doesn't seem as important. I have two young kids and keeping up with them takes nearly all my physical and mental energy. As I am forced to learn more about Elmo and Ben 10, pop culture seems to have passed me by. Now that I am a 30 year old mother of two, showing up to a PTA meeting in the lastest trend seems a little silly. You begin aging when you turn 30. When you see pictures of yourself from 5 or 10 years ago you think “wow, I looked young.” So logically, you must look older now. In my 20s, I started running as a hobby and for exercise. When I turned 30, the elliptical machine became a whole lot more appealing due to the aches and pains in my back and knees. And I thought to myself, so this is it. Here I am at 30 and I can’t run with ease anymore. That part of my life is over. As I examine my new wrinkles in the mirror, I realize that I am aging. I am entering a new part of my life. And it is not exciting. At least not yet anyway....