A purse by any other name...

I was going to start this post with "A couple of weeks ago...", but when I went back to find the link I needed, I realized that it was a couple of months ago.

So, a couple of months ago, Misty posted about her handbag. She asked two questions 1) what do you call your handbag? and 2) what do you carry too much of? (except she did not leave her preposition dangling)

This post made me laugh because I've gone through my fair share of handbag seasons.

There was the "I love purses, they make me feel grown up" season from about 1977-1990.

Then there was the "Purses weigh me down, I just need my ID, my keys, a little bit of cash, and a quarter for the pay phone." season that lasted from about 1990 to 1997.

Then there was the "I am on my own and have a good job, I'm going to buy myself an expensive purse just because I can." season that lasted from 1997-1998.

Then there was the "Purse? What's a purse?" season. 1998-2000

Then the "It takes 10 minutes to pack the dang diaper bag before we can even leave the house." season that started in 2000 and seemed to go on for-evah.

Somewhere along the way, probably about the time the girls turned 3, I decided that it was high time that I start carrying stylish purses again. No room for sippy cups or zip loc baggies full of cheerios, just the stuff I needed. Forget the kids.

I did that from 2006 until February 2011.

After getting Brooke's T1 diagnosis, I quickly learned that my days of spur of the moment errands with a cute little trendy purse were over. I mourned my foot loose and fancy free life and started looking for a way to carry around all the stuff we would need "just in case" she went low, high, or needed a snack.

Or just in case we were out longer than expected and we had a full on meal before we made it back home.

Clearly, I needed some retail therapy.

I settled on a Vera Bradley tote bag:

And we affectionately call it "The Vera".

And there is a BUNCH of stuff in there. I actually love it because I have non perishable stuff in there for Brooke (and let's be honest, the other two eat the snacks just as often as Brooke does) and so I don't usually spend 10 minutes getting all her stuff together before we leave. It's in there all ready. I just pick it up and go.

The other day I was volunteering at school and one of the moms said, "I knew who you were because I recognized your bag."

That's good, right?

But because the bag is so big, stuff just gets thrown in there and I never really know what I'm going to find.

Or it's so big I can't find what I'm looking for so I throw another one in...whatever.

I cleaned out The Vera a few days ago, and here it is...

cosmetics
gum

fast acting sugar

wallets (thank you Dave Ramsey and your envelope system)

protein

glasses cases

two teeth Bubba had pulled at the beginning of December

just call me Mema

pharmaceuticals

(and a couple of extra insulin needles that we haven't used since October)

Not pictured is the trash/random papers I cleaned out and the stuff I grab and throw in there just before we leave the house: 1) my cell phone...gotta have it 2) Brooke's meter bag...it's got everything we need to keep her alive until we can get back home 3) my keys. In that order.

So...

What do you call your purse, handbag, Vera?

Can I see inside?