misplaced goods

I have lost three things lately.  Truly four if you count the ability to remember what I did with these things.  I carried around the first dvd in my yoga set, my favorite one, and a brand new taxidermy dvd that I haven't even watched yet in my bag back and forth from home to the day care for a couple of days.  I last remember sticking them in between pages of a book so they wouldn't get scratched up tossing loosely in my bag.  I am almost convinced that I returned them to the library in whatever book I stuck them in.  Or maybe not.... I still glance around and in a new place that I may have stuck them every day.  It's been almost two weeks since I've seen them.

The other thing is more valuable and more important as it is one of my hand guns.  It stays in it's little blue and black case that is about the size of a wallet.  It is always either in the kitchen or in my car and it is in neither at this point.  I almost remember the last time I thought about it accompanying me on a journey to the mall.  I don't remember if I put it in the car with me that day or not.  Either way, it is not where it is supposed to be.  That mall trip was early October.  I realized it's misplacement also two weeks ago.

What happens to short term memory?  I can remember what I wore to work yesterday and what I cooked for supper last Friday night.  I can even remember what I did on my birthday last month.  I remember easy things and these lost items too should be easy but the fact of their misplacement is where it gets foggy.  I am certain that I thought it was a good idea to lay them where I did at the time.  Partially it is my own problem of not putting things back where they belong.  "Oh, I'll remember" is what I think at the time.  Then days later I haven't a clue.

They say it happens as you get older but I've pretty much always been this way.  Shaun just taps his foot and rolls his eyes with a smile every time I misplace my keys.  I am the absolute worst at that.  It's safer for me just to leave them in the car.

I know I will feel so much better when they've been found.  I plan to ask the library if anyone turned the dvd's in and if not I plan to forget about it for a while.  The pistol will show up and I will slap my forehead and call myself silly for putting it where I did.   The part I dislike is that it constantly weighs on my mind.  On top of every little stress and part of daily life there it lies like a cherry on the sundae.  Makes me feel like a bag lady carrying around bags full of little troubles ready to sit them down.  But then again I'd probably forget where I put my bags.

Baking Tip

Granny and I were talking the other day about baking and how instantly forgetful we can be.  You know you've done it!  When you get ingredients out and begin tossing them in a bowl and lose count on the sugar.  Was that six-quarter cups full to make one and a half cups of sugar or was that five?  Or a half panic as the decadent Hummingbird Cake goes into the oven... I forgot to put the pecans in the cake mix! 

While I am sure there is some fancy ingredient ap on those fancy phones everyone but Shaun and I own, I obtained my tip from the one and only Julia Child.  I received The French Chef (one and two) DVD series for my birthday and pop them into watch while I am in my kitchen at least twice a week.  A week or two ago she was baking her Queen of Sheba chocolate cake and threw a tip at me.  Place all of your ingredients out on a tray or cookie sheet before you begin baking.  Go ahead and measure out the flour and other dry ingredients in separate bowls.  I know these steps take more time but really it adds to the fun and I know for sure I have everything out and measured before I begin. 

I tried this last weekend when I made a cake for the BBQ place.  And Lord knows I look for any excuse to use my enamel trays I adore so much!  I have mentioned my enamelware fetish haven't I? 
Anyway, I did just as Julia said and guess what... the pecans were in the cake this time.  Just as the recipe calls for.  If you are going to bake, try not to get in a hurry and enjoy the entire process and if you make the proper preparations you shan't forget or mis-measure a thing! 

The next step in this baking tip is to remove the ingredients from the tray and put them away as you use them.  Put the empty bowls in the sink and the vanilla bottle in the cabinet.  That way when you think you are done and you look over at your tray and something is still there..... guess what?  It's not too late to add it because the cake has not entered the baking zone yet.  Brill Julia... brill.

This tray is stained from another place in time before I got it.  But it is old and I love it!  I hadn't exactly premeasured at this point nor does it look like I had the flour out.  But I promise you, it did happen and it took a teeny bit of stress out of the whole process because I knew I wasn't going to forget a thing.