The Handbag from Hell

Several months ago I found a cute springy little handbag super cheap at Penneys. I loved it because it was colorful and reminded me of my favorite Coach bag that I don't tend to carry because it gets too full of crap and I have to find a shopping cart while out to carry it in. Anyhow, a few weeks ago I rediscovered the cute bag just chillin' in my purse closet, and decided to use it. I soon discovered a few things about myself:

1. It is apparently not the size of my handbag that predisposes me to clutter. Give me any size at all and I can wedge just about anything in it.
2. I am a pack rat. There are things in my bag that I don't need, won't ever need, and have never needed.
3. While weighing less, my small handbag is much more inconvienient, as I am forced to remove all items from said bag every time I need something like a cell phone, keys, or money to purchase something else to shove in the bag.

As the grandmother and I were preparing to leave for lunch today, I decided I couldn't take the chaos anymore, and was forced to dump the contents of my bag, right then and there, on the kitchen table. Here is what I found:

My grandmother was quite dismayed, mainly because it meant temporarily postponing her club sandwich and side salad at Denny's. But I was adamant. It needed to be done immediately, otherwise how was I to even remove money to pay for our lunch? In case your vision isn't quite as keen as my own, here are the contents that my grandmother kindly itemized for me during the organization process.

1. $136 in cash, rolling around amongst the other contents of the purse.
2. 3 hair clips of different sizes and colors.
3. Glasses.
4. 2 pairs of sunglasses.
5. One earpiece from broken pair of sunglasses. (I'm pretty sure it was from my favorite pair that have strangely gone missing.)
   
6. One slightly cracked Motorola Krzr.
7. 2 packages of gum - BerryMint Orbit, and Winterfresh.
8. Car keys.
9. Kodak digital camera.
   
10. Pharmacy keys.
11. 5 hairbands.
12. 2 strawberry Chapsticks, 1 vanilla SoftLips, and 1 generic Aldi's brand watermelon lip balm.
13. 3 voided checks.
14. Wallet, with card holder/picture keeper somehow no longer attached.
    
15. A Panasonic handheld camcorder.
16. Albuterol inhaler, so I don't die.
17. Target brand Zyrtec.
18. 3 pens.
19. Mead weekly/monthly planner.
    
20. $3.19 in loose change.
21. 37 receipts from various retail establishments.
    

I am mildly appalled with myself. The grandmother is completely appalled with me. I am resolving to do better in the future. Or invest in a tote bag to carry all the crap around while maintaining a lighter load in my purse.

PS...Payment for our lunch at Denny's was painless...I didn't even have to pull my wallet out of the purse to get money out. It was delightful!!!