Miss Judge, er, misjudge

Misjudge: To judge, estimate, or value wrongly or unjustly.

Remember that one time I figured we only needed 5 bags of white rock to landscape the front garden and it turned out we needed 48? I had one of those miscalculations again today.

I worked at home today and planned to take a break when they called to say our car -- with its brand spankin' new timing belt and water pump -- would be ready. My plan was to just jog on over to the shop and get it since I figured it was only about 3 miles away. Then I could get some exercise and wouldn't have to bug anyone for a ride. Just in case the weather was crappy, my father-in-law was on standby.

The call came at 11:10 a.m. I was smart enough to ask if they closed for lunch and she said yep, from noon to 1. So I said, "Great! I'll run on over now." I think she probably thought "run" meant drive since really, don't we always say, "I'm gonna run into town" or "run an errand" and we never really run?

Looking at the clock I figured I'd change into running clothes quick, be on my way and get there by noon. By coincidence, my father-in-law called just then to see if I still needed a ride. "Nope, I got it covered," I said. "I'm guessing it's only about 3 miles so I'm just gonna run over and get there before they close up at noon."

About a mile into the run I thought, wow, I did not calculate this right. This is going to be over 3 miles, easy. Actually, probably closer to 4. So now I really have to step it up and, no matter how tired I get, I really can't stop and rest or walk. Not if I wanted to get there by noon.

I had my sports watch on so I knew by my time when I'd hit the 3-mile mark. And that garage was still quite a ways away. A big ways! At that point I was going up a hill and had to power walk 20 feet so my legs wouldn't turn into rubber. It was getting brutal.

When I saw on my watch it was 11:58 and I was sure I had at least a half-mile to go, I was praying my watch was fast. I mean I usually set my other ones fast! So I kept chugging along and thought, worse case scenario, I get there, drop the check off and drive back later to get the key (I had the spare on me) and the receipt.

I was less than a quarter of a mile away when I saw them leaving the shop. Thankfully, I got there and waved the check in the air. Hey, who's gonna turn away a very sweaty, red-faced old chick carrying 500 bucks?

On the way home I made sure I reset the odometer and retraced my route. Guess what? It was 4.3 miles! Waaaay miscalculation!

But you know what? I also misjudged myself and my abilities. I actually ran 4.3 miles today!!! Me! I did that! Now that is waaaay cool for this old lady!

(I'm not saying I'd do it again... Let's not get carried away.)