In every home I’ve lived in, and most I’ve visited, there has been what I call the ‘3rd drawer’ in every one.  Maybe it was a box in the closet, or the bottom drawer to the left of the stove, or by the washer in the utility room.  No matter where, it was the ‘one drawer’ that kept our lives going in an orderly fashion.  When one had the ‘3rd drawer, one had the answer to all the problems of the world, because that is what if felt like when those maddening situations arose…and they do, every day, in every house.

I am speaking of the drawer, shoe box, laundry bag, and if really not needy, the pencil holder, that holds everything needed in case of any emergency…noting that ’emergency’ an be in the eye of the beholder.

In my 3rd drawer are the following items…..envelopes, stamps, stapler, staple puller, staples, black, pink, and blue markers, paper clips, small, medium and large (3″ don’t know where that came from), singe side and double sided scotch tape (double side is to  tape your blouse closed when ‘the girls’ don’t fit just perfectly), pencils, erasers, tacks in 2 colors, those little plastic things that you screw into your mattress when you have a dust ruffle, eye glass repair kit, playing cards, rubber bands from all the newspapers since 2017, exacto knife, 2 or 3 scissors,  Tide spotting pen, part of a tape roll for a calculator, a ball that glows in the dark, a Ferminator,  a beautiful  top for a lamp, index  cards for all the recipes you are going to copy, receipts, 3 tape measures, plastic covers for the bottom of your chairs so they won’t scratch the wood floor, 3 flashlights, a hammer or two, one with and without a nail puller, 5 different kinds of nails including the ones for shingles cause they have large heads for hanging stuff, 5 screwdrivers of all sizes and shapes, an opener for the lock on the bathroom door in case it is locked accidently from the inside, 2 rulers, one a wonderful antique showing all the different types of wood, all inlaid….post-its, a head light so you can be hands free, those clips you use to keep the ironing board cover in place, Jobe’s house plant sticks, pricing tags, 4 sizes of corks, 5 different types of glue, cigar lighter, and lighter fluid, box of erasers, 3 magnifying glasses, taper with a roll of tape, 3 hole punch, and last but not least by a long shot, 3 sizes of batteries from Costco!   (I feel like saying ‘and a partridge in a pear tree’)

Needless to say, I love my 3rd drawer.  There is no better feeling to say ‘3rd drawer’ when the most ridiculous requests comes from down the hall.  I bet God has a 3rd drawer!      later …..b