My Latest Goof

In our home the one that is responsible for paying the bills is my husband for obvious reasons.  The cell phone bill, however, is under my name.  Whenever the payment is late I am the one that receives a text to my cell phone saying that if we don't pay we will get disconnected.  I always call my husband, and he eventually takes care of it.  Last week, I received one of those texts and asked him if he wanted me to take care of it since last time we got charged a reconnection fee, and I knew that being at work he wouldn't be able to take care of it. 

I was feeling good that I was able to help him with thi,s and that it would be one less thing he would have to worry about.  I went online, looked up the bill and selected "pay now."  Of course, they ask if you want to pay the entire balance or just the past due balance.  I chose to pay the past due balance.  Everything was ok so far.  I chose my payment method, reviewed, and confirmed...oops!  As the screen was changing I realized that the payment was processed for the ENTIRE amount!  At some point it must have asked me again the amount I wanted to pay.  A detail I would have noticed if my brained would have slowed down long enough for me to have carefully reviewed the payment before confirming it.  My heart skipped a beat. We were now out almost $480!  Now what?!?!?  I couldn't believe it.  I had done it again.  All I could think of was my husband's reaction. 

I picked up the phone and called customer service.  The good news was they could refund the difference.  The bad news was it would take 4 business days and it was Thursday which meant it would actually be six days.  I told my husband what had happened when he came home.  He was clearly worried, but I explained to him that I had taken care of it and that the money would be back in our account soon. 

Luckily, this goof up has a happy ending.  I called our cell phone carrier today to check on the status of the refund, and they told me that it had been credited to our account.  I checked and the money has been there since Tuesday.  Thank God! With that resolved, I can breath easier.  I know I have to slow down and read everything more carefully, but sometimes I get over confident or I just run on automatic. 

Like just now.  I am defrosting some chicken breast for dinner.  The microwave beeped to turn it over.  I went through the whole process of reaching into the microwave, flipping them, closing the microwave and washing my hands while talking to my husband.  I then realized I hadn't turned the microwave back on.  I can't remember the actual action of flipping it though.  The only reason I know I did it is because I washed my hands so I must have touched it.  It's an awful feeling to know that I did something but can't remember it. 

Anyway, my goof up was resolved; and if I don't burn dinner tonight, it will be a good day.