All set? Ok, good.
Quick recap: I hid Mr. Potato Head at Brandon's house last, and when he tried to hide him at my apartment during my going-away party, Scott accidentally found him in the fridge. Brandon left, apparently having somehow found a new hiding place for Mr. Potato Head in my empty apartment, but I moved across the country and the infamous potato was still MIA...
So now it's flash back time again. Star date, one month ago. Doodle-oo, doodle-oo, doodle-oo!
While my dad was visiting in town, we went on some lovely hikes in the gorge, and I suited him up with Tanner's cache of clothes, boots, and a pack. While unzipping the front pocket to grab a rain cover, out fell a rather oddly shaped plastic thing.... a limb-less Mr. Potato Head.
How this potato had lain hidden for three months, I had no idea, but somehow he was making his appearance once again, and somehow Brandon had snuck him across the country and into Tanner's daypack.
Laughing, I wrote to Brandon, commending him for his ingenuity in getting the toy clear across the United States (I suspected an accomplice was involved...), and asked where the rest of him was? Brandon said simply that "he was glad Mr. Potato Head made his journey safely, and was sure that the rest of him would show up soon."
Busy as I have been, I forgot, once again, about the toy, until a letter from Brandon arrived to me by post last week. It said:
Dear Brittany,
I received this postcard in the mail from Mr. Potato Head. I think he may have been drunk when he wrote it. It may help you though, so I'm passing it along.
I hope everything is going great in Portland. I enjoy checking out Darkroom and Dearly to see what you have going on. I tried my hand at the fancy envelope. I hope you like Billy Ray.
Miss you!
Brandon
Brandon used my tutorial from my {envelope liners} post to put a magazine photo of Billy Ray Cyrus in his letter. Well done, Brandon. Well done.
The enclosed postcard read:
Hey Brandon,
I made it to Brittany's! Don't worry, I don't have cold feet about the trip and found a familiar place to hang my hat. So far eye have been taking pitchers, trying my hand at real estate, and my other hand is giving a peace sign. Oh how I love Alanis Morissette. Talk about slippery slopes.
Later,
Tater
A set of clues! Laughing at Brandon's never-ending creativity, I set off through my apartment, albeit dubiously thinking there was no way so many pieces could be hidden without my knowledge.
The first clue I tried was the "eye have been taking pitchers", since it seemed pretty straight forward. Sure enough, in my long-forgotten lemonade pitcher was a set of Mr. Potato Head's eyes, and the hunt was on!
The "cold feet about the trip" led me on a search through the fridge, freezer, and every cooler in the house. No dice. I called Tanner and read him the clues, asking his advice.
He suggested, "have you looked in your shoes?"
I said, "shoes? No... I think the 'feet' clue means that the feet are what's hidden."
He said, "yes, but it says cold feet... that sounds like slippers."
Slippers! I jumped to my closet, and sure enough, inside my down booties was Mr. Potato Head's tongue!
"Familiar place to hang my hat" was an unsuccessful look into my coat closet, and after that, I ran out of ideas.
"Trying my hand at real estate" was equally unfulfilling... the drawer with my rental paperwork was lacking Mr. Potato Head's hand, and I couldn't think of anything else that corresponded with real estate.
"My other hand giving a peace sign" had me stumped, too. I didn't own anything with a peace sign, and the one thing I thought of -- a Beatles Submarine lunch box -- was empty.
The Alanis Morissette line was odd, since I didn't own her CD.
"Do you have a CD of hers hidden somewhere?" I asked Tanner.
He acted offended. "Me?"
That was a no.
"What else could it be, then?"
"How about a movie she's in?" Tanner suggested.
The only one I could think of was Dogma, which I also didn't own.
"What was the name of her CD?" I mused. "Jagged Little Pill. Suppose it has to do with that?"
I dug through my medicine cabinet, but none of my pill bottles came up with a piece of Mr. Potato Head.
"It did seem a little vague," I admitted, but I was out of ideas.
I moved on to the last line. "Slippery slopes" made me think of my ski stuff, but after digging through my ski bag, my ski boots, and all my ski gear, I came up empty.
Feeling like a failed detective, I started aimlessly rooting through stuff in my apartment, hoping to find answers. I got to my game cabinet, thinking surely there was something there -- Trivial Pursuit, Cranium, Settlers of Catan..... Monopoly. Lightbulb. "Real estate"! Eagerly I dug it open, but found nothing. Money, tokens, house properties... and then I thought to lift up the plastic holder. Mr. Potato Head's hand was lying just below, like I knew it would be.
When Jason and Elizabeth got back from signing the papers on their new apartment, I showed them my progress with the clues.
"I don't understand the Alanis Morisette line, though," I said, "I don't own her CDs, or her movie, and Jagged Little Pill didn't lead anywhere, either."
"It sounds like a song lyric," Elizabeth noted.
"What does?" I asked.
"The line before. What did it say? 'One hand giving a peace sign.' That's a song by her."
Suddenly it struck me, and we all started singing: "I've got one hand in my pocket, and another one is giving a peace sign..."
Hand in my pocket! Suddenly the clue was unlocked a little further. Unfortunately, there were lots of pockets in my house, and though I was hoping the final clue "slippery slopes" would lead me to which pocket, all my ski jackets and pants turned out empty.
So perhaps we were wrong, after all...
And so the hunt goes on. To be continued... read Part Three here!
This rocks. LOVE it!
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