Back from a long weekend...

And not much time to blog :) Work this semester is crazy busy, and looming on Thursday morning I have that monster 230 student World Civilizations class. I'll whine about that plenty tomorrow. For the time being, I'm trying to get some small things crossed off my to-do list and work on my lesson plan.

I did enjoy my long weekend, although Hank acted like he was on uppers the whole time. Tough to take at some points, to be sure. Although that boy just gets cuter and more handsome each day. My baby!

I was able to take a break yesterday and go to lunch and shopping with my mom. In the grand tradition of women in my family, we seized the opportunity that the sales provided us (and for me, Christmas gift cards) and shopped for purses.

Handbag selection is like a lauded ancient ritual in my family. Our kind can easily spend 45 minutes to an hour in the handbag department; that kind of statement can make anyone with Y chromosome faint right on the spot. I desperately needed a new one - my current one has a nice design, but quickly acquired a crippling strap problem. It was a cheapie, so I didn't expect much. Every woman has a litany of features that she desires in her purse. For me, I like:

(1) A single long, thick strap that won't hurt my shoulder. My current purse has 2 straps - fatal mistake. They're always getting in my way when I'm trying to grab something out of the purse while it's hanging on my shoulder. Plus, I realized after I bought it that they're infinitely too short. I can't easily grab my keys or wallet out.

(3) At least 2 main compartments, ideally 3. I like to separate things. Wallet in one easily accessible segment. Makeup items in another. A free-for-all in the third, with things like my glasses, aspirin case, comb, my birding notebook, rosaries, pocket-sized devotionals.

(4) Several little zipper pockets, at least 2 of which are on the outside of the purse. I like to keep my keys and garage door opener in there.

(5) Convenient compartment for my cell phone.

(6) Decent sized overall width. All the more space for me to shove crap into. However, if I can actually fit a book into it, this means that I've gone too far in the other direction.

So, my mom and I descended on JCPenney's and went to work. We scoured for a full 20 minutes to get our bearings. My mom honed in on the Stone Mountain area and beckoned me over from my foray across the aisle. She claims that the Stone Mountain bag she has is her favorite purse ever - she'd just like a different style to mix it up a bit. There weren't too many of them as they were heavily marked down. That's what I'm lookin' for in a shopping experience. I had a gift card, and so I *was* prepared to spend more than my usual $16.99, because I wanted something quality that would last. I'm tired of getting used to a purse and having it wear out and/or break within the year. However, I wasn't looking for Coach-like prices, either. I'd be afraid to take it anywhere.

We picked through and each chose a handful of bags to subject to further scrutiny. It's just unspoken amonst the two of us that we will remove the stuffing in each, take out junk from our own purses, and test it out in the potential purse. We will then sling it on our shoulder and ask the other for their opinion, displaying each of it's featured qualities. Ultimately, we both ended up with the same purse *snorts*, just in different colors. We're both proud owners of a Stone Mountain Lexington Hobo, mine in wine, my mom's in black. I filled it up last night and it fulfilled all of my expectations. Plus, it's adorable. I like how I can stick my wallet in the main center segment, and have the other two for the aforementioned items. It has a special attachable key thing that fits my work keys perfectly and that I can access nice and easy. There's plenty of room for my lip gloss and hair ties in one pocket and my house/car keys and garage door opener in another. There are two pockets appropriate for my cell phone. I'm a happy camper.

In other news, given my high level of nervous energy that I need to burn off, I've been knitting like a mad woman. I'm halfway through an afghan that is destined for a new home with my cousin Christina, and I started a hat for Mike this weekend. The hat is my first foray into knitting in the round, and so far so good. I hope it's not too big and makes him look like he has a freakishly big head. I have a bad tendency of doing that. I'll post pictures as I complete things...