Ten Things of Thankful: Lost and Found Edition

 

A plethora of boxes on our office floor, none of which contain my elementary school class photos

Some weeks, the Ten Things of Thankful practically writes itself, or at least a theme becomes apparent. Such was the case this week. Sunday afternoon, a friend messaged me and asked if I had our elementary school class photos. Well, of course I did, and I would be happy to look for them on Monday and share with her. (The new season of Relative Race was about to start and I didn't feel like pulling out photos right then.) The photos weren't where I expected them to be (in one of many photo boxes). The photos weren't in any of the family history boxes, nor in a binder, nor in with childhood memorabilia, nor in boxes of artwork in the basement, nor in my baby book, nor in my recipe cupboard (yes, I was getting desperate!), nor in the piano bench (ditto last parenthetical comment), nor in desk drawers, nor in nightstand drawers, nor under the bed, nor. . . . 

I have wracked my brain so consistently this week that I have lost my mind. However, this is a Ten Things of Thankful post, so I will focus on what I have found this week in my search for photo proof of my childhood classmates:

1. I'm thankful to have discovered my state quarters book, and to have found some more quarters to add to it. Now I'm just missing New Mexico and Hawaii. 

2. I'm thankful to have found a pair of toddler socks under the couch. We'll pretend they have only been there since January, and not since 2021! They are currently in the washing machine.

3. I'm thankful to have found the replacement filter for the air purifier. It was in the utility room closet where it was supposed to be. I wasn't actually checking that closet for photos; just for the stepstool so I could check upper shelves in the office closet. When I opened the door, I glanced up and saw the filter.

4. I'm thankful to have found another item to list on the local Buy Nothing page. 

5. I'm thankful to have found the box of fragile items I put in the basement before the grandchildren came. I had kind of forgotten about it. I now have breakable decorations up. I know they are breakable because I managed to tip over a ceramic figurine that John got in Japan while on his mission about 40 years ago, and it is now sporting a crack. #bullinachinashop #Johnforgivesme

6. I'm thankful to have found the bag of costume jewelry I had picked up for my grandchildren. They will be excited that Grandma's "treasure box" has new-to-them things to play with the next time they come visit.

7. I'm thankful to have discovered a junior-high school report I wrote about chimpanzees and sign language, not because I wanted to read the report per se, but because I noticed that one of the sources I cited in the bibliography was a book I have thought of over the years. I could never remember the title, but I remembered I was fascinated by the topic. 

The bibliography page of my school report. The second source was the book I was fascinated with: Eloquent Animals; A Study in Animal Communication

8. I'm thankful that Amazon had a copy of Eloquent Animals; A Study in Animal Communication for sale. I'm curious to see if it's as good as I remember it being. 

9. I'm thankful that my friend and her daughters came to visit at the end of last week, before I turned the house upside down. It was great to see them, and though they are good enough friends that I wouldn't have been embarrassed to have them see the mess I made, I still prefer presenting an uncluttered house. We had fun chatting and playing games, and the girls enjoyed sledding in the backyard. (Yes, we are still getting snowstorms!)

10. I'm thankful for John. He's feeling OK, except when he's not, but he was well enough to go hiking today. He also replaced the drain pump in the washing machine, so it is no longer throwing error codes at me, and I can count on it to actually complete a load without having to be nursed along. He's waiting for some parts so he can swap out the bathroom faucets, and he is also hoping the fuel injector cleaner he put in the car will solve its "no, I won't go up the hill any further" problem. (Well, it had that problem when I was driving it. John drove down the hill to meet me, we swapped cars, and it behaved just fine for him.) 

So, as you can see, I might have lost my mind (and my photos!) this week, but I still had plenty to be thankful for. And, if I can stay focused and motivated, I might just be able to get the boxes o' stuff organized enough to avoid a repeat of this week next time!

What are you thankful for? Have you lost or found anything recently? Be sure to check out the other TToT posts over on the Ten Things of Thankful blog!