12 February 2011

This is why my shoulder hurts and why my hair is messy

Heide kind of challenged me to dump out my handbag and inventory its contents. So I did.

  • Wallet
  • iPhone & cable & charger
  • iPad & cable & charger (and duh, I really don't need two cables)
  • iPod headphones
  • Purple bandanna
  • A reusable shopping bag wadded up in its integrated stuff sack
  • Dental insurance files, so I can call and find out when I'm getting a few cents back for the root canal and 2 crowns
  • A folder full of odd bits of paper and recipes printed off the intertubes
  • Office keys
  • Cinderella Ate My Daughter (library book)
  • A paystub
  • A check from my MIL because they're on our AT&T Family Plan
  • 2 metro cards
  • Teeth cleaners (free samples that've been in my bag forever)
  • A cello-wrapped toothbrush with embedded toothpaste, filched from the dentist's office
  • Toothpicks
  • 2 lip balms
  • Ibuprofen, Sudafed and Tums
  • A moist towelette
  • 2 packs of tissues
  • A green penlight flashlight, which seems to need batteries
  • Index cards
  • 2 pens and a highlighter
  • Checkbook (with a ironic sticker: Reagan taught us deficits don't matter)
  • Business cards for work
  • Business cards for the blog
  • The glow necklace my daughter made me.

And ... no hairbrush. I wonder where it went. The swiss army knife is also missing, but that's because I took it out before I went to California last month.

What's in your bag?

13 comments:

Harriet M. Welsch said...

Because you asked:
cell phone
camera
ipod and headphones
small bag of knitting (a hat)
wallet
checkbook
envelope with a check from my brother-in-law for AJ's fundraiser
a hat (for wearing, not knitting)
a used grocery list (now headed for the trash)
directions to the bowling alley I went to with AJ this afternoon
several pens and pencils
a receipt from the hobby store
a receipt from the pet store
a receipt from the grocery store
a lot of loose pennies
a leather card case with my business cards in it
a post-it note with a phone number on it that I don't recognize
paper napkins from a carryout place I haven't been to in months
a small mirror
a cloth for cleaning my glasses (note: there are no glasses in my bag or on my person)
assorted forms of feminine protection

Many of these things, now removed from my bag, will not be going back in. Still, at least the days of pulling out cheerios and crayons are behind me. Thanks for getting me organized!

painted maypole said...

i remember doing this meme about 2 years, and the amount of stuff in my purse was astonishing. i'm sure it would be if I did it again.

Stimey said...

I recently cleared out my bag, so I'm one up on you in that I don't have assorted papers in there anymore, but there is still a hardcover book, etc...

Also, my wallet is so huge that it's kind of a mini-purse in itself, so "wallet" encompasses a lot.

Patois42 said...

I have close to nothing in my bag. But, then again, I don't do much of a commute.

bipolarlawyercook said...

Ooof. Take the ibuprofen for your shoulder. And borrow Nora Ephron's "I feel bad about my neck" from the library next to read her essay about over-full purses. You will howl. And clean out your bag.

And since you asked, my handsewn tote that a friend's mother made me as thanks for putting her up while she looked for an apartment contains:

My nook color ereader in its case, which is heavy, I might need to get one that's a little bit lighter.
A paper copy of To The Lighthouse
A notebook
various pieces of mail
A zip pouch full of tampons, a hairbrush, a comb, a thumb drive, pens, pencils, lip balm, a tide stain remover pen, safety pins, some excedrin, more lip balm, red burt's bees and kiss my face lip balm, oh, more lip balm (I think I am obsessed)
Food and Wine magazine
My camera, in a very nice purple felted wool pouch a friend made for me : )
A car charger for my ereader I haven't put into the car yet.

Oh, and my wallet, which is a really cool farmer's purse from the VT Country Store.

MARY G said...

A compartment by compartment inventory yields:
phone
3 pencils and 2 pens
camera
camera book
wallet (stuffed)
lipsil, comb/brush, Tylenol, tooth cleaning equipment
keys to home and daughters' homes
gloves
gum, kleenex, bum wipes
proxabrush envelope, cigarettes, matches
various receipts
little pony
and .... no sunglasses. Wonder where those went.

I have been wondering about a sore shoulder for a bit - what did I do. Now I know.
big paper clamp, business cards,used kleenex, more pens

Kyla said...

I did a post like this a few months back. I always find what people carry with them to be interesting.

leanne said...

So the bag that I normally take to work has...

- NY Times Magazine
- store coupons (that have expired)
- laptop
- paper listing purchases I'd like to make -- bookshelves, flooring for the living room, etc.
- notebook with various meeting notes and action items
- opened bag of Ricola throat drops
- snack bowl that contained some cereal (now eaten)
- phone charger
- umbrella (I just leave it in there all the time)
- tampons and liners
- pencil and pen
- bus pass
- USB flash drive

The Library Lady said...

My wallet and my cell phone and that's about it, because I carry a belt pack instead of a purse, and at this time of the year don't even bother with that--my jacket has great pockets.

I have a horror of "mommy purse"--my own sweet mom's bag is the black hole of purses.

On the other hand, my car is stocked with first aid supplies, soda, water, my MP3 player and my umbrella. Sort of like my purse on wheels :D

Jennifer (ponderosa) said...

I haven't carried a bag since I stopped carrying diapers everywhere. Now that I have no child on my hip, I have no other load to carry... There's a symbol in there somewhere.

As the work-from-home I have to handle all the insurance paperwork -- everyone's, even my husband's. So you should get your husband to do yours : )

mayberry said...

Among the usual, useful items and detritus, I have the table number from my sister's wedding and a page of yet-to-be-done multiplication problems.

Janet said...

I just got a new one yesterday, so it's pretty clean:

a book (Three Cups of Tea)
iPhone
Elph
wallet
speed pass
GPS
sunglasses
lip balm
mints
groupons
a little Vera Bradley thingie that holds coupons, pills, jewelry, etc.

Bee said...

Wow.
In mine:
a book
keys
cell phone
a pen
tissue
two lipsticks
checkbook
wallet
various bits of paper -- mostly receipts

SO BORING compared to yours!