Randomly Tonia

I have always, I mean almost always ... that is usually, at least sometimes, lived a super organized life – regardless of what friends and family might say.

I do actually prefer putting in the small amount of effort that is required to have a place for everything and have everything in its place, because the payoff is huge!

There was a time when I wasted little time looking for anything. In fact, ten years ago I could have sent a stranger into my home, given them a small set of specific directions and expected them to return to me with any item I desired, in less than ten minutes – counting driving time.

I could, at that time, close my eyes and distinctly recall the tiniest details, such as “It’s in the blue binder, third from the front, on the left hand side, behind my Grandma’s recipe for Slovakian Kolache.”

Now that two of my three incredible children are grown and living (mostly) on their own, one would think that my life has become even more organized – but such is not the case. This is due to no fault of my own, mind you, and it is driving me crazy!

If something gets misplaced it is always, I mean almost always ... well, occasionally because my darling son did not return the item to its rightful place. (But don’t bother asking him, he won’t admit it.)

Just this morning I was looking for a very important document, one that has been the subject of countless lectures to my dear children, and it was NOT where it was supposed to be!

Not one to panic, I looked in the next most likely place, and then the next, and then in the most ridiculous of places, over and over again. It was nowhere!

I carefully looked high and low, confident that I would find it. Okay, I may have panicked, but just a little. My dear significant other might say I tore home and car apart searching, but he just doesn’t understand my method – I really was quite methodical (not to be confused with maniacal).

How could this happen? Where could it be?

It became apparent that it was simply gone. Poof! Vanished into thin air. But since no one would believe that, how could I possibly explain this situation?

I could say that because of a recent move, it was still packed. I could say that it became misplaced while I unpacked. I could say that because the (uber organized, yet super cute) basket I had used to file such items was broken, I moved it to the most secure place ever – and now cannot find it.

The problem is that these explanations put me at fault. I can’t possibly have become that lax; my life cannot have become that hectic, that I am at fault! The only explanation, of course, really is that it sprouted legs and found the most secret of hiding places. Yes, that is surely what happened, it is the worst game of hide-and-seek ever.

Even now, as I write this – and even though I have already paid for a duplicate, which has been delivered, I am searching mentally for it’s hide-out and I am making plans to find the next perfect, and oh-so-cute, solution for the unruly paperwork wreaking havoc on my otherwise ordered (I swear I’m not making that up) life.

*Update: Just two days after purchasing the duplicate document and delivering it to the proper place, the original tired of being hidden and appeared in a rather logical place (just like the corn starch last week).

Strange, isn’t it, dear reader? That these items come out of hiding when they have been replaced. Now that my life is becoming beautiful and hyper-organized once again, these things will no longer happen, I am sure. Now...where did I put my Naughty List?