Something's Missing!

I may be offering up too much information here, but I'm going to say it anyway. When I lose a piece from a set, it really drives me crazy. It doesn't matter what the set is of, or how many pieces are in it. I can't stand to lose one. For example, I had a set of dishes that my aunt bought me at a garage sale. She gave them to me when I was 17 so I could have something to contribute to my household goods when I got married. The dishes were not anything particularly nice or special, nor did they have a huge personal or sentimental value to me. A few years later, I made a sample of a wedding cake for another aunt's friend. She was supposed to come taste-test it at my house, but at the last minute, decided to take it home for her fiancee's opinion. Since I wasn't planning on sending it home with her, I had decorated it on a plate from my own aforementioned set. Reluctantly, I sent it home with her. As one could probably deduce, the plate was never returned. Now, my place setting for 10 is now a place setting for 10 only if I'm not using the dinner plates.

I have lost pieces of sets numerous times in my life so far. Broken drinking glasses, lost socks, one crayon or marker from the package, one of a set of two hair clips, a bookend, a burnt out lightbulb in a chandelier, an earring dropped down the drain, a screw, a paintbrush, and the list could continue forever. Just today, Audrey dropped a glass dish from a set of four with lids. Now I have a set of 3 dishes with four lids. A few months ago, I bought a new set of casual dishes, and promptly dropped one of the dinner plates. now I have a service for 7 instead of 8. I want to replace the plate, which is possible through a replacement dinnerware website, but don't want to spend $12 for one plate, when I could get a place setting (dinner plate, salad plate, bowl and mug) for $18. But I don't want to have an extra salad plate, bowl, or mug either. Maybe I'm a little obsessive-compulsive. I don't really know. But something about having 8 dinner plates, and 9 of everything else bothers me. Something about having an extra lid for a dish that no longer exists bothers me. Something about the one empty slot in my marker case bothers me. When Alex has four sippy cups in the cupboard and Lucas only has three because he dropped one at the store somewhere and I couldn't find it, I feel like I need to replace only his without getting an extra one for Alex along with it. (They usually come in packs of two at the store. One blue, one green.). Too much information? Maybe. But I'm a little quirky, and it can't hurt to be honest about it. Maybe it will even help me get over my obsession for things to match. Only time will tell...