I sat in the eye doctor’s waiting room last week and made a list. It was unlike any list I had ever made in my life. On the top as a title I wrote:
FIND. Then I listed the things that were missing and needed to be found as quickly as possible because I needed them.
#1 - Pencil sharpeners
At Highclere Castle in England I had picked up five small plastic pencil sharpeners to give to the grandchildren at Christmas time. They were
fairly inexpensive, but they had a picture of the castle and also the name imprinted on them. I knew I had put them in a special place in September, but where that special place was, I had no idea.
#2 - Gifts for A & B
Every year we put up an Advent quilt for the three grandchildren that live down the road. It contains pockets with the numbers 1-25 embroidered on them and are big enough to hold little presents. When I asked Jay, Avery and Carter if I should stop doing the calendar, there was an emphatic, “NO.” Then Jay said, “Why would we want you to stop giving us presents?” That from a twelve year old.
But Adrianna and Bella in Novi do not reap the benefits of this daily present giving so I collect things I can give them as we usually go to their house at least once before Christmas. A bag with those small items was missing.
#3 - A gift similar to four others.
I can not be specific on this as it would give away a big Christmas surprise, but I had four of the same thing and was missing the 5th.
#4 - Two CDs
I had bought three CDs at Target for three different people and I had ordered one off Amazon. I had opened one from Target to listen to. The one from Amazon had not come yet and I was missing two. Math problem...how many CDs would I have if I had all of them?
#5 - Two pair of gloves
I have a pair of red wool gloves I bought at a sliver of a store near St. Stephens Cathedral in Vienna, Austria in 2011. I wore them in November when we had so much snow. I can’t find them now. I also had a multi-colored pair I bought at Menards in Muskegon which were also missing.
#6 - A small book
This was a present I bought in England for someone who shall remain nameless and it too was missing.
#7 - One alpaca sock
I found one under the bed but the other had vanished into thin air.
When I got home from seeing the eye doctor, I decided to start the search. I had just cleaned and straightened the shelf in the back closet, but looked there one more time. I went through my stuffed desk drawers and came up with nothing on my list.
I had already divided Christmas presents into sacks for each person, but I looked again in those sacks. Then I went to the big attic and opened a big plastic bin but nothing I needed was there. I noticed a smaller bin
under some sheets and pulled that out. BINGO! There were #1 and #6.
I found granddaughters Adrianna and Bella’s missing gifts in a stray bag in my craft room. I could cross number #2 off my list.
My granddaughter Avery found one of the missing CD’s near an attic door in our bedroom. I then opened the attic and found the Target bag with two more CDs. Hurrah for Avery and taking care of #4.
My husband was cleaning out the car this weekend and found my Menard gloves. However the Vienna gloves are still missing even after I searched coat pockets. I haven’t given up hope yet though. So that left half of #5.
As for #7. I put the socks on in the middle of the night when it was so cold in our bedroom and when my feet got warm enough I must have kicked them off. But why was one part way under the bed and not the other one? I used a flashlight to look beneath the bed and when it wasn’t there I decided to check under the blanket and voila….found sock!
I found #3 (one of five) on the floor of my craft room after I had looked there at least six times. I swear there is someone who follows me around and bothers me just to get my goat. Don’t laugh. I was sitting at a concert in Hart last Friday night and even though the wonderful woman pianist was playing Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue, I could hardly keep my eyes open. Then someone poked me several times in the back. I knew that the people behind us had left at intermission, but I turned slightly anyway to see if they might have come back. Nope….nobody. Same thing at home….nobody, but some gremlin is there always haunting me and hiding things. That is why I am now having to make a list like no other so I can feel satisfied in checking the items off when I find them and keep my sanity. However I gave up on finding a cell phone I misplaced over a year ago. Some things just can't be checked off and since I have a new one, I'll let the gremlin keep the old.
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