CRISIS AVERTED

I'm pretty good at finding things. When Lou can't find his wallet, sunglasses or cell phone, much of the time I can join the search & ultimately help locate whatever has temporarily gone missing. Today my skills were put to the test with the "lost princess."

First I should mention that my natural frugality flies out the window when it comes to my Charley. Yesterday we celebrated her birthday a couple weeks early since she will be back in New Mexico when her actual birthday rolls around. I had bought her a kid's camera, a Shutterfly puzzle with photos of her & Daddy, a pair of suede Bearpaw boots, a furry vest to match & two long sleeve tops to wear under it.

Charley, my sister (Karen or Zizi to Charley), & I went to Costco to pick up pizza for our party. The guys all stayed at my dad's & every one agreed that, "They won't get out of Costco without buying Charley something else." They all know I can't resist that little sweetie when she really, really wants something. Alas, they know me too well. And, you know what? I'm good with that.

The line was really long to order pizzas so while Zizi waited, I pushed Charley around in the cart looking at Halloween & Christmas things. First, she wanted these three big witches stirring a cauldron that ran on electricity. It cost $139 & Gaga couldn't afford that, plus she couldn't take it with her to New Mexico without buying a couple more plane tickets. She did understand that. Oh, by the way, I had already bought her a crazy looking zombie a week ago.

Then she spotted a box of eight princesses (all the ones from Disney movies - Elsa, Anna, Cinderella, Ariel, Belle, Merida, Tiana & Rapunzel). They were only about four inches tall & each had a dress that if you squeezed the bottom, the princess could slide out the top so they could interchange clothes easily. Of course, Charley (& me, too) knew all the princesses & which dress belonged to each one. It didn't take her long to convince me that she HAD to have them & she added sweetly, "It IS my birthday." We found Zizi who immediately started chuckling when she saw the box next to Charley in the cart.

Back at my dad's, Charley went in first carrying her box of princesses. They guys all laughed, too, & said, "We knew it!" The princesses were a big hit & she played with them last night & this morning. Today Darrin, Charley & I went out to run errands & to Taco Bell for lunch. Two of the princesses came along in the car. Upon returning home, Charley brought them in the house. I thought she had Tiana & Ariel with her.

When I counted them to put them in her present bag for the trip home there were only seven. Oh, no! We determined Ariel was missing. A search of the car turned up nothing. While Darrin packed up things to load the car for their trip to Hayward, Charley & I looked everywhere in the house for Ariel with no luck.

Darrin & Charley were pretty sure that she had Tiana & Rapunzel, not Ariel, in the car earlier. Rapunzel was accounted for as were all the others. I knew it could be disastrous later on if Ariel was nowhere to be found. We looked under furniture, in the office, all over the kitchen, behind cushions, in the bathroom, but Ariel was still missing in action. Finally, Darrin says, "Charley, I think we have to call off the search since it's getting late & we have to leave." I assured her that when I found Ariel, I'd mail her to Charley wherever she was. But I was still worried that tonight it may be a major catastrophe if Ariel was not found.

Charley thought she took her upstairs to our bedroom so we went up one last time even though we had looked there before. She told me where she set her but she wasn't there. However, I turned around & saw Ariel standing on the shelf behind our bed beside a candle! "There she is!", I exclaimed. Hooray! The missing princess was found!

Charley yelled at the top of her lungs, "DADDY! WE FOUND HER!!!" Crisis averted as Ariel joined her fellow royalty in the gift bag! Whew!