Key facts

Usually on Wednesdays, I post a "what in the world Wednesday" picture on the 4th Frog Facebook page.But I didn't have a good entry for today, so I decided to play a new game. I asked readers to guess how many plastic loyalty card things are on my keychain.

Sheri T. won with her guess of 8, though my friend Lainie won the overachiever prize when she reported she has 18 on her keyring! Anyway, that got me looking at my keys. Because we've been playing musical cars this summer, I haven't been carrying a full set of keys. Usually, I just grab the keys to the car I'm planning to drive and leave the rest behind. But now that all that drama seems to be settled (for the moment, anyway), I decided to put everything back in place. That's when I realized that I'm carrying around a softball-size wad of keys in my pocket or purse everyday.

I used to have a great pewter Butler bulldog keychain that allowed me to show support for my alma mater and provided personal protection against anyone who might want to harm me -- I'm pretty sure one whack in the forehead with that thing could have knocked out even the biggest of scary criminals. But I lost that keychain somewhere along the way.

Now I'm left with 2 bulky car keys and their companion door-locking fobs, neither of which work thanks to dead batteries; a house key; two office keys; those 8 loyalty tags -- at least two or three of which I probably only use once or twice a year; and one ugly plastic keychain for a business I've never even heard of.

Consequently, I've spent way too much time tonight contemplating how to simplify my key situation. I could take the loyalty tags off and put them in my purse. Except that sometimes I run to the store with just my debit card and my keys, which would leave me missing out on some big savings or something else if I didn't have the tags with me. 

I could take the big door lock fobs off, but I keep thinking I'm going to get new batteries. Plus, I don't want to misplace them, which is a distinct possibility for someone of my organizational disabilities capabilities. I guess I could even separate them into personal and work keys, which would take some of the bulk out of them.

Then there's the question of the keyring. I loved my bulldog keyring. Maybe I'll head down to campus to find another one? I like the idea of a keyring saying something personal about me. It seems like that's a girl thing. Most men I know are happy to have their keys hooked together on some plain metal, utilitarian ring.

But my keys are kind of an extension of who I am, so I think they should reflect me a bit. Wonder where I can get a Diet Coke-ice cream-Scrabble-Catholic-mom keychain?

Are you a keyring minimalist? Or should your keychain be registered as martial arts weapon? Does yours dangle a picture of your kids, your initial or something else that reflects you? Or could you care less?