Recently, I’d been missing my cast iron skillet.
And my favorite medium-sized knife.
Oh. And my potato peeler.
All of these are things I use all the time, but I had NO idea where they were for at least several weeks.
Since I do have another skillet, and a bigger knife will do, I just managed.
I was pretty irritated to have to peel potatoes with a knife, though. Barbaric.
But as I tend to do, I just went on through life. Making do with whatever I happen to have.
Until one day, as I performed the now-rote task of reaching under the sink for a dishwasher tablet . . . I thought I caught a glimpse of something.
Waaaayyyy back in the back. So I contorted and twisted and reached waaaayyyyy back and pulled out . . .
My cast iron skillet. Ohhhhh. That’s right. Sometimes, when the dishwasher is full-to-capacity and already running and it’s time for the doorbell to ring, I shove extra dirty dishes under the sink.
And then (obviously), I forget about them.
I can’t even blame it on the fact that the skillet is black and was hidden in the shadows, since once I looked around, I saw my favorite knife and my peeler right there in the very front, not hidden behind anything at all.
Hmmmph.
--Nony
Andrea says
This just made me snort my coffee… I can sorta relate. I usually lose things when I put them away for “safe keeping”. Then I can’t remember WHERE!!! lol
Nellie says
I do that with gifts. I spot something that would be a really great gift for a loved one, buy it, and then hide it until Christmas or that person’s birthday, or Father’s Day or what have you. And then I have trouble finding it because I hid it so well! LOL
Maureen says
One time, as a child, I remember my mom putting a stack of dishes that were more than would fit in the dishwasher, in the cold oven. (Can you see where this is going?) I believe we were having company so she wanted them out of sight. Then a few days later she needed the oven and turned.it on to heat. A horrible smell soon began to fill the kitchen and she suddenly remembered those dishes. Half of them were plastic which melted and ended up ruining the non plastic dishes as well. So, at least you didn’t do that. 🙂 And I have only once put dirty dishes in a cold moved to hide them but made sure they were oven safe in the even I forgot them. 😉
Louise says
I … um … hid a countertop griddle/grill contraption in a cold oven for a house showing. Then forgot it. Then, days later, turned on the oven. After the fire trucks left, my daughter and I stayed in a hotel for 6 days while a disaster company cleared the burnt plastic smell from our house and an appliance company delivered a new stove to replace the one the firefighters smashed with their axes in order to put out the flames. I don’t hide things in the oven any more.
Dana White says
Oh. My. Word. I think you win the “best story” in the comments today!!
Maureen says
Make that cold oven not cold moved lol
Dana E says
I am laughing with you – not at you !!!!! 🙂
Liz says
I “lose” so many things when people show up unexpectedly and I shove items in random locals to hide them. It’s only a problem when I need the item. LOL
Elizabeth says
I have learned in my life that when I hear the thought “put it in a safe place” I need to NOT do that… put it on the Fridge… at least someone who isn’t blind to what is there has a chance of seeing it when I am frantic and can’t find it. I realize that this doesn’t work with Skillets and Potato peelers, but still…
and… please, gods, tell me that you DON’T put your cast iron in the dishwasher….
Dana White says
I don’t!! I guess I just wanted a cleared sink!
Kelekona says
Yep, putting it in a safe place is the surest way to lose something.
I am really glad that I’m not so ashamed of having a few stray dishes in the kitchen. Once I pushed vegetable cuttings off the counter but neglected to sweep them up. It made the company curious about the spice collection because he noticed a connection between creatives and cleanliness.
Michelle says
I had to laugh at this. When I was a kid we had a babysitter who was grounded. She was grounded by her mother because she had wanted to go to the movies with her friends, but she wasn’t allowed to go until all the dishes were washed. She washed the plates, but shoved the plastic bowls and pots and pans into the oven and told her mother she was finished. While she was at the movies her mother decided to bake something. Without opening the oven, she turned it on to preheat. My babysitter arrived home from the movies to find the house stinking of melted plastic and her mother royally ticked off that all her pots and pans were ruined. The babysitter said the moral of the story was to hide the unwashed dishes anywhere but the oven.
Dana White says
Hahaha! Love the moral of the story!!
Jalal says
I burned half my house down with the dishes in the oven trick. Now if you show up unexpectedly, either you deal with my dirty dishes or just don’t come in!
Ti Anderson says
Oh I have lost so many things by randomly hiding them. When I was a kid I actually had a closet avalanche that buried the cat….He was fine but he never came in my room again haha. Now that I have a bigger closet and less clothing I’m doing much better at keeping it all cleaned up but I did have my suitcase fall off the shelf onto my head….Really I should only keep very soft things in my closet lol
Shoeaholicnomore says
ok, I usually “lose” things by thinking “I’ll put this here because then when I need it I’ll know where it is.” But then when I go to look for it next year for the same thing, I can’t remember where I put it… Sigh!
Sonja Carroll says
This is my life. I can’t even begin to tell you how many hours I’ve wasted looking for things. I am also known to lose my crochet hook while I’m using it. Yes, it the middle of the stitch. I get distracted so easily.
Patti says
Oh I laughed so hard at this … I always put stuff “just out of the way over here” (usually paper) until whatever time and that time never comes and then 6 months later it shows up and I can’t BELIEVE I actually put it there.
Susan says
Love this post!
I once ordered four boxes of checks because it was WAY cheaper than ordering just one box of checks. I use my debit card (or cash) for practically everything, so it take me literally years to go through a box of checks. Well, after I’d used just the first pad from the first box, which was months after I’d bought them, I went looking for the boxes to get another pad, and I could not find them anywhere!
I knew they were lost in my home somewhere, confident that they had not been stolen. So, after a decent time spent searching, I ordered more. In the meantime I needed to write a check, so I went to my credit union for some counter checks, which cost me like $5. Grrr.
When the new order of checks arrived, I said to myself, “self, where should I put these where I will know where they are?” I decided that a certain compartment in my desk would be a good place. I told my tween-age daughter where I was going to put them because she was a much memory than I do. So … I proceed to my desk and open the door to the compartment and what do I find? The original four boxes of checks.
Now I have like a 20 year supply. And I know where they.
Dana White says
Oh, this makes me giggle!!
Therese says
I can sympathize with you. I did the same thing lol!
But now I use those checks instead of my Debit card. I may get dirty looks in the check out lane ( yep I sure do!) But I find I am less will to buy something if I have to hold up a line of folks to stop write a check, and show ID.
Judy says
I can’t tell you how much I appreciate your honesty! You make me feel so much better about these “dirty” secrets!
Kris says
My boys did an all sports camp this summer and they had to bring shin guards for a soccer portion of the day. My younger one has trouble tying his shoes well so to avoid issues we decided to send shin guards that aren’t attached to the ankle guard. We have one of each kind that he can use. For the life of me I could only find the ones that are attached. After going back and forth my husband and I decided to cut the ankle guard off and be done with it. I cut it off, put them in his backpack and went to the bin where we keep outdoor stuff that can’t be stored outdoors (helmets, baseball hats, hiking packs etc) to get a baseball cap. Behold…the shin guards not attached to ankle guards that I had looked everywhere for that morning and the day before…right where they were supposed to be now that we were trying to be more organizes. With all the outdoor stuf. And so it goes for some of us. Thank goodness I’m not alone.
janice says
a few months back I looked “everywhere” for my wallet I asked the nephew who can find things at the snap of a finger I went online and did this app where you think of the object and type a number and it tells you where to look I was looking for weeks finally we counted it gone and got replacements for the contents. a few weeks later I was going through a pile of laundry and random stuff that got mixed in with laundry and once I got to the bottom there it was my long lost wallet and it made me realize just how long I had let that pile sit. that was do to bad house keeping but funnier well to me is the story of the olive oil we buy olive oil from Costco and refill a 18 oz glass for connivance I had the same bottle for 7 years likely and when we moved in January it disappeared I cleaned the house and reorganized everything more than once I pretty much knew where everything was we had been using the olive oil pretty much daily before the move so it was super annoying and after a few months we broke down and got a new re’fillable bottle which sucked compaired to the regular bottle I pretended was a refill bottle. it was april when I was trying to make room by taking my canning stuff out from under the bed to my mother in laws I would have to go to her house to can any way I don’t even have a real kitchen I got out all the empty canning jars stored in the boxes they belong in and the one and only box full of empty jars that was not the original but rather one meant for restaurant cups as soon as could wiggle out from under the bed I jumped up and ran to the kitchen and looked underneath the box of home canned tuna and as soon as I was able to open yes that box is where we had stored the olive oil. in the box I had thought was the other jars that didn’t have a proper box. it was in the only box in our kitchen I never un packed besides the olive oil not a lot was missed and so we took the oil out but I really haven’t unpacked the box it has stuff in it we can’t use without a really kitchen and we are hopeful to be able to have a real kitchen and other stuff that I use to take for granted
Jennifer says
there are sooo many things in my house that are in “safe places” that i can no longer locate. once, i put my needle box (for quick mending projects) in… wait for it…. my SEWING box. couldn’t find that dang thing for two months. (i used to keep it in my underwear drawer? because the thing that needs mending most often are the underwires and eye hooks on my bras). speaking of bras.. i lost my favorite one a few days ago… finally found it in the bottom of the kids’ dirty laundry hamper.
sahm2girls says
Have a ‘safe place’ story but it has nothing to do with dishes. I got diagnosed with ADD and got an RX for some meds. They help, but evidently not enough. The doc gave me a paper RX form, which I put in a ‘safe place’ til I needed to refill my meds. 2 Months later I still can’t find the RX. The doc can’t replace them, I’ve already called. I have looked everywhere for that ‘safe place’, still can’t find it… 🙁
Angela says
I do hope you find it soon! For future reference, you can take Rx forms to your pharmacy and give it to them as soon as you get it and just tell them to hold it and you will call when you need it filled. Then it truly IS in a safe place!! 🙂
Renee says
This made me laugh out loud because I have done this more times than I can count. ☺️