Peonyiana: December 2003 Archives

Revelry at the PGMP will involve a batch of Irish Coffee, a nice hunk of Stilton, and a rented movie (XMen 2). We'll be having friends over for dinner tomorrow evening.

Found today: one maraca and one little wooden sign, both in a basket that had been searched before. All we need now is the striker for the triangle and we'll be three for three.

Perhaps part of the problem was the big basket -- too easy to lose little things in there. We recently picked up some plain white dishpan-type boxes for sorting out blocks, cars, and trains. It should be easier to pick out what does and doesn't belong. I got a little carried away this afternoon --
click here to see one of the labels I made for each dishpan.

I think there is some kind of space-time anomaly in my house.

How else to account for all the weird things that keep disappearing? Keys, lids to travel mugs, books, rolls of tape, silver gel markers, and toys -- especially toys -- keep disappearing.

Sometimes these things do reappear: usually when I'm not looking for them, sometimes in places I'd never thought to look, sometimes in places that I was sure I'd already looked. The other day I swear a cassette tape just materialized onto a shelf that had been empty thirty minutes previously.

Sometimes, they never do reappear, or only turn up after I've despaired of finding them (for example, the book I lost one Easter and discovered on Christmas Eve, wedged deep in the upholstery, long after I'd replaced it.)

This drives me nuts. I have this weird compulsive side that becomes profoundly uneasy if there's a piece missing from a set (I especially hate when puzzle pieces get misplaced; I keep puzzles out of reach now and only dole out a new one when the old one is turned in intact.) I probably should be working in an OR and not as the at-home mother of a little boy who got toys with jillions of pieces for Christmas. I probably should not have been the one who gave him those toys, either.

Some things get lost because I put them someplace "just for a moment" and then forget all about it. Some things get lost because Hambet has hidden them someplace. But for some things, I just have no explanation. There's either some kind of esoteric physics involved or Saint Anthony and my Guardian Angel are hiding things, perhaps to teach me a lesson.

Well, dear Saint and dear Angel, whether or not you're behind this latest round of disappearances, I promise I've learned my lesson. Please help me -- some of these things have not even spent 48 hours in my household.

Missing:
one little wooden train sign
one striker for the triangle from the marching band set (last seen on the shelf above the computer; I have no idea how it vanished from there)
one maraca

I was going to include one toucan and one panda bear on the list, but somehow overnight these two critters reappeared and joined their mates on Noah's Ark.

We had a really happy, fun day but I went to bed tired and I'm still tired this morning. I could really, really use some coffee.

Today we'll just be washing things and putting things away. And playing with the new toys.