Just another day in the life...

So. Monday I had a flat tire, and didn't have time to fix it for a few days, so I was taking the bus to work. On Wednesday, I decided I would just stay at school till it was time to go to Bible Study, instead of spending the entire evening bussing all over the city. I had a backpack full of stuff (marking, marks books, etc) that I was packing around with me, cause I didn't have my car. Now Wednesday I had started to feel gross again - my sore throat/cold/cough combo coming back to haunt me again. By the beginning of Bible Study I had decided that I was feeling icky enough that I needed to stay home the next day. There was only one snag. I had the quizzes that I was going to be giving the kids with me, and not at school, and some of the quiz was hand-written, so I couldn't email it. I was going to have to get up early, bus to school for 7am or so, do my photocopying and lay everything out for my sub, and then come home. That was not a particularily attractive option, especially since I had been sleeping really poorly the last week - Tues night I only got about 2.5 hours of sleep. But, it had to be done.

"Why don't you just fax in your day plan and the quizzes?" said my friend Laura, whose house we have Bible Study at. I told her I didn't have a fax machine, so she offered to lend me hers. Woohoo! I would actually get to sleep on Thursday!

So, Bible Study ended, and off I went with two other friends for the bus - purse, giant backpack, and basket with fax machine in hand. Me and my load got off one bus and transferred to another. About two minutes into the trip on the second bus, a horrific realization dawned on me...

I HAD LEFT MY PURSE ON THE OTHER BUS!!!

Here it was, nearly 11:30 at night, not the best part of town (not the worst, but not the best), and my purse was quickly headed far far away from me. I ran up to the driver and asked what a person would do if they had left a purse on the bus. He told me he'd call dispatch and have them radio out to all the #99 drivers and have them check. I gave him my number and told him to have them call me at any time of the day or night if they found anything.

I was horrified. I had EVERYTHING in there. My house keys, car keys, work keys. My credit cards, my checkbook, all my ID. My cell phone. My PALM PILOT. I was beginning to feel sick. I could replace the cards, but the phone? Maybe. But never the Palm. It was a grad gift, and I just couldn't afford to replace it. Yes, life was going to carry on, but how could I have been so irresponsible???

I raced home, thankful that I keep a spare key hidden. Sick, waaay overtired, and now this. I quickly began calling to cancel all my cards and my phone. "What am I gonna DO?" I messaged a few friends who were up late and asked them to pray that someone honest finds my purse. I began to bawl. (keep in mind my super-duper overtiredness here :P). And I still had to write out the detailed plan for my sub the next day, too.

As I was dealing with business, it dawned on me more and more how much was actually in there. Birth Certificate. SIN card. Keys, with my address in my palm. I would have to have my locks changed. My parent's keys, and their address still on my driver's licence. Would they have to change their locks, too? Thoughts of identity theft went through my head, and of all the money I'd have to pay to replace all my cards. How would I get new ID if I didn't have any ID to prove who I was? And on and on it went. I kept PLEADING with God that someone honest found my bag.

Having cancelled everything I needed to cancel for the time being, I started to write out my sub plan. I didn't have it finished and faxed off untill 3:30 am. I asked God to give me peace about it, and felt something, but I didn't know what. Wishful thinking? I didn't want to get my hopes up. I fell into bed, only to have worry and a massive coughing fit wake me up at 6:30 again.

What am I gonna do? What am I gonna DO? At about 7:30, I called my parents to tell them what happened, mostly just to warn them that their address and house keys were floating around out there somewhere. My dad was wonderful. He even offered to drive over and give me some cash to get me by till I got my new cards (as I now no longer had any access to my money. It's amazing what a bizzarre feeling that was).

I thought I would try one last resort. I called transit info and told them what had happened, and asked for the number of the lost propery office. The lady suggested that I try calling the depot first, as any lost property goes there first. So I called, and asked weakly if there had been a purse turned in last night. I gave a quick description, and the lady went to check. It seemed like forever before she came back to the phone.

"Does it have an umbrella in it?"

"Uhhh..... maybe." Of all the things in there, the umbrella was not what I was thinking about!

"What about a book... by Gary Paulsen?"

"HATCHET!!! Yes!"

She looked for the title. "Yep, Hatchet."

"That's it!! That's my purse! Is there a fat brown wallet in there?"

(rummaging) "Yes, it appears so."

"And a cell phone?" I asked, a little more cautiously.

"Yes."

OK. Go for the gusto, I thought. "What about a Palm Pilot... It's in a black leather case?"

"Yeah, it's silver coloured?"

I couldn't believe it. "YEAH!!! Oh my goodness, everything's there!!! How do I come and pick it up?"

The lady gave me directions, and as soon as I had hear from my TOC, I was ready to go. But how to pay for the bus? All I was able to dig up was $0.80. I tried knocking on my landlord's door to sheepishly ask to borrow a toonie, but no answer. So off I went, hoping I had a sympathetic bus driver. Thankfully, I did, and he let me on (maybe it was cause I looked so pathetic with my spare key and 80 cents made up of nickels and dimes! :P)

Anyway, I got to the depot, and signed for my bag! Yahooooo!!! A quick check told me everything was, in fact, there.

THANK YOU GOD!!! (I really should have trusted that feeling I had when I asked God for peace!)

I spent the rest of my day getting a new bank card, getting my tire fixed (which they did for FREE!), having lunch with my dad, and then having a looooong nap.

What can I say, I'm so glad that there are honest people out there, and that I have a God who's looking out for me, even when I do dumb things!

Reunited!