D'oh!

Today I went shopping for a few things. Mostly food, and something for my nephew's (Alex) birthday, next month. He'll be 8.

In Colchester there is a big shop called "The China Centre"- we have a lot of people from the Far East dotted about here, as they teach various Far East Studies at the Uni, teach Mandarin, etc. So! I had seen a few weeks' ago that they sold genuine Olympics souvenirs stuff and spotted a range of children's rucksacks. I bought one for Alex- a light grey one, with the Beijing logo and a panda character on it. I also bought matching pens. They packed it nicely in a big paper gift bag with red and white ribbons.

And now I don't know where it is.

The last place I know for sure I had it, I was packing my shopping in a food shop before jumping on the bus just outside of it.

Did I leave it at the end of the till?
Did I drop it as I was walking out of the shop?
Did I put it down for a moment, by the bus, when I was getting my fare out of my purse?

I don't know. All I know is that I was only on the bus for 3 minutes before thinking "OH NO!" and ringing the bell for it to stop, leaping off, leaving a confused driver and about 25 bemused passengers.

Or.... perhaps I panicked on the bus unnecessarily, and it was really there, beside me, or at my feet

I went back to the shop. No one there has seen it. Nothing at the bus-stop.

Next step is to call the Bus Company in the morning.

I also had put stuff from other shops into the gift bag- a few things from the art & craft shop, a T-Shirt I'd found in a charity shop. It had a cat on it, too, dammit.

Have you ever done anything like this?

Those who know my other sites, and my muses Bob and Dilly, will understand how my heart jumped into my throat and I bawled my eyes out- I came so close to losing Dilly. They often come shopping with me. If she had been in that bag, I'd have lost her...... At first I cried out of frustration, then anger at the possibility that someone had taken it, then disappointment that I had lost really nice gifts that I'd already been looking forward to showing my partner, then my mum, then finally sending to Alex. But THEN, when I realised how easily I could have lost Dilly, oh boy did I lose it.

Do I feel stupid or what? So, so STOOOOPID! -I feel silly that 4 bags was too much for me to look after!

Rang OH, he got the car out and came and got me. His advice?
We'll call the Bus Company;
you didn't lose your purse;
you're not silly- it happens;
sometimes you just have to say "D'oh!" and let it go.

:^)