Which way?

I told a friend the other day that I think someone may have opened my skull, removed my brain, and dumped a can of chicken soup in its place. Craig has stopped me mid sentence a few times to tell me that I had already told him something that I thought I was telling him for the first time. I cannot begin to accompany Craig to the grocery store without a list, and I have forgotten for days on end to return a phone call. I think what I miss most, though, is my sense of direction.

I don't leave the house alone too much except to go to doctor appointments. Three times lately I have gotten lost. Add this to the fact that I have been to each of these offices several times and it becomes embarrassing. A few weeks ago I was on my way home from seeing my MFS doctor (Maternal Fetal Specialist). There are exactly 5 turns involved in this trip. I was pretty confident that I could get home without the GPS (Bonnie), so she stayed off. After driving a reasonable distance I realized that none of my surroundings looked familiar. Hmmm. I drove on a little farther until there was a familiar road sign. Gratiot Road. What?!?! I had traveled a good 5 miles past where a turn needed to be made. Lucky for me, Bonnie warmed up quickly and got me home, though a little confused.

Fast forward one month to last Monday. Another appointment at MFS. Craig had taken my car that day, therefore, no GPS. That's ok, I could do this! I made it there with absolutely no problem. On the way home, I decided to stop at Sam's Club for a pretzel. Not a problem, it was right along the way. I got my snack and was back on the road when it started raining. Determined not to miss my turn, I paid close attention to the street signs...for a little while. Again, things weren't looking familiar. Neither were the street names, but then again some of them have more than one name. When I got to an area where there were many people loitering on the street and most of the houses were sporting boarded up windows, I decided to break down and call Craig. Sure I could probably retrace my steps to Sam's, but I really had no idea how I got here, so also couldn't be sure that I was still on the same road.

"Um, Craig, I need your help. I'm lost."

"Again??? (giggle giggle) "Where are you?"

It always cracks me up when he asks that. If I KNEW, I wouldn't be LOST! "Intersection of John R and 8 Mile."

"WHAT?!? Why are you there. You need to get out of there."

Um, I was trying. Thus the phone call to him. "How?"

Directions ensued that were so complicated I had to write them down on my pretzel wrapper. Nearly an hour later I pulled into the driveway, haven driven an extra thirty miles. Oops. Yes, next time I would be sure to take Bonnie. That night on the news it was reported that some trouble had brewed during the day on John R and 7 Mile....just 1 mile from where I stopped to call Craig.

Today I went to see my regular doctor. I knew I was in trouble when I got lost and had to do 3 U-turns to get out of our subdivision. I know very well how to get there, but road construction and traffic congestion led me astray. Once again I found myself on unfamiliar roads, but I recovered and found my way. Woe is me.