I do that all the time....drives me freekin' crazy!
I have never lost anything quite as large as a stock pot...but the most recent was a 14 inch long stainless steel spoon...I even called and asked if I had taken it to a friend's whan I took a dish over ( now....really? would I take that huge spoon to serve a dish with???).
Found it...just sitting on the counter....couldn'ts ee it in plain sight.

then a couple of years ago I lost my 12 inches long serrated Chicago Cutlery bread knife. It was missing almost 2 months and I finally gave up and bought another. Of course I found the old one. It was in a slot in my knife holder....someone else put it away!

That's why I have 2 boxes of cocoa powder....and 2 bottles of cocktail sherry, both open!!

Oh boy, Lars. I thought I had it bad when I couldn't find the ceramic spoon holder for some months! Turned out it had been put inside a pot I seldom use. But a stockpot...!

I hope you talk with your doctor soon. Have you made sure you are drinking plenty of fluids? Maybe your potassium or magnesium levels are off? Call soon.

Take care,
Kathleen

This is also why I have three stock pots, I guess. I have also misplaced things that are in plain sight, but Kevin can usually find those for me, or I eventually see them.

Dinner did not get delayed, but I still cannot understand why I cannot remember what I last used the stock pot for. I often leave it on top of the stove, since I use it so often, and when I put it away, it nests in the two larger stock pots, which are not missing. I don't like mysteries like this!

Lars

Whenever I think I'm going crazy and not able to remember where I've put something - and it's happening all too frequently - I look in the garage. Chances are my DH has appropriated something to use for some non-food related reason. And without asking or telling me! Or I don't remember if he did ...

A 14 inch well seasoned hammered wok. Looked for ages, about a year later realized I gave it to daughter.

Lars, how many times I've almost started a similar thread but then thought the better of it! I could cite several examples, but two immediately come to mind:

A Pyrex loaf pan. The one that's roughly 9x5x3 if I had to guess. I searched then gave up figuring it'd show up. Next time I needed it I searched hard. I've searched a few more times. It's been over a year now, maybe even two.

A watermelon. Yup, a whole watermelon recently "went missing" for longer than I care to admit. This I did eventually find, on a chair in the living room under one of my kid's sweatshirts. Guess I need to straighten up the living room more often?

Lars, I too lost a stock pot. About 8 or 10 years ago.
I still have the cover to it. The last I remember,it
was hanging in the pantry. Also in the pantry is a 30
gallon trash container. My best guess was that it fell
into the trash and got covered up. Who knows what evil
lurks.

I'm losing things all the time these days since menopause is starting...GAH!!!! I had lost a lid to one of my plastic storage dishes...no biggy but still I have 6 and only 5 lids....finally it appeared, it was stuck together in two on a container in the freezer..HA!

Did you lend that stock pot to someone? Using it for a bucket in the basement/garage? Stuck it in the unused shower stall? HA! (Cousin did that one time...HA!) When I can't find something I start at one end of the house and end up at the other...never fails be except that missing lid...HAHAHA!

When I outfitted the galley of the sailboat for Danny's adventure I sent duplicates of many things to the boat. Alice missed those things more than I as they were usually the smallest version of some kitchen thing - a pot, a cutting board, a utility knife, etc. There were a few things I went looking for only to finally recall that the item went to the boat. It's been three years now so I have stopped doing that.

I have also given things away and forgotten.

I couldn't find my huge wooden spoon for a while. It finally showed up but I don't recall where.

I lost a pound of hamburger once. I found it under the passenger seat of the car during a road trip on a hot day a few days later. Ugh. And all that time I had been accusing Alice of getting in the car with manure on her boots from her riding lessons. :)

Eileen

The leaf to the table. Still haven't found it since last Christmas dinner.

Well, I found the stock pot when I went home for lunch. I narrowed the search down by thinking of where it would fit rather than where would I logically put it. Evidently, I had thrown it in the lower cabinet that has (or rather had) the Lazy Susan. The Lazy Susan shelf broke about two weeks ago, due to the weight of the bowls I had stored there, and we have not yet fixed it. Anyway, without the shelf, there is a cavernous cabinet with space going back beside the sink, and I guess I threw the stock pot in there to get it out of my way when I didn't have space for it on the stove top. I don't remember doing this, but I did make an appointment to see my doctor about my dizzy spells, and I will see him tomorrow on my lunch break. I don't know if there is anything he can do, but I will feel better after seeing him. Lately I guess I have been putting things away absent-mindedly. Normally I would not put anything away in a place where I am not used to finding it. My rule for putting something away is to put it in a place where I find things rather than a place that I think is good for putting things. My mind works completely differently when it is in "finding" mode rather than "putting" mode, but fortunately I can switch modes at will.

So far, if we are keeping score, Cathy appears to be winning with the lost leaf to the table.

Lars

Eileen - Yikes!

Cathy - That'll learn ya. If you'd have put a P-Touch label on it you'd know where it is. (Or, HG might not have taken it to the beach for some skimboarding!)

Cathy, you might check under one of the cars. The HG may have used it as an oil mat to protect the garage floor. ;)

Where should I begin my list-- this past week I lost the juicer and couldn't lend it to my neighbor and more importantly I misplaced the file that held teh sale papers from Mom's car. I had to call the buyer to get a copy of his registration for the insurance company....

Lars, I found that stress brings on much of my memory loss. Give yourself time, I think you'll feel better. Nevertheless let the doctor check you out for those fainting spells. Your blood chemistry might need a reboot!
Best to you!

Just like me to be winning at a losers game.. LOL!

Yup, the HG could very easily have used if for something other than it's purpose. I could list a number of things to make that case.

My laptop! Yep, honest... I left for two weeks, and didn't want to leave it out. Put it in a cabinet in the kitchen. When I got back, for the life of me, I could not find it. LOL, took me over 2 hours... searching the WHOLE house!

Moni

So glad I am not alone...
And to make things a lot worse I had a cleaning lady who was "light fingers Lily"....and stole and stole and stole....mostly gold jewelry but also silver jewelery and random stuff that might go at a flea market. I thought I was losing my mind until I finally figured that 3 leather purses didn't mysteriously hide in 3 months, and the gold bracelet that was in the box on my dresser didn't jump to the bathroom drawer just because I told her it was missing.

Then there is the Revere Ware copper and brass fondue pot that disappeared. And I remembered a friend borrowing it...so I called them....and they said they never borrowed it. I was sure, I remembered him getting it down because I was not tall enough to reach. I remember offering the forks and having them say they didn't need them, they had enough. So I called...nope! didn't borrow! Called other friends who MIGHT have borrowed...nope. I turned the house upside down....no fondue pot. I asked several times.....nope...never borrowed it.
Then about 16 months after I first missed it. I found it in the basement way in the back of a deep shelf, behind a lot of other stuff.
My surmise is that those who borrowed it ( all suspect couples are good friends and have a key to my house) discovered that they did, indeed have my fondue pot....and quietly returned it.

Better to think that than I am totally crazy!!!

If you take "kitchen" out of the question, then I lost/misplaced a car for three days. This was when I was studying design at UT/Austin and I drove to campus where I could part at the stadium parking lot - not that convenient, but I had a large portfolio to carry for a presentation that morning. So I did my presentation at the design studio and left my portfolio there, had lunch on campus, and then performed a skit in my Italian class that afternoon. When I was ready to go home and still thinking in Italian, I took the bus back to my house, as I usually did on days that I did not ride my bike.

Thursday evening I decided to go to a movie, and when I opened the locked garage, much to my amazement, the car was not there. I thought to myself, no one could have stolen it because the garage was locked, and it took me quite a while to remember where I had left it. I think I rode my bike to the movie. The University bus was free and ran three blocks from my house, and so I usually took that to school when I had morning classes, but I would ride my bike for afternoon classes and on week-ends. I have recurring dreams of losing cars and having to buy new ones to replace the ones I have misplaced. Lately I have been having dreams about getting lost on wilderness trips.

Lars

No contest...Lars wins!

Linda, was there any repercussion or confrontation with the light-fingered cleaning lady?

mustangs, the last person that told me they lost their table leaf found it ON THE TABLE! HAHAHA!

I've lost keys, eyeglasses, files, yup a car, DD, my favorite soup ladle, burner defused for the stove, pots, pans, etc. Being a head injury survivor I figured it was just my brain connections breaking down with age. I went for a plethora of tests...nada. Started enhanced organizational skill techniques and tons of reminders. Worked great. Then my doctor suggested I stop taking Zantac and amazingly my memory got better. Whew!

But I truly believe the real source of my problems are Gadget Gremlins. You know what I'm talking about, those sneaky invisible gremlins who amuse themselves by stealing items from you and relocating them. Matter of fact, I know they stole my memory and sent it on a vacation with my hormones to Miami! As soon as I can find a good Gremlin exterminator, I'll never lose items again!

I once thought that I had lost my mind.
But then along came Mother.

I guess loosing my mind would not have
been such a bad thing.

Ummm...mustangs I remember you talking about this last year.

Here is a link that might be useful: Mustangs Table Leaf

Yeah, that was me; I was hoping you wouldn't remember. I'm not convinced that I only have 2 leaves--I'm still thinking I have 3!

This afternoon I spent 30 minutes looking for the yellow squash I had bought this morning.
I was ready to indignantly show my receipt at the grocery store that forgot to cart my squash. I easily located the receipt. Yes, I had bought them -always a concern, Maybe I just thought about buying them?
I found them in the banana cabinet where I had tossed them. I guess I was distracted and the "yellow" made me think bananas.

Woo hoo, yeah, but I found it just now!

Over a year ago we remodeled our kitchen. I used to keep a medium sized tin Coca Cola box on the windowsill which kept all the extra keys, extra screws, hardware, etc. It also was the safe keeping place for my neighbors' keys, my son and dil's house and car keys and general treasures. I lost it in the demo, last spring.

I bought a big bag of Chinese five spice powder, yummy smelling, and I was looking in my stash of empty washed out jars, searching for a few small ones. Well, I had to move the kitchen table and chairs to get into a pretty inaccessible cabinet, and happily, there it was!

Smaller than a breadbox, tho.

What makes me crazy is when I've looked somewhere several times for something assuming it will be there and it's not only to go back and look there again and magically it's appeared back to it's rightful place! That is gremlins for sure! This happens to me ALL.THE.TIME! UGH!

Bumblebeez, I'm impressed: I don't have a cabinet for bananas.

:)

Cathy, you should be able to look under your table and see if the table can expand to hold one more leaf. If not, then you can stop looking for the third leaf. If it looks like it will open more, then check the rafters in the garage, perhaps

Eileen

Behind or under the sofa or china cabinet or book case? In the back of a darkened closet? On top of a tall cabinet out of sight? In the attic?

Mustangs I hope you know that I was laughing with you and not making fun. I should have put a smiley face, wink or something.

I hope you find that third leaf!:)

Surely not the largest thing ever lost in my kitchen but maybe the most unique.

True Story.

I lost my parrot in the kitchen. Skeeter loves to sit on my shoulder and 'help' with meal prep, sneaking a bite of anything that looks appetizing. Anyway, I was busy with prep & cooking and, when we sat down to eat, I noticed no Skeeter. Strange because I just knew I had had him on my shoulder & he wasn't in his cage. So, I called for him--he always answers with some cheeps. Skeeter didn't answer so I went all through the house calling for him. No answer. By this time, I was starting to get a little frantic, having eliminated finding him in all his favorite places. Finally, for some reason, I decided to check the refrigerator and there he was. Maybe a little chilly but none the worse for wear and not the least bit concerned about having been missing in action. He hopped right back up on my shoulder as if to say, 'There you are!'

I guess he saw something appetizing in the frig when I opened it to get something & decided to hop in after it. Was certainly glad that it hadn't been the freezer!

your stories are hilarious, losing a parrot pretty much takes the cake !!!

my brother's cat spent the whole night in the fridge many years ago, we were taiking about it recently; it went on to live a long life.

No problem Dixiedog.

I agree, the parrot takes the cake. How neat to a feathered sous chef.

Lars, I hope your appointment went well.

Years ago we started smelling something bad in the house, but couldn't locate it. We searched for days for the source of the odor. It seemed that the oven, a range, was the focal point, but there was nothing in there that could generate such a stink. The smell got worse whenever we used the oven, so we had to quit using it. I was wondering if an evil spirit had decided to haunt our range. Then, one day, I decided to pull the range out away from the wall. Low and behold, there was a very rotten whole chicken. Somehow, it had fallen behind the range. I have no idea how it got there, but we were very glad that we didn't have a Steven King haunted oven!

Sally

OMG-that is funny (now that the incident is over)!! Were you able to determine how long the chicken had been MIA?

Wonderful stories. Lars - take care of yourself, buddy. (I lost my car in Austin, too. I was 40 years old at the time. I think my night on Sixth St. had something to do with it.)

One time I drove to work, then forgot and took the train home. I was about to call the police and say that my car was stolen from the train station when I remembered it was in a parking lot downtown. So, back on the train I went to retrieve my car and drive home.

I lost the good silverware for the longest time then remembered where I hid it about a year and much heartache later.

I found the leaf to my table behind the sofa. I thought it was under the sofa and couldn't figure out where it got to. I also started to think maybe I only had two leaves, not three.

Just this weekend I went to get a small collapsible table from the garage to take tailgating. I still haven't found that.

ci-lantro, your story reminded me of this old joke (one of my favs!)

So there's this fella with a parrot. And this parrot swears like a sailor, I mean he's a pistol. He can swear for five minutes straight without repeating himself. Trouble is, the guy who owns him is a quiet, conservative type, and this bird's foul mouth is driving him crazy.
One day, it gets to be too much, so the guy grabs the bird by the throat, shakes him really hard, and yells, "QUIT IT!" But this just makes the bird mad and he swears more than ever.

Then the guy gets mad and locks the bird in a kitchen cabinet.

This really aggravates the bird and he claws and scratches, and when the guy finally lets him out, the bird cuts loose with a stream of invective that would make a veteran sailor blush.

At that point, the guy is so mad that he throws the bird into the freezer.

For the first few seconds there is a terrible din. The bird kicks and claws and thrashes. Then it suddenly gets very quiet.

At first the guy just waits, but then he starts to think that the bird may be hurt. After a couple of minutes of silence, he's so worried that he opens up the freezer door.

The bird calmly climbs onto the man's out-stretched arm and says, "Awfully sorry about the trouble I gave you. I'll do my best to improve my vocabulary from now on."

The man is astounded. He can't understand the transformation that has come over the parrot.

Then the parrot says, "By the way, what did the chicken do?"

Here is a link that might be useful: parrot joke link

Lars, it sounds like you aren't getting enough sleep.

I stopped losing things in the kitchen when I stopped making DH empty the DW. Miraculously forks are now stored with forks. The pantry is another matter all together. For some reason I'm always missing the one bottle of spice that I want.

The biggest thing I ever lost was a full-sized dog. She was an escape artist and a runner and I lost her any number of times the usual way, but one day I came home and she was missing. The second dog was curiously calm about having been abandoned. I looked everywhere. She had once exited the house through a second story window, but all of the windows were shut tight. The bathroom was empty. The closets were closed and empty. The rope was tied around the refrigerator to keep her out of that nirvana. There was absolutely no sign of her anywhere and I was starting to panic when I glanced into the bedroom and saw dog number two with her head between the wall and the bed, tail wagging gently. I had put new sheets on the bed that morning and failed to push the bed completely up against the wall again. The missing dog's favorite sleeping position was on her back, rolled up against a wall with her feet in the air. When she had tried to do that sometime on this day, she managed to slide down between the bed and the wall and had spent the day pinned in position, quite calmly waiting for me to release her. She only barked twice in her entire life and that wasn't one of the times that she felt the need apparently.

LOL, jxbrown, I've never lost my dog like that, nor have I ever put a parrot in the refrigerator or lost my car, so now I feel much better.

I did put a pair of diamond earrings in a "very safe place" so I wouldn't lose them. I've never found them again, I'm only assuming they are very safe. And that's one of the reasons why I don't wear jewelry, I'm always afraid I'll lose it or break it.

I've misplaced the leaf to my dining room table a couple of times, but I found it again. I lose mostly little things, like a favorite knife or the lemon squeezer. I've looked high and low for reading glasses to find them on my head, but everyone I know has done that. I did pour myself a cup of coffee a couple of days ago, and for some reason just turned around and put it in the refrigerator and walked away. A little while later I realized I didn't know where I'd put it. I finally gave up and got another cup, then opened the refrigerator for eggs and found it.

Lars, I hope your appointment went well.

Annie

Jx, what sweet dogs you must have. What a funny but kinda sad story. I lost our dog in the house once too, we have a big house, many rooms, and once during a storm I could not find her. I looked in both refrigerators, dryers, everywhere for almost an hour. Finally, dh remembered he had been in our downstairs kitchen and had opened a lower cabinet. Yep, she had slid in there, he never noticed and shut the cabinet door.
Not a peep from her either! I found her another time - storm again- in the basement storage, under the sheets that drape the lower part of the Christmas tree. I found her by hearing the panting.

Annie, I posted information about my appointment on the conversation side.

As for losing things - when I was much younger I would say prayers to St. Anthony to help me find things, and I found that to be fairly helpful. However, as I got older, I felt that I should not be bothering St. Anthony with such things, but I found it difficult to break the habit of asking him for help, especially when I seemed to be getting results. Now I just try meditating to clear my mind, although recently it has been difficult to do that.

Recently I lost my computer glasses, and I feel that they must be in he house somewhere, but since I could not find them, I brought the ones home that I had stored at work for emergencies. These are a bit more fragile, and so I have to take special care of them. They were designed as French sunglasses in the 1960s, but I had clear lenses put in them.

Lars

Cathy, that incident was so long ago I don't remember if I figured out how long the chicken had been there.

Bumblebeez, your dog must be tiny, and Jxbrown, I agree you have one of the most patient and sweet dogs a person could have. Second story window???

Sally

She's a Jack Russel, Sally, about 18 pounds. Small, but sturdy and oh so determined to have her way.

German shorthair. Lovely temperaments, but excess energy -- sort of a 50 lb Jack Russell. It was a floor level window onto a slope, so she only dropped 6 ft or so and cut a pad on her paw which didn't stop her. DH doesn't tolerate GSP energy so now we have compromise dogs. We make a contribution to GSP Rescue every year in memory of my late friends since there are, unfortunately, a lot of them in need.