Several years back, Teenager wanted to take a jewelry class at a local bead shop. We took the class together and it was fun. Part of the cost of the class included a couple of tools and, of course, we purchased some more items afterwards. For a couple of years, I did the occasional bracelet or earrings; the craft didn’t catch on with Teenager. I put the tools and assorted wires and beads into a yellow tool box and eventually drifted away from beading.
In May, I found a jewelry kit on sale online from a company I knew; since I was officially looking for ways to fill time during shelter-in-place, I purchased it. Most of the items I needed were in the kit but I did need one of my tools to adjust the bracelet size. The yellow tool box was not in the first place I looked. Or the second. Or the third. I spent quite a bit of time over the course of a week, looking and re-looking in what seemed like natural spots and then the unnatural spots. I’ve done a lot of tossing/donating the last couple of years but I was SURE I would remember if I had gotten rid of the toolbox. And I couldn’t imagine that I would do that either. Eventually I gave up, assuming I’d gotten rid of the box, and re-purchased the tool I needed.
Last week, I decided to do some organizing and cleaning in the attic; when I had brought the holiday decorations down, I had promised myself I would do this before the boxes when back up. YA came up to help me and we ended up really clearing out some stuff and generating a large bag of trash. At one point I was putting a plastic bin away and realized I didn’t know what was in it. You know where this is going, right? As we dug through the box, we found items from last year’s stocking gifts (which I had vaguely missed) and…. drum roll please… the yellow tool box! Because it was inside the bin, when I had searched the attic in May, I hadn’t seen it.
I can envision how everything else in that plastic bin ended up there, based on my normal habits, but I have no clue how that yellow box ended up there. Nothing in the box was irreplaceable but I’m happy to have found it, if only because it means I’m not crazy!
Anything you’re still looking for? Do you have trouble finding things you’ve “put away for safe keeping”?
Trail Baboon 
yes
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Ha ha
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RIse and Shine, Baboons,
Just a few minutes ago I found the roll of Velcro cord organizer/wrappers which I bought last year, then it disappeared. I found it attached via its own Velcro, to the sweater I pulled out of the closet so I could go out and walk the dog. Last week as we packed up the kitchen, I found all kinds of stuff like your yellow box, stuck at the back of cupboards, at the bottom of drawers, and just somewhere in there.
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One of the most familiar comments in this house is “Have you seen the …?” or This is why it’s good to “move” once in a while, or pretend you are moving out.
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There was supposed to be another phrase after the first or, but I’ve lost track of it.
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It’s way in the back of the bottom drawer.
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“Anything you’re still looking for?”
Just the meaning of life. . . . and a reliable putting stroke. 😉
“Do you have trouble finding things you’ve “put away for safekeeping”?”
I don’t think so, but then again things tend to not get looked for in our house once they find a home in a closet, shelf, or storage area. Valuable stuff goes into one of two safes . . . and there’s not much of financial value anyway, mainly important documents like wills, passports, etc. Oh, I do have some old French, German, and Swiss coins from pre-European Union days. Those might be worth a buck or two (total).
Chris in Owatonna
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I can never find a good pen when I need one. Husband takes them all and hoards them In his briefcase.
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A diabolical plot on his part!
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Well, then you know exactly where to look, his briefcase.
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His briefcase is a black hole.
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Snort.
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I misplace stuff constantly, things like reading glasses and charging cords and screwdrivers and remote controls.
One thing that can throw me is the color of the thing I’m looking for, so I can relate to the yellow box problem. You’re looking around for something yellow, and no yellow is jumping out at you, so it can’t be there. I remember once looking for a charging cord with a particular tip on it, and I was sure that the cord I needed was black. So I kept looking at all the black cords and none of those had the right connector. I finally looked at a white cord, and that was the one. I had just been so sure that cord was black.
Since we started wearing masks I’ve misplaced four of my favorite ones. They will turn up at some point.
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I must be a control freak, I think it was all those years in the Air Force moving constantly from base to base! I am constantly cleaning closets cabinets or each room in the house! I firmly believe you should throw out items you have not used in a year! Take a day each month and pick a closet, drawer, cabinet or room, empty it ,clean it and then sort all items removed from that space. One pile for trash, one pile for good will and the rest returned to the space. DO NOT allow yourself to wallow in memories of you will never complete the task!
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Sounds good but I’ve disproved the theory repeatedly. YA and I had a great vacation to Maine when she was six…19 years ago. Right after that trip I started a scrapbook. I did what eventually turned out to be about a third of it and then put it in a wire basket on top of my bookcase. I looked at it many times over the years I didn’t do anything with it. I pulled down that wire basket and finished it this past summer! Not that I’m recommending that you keep all your projects around for almost 20 years before completing them!!!!
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I’m ready, jeannejam!
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Yes – my wren house that I repaired this past summer was languishing for maybe six or seven years before I finally got to it.
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I always find what I’m looking for in the last place I look; the reason, of course, is that I stop looking when I find it!
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Hey, Carolyn, welcome back.
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Yes!
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I was losing my temper too much the last couple of weeks I worked in December. I am happy to report I found my composure during my time off.
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Just as a mind is a terrible thing to waste, ones composure is a terrible thing to lose. Glad you’ve found it again.
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I’ll bet YA put the yellow tool box in that bin, VS – that’s why you don’t remember…
I thought moving to this smaller house (4 & 1/2 years ago now) would make it harder to lose things. Not so. Luckily, I do room re-arranges occasionally, and that’s when some lost items show up.
I just found the nutritional yeast – had checked all the cupboards, pantry, refrig and freezer. It was on the freezer door, which I had somehow missed first time through.
I keep recipes, unfortunately, in several different places. There are the cookbooks, the recipe box, the special hand-written recipe book, and the computer Word files. Sometimes looking for a specific recipe can take a good chunk of the day…
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I have a lot of toolboxes. When I take a class or start a new activity that requires specialized tools and supplies, one of the first things I do is buy a tool box. Consequently, I have separate tool boxes for painting with acrylics, painting with oils, a satchel for botanical illustration with colored pencils, my bookbinding toolbox, a satchel with tools for bookbinding with leather, a box with woodcarving and wood engraving tools, a satchel with the supplies I need when illustrating for work, and that’s not to mention the toolboxes I keep for electrical work, for plumbing, and for general exterior projects, with cement tools and heavy hammers. Toolboxes are how I assure that I’ll have what I need in one place when I want it.
To me, a year feels like a short attention span. Often more than a year and sometimes several years will pass between engaging in an activity, moving on to something else, and then coming back to that activity when I am moved to do so. It’s important to me to have that option without having to reequip myself. I have a good spacial memory for where things can be found in this house, except for those tools and materials that are Robin’s domain, so I usually know where to look when I need something. The only thing that messes that up is when someone rearranges it.
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I still haven’t found the black hammer I had when I started the remodeling at the theater this summer. I’ve given up because I bought a replacement and the first one didn’t show up.
Just yesterday, worked there for a while, at the end of the day hauled out garbage and there in the garbage was my tape measure; my new, heavy duty, favorite (for the moment) tape measure! Must have somehow snagged it off my tool belt as I walked by. Pretty sure that’s how I lost the first black hammer too.
We have books and movies scattered around the house. Daughter knows where all of her movies are and some of ours. But sometimes we have to go searching for that one particular movie or book.
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Another problem I have is trying to reunite things that belong together but which I cannot locate at the same time. Awhile back I bought two refills for one of those plug-in scent warmer units I had. When I brought the refills home I couldn’t find the warmer. Now I know where the warmer is but I can’t find the refills.
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OT – Just want to alert all baboons to a new documentary about Eva Cassidy that has just been put out on Youtube. Here’s the link if anyone is interested in checking it out:
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