January 12, 2015

Monday Mischief: There's Always One!

Every year when I put my Christmas stuff away after New Year's, there's always ONE thing that evades me, which is a pain since the Xmas decor gets crammed, er, packed with great precision into storage boxes. The heavy boxes are then hefted up onto the top shelf of our storage closet/pantry, with all manner of odd-sized/shaped things piled on top.

So, any missing item gets to spend the year sitting on the shelf in the closet surveying our comings and goings. (Since this is also the closet where Rita's treats reside, we come and go a lot!)

Because of the "there's always one!" problem, I usually do a military-precision-style sweep of the house, going through each room several times to make sure no one gets left behind. I pile everything on/around the dining room table, and when I'm sure I've got it all, I start cramming, er, packing.

Well, I really thought I'd rounded up and exiled everyone this year, until Rita pointed out that we had a stow-away hiding between two dining room chairs.


I found this little guy, trying hard to look innocent. Doesn't he have that "I know NOTHING" expression on his little bug-eyed face?
(Ignore the dog hair. Everything in our house has some.)
Little did he know that a fate worse than being stuffed in a dark box for 11 months of the year would have awaited him if Rita had been able to fish him out from between the chairs.
Yes, little guy. That blur behind you wants to EAT you!
He's lucky to have escaped her clutches! And now the lucky little guy gets to spend the year in comfort, sitting on the shelf and mocking me every time I go in to get Rita a treat.

Do you manage to get all your Christmas stuff packed away in one go?

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

45 comments:

  1. Haha! You're so right- there IS always one thing....this year- yours looks adorable though :)

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  2. haha saved from a chewed up fate, should be thankful indeed

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  3. Reg says this is clearly an instance where Rita should have been allowed to invoke the "finders keepers" rule and add that little red guy to the toy box!

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    1. He's so tiny though! He'd be defluffmerized in one go!

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  4. oh dear Dog, no. There is such a level of clutter, I can't cope. I just sort of gave up this year and piled the ornamental stuff in the second bedroom, mocking me, until I take the bare artificial white tree down in Feb. We leave it up because Jan is so depressingly dark.
    This year, blushing, I just packed away Cole's scarf and hat without washing. Cope, cope.
    We have a giveaway today you might want... LeeAnna at not afraid of color

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    1. LOL about packing the scarf and hat without washing it. Your secret is safe with me!

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  5. We didn't decorate this year due to being out of town for a lot of the month so nothing to clean up!

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  6. Well it was easier this year than usual. About half our stuff went to the Salvation Army leaving lots of room in our regular storage place for the really good items that will go into the sale before we move to the boat.

    So even if we found some stray item, it would be easy to put away.

    Of course, we don't have such fun stuffie ornaments as you do. Honey would have been carrying that around in her mouth first thing.

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    1. Oh, I love so many of my xmas things. It would be hard to know what to keep. Still... must be kinda fun to clean stuff out and get rid of stuff. (I love to get rid of stuff. Just ask the hubs, who says I'm always getting rid of HIS things.)

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  7. Mom always forgets one thing too, but so far this year we haven't found it yet.

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    1. You should help your mom find it, Emma, like Rita did for me. :)

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  8. Everything except an ornament that Rhette took off the tree and chewed up. Mom put it on a hutch to save as it was one she made back in the 70s. She found it after everything and been hauled 4 flights of stairs to the basement. Love Dolly

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    1. Hmm. I have a new theory now. It seems the likelihood that something will be left behind is directly proportional to the pain-in-the-butt it is to get at the storage space! So, if it's 4 flights of stairs away, you're bound to find something left behind!

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  9. HAHA...I leave the boxes out in the porch for a few days to make sure everything is gathered.

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    1. Smart. I had it all piled up on the dining room table for a day or two, but of course the darn little sneak tried to hide in plain site at the dining table!

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  10. That is such a cute little red bear. Living with it for 11 extra months would not be so bad. We had a blow up Easter bunny once that didn't get put into storage and it was quite obnoxious to look at all year.

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  11. Yep ~ the hubby calls me a neat freak and I'm guilty as charged..I'd have storage for the storage if I could *blush*. We're getting ready to move this weekend, so I put the tree down extra early this year (on Jan 2nd).

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  12. I know what you mean. No matter how much you think you got everything...

    --Wags (and purrs) from Life with Dogs and Cats.

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  13. LOL...I bet Rita would have loved him as a playmate.

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  14. hahahaha what was that little guy? He's a cutie. I always leave something behind also.

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    1. He's a little red teddy bear ornament. I have a whole bunch of different little teddy bear ornaments. They're really cute!

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  15. LOL!! We do the same thing with our decorations... they all get crammed in somewhere!! :D I'm glad you were able to save that little guy from Rita!!! :D

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    1. It's crazy how much Christmas crap you can accumulate over the years, isn't it?

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  16. Such a funny post! I do exactly the same thing, pile it all in the dining room. I make many sweeps and get John to do one last pass. Our stuff goes up in the attic over the garage, so even worse than your shelves. I have a few items that can't stand the temperature extremes of the garage, so I keep them in a closet. If a straggler is discovered, it goes to the closet with the sensitive stuff :-)

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  17. LOL! We missed two things this year but then just jammed them back in one of the boxes. Happens to us every year too. Have a terrific Tuesday.
    Best wishes Molly

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  18. Phew! The little guy barely escaped the clutches of death. Now he can enjoy his cushy perch and taunt the two of you. Kind of like that creepy elf on a shelf...

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    1. Yes! Like the creepy elf on the shelf! Hate that thing. He's so shifty-eyed and has such an "I'm better than you" smirk on his face!

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  19. Sometimes if the left-behinds aren't too big, I throw them right into the trash. I blame my distaste for clutter...and my distaste for Christmas. Don't tell Daddy-it is practically against the law around here to hate Christmas, let alone throw Christmas away.

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    1. LOL - throw Christmas away?! Shocking! Your secret is safe with Rita and me! (Which is worse - wanting to eat Christmas, like Rita, or wanting to throw it away??)

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  20. Bwhaha like your own little bear (elf) on the shelf. I always have the one item I overlook at the cabin each year. Our decorations go down in the crawl space so like little bear, the item gets to live on a shelf or in a drawer until next Thanksgiving (which is traditionally when I decorate there).

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    1. See there, proves my new theory. A crawl space = hard to get to, so OF COURSE you're going to find some straggler after the fact!

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  21. we have that problem in our house too

    retro rover

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  22. So far so good, but I refuse to say that I won't find something hiding. I used to forget this little Santa that hung on a long spring from my ceiling fan. I'd look up to see it and just cringe. Ho Ho Ho!

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  23. He, i thought i packed everything. Then 2 days later i realized that i forgot to take christmas lights down :D

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  24. We usually forget a few things that sit in the garage until the next time Rob puts something up in the attic. The other night we were watching TV and I noticed a little snowman head sitting on a speaker. I asked, "Did we miss that guy, or is he a year-round fixture?" Rob said, "He's year round."

    So there you have it.

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  25. Oh no! That could have been a toy! Well, you probably did the right thing, I suppose. Papa's been reading me this "Ethics" stuff and I guess you protected the interests of that teddy, and that's "good!" Dunno if I would be so noble ;) *wags* - Gilligan from WagsAhoy.com

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  26. I love it, because my answer is definitely "no". As hard as I try, I always miss something. In fact, I was just in the spare closet today and saw a Christmas sweater hanging there. But the good news is we're waiting to get a storage closet remodeled right now so the Christmas totes are still in the spare room, and easy to get at. I've actually been reorganizing them this year too, because my norm is just as you said "cram the stuff in there".
    Jan, Wag 'n Woof Pets

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  27. I keep a small basket out for this exact reason. The basket sits on top of all the Rubbermaid bins and holds the two or three things I've missed.

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  28. LOL No, just like you every year I miss something. This year it was a Christmas blanket. Last year it was the tree skirt. Don't ask how, it just happens.

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