She's Gone, Gone, Gone . . . .

"She's gone gone gone,

gone gone gone.

Crying won't bring her back.
The more that I cry,

the faster than train flies

further on down the track."

I've been singing these lines in my head to Lefty Frizzel's 'She's Gone' since last night.  I spent the E-N-T-I-R-E day yesterday combing through this house, from top to bottom, AND the workshop in the garage . . . trying to find that missing audio tape from the library.  And my cellphone cord.  Nada.  Nothin'.  Zip.  Zilch.  They do not EXIST anywhere within the 40 acres of Swamp River Ridge.  

I have looked in jacket pockets.  I have removed cushions from every piece of furniture.  I have lain my head on the dirty floor, shining a flashlight under every appliance, shelf, and stationary object.  I went through the ENTIRE stack of junk, all covered in mouse poop, on the workbench in the garage.  I have looked in every single piece of stereo equipment.  I have sorted through stacks of laundry.  I have looked . . . EVERYWHERE.  E-v-e-r-y-w-h-e-r-e.

On the up side, I found (and this is a little scary considering my financially destitute position) $115 in cash stuck here and there in stacks of paperwork and behind the bureau in the bedroom!  Enough to pay the replacement cost ($69) of the audio book.  With a little left over to throw at bills.  And, I did find the book on eBay this morning for only $22.95.  Not the same format (MP3 CD instead of cassette), but I'm going to ask the library if they'll let me replace it that way.  I really have no idea if they'll go for that or not.

So, where are the missing items?  What I'm really afraid of is that, since they're both things I would be hauling between the house and car, that I set them on top of the car one day while either getting ready in the morning or unpacking at the end of the day . . . and they fell off somewhere along the road.  Although, a white cassette tape would surely be spied by someone, right?  And, with the name of the library clearly stamped on it, wouldn't you think they'd return it?  Or, is it (and maybe my cellphone cord) lying amongst the autumn leaves and beer cans in the back of someone's pickup?  (NOT, unfortunately, mine . . . although there are no beer cans in mine!)

I swear, they disappeared so completely that, when I first noticed them missing, I felt like someone was breaking into the house during the day just to screw with my mind!  But, after yesterday, I can unequivocally say that they are not here.

I was SO tired and sore and FILTHY at the end of the day that I took a long shower, made a homemade pizza for dinner and then collapsed.  THAT was my day yesterday.  But, did I succeed in feeling like I'd had a good, solid day by the end of it?  Oh, yes!  I couldn't have looked harder!

I'm going to the library today to finish this mess up, but do YOU have any brilliant ideas of where these items might be hiding?  I swear, I can't think of another place to look!  (Yes, I looked in my office in town, but I'll look again today before going to the library.)