I'm a real bag lady. No, thankfully, not that kind. I mean bags as in tote bags, carryalls, satchels- the kind made to stuff all kinds of "baggage" in. Here are a few of the most vital pieces in my collection: My Music Bag: This one is packed and ready with all the black binders full of music I'm currently using in my job as an accompanist, as well as an itty bitty book light, because you never know when you'll be playing the piano and the lights will go out (yes, it's happened to me several times!) This bag also contains a small mini cassette recorder with a couple of blank tapes, lots and lots of pencils, and a tiny pocket size metronome (that will sometimes start beeping mysteriously all by itself). There are some packages of raisins and nuts, plus a granola bar or two for emergency rations when rehearsals run overtime;
My Work Bag: This is one of several actual bags, depending on the quantity of work I'm toting back and forth. I have a lovely black bag with our company logo on it which will carry my laptop, and has all those nifty little zippered compartments for pens, cell phones, business cards (of which I have none since I'm not important enough), even water bottles. The problem with this one is that I end up unclasping, unzipping, and unsnapping six different sections before I find what I'm looking for. So, if I don't have huge folders of medical records to review, I'll just slide my thinner folders into one of several smaller tote bags - I have a lime green vinyl one, lined with dark pink (pretty wild for a little office girl, huh?), and one of plain black cloth, and oh! - a pretty dark colored tapestry bag I use in the fall;
My Dog Bag: A small denim tote trimmed in pink with dog bisucits, empty plastic bags for you-know-what, a few small toys, extra leashes, and copies of their vaccination records;
My Library Bag: An oversized black canvas bag with "Libraries Change Lives" emblazoned on the front, it's usally chock full of my latest finds in hardcover, paperback, and audio books;
The Grocery Bags: I finally bought some of those wonderful environmentally friendly canvas bags to take to the grocery store. Unfortunately, when I'm at the grocery, they're usually still in my kitchen were I left them;
Into any of these bags I can plop a small zippered pouch that has just enough room to hold my cell phone, some cash, and my mini wallet with vital ID and information;
Of course, there are any number of various and sundry other bags, which I can grab to stuff in whatever needs to be carried - laundry to the cleaners, dishes to return to my mom's, books I'm loaning to a friend, etc. My favorite one of these right now is a medium sized cloth bag embroidered with a cheery bouquet of Texas wildflowers. I keep it hanging on the kitchen door, ready to fill with, well, whatever...
As you can see, my life is consumed with all sorts of baggage. I don't know if all these bags make me more or less organized, but, as the comedian George Carlin used to say in one of his famous old routines, "You've gotta have somewhere to keep your stuff!"