I’ve been traveling alot this fall. I’ve gotten used to those small containers of shampoo and conditioner and body lotion that hotels give you.

What I’ve noticed is that I seem to have trouble keeping the liquids and gels in their rightful places.  Consider this:

• One morning last week, while getting ready to have my photo taken for a story for the Northwestern University alumni magazine, I was pounding out the lotion, like a newly opened ketchup bottle. If only a webcam with slow motion rewind could have captured what came next–lotion flying out in small globs, landing on my cheek, the sink, the door to the bathroom, and like abstract art, on the textured, elegant carpet outside of the bathroom.  The container itself landed on the carpet, as a multi-dimensional accent to the abstract art. It would have made a great YouTube video.  Art is fleeting, isn’t it?

• A few weeks ago, after traveling and bringing some of those lovely containers back home, I realized too late that the lotion that I thought I had applied to my legs was actually hair conditioner.  The bottles are the same shape and size and unless one looks at the fine print carefully, lotion can look very much like hair conditioner. My only clue was that the liquid seemed to flow out of the bottle a little too easily…..

• And my last example of misplaced liquids and gels comes from an incident over a month ago.  After driving the morning car pool to school and stopping at the grocery store on the way home, I had a chance to look at myself in the mirror.  Why didn’t anyone tell me that I had toothpaste in my hair? 

When you think that you’ve got it all figured out, that’s when you should worry.  Life continues to remind me in small ways to be humble.  If you see me with globs of lotion on my cheek or toothpaste in my hair, do me a favor.  Don’t say a word. I’ll find it sooner or later.