kmkat and her kneedles

Ten on Tuesday, the merry month of May edition.

Ten Things I Am Looking Forward To In May

1. A new hip on May 6. NOT my x-ray.
   
   photo credit: okadots via photopin cc
   
   
   
   
2. The reddish haze in the branches that means the swamp maples are in bloom.
   
   
   
3. Green trees. Also, seeing evidence that the resident bears are awake.
   
   
   
4. Seeing the little perennial garden I planted outside our front door last August and September. My goal was to disguise the septic tank cover and vent pipe and electrical connection. Obviously.
   
    
5. Seeing how many of the plants survived the winter. The hardy geraniums are lookin' good!* 
   
    
6. Going for a pontoon boat ride on the lake.
   
    
7. Knitting on the deck with my friends.
   
    
8. Eating dinner on the porch every night.
   
    
9. The return of birds.
   
    
10. The return of pick-the-ticks-off-the-animals. Not everything about May is delightful...
    
    
    
    

 * I could swear that when looked two hours ago, these plants were not showing. Stuff has to grow FAST in the north.

Ten on Tue$day, the $$$ edition.

Ten Things I Would Do If I Won The Powerball. 

1. Quit work. Although I have always enjoyed what I do, this year I am not feelin' it. Retirement would be welcome.
    
2. Hire a cleaning person. Even though that would mean putting away piles of stuff, it would be worth it. With Powerball winnings, maybe I could hire her/him to come every couple days. A perpetually clean house, wowzers!
   
   
   photo credit: ianqui via photopin cc
   
   
   
3. Hire a helper for Smokey if he wants one besides Scottie. 
   
   (now it gets harder -- I have pretty much everything I want that can be purchased with $$$)
   
   
   
4. Maybe buy a new car. It would have to have 4WD and get at least 35mpg. Ideas?
   
   
   photo credit: snoboy via photopin cc
   
   
   
5. Buy a fancy-schmancy Mac with the screen the size of a football field and a hard drive to match.
   
   
   photo credit: liewcf via photopin cc
   
   
   
6. Finish the house remodel.
   
   
   photo credit: pictureTYO via photopin cc
   
    
7. Make some big-ass charitable donations and a whole bunch of smaller ones.
   
   
8. Hire a gardener.
   
   
   photo credit: lovestruck. via photopin cc
   
   
   
9. Hire someone else to do our income taxes ;-)
   
   
   photo credit: The Consumerist via photopin cc
   
   
   
10. Set up trust funds for the boys.

Ten on Tuesday, the green edition.

My Ten Nine Favorite Things That Are Green.

1. Grass, trees, plants of (almost) all kinds.
2. The green haze that appears in the woods in spring as the trees are beginning to bud.
3. The sweater quantity of Noro Silk Garden in the stash waiting to be my next sweater.
4. The skein of Pagewood Farms fingering weight yarn (100% merino) in my stash, waiting for just the right project, which will probably be a pair of socks to wear with the sweater mentioned above. (I cannot link to it because I mysteriously never entered it into Ravelry. Huh.)
5. Money (duh).
6. Kermit the Frog.
7. The carpet in my parent's last house. It was a bright olive-ish green (1970, natch) and always made me feel like their living room was carpeted in grass.
8. The green contacts I used to wear. (I go natural now. My eyes are greenish-blueish-gray.)
9. My birthstone (peridot).

 

 

 

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Ten on Tuesday, the auto edition.

Ten Things I Always Have In My Car.

1. Ice scraper, snow brush, and jumper cables.
2. Blanket.
3. Box of tissues.
4. Tool kit.
5. Extra bottle of oil.
6. In the glove compartment: registration and insurance card; pens and pencils; tire gauge; owner's manual; bottle of antiacid. 
7. Handicapped parking permit.
8. Wastebasket. Not a litter bag, a real wastebasket.
9. Sunglasses -- regular, clip-on, and a pair for Smokey (aka Big Head).
10. A map of every state this car has ventured into in its 14-year life.
11. 47 pounds of dog hair.

No CDs or tapes because my iPod plugs into the stereo, no GPS. I try to keep as little crappe in my car as possible. Boring, right? But I am always prepared.

Digression: a couple months ago I found a pair of (my own) underwear between the passenger seat and the door. No idea how they got there, but I am glad they were recognizably my own...

Ten on Tuesday, the thankful edition.

Ten Things I Am Thankful For. 

1. Reasonably good health. After Smokey's surgery and lengthy recovery last summer, I can REALLY appreciate the value of good health. Also: reasonably good mobility.
    
2. My kids' good health, both physical and mental. Also that they seem to like their parents.
    
3. Smokey. He keeps me amused and doesn't let me get too introspectively down. Not to mention that he is a most excellent snuggler.
    
4. Furry pets. Ditto on the snuggling thing, although Lucy and Hannibal and En Esch and even short-haired Misha do shed a lot.
    
5. Friends, like the one who came over on Saturday and stripped all the beds so I could wash the bedding and vacuumed and did the stuff that would take me days because I have to rest my hip/back every five minutes. The house might even be nearly clean when the kids come for Thanksgiving.
    
6. Electricity. Lights, running water, dishwasher, electric bedwarmer in the winter, fans and air conditioner in the summer, washer and dryer, vacuum cleaner, and most of all...
    
7. The Internet. It is my lifeline to the world at large and is particularly important to those of us who live in the sticks. I can shop, be amused, be informed, make friends, keep in touch, and do so much that I could not do without it.
   
   
8. Yarn. It would be so difficult to knit without it.
   
   
9. Lack of hurricanes and earthquakes in my little corner of the world. We may get torrential thunderstorms in the summer and blizzards and subzero temps in the winter, but nothing completely catastrophic ::knocks on wood::
   
   
10. The fact that it was so hard to limit this list to ten things. Life is good, and I have a lot to be thankful for.
    

Ten on Tuesday, the mind[less] edition.

Ten Things On My Mind Right Now.

1. Should I make another donation to benefit the #Sandy victims?
    
2. Can I afford another one?*
    
3. Did Elder Son vote? and, if he did, how? He being a student in Michigan only since July and not having been able to get an absentee ballot from our town clerk for my reelection last April (because said clerk did not respond to his request for one)).
    
4. Being happily surprised that Younger Son had already voted when I emailed him this morning, He has moved twice since 2008 (national) and 2010 (state) elections and is not always the most supremely organized person.
    
5. Wondering how many people will be at my polling place when I go there in half an hour. There have never been more than a couple people ahead of me in the thirteen years I have lived here. Such is life in a tiny town when one votes in midafternoon.
    
6. Wondering how the library-books-to-the-jail program is playing out. The county library was voted out of funding starting 1/1/13, but this program, which they performed, will continue in some form.
    
7. Avoiding thoughts of What if Romney wins somehow? It's way too much work to move to Canada. Voter fraud doesn't happen at the ballot box, it happens when the votes are counted. Glad Florida doesn't have a Bush governor now. 
    
8. Hoping that the new/old van Smokey bought a few weeks ago (to replace one that was so rusty that our mechanic told him it was no longer safe to drive) will get me to the library, the fire hall to vote, and to the government center for a 2 o'clock meeting. And home again.
    
9. Thinking happy thoughts about the pair of socks that need <1" of ribbing on the second sock to be done. And the progress I made last weekend on my long-sleeping Tappan Zee sweater.
    
10. Hoping against hope I will not run out of yarn on said sweater. And hoping that, if I do, I will have the stamina to frog and reknit it with the modifications I have in mind.

 

*  Of course I can afford it.* But maybe a smaller donation this time.

** I have a warm house (2 of them, actually), a car (many of them), plenty of food, heat, water, warm clothes, an IRA, health insurance, and enough yarn to keep me busy for the rest of my natural life. Of course I can afford to help.

Ten on Tuesday: the Alfred Hitchcock edition.

Ten Favorite Alfred Hitchcock Movies. 

1. The Birds. I saw this when it first came out in theaters and had nightmares that night. This is the only movie that has ever given me nightmares. 
   
   
   
    
2. North by Northwest. Cary Grant = good, James Mason = evil. The crop-duster scene, the nighttime pursuit across Mt. Rushmore. A classic.
   
   
   
    
3. Rear Window.
   
   
    
4. Psycho. Of course.
   
   
    
5. To Catch a Thief. I read the book, too. Anything about a cat burglar fascinates me.
    
6. Vertigo.
   
   
    
7. Strangers on a Train. Did you know that was based on a novel by Patricia Highsmith?
   
   
    
8. The Man Who Knew Too Much, 1956 version.
   
   Not movies, but Alfred Hitchcock productions that stick in my memory 50+ years later...
    
9. The TV episode with the serial killer disguised as the other nurse.
    
10. The TV episode where the wife kills her husband with a frozen leg of lamb, then puts it in the oven and cooks it while the police are investigating.
     

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photo credit: Steve Rhodes via photopin cc
photo credit: *Kicki* via photopin cc
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Ten on Tuesday: candy!

Ten Favorite Candies in the Trick or Treat Bag.

1. Snickers. My boys knew not to eat those out of their t-or-t bag/bucket. All Snickers are belong to ME.
   
   
   
   
2. Hersheys Miniatures. Mmmm, chocolate.
   
   
   
   
3. Baby Ruth bars.
   
   
   
   
   
4. Mr. Goodbar.
   
   
   
   
   
5. M&Ms, but only if they are the peanut ones.
   
   
   

That's it, folks. You can keep your licorice whips and your Butterfingers and your Tootsie Rolls. Give me chocolate and more chocolate, perhaps combined with peanuts or other nuts and/or caramel. 

Snickers photo credit: www.schoko-riegel.com via photopin cc
Hershey's photo credit: theimpulsivebuy via photopin cc
Baby Ruth photo credit: dbking via photopin cc
photo credit: niznoz via photopin cc
M&Ms photo credit: boeke via photopin cc

Ten on (two-fer) Tuesday: the mystery edition.

My Ten Many, Many Favorite Mysteries.
What can I say? Mysteries have been my preferred reading since discovered #1, below.

1. Agatha Christie. We had many of these in paperback when I was growing up. I started reading them when I was about 12. Have read them all, many more than once.
    
2. Dorothy Sayers. Lord Peter Wimsey was awesome, but Harriet Vane ROCKED! Have read them all multiple times.
    
3. P.D. James. Another classic. Have read them all. Twice.
    
4. Arthur Conan Doyle. Ditto, but more than twice.
   
   
5. Other authors whose books I used to seek out: Dick Francis (horse racing & murder), Lilian Jackson Braun (cozies; "The Cat Who..." series; Koko and Yum Yum and Qulleran), Donald Westlake (murder/crime mixed with humor; not a series, just a book a year... forever), Elmore Leonard (best writer of dialogue EVAH), Emma Lathen (murder mysteries about banking and finance -- how could I not read them all?), Sue Grafton (A is for [etc.]; the R book was so boring I gave up on her), J.A. Jance, but not any more. I have Moved On.
    
6. Patricia Cornwell. She deserves an entry all to herself. Her first five or ten books were excellent, but eventually those morose and self-destructive characters got boring. And depressing.
   
   What I read now:
    
7. John Sandford. Lucas Davenport Prey series is my hands-down favorite of all time. Also the Virgil Flowers ("That damn Flowers.") series and the Kidd series; excellent. Then Sandford wrote an espionage novel (don't remember the name). It was so awful I couldn't believe it was the same guy writing. He needs to stick to crime. But a new Prey or Flowers or Kidd book is always cause for rejoicing.
    
8. Jeffrey Deaver. The author who can pack the most plot twists into the last fifty pages of a book.
    
9. Tana French. Go read one of her books and you will be hooked.
    
10. Kate Atkinson. Ditto.
     
11. Steig Larsson. Of course.
     
12. Barbara Vine/Ruth Rendell. Books written under the first pseudonym = excellent. Books written under the second = excellent but so unnerving I can only read one every five years or so.
     
13. P.J. Tracy. Techie mysteries set in Minneapolis.
     
14. Carl Hiaasen. Humor, satire, and murder in south Florida. There is a lot to satirize in that locale, and he does it masterfully.
     
15. Jonathan Kellerman and Fay Kellerman. I have read all the Alex Delaware books, but I like her Peter Decker/Rina Lazurus series better.
     
16. Susan Wittig Albert. Herb-themed cozies set in the Texas Hill County. 
     
17. Others where I read one book and liked it enough to seek out others by the same author: Markus Sakey, Chelsea Cain, Julia Spencer-Fleming, Dennis Lehane, Tess Gerritsen, Harlen Coben, Alex Kava, Nelson DeMille, Greg Iles, Terri Persons (set in MN).
     
18. Others I read, but this is the B-list: good enough to invest the time to read but not stunning. William Kent Kruger (all set in northern MN), Janet Evanovich  (Ranger or Morelli -- you choose), Lee Child (Jack Reacher is every man's fantasy alter ego, imnsho). 
     
19. Others I prefer to consume in audiobook format: Michael Connelly, Stephen Cannell, Jim Butcher's Dresden Files. 

I could go on (and on and on) but I won't. ::collective sigh of relief::

Ten on Tuesday: pizza!

Top Ten Toppings for Pizza.

1. Cheese. Of course, every pizza has cheese, but in my fifty years of eaten frozen pizza I have noticed that those made in Wisconsin are superior -- and I noticed this long before had any connection to The Dairy State. Good cheese is essential to a good pizza.
2. Sausage. I'm a traditionalist in this regard. Good Italian sausage is my favorite topping.
3. Mushrooms. If I'm feeling anything but boring the second topping I request is mushrooms.
4. Fresh tomatoes. Elder Son introduced me to this. They add a nice tomato zing.
5. Pepperoni. Younger Son prefers pep on his pizza so it is often on the pizzas I eat.
6. Green peppers and onions. I kinda like a nice vegie pizza sometimes -- green peppers, onions, mushrooms, and fresh tomatoes.

Okay, that's it. Those are my favorite toppings. Contrary to many other parts of my personality, in pizza toppings I am narrow-minded and traditional. Others in the family like green olives and black olives and bacon and Canadian bacon on their pizzas, so I tolerate them. But the six above are my tried-and-true.

Things that I find awful on a pizza:

• Chicken. Can't understand this, chicken is great in every other format, but on a pizza? It gags me every time.
• Shrimp. Had a shrimp pizza once. Well, one bite, then gag. Weird, cuz I love shrimp. Just not on a pizza.
• Jalapenos. Once again, I like them in other formats but not on pizza.

Although I went [mostly] non-gluten last May, I still have pizza about once a week. Tried a gf frozen pizza, crust was blech, so we still have the regular ones. 

photo credit: Amarand Agasi via photopin cc

Ten on Tuesday, the September edition.

Ten Things I Love About September.

1. The end of one of the hottest summers on record.
2. Cooler weather means not being confined to short and t-shirts. I can pull out some long-sleeved things and I can layer things. That is a much more comfortable look for me.
   
   
    
3. The trees start to turn. Fall is glorious around here when the maples are red and orange and the sumac and oaks are crimson and the birch and aspen are gold, all punctuated by deep green pines. Driving down our road on a sunny day is like driving through a tunnel of golden light.
4. I can knit on the deck again. It was too hot for most of the summer.
5. Sleeping with the windows open.
   
   
    
6. Swapping out the chilled white wine for red. Three Buck Chuck rules!
7. Honeycrisp apples!
8. Thinking about the woolens, although it won't be cold enough for them for a few more weeks.
9. Thinking about knitting sweaters and warm, cozy things without cringing.
   
   
   
   
10. Did I mention the trees turning? 

Ten on Tuesday, the childhood TV edition.

Ten Favorite TV Shows From My Childhood.

1. Robin Hood. I am quite sure I am the only one old enough to have this on my list.
   
   
   
   
2. Crusader Rabbit. Ditto.
3. The Howdy Doody Show. Ditto. Buffalo Bob, Clarabelle The Clown, Princess Summerfallwinterspring, the Peanut Gallery. One day my school bus was delayed and the show was over by the time I got home. I cried. (I was only in first grade.)
4. The Man From U.N.C.L.E. Two words: Illya Kuryakin. Yes, he is also Ducky on NCIS. 
5. I Spy. This, plus The Tonight Show, were how Bill Cosby got his start.
6. Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In. High school and college years.
   
   
   
   
7. Sky King. Saturday mornings long before most of you were born.
8. Annie Oakley. Ditto.
9. Rocky & Bullwinkle.  Still on, I think. Great, great show.
   
   
   
   
10. Twilight Zone. One of the greatest shows of all time, as measured by how many of us remember certain episodes: the invalid in the isolated house whose new nurse removes *her* wig to reveal *she* is really the murderer that has been in all the papers; the guy who breaks his glasses when he finally has the opportunity -- after the bombs have fallen -- to read every book in the library.
11. Topper. Also way before your time.
12. Alfred Hitchcock Presents. I almost forgot this one. Definitely one of the greats. 

Ten on Tuesday Wednesday, the happiness edition.

Ten Everyday Things That Make Me Happy (in absolutely random order).

1. The song of the red-winged blackbird (I hear one right now).
   
   
2. Rubbing my face in the fur of Hannibal The Fluffball Of Doom.
   
   
3. Smokey.
   
   
4. An email from one of my kids.
   
   
5. My morning latte.
   
   
6. My bedtime glass of wine.
   
   
7. Discovering a new favorite author who has written at least a dozen books.
   
   
8. Being able to curl up for a nap when I am sleepy.
   
   
9. Casting on a new project.
   
   
10. Remembering I am living now and not in 1950 or 1850 or 850. 

 

Ten on Tuesday, the like-a-kid edition

Ten Ways To Feel Like A Kid Again.

1. Run through the sprinkler. Or walk, if running is beyond you these days.
2. Next time you are at the Dairy Queen, have a cone instead of a sundae. Nothing like a DQ cone in the summertime.
3. Play catch with someone. Outdoors. On the grass.
4. Ride your bike to the municipal pool or beach. Splash water -- gently! -- at a friend. Omit the obnoxious kid that always did the sneak-up-and-grab-the-boobs-from-behind. Jeez, I hated that kid. I should have kicked him in the nuts back in 1960.
5. Ride your bike everywhere.
6. Lie in the grass and look at the clouds. Imagine what they are. Make up stories about them.
7. Spend a whole day, preferably a weekday, reading a page-turner book. 
8. Lunch = a peanut butter and jelly sandwich on white bread, accompanied by a big glass of cold milk.
9. Catch fireflies in a jar. Put the jar on your nightstand when you go to bed. Optional: cry the next morning when they are dark and dead.
10. Sing silly songs with your kids/husband/wife/significant other/neighbors/people on the bus.

Ten Twelve on Tuesday, the to-do edition.

Spring in the Upper Midwest tends to occur one afternoon in May, after which we go directly into summer. The natal season seems to be lasting a bit longer this year but I don't want to take chances. I have altered the time frame a bit.

Ten Twelve Things On My 'Do By The Fourth Of July' List

1. Finish the Big Herringbone Cowl (I haven't blogged about his yet) for Alex.
2. Knit her cabled stockings as requested. I already have the yarn and the pattern.
3. Start DNA scarf for Elder Son. I have the yarn but may need to revamp the pattern a bit.
4. Clean porch so we can eat dinner there every night.
5. Knit another Moebius cowl before I forget how to do it. The first one (not blogged yet) took roughly a day; the second will take longer because I want to make it bigger.
6. Soak some yarn I bought several years ago to see if the dye runs; if not, cast on for the sweater that is in my head. (Also, write the pattern for said sweater. It is based on a scarf/shawl pattern but obviously needs some tweaking to become a sweater.) If the dye leaks, either figure out how to set the dye or figure out a different use for the yarn.
7. Finish Tappan Zee sweater.
8. Clean the entryway.
9. Clear at least half the crappe from my desk.
10. Finish the Noro striped scarf (also unblogged) I started for myself.
11. Do our 2011 taxes.
12. Cast on for another sweater in my head using the 20 balls of Noro Silk Garden I bought for it in, er, April, 2010.

 

 

Ten on Tuesday, the yuk-it-up edition.

Ten Favorite Comedy Movies.

1. Bedazzled (the original, with Peter Cook and Dudley Moore; part of the plot is the
   personification of the seven deadly sins -- Rachel Welch is Lust)
2. The Big Lebowski (well, duh -- y'all know this is my favorite movie of all time)
3. Annie Hall (this was my favorite movie until TBLeb came along)
4. Monty Python and the Holy Grail (Smokey and I can recite the dialogue verbatim -- and often do, much to the disgust of Younger Son, who thinks we need some new jokes)
5. Love Actually (is there anything cuter than Hugh Grant or Colin Firth in love?)
6. any Marx Brothers movie ("Make that three hard boiled eggs!")
7. (see #6)
8. (see #6)
   
9. (see #6)
   
10. (see #6)
    

 

Ten on Tuesday, the pin-up edition.

Ten Things Pinned To My Bulletin Board.

1. Property tax bill for real estate taxes due in 2012. 
2. Large lapel button with photo of Elder Son in about tenth grade in his track uniform.
3. Gift certificate to a local furniture/home decor store. I really need to use that.
4. List of women's shelter needs clipped from their newsletter.
5. Spoke card from Younger Son's first No-Hater Rolling Dance Super Bike MegaParty, Friday, October 2, 2009.
6. (Until last Saturday) My Yarnover registration.
   
   My bulletin board has never been hung up; it sits propped against the wall between my computer desk and said wall so gets very little use. I shall continue with things attached to the front of the refrigerator.
    
7. An illustrated card showing the differences between a deer tick and a wood tick.
8. A photo of Younger Son when he was about 3.
9. A postcard from Yellowstone Park.
10. Grocery list, plus a bunch of strips for paper for the next 20 such lists.

 

 

Ten on Tuesday, the after-vacation edition.

Ten Good Things About Coming Home After A Vacation.

1. Sleeping in my own bed again. It may not be perfect (memory foam is not as great as it was proclaimed to be), but I love my bed. It is an adjustable one that we inherited from Smokey's parents and provides the only way I can comfortably read in bed. Given how much I like to read in bed, that is HUGE. I love my comforter, too, and my Very Own Special Down Pillows (although I now take those pillows with me on vacation).
    
2. Having my kittehs around again. This is HUGE as well. Hannibal The Fluffball of Doom is the best kitteh I have ever had, and I have had cats since before I can remember. He is awesome -- super friendly, completely pliable (how many kittehs will let you move them to where YOU want them to be, in the position YOU want them to be in, and not protest nor run away), a most excellent purr, and only sheds black hair, which is way less noticeable than orange or gray tabby fur. Even En Esch The Stoopid is preferable to no kitteh -- he is dependably snuggly and tends to scoot outside at bedtime far less than his brother and so is available for snuggling while I am reading in bed (see above).
   
   
    
3. Using my own computer again. Admittedly, the new iPad may make this less important, but there is something to be said for the computer with the perfect keyboard (yay, Mac!) and good speakers and all my music and a largish monitor and the perfect chair. And not having to make it to a library somewhere when they are open. (We tend to start the day around 3 pm. Or later.)
    

Really, those first two are the main things. I cannot come up with anything else. I used to sort of welcome getting back to a more productive routine, but ever since that 4-week vacation a couple years ago I am perfectly happy to be on vacation.. forever. 

Ten on Tuesday, the happy music edition:

Ten Eleven Songs That Put Me In A Good Mood

1. Old Time Rock & Roll / Bob Seger -- I cannot sit still when this comes on :-)
    
2. Can't Find My Way Home / Blind Faith
   
   
3. Fields of Gold / Sting
    
4. Good Vibrations / Beach Boys
   
   
5. Five Years Time / Noah and the Whales
   
   
6. Shambala / anybody who wants to cover it
    
7. Anything by Queen
    
8. Love Lost / Temper Trap
   
   
9. School's Out / Alice Cooper
   
   
10. Bach Brandenburg Concerto #1 and #2
    
    
11. Big County  / Bela Fleck and the Flecktones
     
12. Don't Look Back / Boston

Lots of others, too many to remember...

Ten on Tuesday: the purse edition.

This week's topic is Ten Things In My Purse. Since I haven't carried a purse, exactly, for several years, I shall tell you Ten Eleven Twelve Thirteen Things I Carry In Whatever Container I Have Hanging From My Shoulder (backpack, tote bag, whatever).

1. Wallet. I looked long and hard to find a wallet-like thing that has a shoulder strap. That way I don't have to carry my huge tote bag into a store with me. Wallet contains money, credit cards, and receipts.
    
2. Health and beauty department. This is a small zipper bag, about 4"x6"x1" that is stuffed with every personal care item I could possibly need (I dumped it out to take inventory): small mirror, lip balm, tweezers, dental floss, flosspicks, folding hairbrush/comb, migraine meds, toothpaste (but no toothbrush -- what was I thinking? oh, yeah, the toothbrush is in the glove compartment of my car -- don't ask), hand lotion, hand sanitizer, diamond emery board, wet naps, tiny mirror, Tums, breath mints, Alli, bleach/stain remover pen, and a Winchester pocket tool that has a scissors, knife, file, 3 screwdriver blades, a saw, and a bottle/can opener. I am prepared for anything.
    
3. Bottle vitamin C tablets. I carry this with me in the winter just in case I feel the first tickle of a cold when I am away from home. It is vital to start the vitamin C treatment immediately; six hours later is Too Late.
    
4. Bottle of ibuprofen. I take 800mg in the morning and at night, but recently started taking another 800mg at 2 pm. It makes a big difference in my pain level. I even set up an alarm on my work computer to remind myself to take them.
    
5. Bottle of prescription antiacid tablets.
    
6. A set of five nylon shopping bags in their  own tote bag.
   
   
7. Tissues in a knitted tissue cozy.
   
   
8. Mini flashlight.
    
9. Key ring with keys for house and various cars, plus a spare set of keys.
    
10. Lock de-icer.
     
11. Tape measure.
     
12. Eyeglass cleaner kit.
     
13. Emergency knitting kit. I never go anywhere without it, especially since it saved my bacon that time I was stuck in the elevator.

 

 

Did you notice what was absent from my list? Any kind of makeup or perfume or anything remotely frilly-feminine. If I could fit a hammer, a couple full-sized screwdrivers, and a pair of pliers in there without adding any weight, I'd do it.