Monday, November 22, 2010

I'd Lose My Head If . . .

Lost and found You can ask anyone in my family:  I have a memory like a sieve.  I can never remember what I've done with my gloves, keys, hat, purse, phone . . . you name it, I've lost it.

After years of putting up with this, my husband has finally come up with an explanation.  He says I'm not so much careless as I just don't pay attention where I leave things.  He likened my losing stuff to a snake, shedding its skin.  I'll have my keys in my hand and put them down, with no thought as to what I'm doing (usually because my head is full of Tommyrot).  And then, when I need them, I have no conscious memory of what I did with them.
That sounds reasonable . . . most of the time.

Sissy hammer Take my hammer, for instance.  (Doesn't everybody have a tool box of their very own?  Mine is a former fishing tackle box.  Inside I have screwdrivers, an awl, a small hammer (used, $1 at a yard sale--you can't buy a small hammer like this anywhere, I know--I've tried.)  I've been looking for my hammer for weeks.  Why?  I wanted to move the nail that holds my calendar over 2 inches so I could see Sunday.  (Weird calendar, has a BIG section for notes on the right side, so Sunday was hiding behind my monitor screen.)

For at least three days I searched the house high and low for that hammer and then I tried to remember when I'd last used it.  Aha!  When taking down the Christmas lights three weeks ago.  (We nail in these little metal holders that keep the cord for the wreath from dangling in the snow.)  Sure enough, I'd "shed" the hammer in the garage, where it still sat.

Car keys Of course, that doesn't help me for things like my brand new set of car keys.  The day I bought the car, I had a terrible cold.  I did not feel like going to the dealer to pick it up--but had no choice.  I drove the car home, shed the keys . . . and they've never turned up since.  (The fact that that ring had all my OTHER keys on it, too, and the "smart" key to my husband's car which costs $100, made it a pain to replace.  And BTW, he won't shell out the $100 for another key because I'd just lose that.  And he's right.  I've lost two more sets of keys since 2005.)  I still maintain those keys are somewhere in this house (uh . . . five years later).  Hubby maintains they've been at the local landfill for all but a day of that time.

Even though it's not New Year's and I don't make resolutions, I'm going to try NOT to shed things and make a conscious decision to put things away where I know I will find them again.

That ought to last about day.

Do you lose stuff?  If so, how often?