The Purse Meme

I was tagged by the globe-trotting Akelamalu for The Purse Meme and proceeded to laugh and laugh and laugh. You'll find out why soon enough.

Here are the rules. Find a safe quiet place free of significant others, nosey meme makers, priests, nuns, all things religious and men in general. (If you're a guy just reverse this process to female and tell us about your wallet, tool box, briefcase or metro sexual accessory.)

1.. Dump the contents of your purse in a pile
2. Take a photo of your purse and the contents
3. Be brave and 'splain to your fellow bloggers what lurks inside the purse.


There is a method to my madness.


I dare you to find a story in the pile.


4. Tag others who might want to embarrass themselves

5. Answer these questions:
Describe the contents of your purse.
What's the most important thing in your purse?
What's the most embarrassing thing in your purse?
What's the smallest thing in your purse?
Is there anything illegal in your purse?

The Purse Meme was started by Mimi, Queen of Memes. She thinks up brilliant memes.

Here is my purse:














It's an Etienne Aigner purse which my gram got in Virginia, where my late Aunt Sheila lived. I love using it because it was Gram's purse.



To answer the meme questions:

What's the most important thing in your purse?


That's easy. My asthma puffers and my acetaminophen with codeine.

What's the most embarrassing thing in your purse?

The old gum wrapped up in paper, waiting to be thrown out.

What's the smallest thing in your purse?

One half of my broken jade ring. It broke just as the end credits for Wanted started up. I loved that film so much, I brought my hand down hard on the armrest of my seat and pow. No more jade ring.

Is there anything illegal in your purse?

Nothing illegal - I'm too much of a straight arrow for that.

Describe the contents of your purse.

Alright - get your cup of tea or a coffee, sit back and we'll delve into the mysteries of all that I haul around with me in my purse.

Starting with the red wallet at the top center, and going clockwise around the edge:

My red Cadillac of wallets, which I bought on Yonge St. in Toronto when I was there last October. I purposely bought a red wallet for feng shui, because red energizes one's finances. I told my mom to get one, too, and Mom bought my sister a red wallet for Christmas. So far so good with that!

Next is a pile of receipts.

The black case holds my camera, but of course I don't always carry the camera around. Often enough, though.

Leftover M&M's from work. Took them home for the weekend.

My week's worth of pills - blood pressure and vitamins.

My painkillers.

My two asthma puffers.

Dental floss.

Assorted scraps of paper and old gum.

Richard Armitage's numerology. I do numerology. He's the actor I'm basing my character Scorpius on.

The program for my co-worker's father's funeral, from a few weeks ago. I attended with two other women from my agency services team.

A notebook which currently contains the story I'm working on about Scorpius.

A grid where I'm working out a series of future Thursday Thirteens featuring things that start with each letter of the alphabet.

A poem I've started.

A menu from the Lotus Garden, where Brad and I went for our 16th anniversary dinner in July.

A phone bill and my new Blue Cross info.

Sundry larger receipts from the vet, the kennel and the Yarmouth Comfort Inn.

A thank you card from my writers' group for doing a talk. I did a session on screenwriting which featured Sense and Sensibility. There's a Chapters gift card in there!

Several Empire Theatres gift cards - my husband and I get a lot of those at Christmas. Because we love films.

Assorted napkins from restaurants. If I have any left over after I'm finished eating, I stuff them in my purse.

Now, moving down from my wallet:

2 packs of gum.

My blue comb-y brush.

A loose penny.

My lip balm.

2 pens.

Part of my jade ring.

My security pass for work.

2 keys for my cabinets at work.

Key to the washroom at work.

Key to the filing room at work.

My bus pass.


I dare you to find a story in the pile.

This purse holds a thousand stories. Everything I lay eyes on tells its story.

The red wallet story is a story of hope and of optimism. It's the tale of intention, of purposely seeking to change my financial circumstances by taking symbolic action. It's also the tale of a woman who test-drove two wallets, imagining how it would be to get the change from the zippered pockets. I stood in the store opening and closing the two wallets I liked best, probably about 20 times. The problem was, the red alligator-skin wallet I really liked didn't have a very big change section. The wallet I bought has three sections for pennies, loonies and toonies, and silver coins. Paying with correct change is a breeze.

The broken jade ring story is the second chapter of this tale. I bought the jade ring in Toronto on that same trip. Jade creates a positive attitude toward money and protects against misfortune. I wore it on the middle finger of my right hand, thinking 'money in' each time I put it on, the middle finger being the wealth finger. This is another feng shui practice which I like for its intention qualities. The ring broke on the same day I signed my papers, becoming a permanent provincial government employee at long last. I immediately took that to mean I didn't have to worry so much about money, as I had been doing for the past decade.

The third chapter of this tale is the story of the medication and the Blue Cross coverage. Now my medication is spectacularly paid for through work, and I no longer have to let prescriptions run out until my next cheque. *cue the fireworks and trumpets*

I hope you've enjoyed this journey into my purse. I did - it reminded me to ditch a few things, once I had them out.

Now, a-tagging I will go, a-tagging I will go...

Annette
Dorothy
East Coast Life
Heather
Jennifer
Karina
Tempest
Wylie