Who am I and what's in my pants? --I mean my purse!

I'm sort of a stream of consciousness-zen type of person. Some people see that as disorganized and laid back. Hah!

The little picture of spilt yarn on the sidebar doesn't say it all, but it says a lot of it. I'm not one of the tidier people roaming the planet. If something falls on the floor, sometimes I leave it there because it can't fall any further. Safety first. I brag, but I'm not necessarily proud. My current life struggles are about decluttering and energizing.

I'm an elementary school teacher. I have the worst classroom management in the building. I asked the 5th graders, our top class, why all the classes come unglued when they're with me. They said I'm too nice. We were reading some parent comments at a staff meeting. In one, a disgruntled parent implied that the kids were scared of me. The other teachers laughed really hard. I didn't know I was the nicest teacher. I thought I was just the comic relief.

Oh, and I have the messiest desk in the building. Surprised? Are you going to be surprised when you see my purse? Are you scared? It's actually not that bad. I keep switching purses lately to cover different circumstances, so some things are missing (like the pharmacy: ibuprofen, dramamine, eyedrops, dental floss, and an antacid) and it's a little more jumbled than usual. I try to have whatever a person could need at any given moment. For instance, bandaids. I keep bandaids in there. I keep supplies that women need. I keep a pair of emergency socks. There are prescription sunglasses and coupons in case I end up at a JoAnn's or Michael's. I've at least one pen, a hairbrush, my wallet, Tic Tacs or other mints, a little pack of kleenex and a tape measure. There are a few things in the pic that there just to be of use on certain occasions, like bug spray and anti-histamine gel. Others don't really belong there at all, like crumpled up receipts and candy wrappers and business cards that I accepted to be polite.

The wallet itself is the repository of many useful things. The most useful is the yellow card in the picture to the right. It is with this magical little thing that I purchase yarn and other knitterly things online and elsewhere. Also lunch. I also have coffee cards, discount cards, an AAA card, the phone number of a good plumber, a library card, driver's license, cash sometimes, postage stamps, and if you look carefully in the left photo you can see a sewing needle to the right of the blue card. It was utilized just yesterday.

Knitting content alert: -->My purse socks somehow escaped the picture. Not the emergency socks--the purse socks! Are you not listening? The purse socks are my knitting. Sometimes I have two different ones, but usually only one. I only take one sock at a time from any pair, to reduce bulk. I try to use point protectors. Here's a lesson I learned earlier in my career: Addi circular size 0 is to can of Sprite as iceberg is to hull of Titanic. (Yes, I aced the Miller Anaolgies Test)

I don't keep my cell phone in my purse usually. I often walk away from my purse and then I miss phone calls. Post a comment telling me where you think I keep my cell phone. If you are correct, I will send you some ho-made stitch markers or some destash yarn or both.

The pictorial testimony of the wallet shows some organization. I think I get a point for that. Did you ever hear this line from a Woody Allen story? The butler had an airtight alibi for the time of the murder. He claimed that he had been downstairs in the kitchen washing dishes and produced some suds from his wallet to corroborate his testimony. I want to be that butler, to be never caught unawares, unprepared, or without an alibi.