This weekend featured an extensive to-do list that include a walkabout through the local mall. As we walked into Macy’s to begin our adventure I gave Dayle my Moleskin case to place in her purse. I knew I wouldn’t need it until we stopped for a snack or lunch, and she was already carrying her purse so it wouldn’t be any additional burden or anything like that.

After a number of stops including a successful bout at the Gap, we braved the food court for lunch. I placed my meter case on my tray after testing and we enjoyed a lesirely lunch break while discussing the remaining items on our checklist. Lunch ended and we proceeded to hit up Old Navy, Nordstrom, Mrs. Fields (because I can’t resist their M&M cookies), and Macy’s on our way out.

Somewhere between cookies and the first rack of dresses that Dayle wanted to look at I had a moment of panic, “Did I give you my meter to put back in your purse?”

…uh oh…

Panic sets in as a quick search of her purse comes up empty. I immediately jump to the worst case scenario: I threw my meter away.

I was fuming the entire walk back to the food court. How could I be so careless? Heavy, controlled breathing matched my steps as we got closer to the trash can in question. How could I be so careless?

After explaining the situation, a kind employee brought out a spare trashbag and some latex gloves for us to wear as we excavated the past 90 minutes of trash in this recepticle. The experience was as pleasant as you can imagine. Dayle was a trooper the whole time helping me out – she didn’t think twice when it came to sifting through all of that stuff. A few minutes, and a lot of full drink cups, later we left the food court meter-less. Naturally, I was devastated.

On our walk back to Macy’s to finish dress shopping we mapped out what needed to be replaced and from where: Case? Staples. Delica? Dayle had an extra. Test strips? I have plenty. Meter? Walgreens (Fun fact: we went to Walgreens earlier in the day, what’s another trip?) Pokemon: Black? After some insisting from Dayle we went to GameStop to replace the DS cartridge that I was keeping in there. I figured now was the best time to step up to Black 2, at least until the proper 3DS version comes out this Fall. But I digress.

After buying a new DS game we found a bathroom to wash our hands and that’s when Dayle had the epiphany, “Did you check the Gap bag?”

Of course I didn’t.

And of course my meter was in there.

Looking back on this a few days later, I’m not as embarassed as I was in the moment. Digging through garbage is not how I envisioned my Saturday afternoon going, but I got a DS game out of it. So…win?

Moral of the story: don’t throw your meter in the garbage.