Today I had an accidental day off.  How, you might be asking yourselves, does a girl have an accidental day off.  Well, let me tell you.  This morning started out like every other weekday.  I crawled out of bed to the screaming alarm on my cell phone.  I clicked it off and sat up in bed.  My eyes focused in on the time and I yawned.  Ugh...5:35 a.m.  I cannot wait for summer to be over so I can go back to running at night.  All I wanted to do was crawl back under the covers and sleep for one more hour.  Just one.  That's not asking too much is it?  But Pepper is used to our morning routine by now and she was hopping all around the room and doing her little pee-pee dance that meant I could not go back to bed.  She had some business to take care of. 

I changed out of my pj's and slipped on some shorts and a sports bra.  Even this early in the morning the heat and humidity make wearing anything else unbearable.  I walked in the kitchen, grabbed my Gatorade out of the fridge and my keys off the counter.  We were off.

Our run started out like any other.  As expected the humidity made it harder than hell for me to breathe and a part of me wished that I would have taken a hit off the Albuterol inhaler Lance perscribed me. He thinks I may have exercised induced asthma and the medicine in the inhaler opens up my lungs.  While it does help me breathe it gives me a severe case of the shakes.  If you combine that with my morning Starbucks I look less like a 27 year old gal and more like an old woman with a bad case of Parkinsons.  So since I had my hopes set on a grande soy latte I opted not to use the inhaler and just suffer.

After what seemed like forever and one too many hills we finally crossed over the highway into Turtle Park and made our way back to my car.  I bent over to unclip my keys off of Pepper's collar and groaned outloud when I realized they were not there.  They had been lost, once again, somewhere on my four mile run. Yes, as retarded as it sounds this has happened to me before.  A few months ago the same thing happened when Pep took off after a rabbit.  The leash jerked out my hand and in a glittery shower of metal I witnessed my keys disappear into the rough on the golf course.  Beth, Joshua and I searched and searched to no avail.  We found bits and pieces of keychain and my Gold's Gym thingy but no keys of any importance.  My dad had to bring me the spare key to my car and lectured me first about not ever putting my keys around my dogs collar again and two about making sure that I got a copy of my spare.  I would be really sorry if it happened again and I lost my spare.  I hugged him and kissed him on the cheek, told him he saved the day, and not to worry.  I was going to Wal-Mart that night to have a spare made.  But I didn't.  Then, over time, I completely forgot.  So the key I lost this morning was the last known key to my little car.  I called Beth and when she answered the phone I stared to cry.  I explained it all to her and cried some more.  I felt so stupid, I knew my dad was going to kill me and I wanted to kick myself for not getting a copy of the key.  Christ I am such a procrastinator and now I was about to pay, literally, for my stupid mistake.

She offered to come and get me and I told her that would be great.  I was going to start retracing my steps so just to drive along my normal route until she saw me.  Minutes later she pulled up along beside me.  I climbed into the front seat of her car, still keyless, and sighed.  She tried to cheerme up but nothing helped. The tears just kept swelling up in my eyes I knew if I tried to answer her they would spill over and down my cheeks so I just sat there and nodded.  I don't honestly know why I was being such a baby and crying so much, it's just that nothing ever goes my way and yes, I guess maybe I was having a little pity party for myself. 

I called into work and told the girls what I had done.  I explained to them about not having any spare key for my car and therefore had noway to get to work today.  I wanted to hug Beth when she told me if I rode along with her to work I could use her car to drive back to Forest Park and look for my keys.  I didn't hug her though because I was covered in sweat and stunk to high heaven. Instead I rode along with her and said a silent little prayer I have such a great friend.  I dreaded having to go back and retrace my whole run.  If it would have been just be me running it wouldn't be so bad but Pepper has an extenda-leash so she runs all over.  She is a maniac.  She rolls in the grass, dives in the water, she sniffs in every hole, chases squirrels up every tree and today she even chased one into a fallen tree that had crashed to the ground in the big storm we had a few weeks ago.  I impatiently waited as she untangled herself out of the limbs that lay lifeless on the ground and thought for sure she would come out limping.  Nope, she just trotted ahead looking for her next prey.  That's when it hit me...maybe somehow the branches had unhooked the clip and my keys had fallen off there, amidst the rotting tree limbs.  Fat chance but hey, anything is possible.

As I pulled up to the Jewelbox and couldn't get out of the car fast enough.  I ran down the flower paths, past the huge greenhouse and up to the fallen tree. There, laying in a bed of dead leaves and twisted tree limbs was my keychain.  I breathed a sigh of relief and picked them up.  I went back to Beth's car and drove home thanking my lucky stars I had found them.  When I walked in the door I peeled off my sweaty clothes and hopped in the shower. I suds up and marveled at the fact that I had actually found them. I got dressed, sat down on my bed and compiled a list of errands to run on my accidental day off:

* Drop off picture to Amy's mom

* Go to the Farmers Market and get some tilapia and brocolli for dinner

* Go to Hallmark

* Call Pat's Bar and see if we need reservations for Friday night.

* Balance my check book

* Stop at Walmart and get some keys made.  Make sure to get an extra set just in case of an emergency.