I may be blonde but I'm not an airhead - really!

After a 7 day trip that included 6 flights, 5 trains, three hotels and one rental car I was exhausted and came home able to only use half my brain.  I picked my son up from school early on my way home from the airport thinking that we would have some good bonding time together (hopefully snuggled up in bed with a movie!). 

As the “low fuel” light was glaring at me, I took a quick detour to the gas station on the way home.  I rolled down the back windows to talk to the kid while I was pumping gas so he could tell me all about his day at school.  When I was done, the gas pump offered me a car wash – the kid LOVES to drive through the car wash so I said yes and off we went.  I put my super-secret code into the machine, rolled up my window and waited for the mechanical wheel to push us through.  As we started going, I was marveling at the pretty green, pink and blue foam when I heard “Roll them up! Roll them up!” from the backseat.  I looked back and realized that the kid was being coated from the neck down in aforementioned pretty green, pink and blue foam – as was the rest of the backseat. It seems I had forgotten to roll up the back windows after pumping gas. 

I frantically pushed the back seat window button – it was maddeningly slow.  Luckily I got the windows up right at the end of the foam cycle but before the rinse.  The kid was completely covered, my seats were completely covered, my floor was completely covered and we laughed like crazy for the rest of the wash.  Unfortunately, I didn’t get a picture but I will never forget (and the kid would never let me forget) the sight of him after going through the car wash.  On the bright side, I had no problem getting my son to take a shower, and the leather in my backseat has never been cleaner!

This isn’t the first time I’ve made a stupid mistake due to exhaustion.  The week of the car wash I also got into the shower while still wearing my underwear, and searched everywhere for my cell phone only to realize after tearing the house apart that I was holding it in my hand. 

Of course, I’m writing this while on another trip – 5 flights in 5 days.  I’m tired just thinking about it.