The last place I looked

When you move, you always lose things. We've moved a lot in the past, and every time there seems to be something that goes missing: a mixer, a blender, a rug, and this time a folder. Folders are a dime a dozen, and this one was no different. Only the things inside of it were important: social security cards, birth certificates, marriage certificate, car title, passports-- you know, THAT folder.

Neither of us remembered packing it. Kevin doesn't remember stuff like that, and I didn't do much of the packing. We had friends help us with some of the last-minute stuff, so we figured someone had thrown it in a box somewhere.

We searched everywhere, high and low. I dug through all our boxes that still sit tightly packed in the storage area. Then I searched them all again. Then Kevin searched in them. No folder. We have been here almost two months, and we search for this stupid folder several times a week.

Finally I started looking into what it would take to replace all these documents. (Answer: lots of money, time, hassle, and paperwork.) The first one we needed was Penny's social security card so we can claim her on our taxes. This meant first ordering a birth certificate so that we could prove her existence and THEN apply for a new card. Bah! I dread this kind of paperwork.

So today while Penny napped I looked some more... and found it!

We have a little chest of 3 drawers, and during the move, the folder had fallen behind and under the bottom drawer. Kevin looked under the second drawer and found our passports. I sat staring at the folder, so elated I was literally giggling out loud. What a relief!

And Kevin's dad has a fire-proof lock box he doesn't use any more. I think we'll keep these things in there from now on. It's a bit harder to misplace than a folder.