My purse...

I just got a purse.  It's kinda a big deal for me.  It's silly, perhaps, to focus on the purse, but for me it's symbolic of something a little larger than the purse itself. 

It all started when I went out with a friend to the Art Gallery awhile back.  I was getting ready to go, and two things happened.  1. My son laughed at me while I was getting dressed up to go, and exclaimed: "Mama!  Why are you wearing Mommy's grown-up clothes?!"  and 2.  I realized that I had no freaking purse.  I could choose to take my lipstick, wallet and keys in a gargantuan red, food stained diaper bag, or an equally giant grey knapsack, which was full of sand from a recent trip to the park.   You might say that it was something of an "aha! moment."  Clearly - I need to focus a bit more on myself and my, you know, grown-up needs.   So - I now have a purse.  It's a snappy purple Lug bag - and it's all mine. 

I've been told that, apparently, you can tell a lot about a person (and their life) by what's in their purse.  The following is a list of the contents of my brand spankin' new purple purse:

1.  pink wallet with green pen drawing on it (a la Girlio) (1)
2.  crumpled diapers (2)
3.  wipes, half dried out
4. empty tupperware snack containers (2)
5.  lid to tupperware snack container that will fit neither of the above (1)
6.  myriad of loose pennies
7.  crumbs and goldfish (enough to cobble together a small meal if ever stuck in a wilderness survival situation)
8.  to-do lists, half-finished (2.5)
9.  month old shopping list (1)
10.  OB tampon, still in plastic, but covered in teethmarks (1)  (ahem, yes, in a pinch, I occassionally let the child teeth on a tampon- What of it?!)
11.  lipstick, mushed at the tip from Boy-o's over-enthusiastic attempts at moustache drawing (1)
12.  granola bar, half eaten (1)
13.  expired coupons (3)

*I can't believe I almost forgot to check the pockets*

14.  cell phone (dead as a doornail) (1)

Okay.  This exercise has taught me two very important lessons:

1. Maybe the purse isn't quite mine-all-mine yet, and 2.  you really can tell a lot about my life from the contents of my purse.

(but at least it's a darn snappy-lookin' purse).