The Nintendo DS Has Been Located!

Call off the APB. I found the DS! Remember how I mentioned I thought the DS was not in our house? I found it completely by accident today in my car as we were pulling into the driveway. I happened to glance downwards and to the side and saw the case poking out from underneath Jim's sweatshirt, which has been in the car for, coincidentally, as long as the DS has been missing.

Jim and I are pretty sure that Lily was using the DS in the car and one of us then put it in the front before getting out at our destination. Just for the record, Jim told me several times this week that he searched my car, because that was one of the first places I thought of once it was pretty clear (to me, anyway) that the game was not in our house. Today he admitted he only looked on the floor in the back seat. I really should have looked in the car, too. Everyone knows that men are genetically defective when it comes to finding something lost because they have difficulty moving and/or looking underneath things! I really can't believe I didn't notice it all week, but I obviously didn't pick Jim's sweatshirt up off the floor!

I'm relieved that we found it because something else has gone missing. Jim took a brand new loaf of sour dough bread out of the refrigerator while I was at my all day crop on Saturday (Saturday was National Scrapbooking Day!). He advised me this morning that the loaf of bread was missing. He claims that he left it on the counter to thaw, used some of it for dinner last night and then put it in the bread basket we have on the counter. This morning, the basket was empty. We have looked in every cabinet in the kitchen, inside the oven and in the refrigerator and freezer and cannot find it. Jim queried whether the squirrel that's been eating all of our bird seed got into the house and snatched it! We both wondered whether someone was coming into our house and taking stuff or (eek!) living inside our walls like in that movie!

Jim thinks he probably accidentally threw the bread out or left it somewhere random in the house because he was "so busy making dinner and taking care of the kids" while I was gone. Since I spent another hour looking for the DS this morning, I'm confident that the bread is not in the office, living room, guest room, dining room, bath room or Lily's room. I haven't searched the basement or the upstairs.

Anyway, now that we found the DS I feel a little less like Jim's been trying to Gaslight me all week. Or like someone is living in the walls, playing Nintendo and eating sour dough bread!

My House is a Black Hole

I have just spent an hour scouring my house for Jim's Nintendo DS Lite game.

Missing Item Report

Subject name: Nintendo DS game

Date of Report: Sunday April 27, 2008 Missing Since: April 26 or 27

Description: Shiny black plastic, last seen wearing a navy blue and black padded case and holding a white stylus. Known to be carrying Jim's mod chip and at least two games in its pocket when last seen.

Facts: Subject last seen by me recharging batteries on the kitchen counter. I believe this event took place last Friday. It was definitely before the weekend. Upon interview, Jim stated that he had last seen the subject sitting on the back of the couch during the weekend. Subject was not reported missing until Sunday evening, at which time this household officer did not take the report seriously. Many items go missing for brief periods of time and show up a few hours later. I don't consider an item officially "missing" until it's been gone at least 24 hours.

Upon interview, Lily stated that she did not know where the subject was and did not recall whether she had seen it or not. Upon interview, Jack stated "Papa game GONE."

Jim searched the home half-heartedly on April 27. Both Jim and I searched a little more thoroughly on several occasions between that date and May 1, 2008. I conducted a hard target search this afternoon, with no success.

Status: The game is really missing!

Seriously, this house is not that big. I've checked all of the kids' usual hiding spots: behind the couch, behind the chair, behind the radiators, in my knitting basket, in the storage drawers under Lily's bed (where I located the missing flashcards she's supposed to be working on), in the bathroom cabinets and in the TV cabinet. No game to be found.

My Household Officer instincts are telling me that the game was removed from the house by someone. I checked the car to see if Lily brought it with her on a ride somewhere, but it is not in my car. I've left a message with Jim to make sure he didn't bring it along with him somewhere and leave it at a friend's house or in his briefcase. Help! I'm running out of ideas! Maybe a masked intruder broke into our home and stole the DS?

My usual mantra in these cases is "It'll turn up." Things always do. But the DS has been missing for a long time now. Things usually show up in a couple of days.

There must be a secret kid hiding place that I haven't discovered yet. I'm off to look again, this time while cleaning up the house. Wish me luck! If you can think of any other places I should look, leave a comment. This is making me CRAAAAA-ZY!

PS: Thanks for the nice comments, both on here and in real life. I'm not going to let the haters get me down!