Yesterday morning as I left the house I threw a water bottle and my full-with-piping-hot-coffee travel mug into my bag (a Trager "Seattle Messenger") so that I could also carry NetFlix envelope.  After visiting the mailbox, I slung the bag forward to place it in the passenger's seat of my truck when I noticed steaming hot coffee dripping from it.  I have a nice travel mug that really does make a tight seal but I left the knob in the center of the lid in the "open" position when I threw it into my bag.

Cursing, I turned the bag over to allow as much of the coffee as possible to spill onto the driveway then I went inside and placed any vital contents into the backpack I use for school.  I made it to work a little late and I had a pretty normal work day.

I went to class after work.  We didn't stay for the entire session since we were there for a test review and there were only a few questions.  When I got home, though, I took that same coffee mug from a cup holder in my truck and tossed it in my school backpack to carry it into the house.  And, you guessed it, the lid was still not closed and there was still coffee in it.  Coffee dregs, actually, and since I use a French press to make coffee at home, it was chunky with coffee grounds.  I didn't notice this spill at the time, though.

Once I was in the house, I immediately emptied my messenger bag (the one from the morning coffee incident) and threw it in the washing machine.  I had another bag of the same model and I washed it several times with no ill effects.

More than an hour later, I picked up my backpack to discover the horrors within.  Coffee had stained all of my papers and had dripped onto both the front and back covers of a green cloth-covered Levenger notebook that Filip gave me for Christmas. I was furious with myself.  As I blotted up the spilled coffee, I was berating myself under my breath.  I couldn't believe that I had made the same mistake twice.  Furthermore, I'm very fond of my Levenger notebook and I was upset that it would be stained.

I was able to salvage the notebook cover but all of my papers will remain stained.  I'll also have to wash my backpack, too, but now I have to wait until my messenger bag dries!