the backpack killer...

original post date: december 7th 2007

Yesterday was a beating. I started the day out with that lightheaded feeling – you know the precursor to getting sick. It was imperative that I made it to the mall to get the finishing touches on my Christmas dinner outfit as I needed everything finalized by today (aside: it's not done… still stressing). I get to the Galleria at 11:30am and it's packed already. I make my way to the appropriate store and find the few items that I needed rather easily. While I was there, I made an unplanned (well it was kind of planned) stop in Coach and bought myself a handbag to help me release some of my holiday stress. And, let me tell you… it sure did the trick.

After the Galleria, I had to stop by Wal-Mart. Don't ask, it was a nightmare. $100 later and with a business card from a very annoying Mary Kay lady, I am on my way out the door and heading back to work. My hour lunch has officially hit the hour-and-a-half mark. Ugh!

Back at the office, I take out my new Coach, my only solace, and look at her. She's beautiful… AND SHE'S BROKEN! Damnit! This means that after work when I already had to stop and pick up my newly tailored cocktail dress, I now have to make an unscheduled stop at the effin Galleria. Which is on the way to nothing, the complete opposite direction of where I live, and a total pain in my ass! I got to think about how annoying this was going to be for the next 4 hours that I had left at work.

Oh the Galleria…it's a beating in-and-of itself. But now, at 10 'til 6 it's ridiculous. There is no way to park near the Coach store so I am in for a hike in the heels I have now been wearing for close to 9 hours. I think about the pain with every step I take knowing I'm going to have to repeat them all the way back to my parking spot. The Coach is dealt with and at 6:30, I'm on my way home.

It dawned on me that I have no shoes to go with my outfit. I hadn't made it home yet and could make one more stop. I was hating my heels by then but I hadn't taken them off or it would have been a lost cause to get them back on. I stopped at a couple of places and found nothing.

I was hungry and it was now 10 after 7 and I had not graced my apartment with my presence since 7:45am. I was quickly approaching the 10-hour mark and blood-sugar levels had dropped substantially. It got to the point where I said screw it, got a Southwest Chicken Salad from Jack 'n the Box and went home. I made it in time to see who won ANTM.

HERE'S THE FUNNY PART…

I'm sitting in my recliner with Crimson in my lap watching Forensic Files on Court TV. This was the 1st time I had actually gotten comfortable and relaxed from my busy day. Why I chose to watch Forensic Files – I'll never know. Right in the middle of an episode of a girl who got killed in her apartment, I get a suspicious knock on my door. I panic and dump about 10lbs of unnecessary adrenaline, get up slowly (Crimson is freaking out) and creep over to the door to look and see who it is. I have no idea who this guy is and he's carrying a backpack in which I can only surmise in that moment, that he was going to use it dispose of my battered body. So I freak. I didn't answer the door and I moved away from it slowly so he couldn't hear me. I was unnerved for hours after that!

This morning I wake up and I am running late. I catch a quick shower, throw on whatever is clean, grab my purse and… what?!?! Where the hell are my keys?!?!?! I can't find them anywhere! I'm running around crazy, looking in all the places I throw them and still nothing! In the midst of my panic, I hear a tiny sound of something scratching on the outside of my door. I thought to myself… noooo, those aren't my keys! I open my locked front door to find my keys had been hanging out in the keyhole all night. Niiice!

On my way to work, I remembered the guy who had knocked on my door. He wasn't coming to kill me, but to inform me I was an idiot.