Back To School

The weather has broken, the corn and tomatoes are in full swing, some of us are getting really tired of looking at lawnmowers, and I've finally figured out how to regulate the chlorine in the pool.

Clearly, summer is almost over. I find I'm regretting that more with ever year, a sign of increasing age I'm determined to fight.

In that vein, I'd like to mention something I really enjoy round about now: back to school sales.

In that bona fide chick flick "You've Got Mail", Meg Ryan talks about the glories of fall, including a whimsical line about bouquets of sharpened pencils. I always got that. I'm the kind of person who'd probably enjoy bouquets of sharpened pencils. Okay, technically I'm a pen person (blue, not black), but still, what's not to enjoy in the pungent scent of an entire bouquet of sharpened pencils? And when they're going for 50%-off in gigantic stacks at the supply store...

Well, it makes those stores dangerous this time of the year. There's something kind of addictive in those piles of notebooks in every color of the rainbow (and some extra besides), especially at $.99 apiece (hey, the $.05 ones at Walmart look like a good bargain, but let me tell you, the paper in the $.99 version is worth the extra $.94). Then there's all the special binders and clips and pens and bins and other stuff like a bright pink desk light that's curled like a big rotini noodle. No idea where to put it, but it's just neat.

Whenever I open a brand-new notebook, I get this really warm fuzzy feeling that's supposed to be reserved for baby bunny rabbits or something equally small and adorable. At times I wonder how eccentric I actually am, but I figure it's an innocent enjoyment. All those beautiful blank pages just waiting to be filled. And new pens to fill it with.

There's probably some deep-seated psychological reason why I get such pleasure out of office supplies, something to do with my desire to organize and file things. Are people born with an accountant's brain or is it something to do with their environment? I'm not sure of the cause, but I could spend hours at Office Depot like most girls spend hours at the mall.

Which explains why I went to get binder dividers today (five new houses...five new binders...35 categories per binder...I subconsciously balked at the math first time around and had to trot back to the store when it proved I really needed 70 more than I got. Government work. Aren't we supposed to be a paperless society?) and came back with two notebooks, an argyle-patterned binder for Bible-study stuff, a new blessing book, and a wireless mouse. Plus the binder dividers. It's a good thing I didn't get a basket.

Of course, I really do need a new desk chair. Maybe tomorrow...

The Week's Question (thanks, Carrie!):

Flower rings. Okay, the small ones are really pretty. Delicate, brightly-colored, fun, a little unexpected. But the big ol' honkin' ones that take up the wearer's entire finger and threaten to swamp their hand? To me, it just screams, "Hey, I'm a little girl who hasn't stopped playing dress-up!" It goes right along with those gigantic white sunglasses that make people look like they've been taking fashion tips from Minnie Mouse. Are we really so determined to stay little kids? Is looking like a mature, classy adult just way too last year?

Says me, the blogger who just admitted to getting excited about seeing school supplies. At least I was dressed as an adult while I was lingering over the pencil boxes...