I took the toy box apart searching through anything even remotely possible of holding paper. Came up empty. I did manage to get to the dinging room vents. I didn't find the cash but I found all the roofing to the Lincoln logs. I may try with rubber gloves and Travis' or sister in law's arm tomorrow mine is not long enough and I'm afraid of pushing something down further.....it appears to be a favorite stashing spot of Connor's. I got most stuff out, it's just icky down there and once we're sure no cash is in there I've got cleaning to do. omg The things toddlers manage in the moments you're not looking. geez I will take apart the livingroom ones and the one for the bathroom & steps too. He likes to open close doors, is obsessed with it still.
I just think goodness that except for eating he has no access to the kitchen........or it would be even worse.
Star, that's a good experiment and I've got construction paper and may try it. But Maggie has had opportunities to shred/eat whole ad flyers and done nothing more than just shred them all over the room. I've never seen evidence in her poo of either shredded paper or cash. The day I picked up the dining room......honestly, it was not really a bad mess. Oh she had shredded a kroger bag a bit and some computer paper the boys knocked onto the floor, and evidently the envelope.....nibbled at her bed for the fuzz......but it only took maybe 3 minutes to pick up. I only pick the shredded paper up, even when small because with dog fur it tends to clog the vacuum hose which drives me nuts. It was actually a small amount of material......and oddly I'd used a new trash bag for the room because I was cleaning off the dining room table which sits folded up (it's a drop side table) resting up against the wall so the boys don't scratch it. It gets cluttered somewhat......and I am trying to recall what all I put away from there so I can go through and check it all. But it wasn't a lot and any "trash" would have been in that bag I started for the room......I picked up a few trash items in the living room (maggie is not allowed in there except very rare occasions because I'm working on xmas projects and she thinks yarn is a fun toy) then tied the bag up. It wasn't even half full but still made it out with the trash. That one I'd gone through very carefully because I knew it was the one from the dining room.
Unfortunately, if I took that money out of the envelope and moved it I'm losing my marbles. I wouldn't have done it. Not to shop or anything else. I wrote on the envelope to keep track of the money, how much I removed each time, and the reason why I removed it, plus the date it was removed. Taking the money from the envelope would have messed up that entire detailed process.
I did check to see if Travis took money out within the last week but he says no, he was going to use his walmart gift card and his bank card for shopping. And when I think about it that is exactly what he did. So that nixes that theory all to hades.
I suppose someone "could have" taken it but I just do not see how they could have done it. I am here 90 percent of the time. Even when I do leave it's not on a set schedule. Not even when we walk the dogs. We can go fairly early in the afternoon or after dark or not at all for a day or two. I only left the door unlocked once within the past week and that was for 10 mins with the dogs inside. No one except family would've made it past the front door. Katie is not family in Molly's eyes which has been reinforced by not having seen her for a year. M is just plain the enemy. Molly will not take food from strangers, so bribery is out.
You know, I am accepting it's probably gone. I don't like it one darn bit. It's another kick me while I'm down type deal. But if it's gone there is also not much I can do about it either. What is driving me literally insane is not knowing wth happened to it. If I'd found bits and pieces of the cash, I'd at least know that much. If Darrin handed over the money Tuesday morning I would hug him so hard he'd break. Not just because the money was back, but mostly because I'd know wth happened to it. If I reach into a vent and find burned up cash......I at least have an answer. If I could find blobs of cash in dog stool........well, again, I'd have my answer. But it doesn't just up and walk away on it's own accord.
And while my home has suddenly become a sort of weird center for paranormal activity over the past year, I just don't believe some spirit came along and made it disappear. Fortunately I have enough witnesses to such activity to also know I'm not losing my mind. *sigh* Then again I don't have much experience in that area. So who the heck knows. Nor would one of my kids take it for safe keeping. I can indulge during xmas to some extent but I rarely spend hardly anything. Although if that turned out to be the case I'd hug them until they couldn't breathe too.
I just need to know, for my own peace of mind, one way or the other. I need to know that I am not to that point of memory issues yet. Because if it was me, and I'm sitting here with no memory of it whatsoever..........then family I'm in trouble. That is just plain terrifying. In my heart I can't believe that I micro-managed that money for months and then just randomly did something with it and have no memory of it whatsoever. Step into my shoes for a moment and try to imagine that. Especially for a person who had a photographic memory at one time.
easy child filled out my disability paperwork today. in my opinion this is accepting defeat. Maybe I shouldn't feel that way, but I do.
I'll keep looking. I won't be able to stop until I have some sort of answer. Until I know if it was me or someone else.