Misplaced but not Forgotten

As I have aged, I've noticed that I misplace things more frequently than I used to. I am very guilty of putting something away for later and then forgetting where I put it. I've done that a quite a lot this past few years. My thought was that I would put something out of the way and then deal with it when I retired and had more time for dealing with things around here. Well, I've been retired for a year and those put-off-till-later things have not all been addressed - yet.

What's the rush? I mean, I have for the rest of my life, right?

During this first year of retirement, I also told myself I wouldn't wait till the last minute to get things done for Christmas. Well, I did do a lot better than I have in the past. In fact, I got a pretty early start this year. I had been scrolling through blogs, or Instagram, or some such online community and noticed an adorable umbrella. I had just thrown away a broken one at the ball park a week before. Plus, I think all of my umbrellas have that one prong that is broken or the clip has been lost or something. So, the umbrella has the one spot that is not rounded and umbrella-ing. Instead, it is a bit wonky - not a total loss and works in a pinch but a bit beyond faded but still serviceable. So, I ordered the cute umbrella and got a deal because it was on sale! Ding! Ding!

The new umbrella arrived and immediately, I knew that I had to know somebody else who could use such a cute umbrella. So, I decided to order one for each of the daughters and daughters-in-law. I discovered that the cute umbrella had been marked down a dollar or two more. So, I decided to order one for each of the high school granddaughters. I clicked the place order button and sat there a moment. Then, decided I'd order one for the three younger granddaughters as well. That was early in May.

When they arrived, I stood them in the den waiting for Mike to come in and see them. After dinner, he walked in there and shouted, what are you going to do with all these birds? Imagine eleven of these staring at you when you walk into the den...

We chuckled about them and I told him they were future Christmas gifts. He snickered and told me that I would forget about them in that length of time and asked me where I would stash them so the girls didn't see them if they popped in. I confidently told him I'd put them in the back bedroom closet. 

So, I have had those in the back of my mind all this time. Then, one day this past week I was wrapping up all my gift preparations and went to the closet to get them out. I couldn't find them. I poked all around in the junk stashed in that closet and could not find them. So, I went to the other guest bedroom closet. Not there, either. On to the primary bedroom closet. No sign of them there. Downstairs I went in my search. Still no umbrellas. How could I have lost an entire flock of flamingo umbrellas? 

When I returned upstairs, the neighbors had dropped by for a visit. I walked in the door and Mike asked me if I found my flamingos. Then, of course, I had to explain to the neighbors that I had misplaced an entire flock of flamingo umbrellas. After the neighbors left, we prepared and ate dinner and were chatting and it hit me. I recalled that the box was too big and wouldn't fit in the closet. So, I slid it under the bed. Mystery solved. I went right back there and drug the box out. I took a quick snapshot and sent it to the neighbor so she could rest in peace that my flock was not lost.

I stood there and thought about how I might wrap such a gift. Then, I decided that they needed nothing to be a cute addition to the gift pile. So, here is how the gift pile looks for this Christmas.

We are looking forward to all eighteen of the children, in-laws, and grands to pile in here. We will share a meal together, tear into the gift pile, and the children will run, rip, and play, and the adults will catch up on all the news with one another. We hope you have a wonderful holiday and time of fellowship with your loved ones. Merry Christmas!