Missing Anything?

So for those of you who have had the pleasure of traveling with me, you know I have a hard time keeping track of my stuff. I make a list, I pack, I organize, and then, presto, it's gone! Subconsciously I am not aware of where I put stuff, because my head is off somewhere else. My brain just doesn't pay that much attention to what my body is doing.

So, they say things happen in three's, and it's true. Number one: I arrive at the hotel in Houston and go to get my camera. Which is not in my computer bag, nor is it in my back pack. Nope, it is in the seat back pocket of Continental Airlines 7flight 374 at Bush Intercontinental Airport. Or on its way to some exotic location....without me. Damn. No camera. That sucks. But I can deal, because for some reason unkown to me I have taken the SD card out of the camera and it is safe.

Number 2: Day 2 of the conference and I have spent time with Alan November, of November Learning, the President of the Boston Museum of Science, and this really cool science teacher from Colorado. I have handouts and have taken copious notes. I have tagged my pages and marked the sessions I want to attend. Somewhere between buying a T-shirt, getting my picture taken in an astronaut suit and visiting the Women's Room, I have managed to misplace my session book. Nowhere. I retrace my steps..."Did you happen to find a book laying around?" "Yes, is this it?" "Nope," Boy, a lot of misplaced session books....everyone I asked had a book someone had left behind, but none of them were mine. Damn. All those notes.

"You do know things happen in threes," my friend said over dinner. "Are you sure you haven't misplaced anything else?" "Nope, I don't think so....but I don't know." How would I know? If I knew I misplaced something, it wouldn't be misplaced, right? I started imagining I had lost my ipod..."Where is it?" I think I left it in the car. "Where's my thumb drive?" I must've left it in a pocket..."Have you seen my room key?" AHHHHH!!

Number 3: So we're in the airport at the gate and I am looking through my computer bag. No laptop power cord. "I'm sure you have it, don't worry," my friend says. "I don't remember packing it," I say. "It'll turn up," she says. "When you get home and unpack everything, I'm sure you'll find it." I don't feel sure.

Today I am home. I unpacked everything and put things away. I emptied the computer bag, the Hawaiin backpack on wheels, and the Samsonite. I no longer have to worry about the third missing item. Back in room 372AB at the George Brown Convention Hall in Houston, Texas, you will find my power cord. The session book? No clue, but someone got some good notes. And the Kodak? I'm still hoping to have my faith in humanity restored....in some airport, somewhere, someone has turned in a black camera case to Continental Airlines Customer Service, where the item has been logged into the computer system with the hundreds of other items that get left behind every day. Missing anything lately?