tis the season

I'm sorry, yesterday was just a supremely bad day here in the Buff. I woke up tired and spent the whole day feeling like I was slogging through mud. To top it off, Daughter knocked over a full glass of iced tea in the family room and proceeded to splash around in it, and when Hub got up to help me clean it/distract the child, he stepped on her full sippy cup of milk, popping the top off. So there were two beverage messes to clean out of the carpet. Mmmmmmm. Whole milk. In the carpet. HOT weather. Deeeeeeeeeeelicious.

(I know, it's my own stupid fault for leaving drinks where they could be spilled. I said it was a bad day.)

So, this morning I decided my bathroom smells like a summer camp due to the dampness that permeates everything...the rugs and stuff just won't dry in this weather. Every bathroom textile has now been washed and I am waiting on the dryer so I can re-hang the shower curtain and get cleaned up. In the meantime, I thought I'd share my little sickness with you.

This might really wig some of you out, and if you're a nature-loving environmentalist, just don't look. However, I am willing to bet some of you might be right there with me (ok, maybe not as bad).

You see, this is the time of year when all the back-to-school sales start. Around here kids don't go back to school until the Wednesday after Labor Day, but the stores are ready NOW. There are all those nifty displays at Target and the Mart, made out of cardboard and filled to bursting with PENS! and MARKERS! and PRETTY, PRETTY SCHOOL SUPPLIES!

And I have a sickness. It has been a full 4+ years since I was enrolled in any kind of school, and almost that long since I taught, but I still get twitchy when the ads start rolling out showing all the latest and greatest stuff. So even though I've been getting much better about it, I still have to go peruse the displays and every year I buy something. In recent years I've managed to restrict myself to one or two spiral notebooks for 10 cents each (legitimate use for those - I have to make my lists and keep track of stuff somewhere), and once in awhile a pack of pens or something.

But in the past...


mmmmm...pens...pencils...


to be fair, most of these are recycled from high school and college (and many belonged to Hub)


a small forest no longer exists because of us


this is kind of over-the-top, huh? i see that Binney & Smith box and smell that waxy crayon smell and it's like a drug, baby...

Yeah, so there it is. And sadly, that's not even all we have. Some is stored in dribs and drabs all over the house. I'll never have to buy my kids anything. I've even visited the Crayola factory...as an adult. My friend and I were the only ones there without any children. And my favorite "Picture-Picture" on Mr. Rogers Neighborhood was the one where they show you how crayons are made. You can see it here.

I've always been one of those nerdy kids who loved school. The start of the school year was so exciting! Getting to buy new supplies and labeling everything, cracking open a brand new notebook on the first day - it was truly like a drug for me. And that was back when a box of 24 crayons cost something like $1.99. Now you can get 8 boxes for that much money. Twitch...twitch...

Wanna come over and color? I got the stuff.