Here we go again...

It's days like today that completely amaze and baffle me at the same time. How can someone be so unlucky and lucky at the same time? How in the world do I get myself into these situations in the first place? And probably most importantly, why does it continue to surprise me?

Yesterday I picked my kids up from school. I got Jamison first. He was not wearing his hearing aids which isn't completely unusual. Sometimes after their 'naptime', he refuses to put them back in. So his teacher handed them to me and for a brief second the thought flashed through my mind "I should put these somewhere before I lose them." I'm pretty sure these small flashes of brilliance is God's way of warning me that I'm about to do something stupid. Once, before I threw away my rental car keys (never to be seen again), I remember thinking "Why would they give me two keys? I should take one off and put it in my laptop bag." Well, I didn't listen then and I sure didn't listen yesterday. I left Jamison's room holding his hearing aids and this is the last I remember seeing/thinking about them until last night. While I was in bed falling asleep, I remembered them and thought "hmmm.... where did I put them? They must be in my purse. I need to remember to get them out in the morning before I leave for work." Two things are wrong with this: 1) There's no way I'd remember that in the morning and 2) Of course they're not in my purse. I quit bringing my purse into school with me a long time ago so I don't lose it.

So, this morning I went to work early and of course forgot all about the hearing aids. Until Jay called to ask me for them. I checked my purse. They weren't there. I can't say I was surprised, I had no memory of putting them in there anyways. Jay checked the kids backpacks, but they weren't in there. I was a little worried, but then Jay let me know that one of his hearing aids was in his cubby at school. The other one was still missing. This is when I panicked because right then I realized that I had done the thing that I have spent hours lecturing Jamison not to do. I lost his hearing aids. I spent all day stressed and panicked (again not completely unusual for me). When I got to school, his teacher told me that a parent found the one hearing aid on the floor in the hallway right outside Gianna's classroom. Jamison and I walked up and down the hallway several times, but the other one wasn't there. I searched the parking lot, searched my car, searched Jamison's classroom, Gianna's classroom and any other open classrooom I could see, but no hearing aid. Finally, I reached down to put on Gianna's coat and had a sudden flash of memory of putting her coat on the day before. I was holding Jamison's coat, Jamison's backpack, a drawing of a caterpillar Jamison had made, Gianna's backpack, Gianna's coat, my car keys and Jamison's hearing aids. I now can remember feeling something fall out of my hands while I tried to get Gianna's coat on and now I know what that something was. Still one hearing aid short, I called Jay in my stressed out panic upset mode and of course he was completely calm as always while he told me that everything would be okay. I don't know how I got so lucky that I married someone who can handle these situations so well. I don't think I would react as calmly if he told me that he lost a couple hearing aids at about $1400 a pop...

An hour later, I'd searched the pockets of everything I owned, dumped out the entire contents of my purse and the kids backpacks, searched under the couch cushions (which are still on the floor in my living room), searched Jamison's room, called the school to ask them to leave a message for the cleaning crew and was about to give up when I FOUND IT!!!!! Inside Gianna's snowboot that had also been inside her backpack yesterday.... of course. I am so so relieved!!! Of course now I realize how fortunate I am that someone found the one on the floor before it got swept up into the garbage and also how lucky it was that I checked Gianna's boots before I ordered a new hearing aid for him. Really, I am just thankful God was looking out for me once again. I'd love to say this is a one time occurance, but who am I kidding? I'm leaving for the Bahamas in a week, who knows what kind of crap I can get myself into there......