Whew!!!

About 3 weeks ago, I woke up with a start.
"Where are LLB's pearls?" was the thought that ran through my head.

Now I know that most 13 year old girls don't have "nice" pearls, but LLB has a beautiful strand of Akoya pearls that my parents bought for her when she was very little. They are the most gorgeous color I call just pink. There is a long story about why she got this strand so young, but suffice it to say, the kid is totally spoiled by her grandmother and that, my friends, is a very very good thing.

So, back to my harrowing ordeal.

I leaped out of bed and got out the box that holds her strand of pearls and mine. I opened the case and mine were right on top, where they usually are. I flipped open the flaps to reveal -

nothing.

(The case has a two ribbon snaps that hold the pearls in the case and I usually use both snaps to hold her pearls in there. Mine sit on top of the satin flaps to keep the strands from rubbing together.)

I freaked! OMG! Where are they?

I am so careful with these pearls. I always put them right back when she's done wearing them...

I ripped her room apart. Fortunately, I had planned to do this anyway since she was off at camp. I cleaned shelves that hadn't been touched in years. I went through her coats. I went through her drawers.

Nothing.

I went through my closet. I cleaned every shelf. I went through every pocket. I cleaned out my dresser. Maybe I'd put them in a drawer in a moment of stupidity. I went through the hope chest... Now I KNEW I would never put them in there, but you know, just in case.

Yesterday, I decided that I had been through this house from top to bottom. Maybe those pearls had fallen out of the box in the place where I keep them. I thought I'd go through that entire place. That's all I had left.

I opened the box.
I held my breath.
I opened the case.
There were my pearls.
This is good. I haven't lost two sets now.
I lifted the flaps - both of them.
There they were.
Her pearls were put away exactly where they should have been.
They were only attached with one snap.
The other must have let go.
I obviously didn't check very well the first time. I'm sure my panic and total freaking out had something to do with that.

I heaved a HUGE sigh of relief and said a quick prayer of thanks.

I have two things to celebrate. My house is clean and LLB's pearls are safe and sound. Whew!