I guess I've been a bit disillusioned about my organizational skills. Or perhaps, it's just that relying on my memory to find stuff when I need it is beginning to fail me as a reliable method.

I used to be really good at that. I could dig out a document we suddenly needed from a months-old pile of papers as if I'd put it there yesterday. You know, the pile of important stuff that's waiting to be filed, but doesn't seem to make it into the filing cabinet for some reason. Sadly, I've got a few of those — on the computer desk, the dining room table, the kitchen counter. Whenever I need a document in one of those piles, I play a game of memory as to where it's been temporarily filed. And it used to work great. Apparently, though, I'm losing my touch — I can't remember anything anymore.

Today, before heading out to work, I needed to find my kids' report cards and their school pictures to turn in to Pop Warner as part of the organization's paperwork requirements before the kids can begin football or cheerleading. I went from pile to pile where I thought I would find each item, but only found my daughter's report card.

I was getting later and later for work as I dug through piles, files and drawers. Finally, while in the shower, an epiphany about the school photos' whereabouts: I brought them in a suitcase to Kansas last November to distribute them to relatives. Could they really still be in there, stowed in the front pocket of our large suitcase and stored in the attic for seven months? I went upstairs and dragged the thing out. Yep. Mystery solved.

So only my son's report card remained missing. I had to get out of the house, though, so I gathered everything else and got in the car. Then, another epiphany. I remembered my husband saying, when we were on a long car trip and he had discovered my son's report card under the seat, "I'm putting Matthew's report card in the glove box, just so you know."

I dug around in there, and bingo, the final piece of the puzzle fell into place.

So, on the one hand — success in finding everything I needed. But on the other hand — failure in being efficient wasted sooooooo much time. And I DO NOT have time to waste. I guess I need to replace my failing memory with a decent filing system, just as soon as I remember where I put those file folders I bought a few months ago.