I like to think I’m in control of my life. Efficient could very well be my middle name.

Or so I thought. 

We traveled to Portland for a few days this week, and I had a blog post more or less ready to wrap up and publish during our trip.  Efficient, remember? We left very early on Monday. I woke up with a serious case of bad hair day which should  have been the first indication of trouble. It was so bad that I wore a hat to meet Phil downstairs for our cappuccino, but you don’t have to take my word for it. Of course, a nice shower solved the important issue, and by the time we left to go to the airport I felt I could be seen in public. It was cold. Very cold. Cold as in hat and glove and scarf, and heavy coat cold. Very heavy coat. You should take note of that, it will be important. There might be a quiz.

We did not have printed boarding passes. We went full-blown techie and got mobile passes only. Looking back, that was a mistake. When boarding started, we noticed the seat info was not there, so both Phil and I were messing with our phones while walking the line to board, trying to retrieve the darn email with the full trip info.  It was a bit hectic. I do not recommend you try it.

Finally, we got to our seats and took a deep breath of relief. I wondered what to do in the reasonably short flight to Dallas, a little over one hour-long. Should I get my iPad and read a little? Nah, let me tackle a Sudoku instead. Grabbed the American Airlines magazine, hoping the Sudoku page would be untouched by previous travelers (you never know…), and there it was, waiting for me, a clean, pristine page. Big inner smile, I went straight for the most difficult one, of course. How could I not? The darn thing was hard indeed. Super challenging. I got so involved with it that I refused club soda, coffee, and even those spice cookies I love so very much. I could not peel my eyes off the page. I managed to finish it just as the plane was landing, how about THAT for efficiency?  I was on top of the world, particularly because Phil was still struggling with it. Disclosure: he always beats me in Sudoku. I wanted to do a victory lap dance as soon as we left the tight plane, but my world was about to be violently shaken. I grabbed my coat, my handbag, and then… went to get my laptop from underneath the seat, but it was NOT THERE. Did it slip away to the seat in front? No, nothing there. Big huge shiver up and down my spine. Could I, could I possibly….. have left it behind at the airport? I knew it went through security screening…

By that time I was already in full hyperventilation mode, hands shaking, could barely put two logical thoughts together. I had never done anything quite like that in my life. Could I be losing it? (no need to answer, thank you very much).  Phil found the number for the airport, I called, first they said they found nothing, which made me hyperventilate even more.  But, they promised to call back. Very long 10 minutes passed, then I got the news that they found my laptop resting next to a seat at the gate. There is only one gate in the little airport of our town, that definitely helped my case. I cannot begin to tell you how relieved I was.

We should always try to learn from our mistakes. Get to the root of our problems to overcome them. So, after a lot of inner thought, I saw the light: it is all this miserable weather’s fault. Cold temperatures that forced me to carry around a very heavy coat. It was so heavy that it tricked my mind into thinking I had the computer bag with me. Simple as that. Case closed. Page turned. Absolutely nothing wrong with me.  HA!

Spring, I am ready for you!

A new, food related post should be coming soon to a food blog near you… I promise!