Yesterday was one of those ridiculous days where everything went…not exactly wrong, I guess more like quirky.  The cap to my funky day was walking out with my husband and baby to get some ice cream, and leaving the keys in our apartment.  We had no way to get back in, no way to get the stroller out of the car – and my friend who keeps our spare was at Pilates class.  So we spent about an hour wandering around outside with the baby in arms, laughing at our absurd situation.

It got me thinking about how much certain items become parts of ourselves, so that without them we feel totally lost, like a little kid whose blankie is in the washing machine.  For some people it’s their watch; they can’t stand not being able to know what time it is.  For workaholic types, it might be a Blackberry or iPhone.  I always like to have earrings on, because I fiddle with them when I’m bored or thinking (plus I think tichels look better on me when there’s something dangling at the edges).

I always put things into the same place; there’s a special pocket in my purse for my cell phone, one for keys, and one for lip balm.  But then when I reach for something and it’s not where I expect it to be, I freak out.  Right now my black pre-tied is missing from my tichel drawer, and I can’t even think of where else to look for it.  How can anyone manage without that staple of the hair-coverer’s wardrobe? It’s like not having a refrigerator, or a toothbrush.  Everyone has one, and uses it every day!

Luckily, I managed not to freak out about being locked out; it was a nice, if buggy evening, and I was with my two favorite people.  And we did eventually get to the ice cream place, where I got vanilla frozen custard with warm caramel sauce.  And then forgot to pay with the gift card I had received, which was the reason we were going out for ice cream in the first place.  And then had to run home because the baby needed a change, and we’d forgotten the diaper bag too.