The road to hell is paved with good intentions, or so they say. Well, I must be on the fast track because my intentions are a bit overwhelming it seems.

In true-to-me form I made a joke that went over none-to-well with Mr SoCal (of course I had no idea that it would be touching on a nerve, but still, it was a questionable joke at best, I should have held my tongue) and things almost got very messy. It’s okay, we both did some explaining and he says everything is cool but I still feel a little bad for it.

Then there are all of the web-related revamps needing to be done and are they? Um… work in progress!!!

And, speaking of intentions, this might be a good time to tell you of my Intention to have an uneventful flight to NJ last month.

(Because those that know me know that I am the epitome of grace, they will not be shocked at ALL about the following.)

The first leg of the trip (the 40 minute flight to Atlanta that seems to accompany any flight out of T-town) went without incident. Mom swapped seats with me so I could have the slightly less claustrophobic window seat. There was a smidge of turbulence but, as I explained during the 3 hours layover, nothing worse than my usual vertigo. We had dinner at the TGIFridays on concourse B before taking the train-tram to Concourse E to wait for our flight to Newark.

Let me paint the scene a bit. Since I had to go to work for 3/4 of a day before the flight I was dressed for such in a cute tan skirt with a slight flip at the knee and simple ivory knit shirt, wearing hose and my tan kitten-heels because they are easy to walk in (and easy to slip off at the security point) while being very cute. For the record, I really don’t like travelling in jeans or anything overly binding, so casual chic works well for this. I consider myself quite the picture of cute complete with brown faux-fur trimmed coat and two burgundy carry-on bags all working harmoniously with my tan travelling ensemble. My intention was to make a smooth transition onto the plane, situate myself and spend the next 2+ hours knitting on A’s sweater vest.

I think that was my exact thought as the toe of my left heel connected with the pebbled entrance of the jet. And found absolutely no purchase. The sound was as of some cosmic zipper rending the fabric of time as the mild traction of my shoe skated along the lock-block texture of that plane.

Luckily I had placed one bag on each shoulder, so my descent to the ground followed a rather linear fashion. I slid forward until my right knee ‘cushioned’ the fall, at which point I tilted to the left against the doorway and sat in a 3/4 split stretched between the plane and the gate. Silence reigned for a moment or two then everyone spoke at once.

Mom (from just inside the door herself): Is anything broken? [I’m not sure if she meant on me, the plane, or the laptop I was carrying. I was more concerned about the laptop; it’s fine.]

Me: I’m okay, I just slipped, my shoe, the floor, no traction, it’s okay, really.

Flight attendants: Are you alright? [I honestly think that their stun was quickly replaced with fear that I might sue them or something. I just remember looking up to three very anxious faces, one of which I think might have been the pilot.]

The flight attendants gathered my coat (which started out draped over my left arm) and laptop bag as Mom helped me to my feet. As I passed through the 4 rows of first class seating they called out ‘let us know if you need an ice pack’. By the end of the flight I almost wished I’d asked for one since the knee had become very sore. As the beverage service came through our flight attendant asked how I was feeling after my ‘graceful entrance’. A little sore, lady, thanks.

The total injury count for that little spill was 3 scraped streaks on my right knee (that are finally healing 2 weeks later), a line of bruises six inches down on that shin (I’m guessing from the edge of the gateway where that leg landed) and a line of bruises on my left thigh from falling against the doorway opening. Kneeling down was not an option for the entire holiday.

So, folks, what have we learned from this? That intentions count for crap and to always lead with your heel!