Thought I was over leaving my purse in weird places

Back many years ago I actually quit carrying a purse because I had a bad habit of leaving it in places like restaurants, shopping carts, bathrooms, and even outhouses. So, I started carrying my checkbook in my back pocket, which led to its own issues. It also got left in weird places. The bathroom in Walmart, the bathroom in the Maverik in Cody, the outhouse 20 some miles up the Southfork and the outhouse at Ranger Creek. Every time caused a second trip to whatever place to retrieve either the checkbook or the purse. Lately though I haven’t seemed to have the problem. Until last week.

On Wednesday August 19 I had some major dental work done. Angie offered to drive me so I would be safe getting home. For some reason I grabbed my purse to take it with me. When we got home, I was hurting pretty bad so I came in to lie down to rest. The rest of the week was pretty uneventful, but I didn’t go out much so had no need of my purse or checkbook. 

A whole week later, the next Tuesday I headed into town to do some banking, pay some bills and buy some groceries. When I stopped at the bank I reached into the door pocket of the pickup where my purse usually resides to find the pocket empty. No purse. 

Panic! I decided to head home to see if it for some reason I had walked out and left it on the table or something. But I was sure I hadn’t even seen it in the house, in fact I had no recollection of where I had last seen that purse. As I came out of Greybull, I planned on taking the River Road home, my mind started going back to when I last had my purse. I missed the River Road turnoff because I was so focused on trying to pinpoint when I had last seen it. I actually started clear back to the weekend before said dental work. The weekend we went to Billings. I knew I had it when I was at Costco; did it leave it there by mistake? No, I had it when we voted on Tuesday, but I didn’t remember having it after that. 

Then it came to mind that I had ridden with Angie on Tuesday. Maybe, just maybe I had left it in her pickup.  Angie was at work, so I texted her to see if her pickup was unlocked. She met me at her workplace and sure enough my purse was tucked snuggly almost under the passenger seat of her pickup. 

My purse was found safe and sound, but there were only a few checks in it, so the bill paying had to wait for another day. I think God has a special guardian angel specifically assigned to my purse. I have left it in weird places so many times, and it has been found safe every time. 

Stuffed Zucchini Boats

4 medium zucchinis

½ teaspoon dried Italian seasoning

Salt and pepper to taste

2 teaspoons olive oil

1-pound mild Italian sausage

½ cup onion finely diced

1 teaspoon minced garlic

2 cups marinara sauce

¾ cup shredded mozzarella cheese

1 tablespoon chopped parsley

Cooking spray

Cut zucchini in half lengthwise, trim off the stem ends, scoop out the seeds and soft flesh. Sprinkle with the Italian seasoning, salt and pepper, arrange them in the pan sprayed baking dish. Heat the olive oil in a large pan, add the sausage and cook for 4-5 minutes breaking up with a spatula. Add the onion and cook for about 4 minutes more, add the garlic and mix in well. Pour the marinara sauce into the pan and simmer for 5 minutes. Spoon the meat mixture evenly into zucchini shells, then top with shredded cheese.  Bake in a 400º oven for 25 minutes or until zucchini is tender and cheese is melted and golden brown. Sprinkle with parsley and serve.