Saga after saga

In addition to our travel woes, I had quite a scare yesterday; I left my purse hanging on the back of a chair in a Starbucks in East Palo Alto.

I have never in my life lost a wallet or left my purse anywhere before.  To leave it in EPA -- not the best of 'hoods -- was extremely unwise, to say the least.

When I realized what I'd done, my blood pressure hit the roof, I was hyperventilating and crying and dizzy all at once, and I could barely get out the words to tell the Guv what I'd done.  He high-tailed it back there as I called the store and explained the situation.  We were still a good fifteen minutes away.

"I don't see anything," the barista said, "but hold on a minute... Oh, wait... Is your name Roxane?"

They had my purse.  When I showed up to claim it, they even had put it in the safe.

After thanking them profusely, I dropped a nice tip in their bucket and headed back to the car, my faith in humanity restored.  I had left my bag in an extremely poor area for half an hour, and, not only were all of my belongings, credit cards and money in there, someone had put it in the safe for me.  That Starbucks has been a family favorite since our move, and especially since this story, and now?  I'll be a loyal customer for life.

Of course, this is a Rox and Roll drama, so it couldn't end there.  I met my friend P at the Four Seasons this morning for breakfast, and, when the check came, my wallet was missing.  I almost started hyperventilating again.  My first thought was, "I must've been pickpocketed in the City yesterday!" followed by, "At least I have a passport so I can still get on the plane..." followed by, "Wait!  I paid for takeout last night, so my wallet has to be somewhere in Palo Alto!"

Followed by my trip home to find my wallet sitting on my kitchen counter...

I thanked P for breakfast and will owe her one... meanwhile, our flight to Houston's delayed a couple of hours.  The kids are super-excited to be heading to Texas, but I don't think they understand that we'll be there for all of six hours if we're lucky.  But since the return of my purse, I'm looking at things on the up-side: if they have a good attitude, and boy do they right now, the trip will go well for all involved. I hope so; Santa's watching!