I bought Toby a new squeaky plastic stick and he LOVES it. We have taught him to fetch and he will fetch and fetch and then take the stick away and make it squeak all by himself. His new favorite toy. Tobilicious ears!!

See those school supplies? We did not need them. Not one little bit. They beckoned to me.

The notebooks said, "A dime? You are walking past notebooks that cost one dime?"
They were right, I couldn't. I was able to stop at 4. That is self-control, baby.

Then, as I was checking out, The markers and colored pencils said, "I know you have plenty, but we are only 88 cents. Walmart is LOSING money on us!!" So into the buggy they went.

I am a school/office supply junkie. I love them all. I LOVED school. I hated that whole summer of unstructured freedom. I wanted learning every day of my life. There were no library visits or museums for us. Just wide open spaces, a bike and a barbie(singular).

We had glorious fun summers, but it was all up to me and my big imagination to make it happen. Don't get me wrong, I loved it. From blackberry picking to sitting and watching the river, it was a special kind of growing up. I feel a little sorry for those who did not raise themselves in the country during summer. We got up, headed for the hills and came back when we were hungry, thirsty or needed to use the bathroom. Mostly though, I didn't come back until dark. I drank from streams like characters in the books I read and "lived off the land" eating blackberries, possum grapes and raw field corn that grew everywhere there was a clear spot. I dreamed of having a slingshot and killing and roasting a rabbit over a fire. Never happened though. IF only I could have gotten my hands on some rubberbands. I also would go to my grandmas and beg a honey bun from time to time.

However blissful all of that was-and it was- I could not wait for school to start. New clothes and school supplies were very slim being one of 4, but there were always a few new things. I loved new notebooks the most. I wanted it to stay crisp and new as long as possible. I wrote a little neater and tried so hard to keep that cover from working its way off. They always did eventually. And some punk at school would grab my notebook and write some meaningless drivel, "someone hearts someone". That would ruin that neat notebook that I slaved to write my name as small, neat and distinct as possible. In high school, Daniel G would write "hog balls" on any notebook left unattended. Try as I might, my clean neat notebook was just more than he could bear. He runs a car lot now. Anybody wanna go key some cars? Just kidding. Never have had a destructive bone in my body. I could never go TP'ing just cause it looks so awful and wastes all that toilet paper.

So anyway, this time of year makes me nostalgic, and so I caved and bought new notebooks. My kids are really wanting a new notebook to, maybe I will share. I am gonna go write a to-do list in one now. Really neatly. Nothing on the cover.