maybe it is carma?

yes car-ma... i've been super busy lately and over the last 24 hours my car has forced me to take it a step slower. I thought I was having the most ridiculous 24 hours, but in fact, the end result has been a slightly more relaxed me.

here's the deal:
yesterday i left work a bit early to carpool home with my friend julie and to get home early to prepare for my dinner guests (mike and buddy were coming over for bbq so i could thank them for putting my grill together!). We got down to my car and i push my alarm clicker to turn off the alarm on my car and unlock the doors. the clicker is DEAD. hmmm. So, I open the door with the key (which felt really novel, you know to actually unlock the door...i haven't done that in years) and the alarm goes off, but i'm thinking that I can put the key in the ignition and the alarm will recognize that I have THE key and turn off. Not so. In fact, quite the opposite. My car turns itself completely off. I guess I had one of those alarms that when it is going off and someone trys to start the car it thinks it is being stolen so it turns off the starter. Which is, uhm great as an anti-theft device...but well, not so good for me at this particular moment. It turns out I need to turn the car alarm off using some switch that I can't find and tapping some combination... i have no recollection of EVER being trained on this part of my car alarm....as we quickly realize we aren't getting home in my car, we bum a ride from our saviour, Morgan! The upside is that we were legally able to drive in the HOV lane all the way home! yeah! and i didn't have to drive in traffic! double yeah! Dinner with smuga and buddy was great, we chatted, walked around the neighborhood and imagined all sorts of things....

So on sat, after walking to breakfast, Julie (saviour #2) drove me back out to Redmond to pick up my car -- thankfully I have a second set of keys with a working alarm clicker. With all the car stuff settled, I decided to get some errands done.

One of the fun things I get to do as a result of my remodel is laundry at the *laundromat*! yes! My washer and dryer are out of commission for the entire summer as my basement is completely revamped. Did you know that the laundromat doesn't take quarters anymore? You have to buy a special debit card with a smartcard chip. Seriously for $3! Anyways, so i am doing my laundry and I go back out to my car to get my lavendar softner and realize that I have LOST my car key! Really. This means I have to walk home, get my other car key and then walk back. My home is about 1.5 miles from the laundromat -- downhill home and uphill back. It is 85 degrees outside. ick! But alas, I make the walk home, get my keys and Kinsey (the dog who's with me for the weekend) and trek back uphill to my laundry and to retrieve my car....

net-net: as a result of not having the car for 20 hours I did a lot more walking. My body is tired, but I feel good. I would like to say that I am considering giving up my car, but i'm not. but i do think that adopting more walking would be a good idea. hmmm.