I’m 43 and I might, finally, be growing up. Yup… it’s true.

Allow me to explain…

One of the few things that really gets under my skin – I mean totally steams me – is when I’ve lost something I shouldn’t have lost. Well, no. That’s not quite true. Losing it doesn’t bother me one teensy-weensy bit. It’s the not being able to find it part that, well, doesn’t bring out the best in me.

I don’t know if I can explain it to you properly, but if I’ve put something somewhere and I’ve forgotten where I put it, I get REALLY mad. I’m talking spitting nails, saying really bad words MAD. I know… it’s stupid. It’s absolutely juvenile. But there you have it. I have learned to recognize when I start getting to that point and then I just walk away. There’s absolutely no point to keep looking because the only thing I’m seeing at that point is red – and the blue streak coming out of my mouth. So I walk away, regroup, usually say a little prayer, and give it some time before I try again. (That’s stage 1 of growing up…)

I reached Stage 2 a couple of nights ago.

I needed to charge my Nexus 7 tablet, so I toddled off to the drawer where I keep all my chargers. Huh… not there. OK. Where’d I see it last? Last weekend in the hotel in Toronto. Uh oh. Nope… I’m SURE I packed it before I left the hotel room. Then where is it? Checked my suitcase – all pockets and pouches. Nope. Checked my purse – all pockets and pouches. Nope. Blood pressure hasn’t even budged! Amazing! I checked everywhere again. Still nope. I called the hotel – even though I was sure I hadn’t left it there, I’ve been SURE about things before and, well, it had turned out I was wrong, so I wanted to leave no stone unturned. Not that it mattered – there was nothing in the Lost and Found. Huh.

To make a long story just a little bit longer, I headed back to the drawer where I store my chargers and stuff. It still wasn’t there, but what WAS there was the pouch where I keep my GPS. The light went on! I had stored my tablet charger in with the GPS for the Toronto trip! I remembered putting the pouch in the drawer when I got back, and thinking, “I should take the charger out now so I know where it is.” Then, “Nah…you’ll remember.” Then I laughed, “No you won’t.” But I left it in the pouch anyway. Why? Because apparently sometimes I like to torture myself. 🙂

That’s a one-off, so I wouldn’t say I had reached Stage 2 just based on that. BUT… when I was getting ready for bed, I lost my glasses! I had them on one minute. Then they were off the next and I couldn’t find them. They are super light frames (colour and weight) and I’m pretty blind without them. I’ve played the “feel around” game before – including feeling the top of my head – so I know how this goes. I tiptoed around – in case they’ve fallen on the floor – and even got down on all fours “sweeping” the carpet with my hands. Nothing. I flipped the blankets on the bed – turning them all down, then turning them all up. I shifted all the pillows around. Nothing. Blood pressure still on an even keel. I realize I can’t keep looking like that, so I go get my old glasses and scope things out again. I smoothed out the blankets and there was this persistent bump. You guessed it – my glasses.

So… two lost (misplaced – potaytoe / potahtoe) items in one evening. Not one single, solitary “colourful” word. No soaring blood pressure.

I think that definitely shows I’ve reached stage 2! My mother would be so proud. 😉