To the rest of you old faithfuls, thank you for your regular comments. I love knowing that you’re here, and I love being able visit you in return.
While we’re on the subject of de-lurking, or more accurately, lurking, I once had a neighbor tell me at a Christmas party that, when he was a teenager, he used to break into his neighbor's houses and make breakfast while they were out. Or, he might sit and read a book, or take a nap in the quiet house. He never stole anything. Well, that is, if you don’t count the few eggs and toast, and he’d obviously gotten over this crimespree by the time I knew him.
While this is all very creepy, this story has always fascinated me, and I’ve wondered if his neighbors were aware of his presence. Whether he’d adequately cleaned up after himself, or thoroughly creeped them out by leaving unwashed dishes. Whenever I’ve misplaced something, I think about him, and entertain the idea that maybe someone’s just come in and taken it.
By no means, am I condoning this behavior, and neither was he, when he told me the story in the context of those odd things we do when we’re young, for which we have no explanation.
Beyond creepy was the building manager in our first city apartment, who would let himself in when we were out on a regular basis, go through our things and leave our newly delivered mail on the table. He spent his days roaming the halls and rummaging through everyones flats. Nobody ever complained because the owner of the building was even crazier. We soon broke our lease.
Lately, many small things have gone missing around here, and those of you with small children will agree, there is nothing unusual about this. I sometimes feel a bit seasick given the continuos motion with which our things float about the house. Last week it was vitamin supplements, diapers and almond butter. Those are the kinds of things that make you wonder if people are “borrowing” from you.
The vitamins reappeared, miraculously where we'd left them. The diapers will probably be found the week after Zip's been potty trained. The almond butter? For all I know, it could be tucked under a plant in the backyard.
Just the other day, that’s exactly where we found this:
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32 comments:
In Ireland they blame it on the 'little people' (and they don't mean the kids!).
You know- I think that blogging is a bit like visiting each other's homes, while we are home, and having a cup of coffee! As for when people are not home, I am a window peeper. I often wish that I was a realtor part time so I could just see other people's homes, get a feel. I can totally relate to you friends urges!
I had an apartment manager who would come into our apartment while we weren't home and look around. They (it was an old couple) wouldn't move anything but later they would say, "well, you shouldn't leave your toothbrush on the counter." And things like that. Or they would forget to lock the front door, then come back later when we were home to appologize. Very strange.
Like you, I'm losing/misplacing more and more and keep wanting to think that the dogs hid my keys/wallet/cell phone.
Wow, what a strange story! We used to swim in a neighbor's pool when they weren't home but we didn't eat anything!
That is an odd story - did he have a lot of siblings I wonder? Maybe he just liked the quiet.
Recently, I left my wedding rings and another ring on my bathroom counter. When I came back Maggie was in the bathroom and there was one ring out - and in a different place. Luckily, I was able to get her to show me where she had put the other two! Which was such karma because when I was a bit younger then her I took a nice ring of my Mom's and hid it and my parents never found it.
Hey, while you are looking, can you find all the dishtowels that have inexplicably gone missing? We have 2 out of 10. Also, if you could find my memory....
I'm pretty sure that guy's been in my house. If you're still in contact with him, could you please tell him to knock it off? It's really bugging me. Thanks.
How funny! I often drive slower at night in neighborhoods to get a glimpse into people's living rooms, just to see what their lives look like. Uh oh, does that make me a creeper too? Oops.
Maybe the boys are padding their piggy banks by running an open-air market with the things you can't find. I'd count those vitamins! :)
I admit, I'm a window peeper, too. *blushes in shame*
well now that is just weird
What? That's not where you usually store it? I totally keep ALL of my canned goods under plants.
That was a wonderful, somewhat creepy, post. I'm SURe this happens all the time, but YUCK.
I've decided this would make a great short story. I'm gonna go call Stephen King RIGHT NOW.
Are you sure you're not pregnant? I used to find the milk in with the chopping boards and the sugar in the fridge when I was breeding.
I've run the gamut of emotions in response to the random crap about the house. At this very moment there is a manual air pump on top of the DVD player, a rock (Daughter insists it contains a fossil) on the end table, a flashlight in the middle of the living room floor, and a pull up on the kitchen table (clean one, fortunately). Meanwhile, I cannot find my favorite squirty bottle (used for coloring my hair) or any of my five fingernail clippers. I am sure they are in some random place that I could never find them if I tried.
Only another parent of small children can understand or relate to this stuff.
Ha, what a great post... and even funnier are the comments to your post!!
When my mother lived with us, she always "moved" stuff around but then couldn't remember where she put it. At least now with the kids, I know to search for stuff at or below waist level. It makes it a bit easier, sometimes; at least 'til they get taller! Ha!
Thanks for the laugh!!
Is your back door unlocked? That's too funny! Why evaporated milk of all things?
I wish the "little people" would make the frozen ants in my freezer disappear back into the garden!!! They have been making the daily trek all week long inside and around my freezer. No matter how many times I wipe the carcasses away, they are back making their daily trek into the frozen arctic never-never-land with the frozen blueberries and chocolate mint ice cream.
Good Luck locating the peanut butter.
Talk to you soon Cuz! J
Gremlins...Artesians...Noids...Fairies...Geico Geckos...they're out there, and they're after what you got. Until -- as the culprits of the can widda cow on it -- they find they can't open it ;)
Maybe you have leprauchans (that is so not spelled right and I am too lazy to Google it before posting!)
Bwahahahaha!
Funny story. Creepy story. Funny story.
The other day I came home and there was a new rug in front of the front door and a dirty dish in the sink. I thought I perhaps just didn't notice these when I left in the morning. Of course it was hus that left these things, very unusual that he came home during the day so it made me think I was losing my marbles. I think that a lot though.
Whenever I can't find anything, I start cleaning up, and whammo! - there it is.
So do you think my wife is hiding things these days?
And they probably knew exactly where they hid your evapourated milk. Funny kids.
SOmeone once said that you always find the thing in the last place you look.... Well, duh, why would you keep looking after you find it?
Nice post but I'm definitely going to count my eggs
That is hysterical. We lose stuff all the time but I am an organizational freak so when stuff goes missing, I blame all the people in the house with a Y chromosome because that's all that lives here with me and they are all 3 as unorganized and chaotic as they come. I could just beat them all for losing things.
But, someone coming in and hanging out? Wooooohoo. We live in the sticks. We didn't lock our doors for the first 6 years we lived here. Then someone came in and stole my husbands Adderalll (he has ADD so maybe that explains some of that chaos) and so we started locking the doors. That never seem to bother me but when the cleaning lady would come, I would wonder what she thought when she went through places of my house.
I don't think she went through anything just to be nosey, she truly was that thorough when she cleaned. For example, any flower arrangements I might have, she would take them apart every few months and re-arrange them and we would get what we thought were new bouquets of decorative flowers. I would leave pictures and frames out and she would put them together and hang them on the walls and move them around every few months when she cleaned. So, she didn't do things to be nosey, like I said, she just was a good house keeper.
She quit because she said we were too cluttered and pathetic. We paid her $60 every 2 weeks. My husband offered her $100 and she said no, we were too cluttered.
Anyway, I don't know how I got off on all that except, I think about someone coming in my house and "hanging out" and that kind of creeps me out too, lol.
I had a housecleaner quit once. It mortified me. Now I clean/pick-up before our current cleaner comes. I am not a neat person (clean, not a neat freak), but having someone quit because my house was too messy still haunts me.
I'm not sure if you'll get to peek at this since it's been FIVE WHOLE DAYS since you've blogged...but I just wanted to thank you for being such an amazing bloggie friend. Your kind words are so helpful for me, and you always find the perfect thing to say to make me smile...even through my tears at times. So just in case you haven't heard it lately, please know that you are AMAZING! And in my little blogging la la land, I think I might consider you my much wiser older sister (since I'm an only child in real life). Thanks Sis!
Yeah that seems to happen a lot at our house too! In fact, for a while over the summer we did wonder if the little girl across the street came inside and played or got food while we were home... because thats just the kind of thing she would do! (We never did find out for sure...)
I never knew that I was feeling seasick but that's exactly it. You really hit the nail on the head. That constant shift of things - rooms getting messy as soon as they're cleaned. Everything disappering. Now I know why I feel nauseous!
When I was 9 or so I would walk our little dog around, and one day I walked right into someones home and into their bedroom. Hell, I should post about this. It seems like a dream.
Creepy and amusing at the same time. Great story!
Living alone, I have no one else to blame when things go missing, so I have to come up with other explanations, such as black holes, worm holes, gnomes and such. So if you happen to come across an opera-length black glove, that'd be mine. ;]
Too funny!
I do know what you mean though... I always find lots of "lost" items when the playroom gets a good cleaning! My daughter is now 5 going on 16 and I have to look for girly things more these days... lipstick/gloss, scarves, etc!
I once had a boss who went through everyone's desks after we went home. She'd take things you'd put in an inbox and put it back on your desk with a note about what was missing or what could be better.
That was creepy, a building manager doing the same? That would drive me nuts.
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