Mama's got a semi-new bag *

This is the bag Beast bought me for my birthday, to replace the cruddy free one I'd been using for a couple of years. Not really what I would have chosen (too shiny and heavy), but it's pretty, and hard to mix up with other people's stuff! It also is big enough to hold the laptop. It came with a portfolio (in front in this photo--sorry, they only show it in black so you'll have to trust me when I say that mine is the same bright red as the bag).


Eons ago, Lisa did a meme on what's in her purse. I don't carry a purse; haven't for a couple of years now. I think they are a pain in the ass. Most of the time, all I have when I'm wandering through a store or anyplace else is my wallet....or nothing at all! Yes, I carry N-O-T-H-I-N-G! This is not my wallet, not exactly (I can't locate it online primarily because the brand name is "Options"--you try it!). Mine is red inside and out and right now is about three inches thick. I need to empty the singles from it....


So anyway. Instead of emptying my purse and taking a picture--which I can't do because we still don't have a camera!--I've spent the day looking for stuff online to show what I carry around on those rare occasions when I do carry stuff around. Besides, I have to empty it and make sure I don't have anything I shouldn't have for the flight on Thursday. There go the nail clippers....


Inside, in the main section, you'll usually find my calendar and my wallet. That's where any books I'm lugging around end up too, and when I carry the portfolio, it's in that section as well.


In the outside back pocket is my journal--again, not an exact copy, but the same general idea--and a pen. The pen is from my college radio station, a gimme thing they were giving away at Homecoming last fall. It is a lovely orange color, and should be close to impossible to lose. Clashes nicely with the red bag, too. :-) The journal...that's all Amy's fault. It has everything in it, whenever I need to take notes and don't want to, or didn't think to, bring a notebook. You'll find lists for grocery shopping, random notes to and from others during meetings, instructions for using the database-I-don't-need-to-know-after-all, doctor's instructions, and 8th-grade dance info.


That's the big stuff. The rest of the stuff is pretty standard purse stuff:
And the aforementioned nail clippers (now removed) and a small tube of lotion.


My cell phone? In the front pocket of my jeans. It's always on vibrate, so I need to have it next to me so I know it's "ringing." My sunglasses? In the visor in the truck, although when I'm out and about, I usually just slide them in a pocket. This is tricky in the summer. I have become quite adept at finding ingenious places to carry them, even the traditional cleavage-carry (best, really the ONLY, place to keep them safe poolside!).


Keys are a definite problem in the summer, since I use a humongo keyring similar to this. I've had mine for almost 15 years. It can hang from doorknobs, fits perfectly around my wrist, not to mention the gearshift in the truck (where it lives when I'm home), and it's quite easy to find in the bag or on the kitchen counter or anywhere else I drop it. I only have about 6 keys on it, but this has proven to be the best, longest-lived key ring in the history of the universe. I'll probably still be using it when I'm 70, if only for weight-lifting practice!

So there you have it.


Of course, on the trip, I will also have the laptop and cords, as well as the Garmin and its cords. And a crossword book. And a paperback. And gum. And more Tylenol. It's going to weigh a ton! And that is why I'm checking a suitcase, even though Sparky and I could make it a whole week using one carry-on bag each. Well, and there's the whole "bringing more stuff home from Mom's" business to think about...and the fact that Sparky's clothes are bigger than they used to be....

Maybe I should go try to figure out what I'm packing for next week. It's supposed to be chilly and rainy for a lot of it. That's rather unusual for Colorado. Hopefully, it will stay 'rainy' and not change to 'snowy' especially on the days I'm on the road.




* a.k.a. Why this page takes so damn long to download --OR-- How I wasted 3 hours today