Lost

So many things are going missing here that I am beginning to suspect that we have a black hole somewhere in the house.

... the television remote. This was missing for a few days and meant no access to the t.v. Gone are the days where you can turn the television on and change channels even if you don't have the remote. Sadly, we could turn the t.v. on, but could not hit the select button (on the remote) to initiate the dish network and select a channel for viewing. It was eventually located behind the entertainment center (one of those bulky huge wooden ones that my husband tells me have gone out of style now).

... small rubber seal to our Krup's blender. I have wiped down every surface in my kitchen, and purged many small items in an attempt to locate the missing blender seal (when I returned from my brief jaunt to DeKalb, hubby had a sink full of dishes drying - the blender was in it, but no seal). I went on-line to request a new one. I couldn't find one on e-bay or Craigslist and the one I was about to purchase from Krups costs more to ship than the replacement price of the tiny part. It would come to $13 ... for a rubber seal. Give me a break! And, why in the world couldn't they just slip the little two inch flat part into a #10 envelope and charge me 44 cents for shipping instead of $6.95? What are they shipping it in, a gold box??? For now, I will continue to make our smoothies ... without the seal.

... my camera. Of course, on this matter, I strongly suspect that Trevor put his hot little hands on the missing item. The last place I remember seeing it was on the computer desk, where I had uploaded the photos for my catch-up post. On my way out the door last Tuesday, I distinctly remember asking Trevor if he would take my photo when I returned home with a short haircut (something I haven't ventured for 15 years). Since the camera is off-limits to him, due to inappropriate usage, recently ;), I wonder if he took it down while I was gone and then mislaid it.

There are a million things I have wanted to snap a photo of: We have a beautiful flowering bush that is bursting with three different colors of flowers (or should I say, was). I wanted to take Harley's picture when he was freshly groomed, so that I could post an advertisement in our local pet store. He looked fresh and clean and handsome on Tuesday when I picked him up from the groomer's. Wednesday he came in covered on the underbelly and haunches with mud clumps. Grrr. I wanted to take a picture of all the little blue fuzz around the house because Sleepy Bear is literally falling apart at the seams from all the intense loving Sean has bestowed upon him. Then, there were the two huge downed tree limbs from recent horrendous storms in these parts.

Today, I wanted to take a photo of my brand new Farberware cutting sheets. Although we have a few wooden cutting boards, I tend to prefer using plastic ones because it is easier to transfer the chopped broccoli, etc. to the pans. So, when I happened upon a set of four Farberware plastic cutting boards (each designated for a different kind of food - meat, chicken, fish and produce) for only $5 at Big Lots, I had snatched them up. I intended to purchase a small hook and hang them (since they each had a convenient hole for this purpose) right on the wall in our kitchen.

Alas, I never managed to get a hook up and two of the boards were propped against the back of the stove wall. Today, I boiled eggs for an egg-salad sandwich. I had turned off the burner and was quickly sending Bryce a text message (about last night's storms and the raging creek, since he is away at percussion camp this week), when I realized that something was amiss. The boards had toppled over and one was cementing itself to the burner and giving off tremendously noxious fumes. I grabbed the boards from off the burner. If I had been more quick-witted, I would have managed to pry the melted board away from the unmelted board. Sadly, I only managed to pry half of the rings away before the melted bit cooled and hardened to the undamaged board. If I had the camera, I would have photographic evidence of what a fiasco it was.

I attempted to search out a photo on-line, since they were Farberware (a fairly good name). I couldn't find a photo of this item to save my life. Instead, I read quite a few article on the benefits of using a wood vs. plastic cutting board. I should count my blessings in that the two damaged boards (already gone for Tuesday night trash haul) were for beef and fish. I still have the chicken and produce boards, and those are the ones I would use most frequently anyway.

... a third tooth from Trevor's mouth. For the past few days, this tooth has been hanging by a thread. I don't think the boy has lost a single tooth naturally in his 5and a half years. We remind him constantly that his big brother went all the way to the end of first grade (a week from his 7th birthday) before his first tooth finally fell out. Trevor seems accident prone. He knocked the first one on Sean's head and we waited a year or so before it fell out (top, middle). Then, he knocked the second one while rough-housing with the dog (bottom, middle). One month ago, on the night of Bryce's 8th grade recognition ceremony, Trevor snapped his seat belt back into his face and began bleeding from a third prematurely loosened tooth (two teeth down from the bottom, middle hole).

Last night, as I was lying in bed with the boys, Trevor began an earnest discussion with ... "tell me the truth now, is there really a tooth fairy?"

I tried to tease and distract from the question. "Tell me the toof, is therwe weally a toof faiwy?"

Despite his laughter, he refused to be sidetracked and eventually ran to Dad to acknowledge that he had figured the system out. Dad only agreed that parents sometimes help the tooth fairy.

This morning, he came to wake me with the proud revelation that his tooth had come out. I reminded him that Sean is still little and may want to enjoy the excitement that belief in the tooth fairy brings, so he agreed to place the tooth under his pillow tonight.

That is ... until he lost the tooth. I don't think we really looked for it much at all, but when I was vacuuming under the dining room table tonight, I heard a rattle and admitted to Trevor that it might have been his tooth. He actually wanted me to open up the vacuum cleaner and dig around in the bag - yikes! Not happening!

In the end, he drew a picture of his lost tooth, labeled it "Lost toof" [sic] and placed the piece of paper under his pillow. I told him it was good enough for me and if it wasn't good enough for the tooth fairy, then she'd have to take it up with me.

Thankfully, I allowed the boys to stop off at Chuck-E-Cheese's this evening before we went to Aldi. They each spent 10 tokens (actually left over from Trevor's birthday party back in September). I insisted that one be used on the photo machine. He gave a classic toothy grin and we now have evidence of the three missing teeth, front and center.

I'm going to have to take lessons from Chuck E. on how to quickly sketch portraits like that (given my missing camera). But, even before I do that, I'm going to have to wait for my husband to reconnect the printer (our computer was old and lagging so much ... and had eaten a computer game and stubbornly refused to eject the thing, so hubby finally bought a new one). Perhaps then I can figure out how to scan Chuck E.'s fine art depiction of the three of us. But for now, I'm off to bed, before I LOSE any more sleep!