Search Button

I don't have a cellphone. I have a land line. I know I'm old school, but I really prefer it this way. We tried having just cellphones when we moved into this house, but I could never find the stupid thing when I needed to make a call. It was usually hidden under a couch cushion, or under the coffee table, or in the laundry basket or someplace weird. And if the ringer was off, fugeddaboutit.

We have three phones connected to our landline. One "corded, really old school, attached to the wall" phone-which will never, ever, ever in a gazillion years get lost. And two cordless phones with a really cool feature, when you press a button on the base of the chargers, the lost phones will beep until you find them. So if you need to call your sister, or follow up on a job interview or call the doctor, you just press the Search Button, and beep, beep, beep, you've found your handset!

I just wish someone could install this feature on everything else in my life that I seem to misplace. Mia had a Thanksgiving project for school that involved 3 components: We were supposed to decorate a paper turkey, print out a picture of our family, and bring in a can of food for a Thanksgiving Food Drive for their school.

The paper turkey was just a picture of a cartoon turkey that we, as a family, were supposed to decorate as a togetherness project. We just never seem to have time together. Mia started to decorate it by herself. Grant pitched in by doing some "improvements." Spencer was glued to his video game. I always seem to have to clean something or pick something up or run an errand or look for something, that I never have time to "collaborate." It needed to be handed in on Friday, which I found out about Friday morning, 5 minutes before we left the house. It wasn't on the kitchen table. It wasn't on the homework table, which has turned into a Lego table. And it wasn't in Mia's backpack. I need a Search Button!

I wanted to print out a picture of our family, but couldn't decide which picture to print out. A picture with the kids and mom. A picture with the kids and dad. Just the kids. I'm not even sure if there is a picture of us all together, but now with the separation/divorce I'm not sure what the definition is of our family anymore. I need a Search Button!

The whole school is doing a Thanksgiving Food Drive for unprivileged families in our community. The goal is to get each kid to donate a can of food for the less fortunate. At the school my children attend, 45% of the kids qualify for the free/reduced lunch program. I think that we might qualify. But I'm too afraid to check. I am a smart and talented person. I have a college degree. I work hard and take great pride in what I can accomplish. I cannot qualify for the free/reduced lunch program. I give to charity. I don't accept it. All I need is a job, not charity. An opportunity to show what I can do. I know that I can make some company a lot of money. I have a billion ideas (a few of them good!) floating around in my head.

A job. A chance. I need a Search Button.