Contents of my dresser

Yesterday me and two of my kids were stuck at the airport waiting for Kyle, a college student friend, to arrive from Germany. His plane was delayed, me and the kids hung around the airport, caught some Subway and talked. Good kids, good time.

That left Jacqui at home waiting for Nicole to call for a pick up when she arrived home from her away basketball game. So, Jacqui tackled our bedroom. Over the holidays our room became the Baker Family Closet and the receptacle for homeless piece of family junk. Wal-Mart bags, Christmas labels, receipts and tags. Jacqui dug under the bed and into the corners and cleaned. And, she hung stuff on the walls…new stuff needing a home after being exiled from my office.

That made my dresser a sloppy embarrassment. This morning I stood, my 6:15 am coffee in hand, drooly mouth opened studying my mess-er, which has become the home for the oddest assortment of things...

- An Air Hog remote control helicopter. Gift idea from Dr. Graff. Wasplike at full throttle.
- A spool of blue thread. I don’t sew; no idea where that came from.
- A large African ceremonial sword…about as big as my forearm, a gift from our much-loved missionaries-to-african-youth family Pete and Alice.
- A shark book I've been reading with Jake.
- Finger-cuffs. (I would have said “Chinese Handcuffs”, but I didn’t want to appear culturally insensitive).
- Old socks I need to throw away. Huge holes in the toes, but you never know when you'll need 'em.
- The Beautiful Mess by Rick McKinley. A good book I’m struggling to finish reading.
- Change…mine because it’s on MY dresser.
- A How to paint with watercolors kit.
- Ernie Ball Super Slinkies. Nicole got her Aunt’s guitar for Christmas, and I gave one of mine to Jess for Christmas. Both needed restringing.
- Seven candles. The four pink ones are not mine. Promise.
- Manshroom. It's what men wear to make themselves smell better. Man Perfume... manshroom... Jake made up the word.
- A bottle of coke from Mexico. Six years old and never opened.
- An old test paper about how America gained its independence. My oldest's.
- Tire plugs for flat tires. Extras because I thought I was out of 'em.
- Directions to a Spiderman Race car toy.

So, the dresser is kind of a picture of life 'round here. Each one of those things is tied to a memory. They're extremely important reminders of the incredible fun we've had as a family.

And that's exactly what I'm going to say to Jacqui when she wants to know why my dresser is still a mess.