Have You Seen My Wallet?

Last weekend we went to SF, and it was great (except at the beginning when G couldn't get into the room and thought I'd been murdered by the concierge, but that was resolved quickly enough). We had wonderful weather, and I got to ride a cable car for the very first time, despite having lived here all my life. We saw the new DeYoung Museum, and G didn't like it and I was surprised that I kind of did, since I don't usually like modern architecture.

So in going to SF, I put my cash and some cards in a wallet. I don't usually carry a wallet - I have a small bag with a long strap that I can wear across my body so I don't lose it, and everything else is in a diaper bag or a backpack. But in SF, I actually carried a purse. And when I got back, I continued to carry the purse.

Big mistake.

Day 1: I go to the grocery store with both boys. Ben stays in the car seat and I put him in the main part of the cart, while A. rides in the front. It leaves little room for groceries, which is why I only take them when it's a small emergency trip. Like if I'm out of Diet Coke. So I park, and there's a cart right there by where I park. Cool. Except, as I find out when I'm in the Diet Coke aisle, there's no bottom rack to it. Well, I can't pile Diet Coke boxes on Ben, now, can I? (Can I?) So I go back and get another freakin' cart and move both boys into it. Except I don't have my little across-my-body bag, I'm carrying a purse which I put in the front with A. and which he doesn't have the presence of mind to remind me to take with me when I switch carts. Darn three-year-old.

Fortunately, I discovered it very quickly (well, in the checkout line) and it was morning, the store was slow and a bagger had picked it up. Phew.

Day 4: I am still carrying a regular wallet, except now I actually carry it in my hands or it goes in my back pocket. I go to pick up photos at Longs. I have to pick up photos at Longs because our digital camera broke again (OK, it was dropped, unless you're from Kodak Repair, in which case I don't know what happened). I'm excited to see them because they're the Halloween photos. I pay for them, and crouch down in the aisle, carrying Ben's car seat, to show them to A. I guess I must have set my wallet down, probably on top of the blank VCR tapes. I get up, go out to the car, put Ben's car seat in, and say, "Hey! Where's my wallet?" We run back and forth from the store to the car several times looking, but it's already gone. It was fairly quiet in the store, but the woman behind me in line looked shifty, so I blame her. There wasn't that much in it, just my BRAND NEW driver's license, my debit card and my library card, and some cash.

A. was annoyed with me because I didn't bring snacks for him (it was supposed to be a 10-minute outing). So there I was outside Long's Drugs, searching through the garbage cans in case someone took the cash and dumped the wallet, with an infant in a car seat and a toddler whining, "Maaammmmaaa, I'm veeeeewwwy hungry!" And still no one gave me a dime. Sheesh.

Day 5: I dutifully put the leftovers in the plastic container, and then put the container, full of leftovers, back on the shelf. G. found it this morning. I have, however, switched back to my handy little bag. I had to, since I lost the damn wallet.

I blame the time change - Ben is still getting up between 5 and 6am. I'm fried. He's a bed hog and we don't have a room to move him into. So I'm basically up all night and then up early. Sometimes G takes him in the morning and I can at least get an hour of uninterrupted sleep. I just try to remember that there will come a day when he doesn't want anything to do with me, so I'm relishing this time, when he just wants to sleep next to Mama. And I think I've stopped losing wallets. Putting leftovers back in the pantry, though - no promises there.