oh, eleanor, i'm such a cheater.

i'm not much of a practical joker. i mean, i love to laugh, and i crave the sound of people laughing (and i'm ashamed to admit that i crave that i made them laugh… i'm needy that way), but i'm not really a prankster. and i much more enjoy laughing at someone who gets punked than laughing at myself (i'm vulnerable that way).
that said, i do remember an april fool's day many years ago, way before kids, when i was working at petro's (where else?) on the other side of town at the mall. i took my lunch break, came back, worked and then prepared to leave. okay, see ya bye… i'm out the door. and then out in the parking lot. and looking. and looking. i park in pretty much the same place every day. i'm not so forgetful that i can't remember where i parked my car!! seriously? where's my car?
and as i'm wandering aimlessly through the parking lot, a glimmer of hope begins to kindle in my heart. did my car get stolen?
seriously?

i mean who would steal a crappy honda civic with a bad paint job? who is that desperate?
turns out nobody.
my staff moved my car to the other side of the mall while i was at lunch.
i come back into the store and prepare to call the police (yes folks, i'm that old. this was before the days of cell phones). i'm actually pretty excited! i tell my staff, resisting the urge to physically jump up and down, that my car has been stolen. whoo hoo!! new car, here i come!
and then they tell me.
april fool!!
DAMN! (and i don't usually swear, but these were my BC {before Christ} days and i probably let a multitude of bombs fly, but won't drop one here)
seriously?
it's not stolen?
it was funny, but i remember driving home (after the long, long, LONG walk to my car) kinda disappointed that eleanor (my car) and i were still partners. i mean i loved and respected her, but i was guilty of lusting over another. i know, i'm horrible. i'm that girl. and once  i succumbed to lust, it was over between eleanor and i. it wasn't long before i ditched her and started dating someone more worthy of my children. (and no, i did not leave eleanor for a minivan. i would not do that to her.)