January 25, 2015

Lost & Found Mischief

Each novel I write has its own notebook. It holds various things: a rough outline, timeline, character notes, lists of names, maybe some first-draft scenes when I don't feel like working on my desktop PC, any newspaper articles or photos or other bits of inspiration, etc.

Well, this weekend I realized I'd lost my notebook for Book #4. Aggggh! I figured it was in the house, so looked everywhere. I've been known to absentmindedly set things down in weird places when I'm straightening up and have my hands too full, so I really looked everywhere! (Yes, I looked in the freezer.)

Then I remembered the last time I'd had it for sure was when I met a writer pal at the mall to chat about our latest projects. I'd gone to Macy's after. My small purse wasn't big enough for the medium-sized notebook so I was just carrying it. I used the restroom at Macy's and made a mental note to NOT forget the notebook. 

I could see myself walking out of that restroom with the notebook, so I knew I still had it then. Then I hit sheets, men's shirts, purses, and left without buying a thing. I mentally walked through all those departments again, trying to picture whether I had it in my hand at each stop.

I called Macy's and talked to Customer Service, who checked the Lost & Found. Nada. 

Ugh! 

I was kinda freaking out. It wasn't so much that I was worried about recreating what was in there. And it also wasn't that I thought someone would steal my "great" idea, but... it was just the thought of someone reading my stuff! 

I know that probably sounds weird since people read my "stuff" (novels, blog posts) all the time. But reading very first-draft-y scenes. Ugh! And reading the whole synopsis of the book! Double ugh. 

Have you ever been robbed or had someone read your diary? It felt like that. Not that I would know about the diary thing since I never kept one, but I had an apartment broken into once, and I just felt so ... creepy about some stranger touching my stuff.

Then, last night as I was falling asleep, I remembered... On the way from the sheets on 3 to men's shirts on 1, I'd stopped on the 2nd floor to try on a cute jacket. I had only seen the jacket because you have to cross the women's clothing section to get from the one down escalator to the other (sneaky store designers!). I remembered laying the notebook down while I tried the jacket on in front of a mirror. Well, I left both the jacket and the notebook behind.

So, today I went back to department at Macy's. The notebook wasn't where I'd left it, but I headed for the nearest cashier, and there it was! 

Cue the heavenly choir! 

I was so excited, I bought the stupid jacket to celebrate. (And I also since then just happened to have bought a bigger purse, which the notebook fits in!)

This whole thing reminded me of the time my mom lost her purse at the Wild Animal Park. And she was due to get on a plane and fly home the next day. Of course we checked the Lost & Found, and, again, nada. Well as we found out a day later (after a ton of hassle of canceling credit cards and calling the airline, etc.), the nice lady who found it didn't trust the folks at the L&F to get the purse back to my mom, so she took it home with her and searched through it until she found my sister's phone number.

The moral of this story is, if you're the finder of something, take it to the Lost and Found! Cuz that is where the loser is going to look!

Sorry about no dog-ness in this post. Just to add some, here's Rita with my recovered notebook.

Our little furry angel actually got up to some mischief this week! But... I'll write about that next week, cuz I'm not sure she's done. (Will explain what that means next week.)


Have you ever lost something that just made your heart sink when you realized it was missing? (Heaven forbid that thing was your pet! We "lost" our beagle a time or two, but we always quickly found her with her head down one of the rabbit holes behind our house. Should have named her Alice!)

Thanks to Snoopy’s Dog Blog, Alfie’s Blog, and My Brown Newfies for hosting Monday Mischief!

36 comments:

  1. Oh well yay! You found it =D I lost my camera once at the zoo... I went to the restroom, set it down on the toilet paper dispenser and walked out without it. I went back in after 5 mins because I realized what I had done but it was already gone and never made it to lost and found. Not too surprising since it's valuable =/ but I would have like the SD card back since it held all of my photos of my daughter when she was about 3 years old =/

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    1. Oh, that's such a bummer about the camera - but especially about the SD card. Don't you hate that sinking feeling when you realize you've left something valuable behind?!

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  2. Thank dog you found it. My mom would have been going nuts and thinking of nothing else just like you did! Most of the time things will turn up after she thinks enough about them. What a stressy mess with a good ending.

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    1. I was worried my brain wasn't working right since I lost the thing, but I guess my brain still works sort of okay, since I was able to remember everything I did in Macy's and remember where I left it!

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  3. I've done that "put something down while you are shopping" thing with my car keys. More than once even! That's always a hideous pain in the ass! And it's always in a store like Walmart with all the clutter and lack of organization so they are even harder to find. I hear you can now get little GPS keychains that talk to your smart phone. Sounds like a great invention, just so long as you (have and) don't lose your smart phone.

    So glad you recovered your notebook as it could easily have been tossed in the trash b y the cleaning crew.

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    1. I have 2 things I *try* to be extra careful with - my keys and my wedding ring! If I ever set them down someplace different I try to pause for a moment and really look at that spot. Losing the keys would def'ly be a PITA!

      That's what the hubs kept saying - that the cleaning crew probably chucked it, which was a better thought than someone reading it!

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  4. What a great ending to the story. Sometime during or after our last pheasant hunt I lost the keys to hubby's truck. No I never found them. :(

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  5. I'm so glad you found it! I realize I am a little bit paranoid when it comes to my stuff - I'm so afraid to lose it. I constantly check my purse, my hands, the end of the leash... ;)

    Monty and Harlow

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    1. Haha! Yes, I'm trying to be more careful about stuff too! It's usually when my hands are too full that I get into trouble! Like you said - so much to keep track of - the phone, the keys, the leash! :)

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  6. Good it was found indeed and you didn't have to go with the dog ate my homework excuse haha

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    1. The dog doesn't want to eat my homework! She's SOOOOO picky!

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  7. um the comment about paper being inedible?? Check out my post today...
    And I lose stuff. All. the.time.
    The most recent was a new bag of Quinoa. It's gone. We looked in the freezer too. Haven't looked in the bathroom cabinet but everywhere else. LeeAnna at not afraid of color

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    1. A bag of quinoa?? That sounds like the sort of thing I usually lose. Because I know I'm a spazz, I usually pay close attention with valuable things. It's the small stuff - like a bag of quinoa, some paperwork that just needs filing, that sorta thing - that I usually end up sticking somewhere weird!

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  8. I am so impressed that you remembered where it was after all! I also lose things (usually pens) by setting them down in weird places--usually it's Barley's fault ;) I'll be in the middle of grading papers, Barley will get into some sort of mischief, I'll set the paper down in the chair, keep the pen in my hand (who knows why?), and somehow set it down somewhere unrelated somewhere between getting up from grading and returning to it. So glad you found the notebook--I'd also be mortified if someone found my journals where I start drafting out poems idea before I'm ready to type them up and make them shareable.

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    1. Right?! You don't want folks looking at that stuff until you're ready to share it!

      I do that all the time - set something down someplace weird and then I'm looking all over for it! I wonder if i could blame Rita for that?? :)

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  9. UGH....I hate that sinking I've lost something feeling. So glad you found it!

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    1. That feeling is so awful! I was SO relieved to find it!

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  10. I hate that feeling of loosing stuff. I get it almost daily when I go too look for my car keys.

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    1. As I mentioned above, I have to be really careful with my keys and my wedding ring. I try to have only 2 places where I ever leave either thing. If I ever set either one down in a spot that is NOT one of the usual places, I really stare at it for a sec to make sure I'll remember!

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  11. I understand completely!! It's the worst agonizing feeling ever. I hate the thought of losing anything, but something that you can't replace intensifies that "I think I'm going to throw-up" feeling. So happy you found it, and hey, love the jacket incentive purchase too!

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    1. I blame the store layout designers for all of it! The temporary loss of the notebook AND the jacket purchase!

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  12. Oh, Jackie, that is the most convoluted excuse for buying a jacket and a new purse I have ever heard. :)

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  13. We have to compliment you on your recall with the shopping, must be why you are a writer, the Lady can't remember what she did 5 minutes ago. Yesterday she lost her bottle of muscle relaxers, her and dad looked everywhere (freezer-yes), he found them in the liquor cabinet. Hmmm. Love Dolly

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    1. Hmmmmmm, Dolly. I'm sure mom was just thinking that the liquor cabinet was the logical place to store something that relaxes one's muscles! :)

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  14. There was this one time when I lost my purse three times in one afternoon. I was at a bookstore and kept setting it down to browse and would walk off without it. Thankfully, someone turned it in all three times! I think Lost and Found was getting sick of seeing me though.

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    1. Wow, three times in one afternoon! That's pretty funny! And lucky that you got it back each time!

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  15. I have notes and notebooks everywhere, and I don't even want my hubby reading them! I don't want anyone reading my random rambling that only makes sense to me. I saw your post on Facebook yesterday...I totally understood, lately I've been misplacing everything, and I'm often seen tearing through the piles of papers on my desk looking for something. I used to be so organized and I'm trying to get that back now. I'm glad you treated yourself to the new jacket, and a bigger purse too!
    Jan, Wag 'n Woof Pets

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    1. I misplace papers and whatnot all the time! It's so crazy-making! I have always had smaller purses, but now I'm seeing the benefit of having a bigger one!

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  16. This was a great post with a happy ending, I'm so glad you remembered and got your notebook back and a bigger purse, I love purses. My grandma gave me a little pistol that they bought my dad when he was in Vietnam and now a days it is a collectors item so what do I do, I take it out in the field with me and I lost it. I was heartbroken and have never found it and my dad is no longer with me either. :(

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  17. Phew a happy ending. We hate when we can't remember where something is. We have to find it and that is such a drag. Have a super Saturday.
    Best wishes Molly

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  18. Glad you found it! I just started reading Rescue Me, Maybe and I'm really enjoying it!

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