It takes a lot for me to say that.

In an effort to get me out of the house and into the fresh air at least once a day, I have reintroduced the concept of daily walks for me and the dogs. They have different walking styles, so I need to take them out separately.

I took Daisy out first today and about 3/4 of the way through, I tripped on the sidewalk on one of those spots where one area is higher than the other. Of course, I plunge forward, slam my hands and elbow into the ground first and then my left knee went crashing into the sidewalk.

And…I let go of Daisy. She ran into the street.

We were walking along one of those neighborhood streets that has a posted speed limit of 30 MPH and is rather curvy, but clueless people carelessly speed through there anyway. I was scared shitless. Daisy’s never been in the road before. Ever. We’ve never let our dogs roam around and in six years, she’s never been disconnected from me when we’ve been out on a walk.

I didn’t know what to do. She didn’t know what to do. I called her. She stood there, frozen but was several hundred feet away from me and I was still getting my bearings straight after hitting the ground so hard.

Of course, some jackass mom with two kids in an SUV careens around the corner, I assume spots Daisy and then LAYS ON THE HORN so God forbid she doesn’t have to slow down. Nice lesson to teach your kids. This petrifies Daisy so she runs further away. Another car zips by before I put myself in the middle of the street with my hand up to stop traffic and get my dog.

The next car honked at me so I lowered four of my fingers.

I walked slowly towards Daisy and told her to sit. She did. Good doggie. I stepped on her leash and carried her the rest of the way home. She’s fine…was scared but is okay now. Me on the other hand…my right hand and left knee are all scraped up and bleeding and I’m still shaking. Ow.

The biggest casualty though, was my iPod. It looks about the same as my right hand, except with a nice big scratch right down the center of the LCD screen. Goddammit.

The moral of the story? Slow the hell down, people. And step outside of your bubble for half a second once in awhile to think about the other creatures in the world.

Come here Daisy…come back into the telecommuting cave with Momma.