Revelations - March 19, 2006

I'm missing an interesting episode of Smallville to write this, so you know it must be important.

(If anyone knows me, we know that this is ridiculous- I don't really watch tv, much-less Smallville, but this one is actually somewhat interesting. I'll have to ask Alan, the biggest Smallville fan I know, for some backstory later...)

Levi has changed my life in many ways, one being the way I view certain situations. For example, he once bought a bike but no chain to lock it up on purpose. He said if anyone stole it, he knew that they must have needed it more than he did.

Sage advice, right?

Wrong.

Well, at least at first, I thought this was ridiculous.

I mean, why would you just give your stuff away like that?

But eventually, I got it, and now after my own theft, I really get it.

The next day, after much soul searching (and phantom-purse searching... it's like I kept forgetting it was gone and kinda kept looking for it thoughout the day) I tried to imagine the thief. It was most certainly a girl, since we were in the ladies dressing room.

I tried to imagine how she must have needed it more than I did, since I can afford to replace it and everything inside of it. I tried to imagine her being happy to find such nice things, like my Coach wallet and rings and watch. I thought maybe she had a daughter she could give the purse to, or a friend who would recieve the watch. I imagined her happy with my former items, and her needing them more than I did.

And I felt so much better.

So, instead of lamenting my loss, I'm now kind of glad it happened. Everything happens for a reason- why did I take my phone out at the last moment? Why did I not slip my iPod into it this morning like I usually do? Why did I take out my FAVORITE necklace from Barbados moments before leaving that morning? Because my purse was meant to be stolen. And so, I knew the faster I made peace with that fact, the happier I would be.

And I was right!

Now, I kind of see it as an inadvertant act of charity on my part. No, I would not have given away my entire purse if asked, but the situation didn't ask me, so by releasing myself from the worry and anxiety of being a 'victim,' I kind of am 'giving it away.'

So, to the thief who took my purse, while I would like my planner and ID's back, since I'm a little lost without them, I sincerely hope you enjoy the purse as much as I did. I hope that you give the little trinkets away to other people who it would bring joy to, and I hope that you take good care of 'my' things. You really must have needed them more than I did.

~ ~ ~

Another theory of mine is that bad things happen so good things can happen. (Kind of the whole "you don't know light until you know dark," thing)

Well, the good news is that my physical therapist said I could go back on the ship next week if I wanted to. That I've built up muscles that weren't holding my back together to a strong enough point that I can go home.

And so I will, the 27th.

~ ~ ~

And another inadvertant reward from my purse being stolen: I get to spend at least two weeks at home with Levi and my family while I order another one!

~ ~ ~

One last twist:

We went to a club on Friday, and I got in on a photocopy of my passport. (Amazingly...) But what is interesting is that the bouncer pointed out that my passport expired a few days earlier... meaning that if I had still been on the ship, uninjured, I probably wouldn't have noticed this until I had to show it to a port agent... who would have thrown me off the ship wherever I was at the time.

So that's why I had to get hurt, to get sent home, to come to therapy to get strong, to go to the club, to find out that my passport was expired.

See?

A reason for everything...

Don't ever, ever, ever, ever, EVER leave your purse alone. Ever. - March 15, 2006

Especially in Chicago.

~ ~ ~

I was helping my sister decide whether she was going to buy the dress or not.

My purse was in our dressing room.

We were no more than ten feet away.

We were gone for no more than two minutes.

We assumed that was safe. We assumed no one would take it in a dressing room.

We were wrong.

~ ~ ~

My passport, social security card, ID, credit cards, debit card, planner, diving card, my watch, my favorite rings, recipts, EVERYTHING is gone.

And now I'm stuck in Chicago until my wonderful parents can get at least five forms of proof that I exist to me so that I can get a new passport.

~ ~ ~

I cried and cried and cried.

I shouted to everyone in the store we were in that it didn't have any money, the cards were cancelled, and I just needed my planner and passport. That if they left the purse somewhere, I promised not to press charges.

Sympathetic looks were all I got from anyone.

~ ~ ~

I could take this hard.

I could look at this as one more thing in a line of very unfortunate events in my life right now.

And to be completely honest, I kind of am.

But I'm really, really trying not to.

I'm trying to tell myself that now I can get a new, really cute wallet. A really great purse. A new watch, cute rings, a new planner to fill with new events.

Everything happens for a reason.
Even the bad things.

~ ~ ~

My friend Todd told me "Hey, at least you were looking for stuff to write in your blog, now you have it."

Blogging slacker, future bridesmaid! (And the McGyver Adventure) - March 13, 2006

Wow. And I was doing so well....

Well I hope I haven't lost my "fan base" due to my lag in blogging... hehe. Oh well, the loyal ones always come back (read: Family).

Anyway, I'm still in Chicago. I've been pretty busy amusing my baby cousin with my sprained-back antics during her visit. She's at BU and was here for her Spring Break. (Which is funny becuase usually college kids go to Cancun or Florida... where do we go? Freezing Chicago. Ha. Ha. -Yeah, I didn't think it was funny either.)

Therapy is going well. I get prodded and poked every day by doctors and therapists, then do exercises until my muscles burn, walk to the car in the freezing weather, and then go home to lay down on an ice pack. (Ironic, no?) But, on the up side, someone somewhere finally decided that massage is a kind of 'therapy' (Bless them, whoever they are) so I think I get to have a massage every time I see a certain therapist. (yesss....)

But hopefully I'll be coming home soon. Big news from home is that my best friend Yadhira, is engaged (but that's not the new big news...) and she asked me to be a bridesmaid! How exciting is that?? (As long as the dresses aren't pink lace or something...)

Anyway, while I have been slacking, a few funny things have happened to me.

One being that I met McGyver.

No, not the actor with a mullet.

The REAL guy.

Well, at least the guy that McGyver is based off of, sofar as we can tell.

It all started at the self-checkout line in the local Jewel...

*Cue wavey lines, indicating a flashback*

I was happily scanning my items, fufilling a secret childhood dream of being a register girl at a supermarket, when my bank card slipped out of my hands...

and into a TINY crack in the self-checkout desk.

I looked everywhere, thinking that it COULDN'T have REALLY fallen into that tiny crack, I mean what are the chances? But after careful examination, I saw the gleam of Bank of America peering out of the dusty darkness.

Darn.

So I called over the register girl. Slightly jealous of her job, I ask her if she can open the desk so I can slip my hand under the crack and get my card. No can do, she replied. (Although she did fiddle and prod at the desk in a futile manner for a few minutes first.)

So I'm about to walk away, card-less, when a guy appears out of nowhere in a green vest. First, he tries to sell me some program where you can pay with your fingerprint and hands me a brochure for it. I thank him and promptly fold the brochure into a skinny apparatus to fish out my card. (With no luck)

Seeing my predicament, he fumbles with the problem himself. (By now I've attracted a crowd of a few shoppers and register girls. I muse briefly about jumping on one of their registers for a joy ride, scanning the shoppers groceries with that ever satisfying 'beep!', but quickly dismiss the idea.)

Then, in a stroke of genius, he pulls out a piece of gum. "Let's try this," he says gallantly. I start to consider buying his fingerprinting product...

He fishes around in the dark for a bit, then curses under his breath.

My hope starts to flag and I start to thank him for his effort when...

he stood up triumphantly, card in hand.

~ - ~

McGyver, everyone.