It's the Small Things

For those of you who spend any amount of time with me, you can attest to the fact that I constantly lose my personal items. This includes (but is not limited to): keys, cell phone, camera, clothes, remote control, shoes, retainer, make up, wallet, etc. The questions most commonly heard at our house begin with the phrase, "Have you seen...?"

Just to give an example, last month, I was at Walmart with my friend Julie. I went back to the car to look for a receipt and, in the process, lost my wallet. As I went to pay for my groceries, I realized the wallet that was recently inside of my purse was nowhere to be found. Frantic, I ran outside to the car and found my wallet in the PARKING LOT. It had been laying by my car for almost an hour and no one had stolen it. Thank you, kind Utahns of Springville. Well, the absentmindedness continued that day. An hour after returning home safely with the wallet, I realized it was missing again. As I was looking for the item, my brother in law walked in the door, holding my wallet and my keys. He said: "The trunk of the car was open, the wallet was in the driveway, and your keys were left in the door."

How does that happen!?  Nathan insists that my chronic loss of items is due to the fact that I am constantly going, always thinking of the next step and never thinking of what I am actually doing...like placing my wallet behind the couch (so Eliza can't get it) or hiding my keys under the cushions (so Eliza can't find them).

Regardless, I hate losing things and when I can't find a particular object, I will tear the house apart until I find it. Lost objects cause me serious anxiety, which is very unfortunate seeing how I always am losing something. Sadly, this anxiety has carried over to Eliza and her toys. For her birthday, she received very nice (and expensive) Melissa and Doug sound puzzles from my sister. After a week of looking for the "V" from the alphabet puzzle and an hour long search for the missing cow from the farm puzzle, I retired those toys until Eliza was older (and I could handle them being lost).

Then, on Thursday night, Eliza lost the purple triangle from her Playskool Shape Sorter. I bought the toy at a yard sale for 25 cents, so it really wasn't the end of the world if the triangle was lost. However, I couldn't stop thinking about it! My friend Tina was over and said: "Don't worry. You'll find it when you aren't looking" (which is always true, by the way).

Well, just a few minutes ago, I opened up the tupperware drawer and pulled out a container.  Inside lay the purple triangle. I have no idea how Eliza managed that.  I can tell you, though, that this small discovery completely made my day. I love finding joy in the small things!

I was going to include a picture of Eliza with her Shape Sorter, but cannot find the camera. I will update the post if I ever find the camera. Ahh!