me? worry?

I worked with a woman who once told me that the reason she shaved her legs every single day was so that if she was ever in a car accident, and the paramedic who was trying to save her life had to rip her pant legs to free her from the wreckage, that she'd be relieved to know that her legs weren't all stubbly and gross.

She wanted to be prepared. Ah, yes. A girl after my own heart.

My Pappap always told my dad, who eventually told me, that you should never have less than a quareter of a tank of gas in your car during the winter months. You know, in case you get stranded somewhere and have to leave the car running to stay warm.

He was a POW for almost three years, a veteran of WWII and, yes, always prepared.

Whenever I leave the house, I have to make sure that:
1. the oven is turned off
2. my space heater in the living room is unplugged
3. the cord to my hair straightening iron is hanging on the hook next to the bathroom sink so as to signify that said straightener is, in fact, not turned on

The inside of my purse contains a make-up bag (thank you, Clinique!), in which I always carry the following essentials:
1. hand cream
2. hand sanitizer
3. Pepto-Bismol
4. Pamprin
5. Excedrin Migraine tablets
6. deoderant
7. purse-size body spray (Pink Grapefruit, in case you were curious)
8. lip gloss
9. tampons and pantyliners
10. a small mirror
11. my tiny Swiss Army Knife
12. a thin pocket mirror

Always.

I set my clothes out each night so that I'm ready to go in the morning. So that I don't have to think or worry about being ready when I've hardly even remembered turning off my alarm because I'm so groggy.

I really like to be prepared. I like control, order, and reliability. I don't like to get caught in a situation where I don't have what I need to make me comfortable. And I'm happy to say that I've used, at least once or twice already this month, every. single. thing. in my Preparedness Purse Pouch.

I worry a lot. About stuff. Everything. All the things. I get so worried that the world will fall apart if 1.) I sweat and don't have back-up deoderant, ii.) there's broccoli in my teeth that nobody told me about, or c) somebody shakes my hand seconds after sneezing into it. I need to be prepared for these things, because they can, and do, happen. Thus, my constant companions include travel-size deoderant, a thin pocket mirror, and a tiny bottle of hand sanitizer.

Does anyone else feel and act this way, or am I out on a limb here? Is there something you do every day to feel prepared, in contorl, or less worried?

Go ahead. You can tell us. We're all friends here.

I'd like to think that others are also equally concerned with being prepared and letting go of some of the worry that accompanies not being prepared. You know, in case only minutes before The Great Rapture we're swarmed by mosquitos. Then we'll wish we had face masks, fly swatters, and lizards on hand to take care of that.

with love from Pittsburgh,
Laura