Ooops...

Is there anyone in your life who is constantly making silly and stupid mistakes? In my life, that person is me. I never recognized it really until I met my husband, oddly enough, so maybe he has somehow influenced me but it seems like he never makes any mistakes. That is really hard for me sometimes because I feel foolish when I make mistakes and it can be really difficult for me to take criticism, which is what I always interpret laughter to be when I am the cause of the laughter. But, because this blog is about doing things that are "scary" and out of my comfort zone, I decided that sharing a personal vignette would fall into that category. Having recently moved to the great Northwest living about 20 miles outside of downtown Portland (where we work and go to school), transportation with just one car between two people becomes an issue. Fortunately, when we first moved here I met a really generous family at church who offered to let me borrow their extra car for awhile. After about 3 months of using their car I felt like it was time to give it back. Then they informed me that they decided to sell the car so I really had to give it back. In thinking about transportation options I decided that I would like to be part of the bicycle commuters community that is HUGE in Portland. So began the bicycle hunt. After agreeing on a price range with my husband we decided that craigslist would be the best route for searching. I started trying out at a lot of bikes but nothing fit me quite right. Then one day I found a super great deal on a nice bike. I tried it out and was instantly in love. Even though the asking price was slightly higher than Ken and I had originally planned on we agreed that it was a good deal. This past Saturday I excitedly picked up the bike, paid the man, and went home. Naturally, that evening I couldn't wait to go out for a bike ride. The bike was super light and a really smooth ride. Everything was going good until I started up a hill. I went to shift down a gear and ...what?! This is a SINGLE speed?! How did I buy a bike without realizing that it was a single speed?! I was so shocked and disappointed and frustrated and any other word you can think of that I might have been. I really don't know how it happened but I can only guess that in my intense infatuation with the bike I didn't realize that I had never checked the gears liked I had done with the many other bikes I looked at. Obviously the bike still work but it really stinks for living on a hill.

I had to try really hard not to be offended when Ken laughed. I know it was funny. I would have laughed at someone else if it had happened to them too. So this is me trying to get over people laughing at my mistakes, especially when they really are funny.

Now your turn; what stupid things have you done lately?