Eureka Moment in the Middle of the Night

Have you ever woke up in the middle of the night and realized you did something extremely stupid? I did tonight. (today, it is 2:30am my time) My stupid cat woke me up like he always does, and I was restlessly trying to go back to sleep rehashing things at work, etc. I had a what if thought. Then in horror, I went rushing to my purse to see if my what if was a reality. It was.

I have 2 checking accounts where I currently live. My primary bank is the one I write checks from. The other bank, I no longer use but have a residual amt of money in it and I keep it open just in case I decide to switch back.

I ran out of checks. I went to my drawer where my checks live. In my mind I was looking for the checking account that was my primary. I saw my secondary acct check books, and rejected them immediatly and grabbed the others. The other check book I grabbed? From my old bank in AZ. I no longer have a checking acct with them. It is closed. Arghhhhhh.

I did not realize my mistake until just now. I made a frantic call to the utility that I had sent the wrong pmt to. They could not help me and advised I not pay till the check comes back. I made a frantic call to my old bank. They were fairly soothing, but it did not help my feelings.

Don't people get arrested for using checks from a checking acct that has been closed? I understand I am being hysterical and this probably does not happen, but I thought such action was overtly illegal. Aren't there people who stand around and wait for such actions with finger over the prosecute button?

Sometimes that cat does me favors. If he had not awakened me, who knows how long it would have taken me to realize my error. I might even have (horrors) written multiple checks from this acct. He still makes me crazy though....