Keys and Other Nostalgia

It's a fairly well known fact that I don't function well in the mornings. It's also a fairly well known fact that I tend to procrastinate when possible. So by way of quick lead-in to the point of the story... I can't go to work if I don't renew my Advanced Cardiac Life Support (ACLS) certification before it expires on the last day of the month. I hate taking these renewal classes. It's roughly the equivalent of a required training for the people who flip the burgers at McDonalds. If that's your job, it's what you do all day, and you get pretty good at it since it's a skill you do every day when you're at your job. Now imagine that everyone who works at McDonalds has to take the hamburger flipping training every two years. Even the people who just wash the floors. It can get quite painful for the people who spend the large majority of their time at work doing what is taught in the class to sit through 8 hours with people who don't do it ever, but still in the class. Both groups work at McDonalds, both are important, but I'm sure you see what I'm getting at. So, since I am terrible at doing things a) I'm told I have to do and especially b) I don't like doing I put this class off until the last possible minute. End result, I had to get up at 0400 this morning to drive to the only remaining class in the area before the end of the month; in Portland, OR.

Fine. It was my doing, and I haven't taken a good road trip for a while, and I've never actually been to Portland, so it's gonna be fine. I get up on time and leave on time and all is well. It is a BEAUTIFUL drive from Seattle to Portland! I loved every minute of it. I got to the class about half an hour early and decided I'd stop at the gas station nearby to get some bottled water before going in. I came out of said gas station with my 2 bottles of water, and realized I didn't know where my keys were. After searching through my entire semi-large bag and all pockets, I can't find them. I then walk around to the passenger side and peer in the window. Sure enough, there they were in the ignition. Bummer. Thank goodness I keep a spare key in my wallet for just such occasions. Oh wait, as I look inside I see my spare key on my center console where I left it when I was cleaning out my change purse the day before. Big bummer. So I call a locksmith, who says he'll be there in 15 minutes. Which is good news because I will still be able to make my mandatory class on time. I lean against my trunk waiting for the guy to show up, wondering why the car parked next to me has been running for so long with no one in sight. Then I realize my car is vibrating slightly. It takes me ALL this time to realize that not only did I forget to take my keys with me before I locked the doors, I forgot to turn the ignition off before locking the door to run in and grab my bottles of water. Yeah. So in the end, my two bottles of water ended up costing me about $85. But it could have been worse. Like the time I locked my keys in the car at the gas station at 2 in the morning in the middle-of-nowhere southeast UT on the way back from LasCruces, New Mexico. Or the time I dropped my keys down the elevator shaft as described here. Man, if my keys could talk!!

But this wasn't my only trip down memory lane today. I also had my ipod on shuffle and the song "I Wanna Do It All" by Terri Clark came on. I hadn't heard this song for years. Not since it was my theme song before I moved away and off on my own. It had been my mantra, the lyrics like a mini bucket list for me. I had accomplished nothing in the song at the time and spent many hours dreaming of doing so. This time as I listed I was nostalgic over memories of the times I had been to and done nearly every thing in the song. My how time flies.

Also, the royal wedding. I've heard the term 'royal wedding' so many times I could vomit. I was excited for it, just tired of hearing it. So as I watched as I was getting ready for the day in the wee hours of the morning, my heart smiled. Beautiful people, beautiful wedding, such a great fairytale come true. Which of course made me think of all things THIS post. Ah life. What a nostalgic day :)