Thursday, September 8, 2011

Make it part of your routine!

We all say it.  We all hear it.  We all know it.  We all do it.  Don't we?

I'm talking about sunscreen.  Make applying sunscreen part of  your daily routine.  It sounds so simple.  Shower, dry off, put on deodorant, sunscreen, get dressed, put on make up, brush your hair and teeth, etc..  

Okay, I'll admit it.  I sometimes skip that sunscreen step.  Sometimes, being a stay at home mom, that shower doesn't happen until bedtime.  You aren't going to put on sunscreen at bedtime, are you?  Still, it should be right there, in the drawer or on the counter with your deodorant, or your make up, or hair brush, or whatever so you have no excuse to forget.

Since school has started back, my routine is all out of whack.  Some mornings I get up way too early with my son, sometimes I get to sleep an extra hour to get up with my daughter.  Some times I am up and dressed before I wake her, some times I get dressed as she is.

So this morning I was up with my son, laid back down for the 30 minutes before my daughter needed to get up, got dressed as she did, and left.  I'm in my husbands truck because my clutch went out.  Something that should have happened 20k miles ago, but happened last Monday.  The repair has been a nightmare in itself.  First they sent the wrong clutch, then they sent the right one ground instead of second day air, then it got lost.  Supposedly, it is coming today.  Anyway, I had two errands to run after dropping her off. So I go to the bank, it isn't open yet, so I go to Walmart to pick up a prescription from the pharmacy that opens 30 minutes after the bank would.  Wasted driving.  I need to pick up a couple of things, and with no kids, I can try to find those cute pants my cousin had.  So I get out and shut the door.  Immediately I reach for my pocket to hit the lock button as I would in my car.  No keys, so I look back and sure enough I hit the lock getting out.  The keys are in the ignition.  Just great.

So I call my husband, and he doesn't answer.  I text him.  He replies that he is sending one of his employees with a spare ("We are fortunate that I took the spare out of the truck last night"  Whew! Thank you, God!).  So I do my shopping in a hurry, thinking it would be about 30 minutes.  I get back out to the truck to wait, and ask who I'm looking for.  Well, they put the key down and couldn't find it.  WHAT??  Remaining calm while wanting to stomp my feet and whine that I want my car back.  Trying to get perspective, but cant stop thinking that I need to be home by 9 because the TV repairman can come any time after that. Deep cleansing breaths.   

Sun is getting higher, clouds are getting more scarce, I go from chilly feeling to warm.  I'm trying to focus on how nice it feels outside in the breeze since it is 20 degrees cooler than it was last week. Wishing I was in a different location for that though.  Then I feel it.  It's only been a few minutes, but I realize fast that I had on no sunscreen. One benefit of my scar is that it is my own built in UV sensor.  It has faded to a nice silver freckle covered line, but if I get in the sun without protection it turns red almost immediately.  It is red at this point.   

So I move around the truck and sit on the curb in front of it in the shade.  I cant fully block the sun though, so I move and lean on the passenger door.  Hunkered down hiding from the sun.  It's about another 15 minutes of what I am sure looks like I'm standing there pouting with my arms crossed, before I hear "you don't look so happy".  I turn around to see one of the guys in that familiar blue uniform and say "I am now" as he unlocks my door.  

So the bottom line.. Always wear sunscreen, even if you are just running in and out of stores.  You never know when you might be sitting outside for over an hour waiting for a spare key.  Make it part of  your routine.  


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