Day 225

I love sleeping with the windows open. I love to listen to the crickets and feel the wind blow through my bedroom. This summer's weather has allowed more "open window" nights than usual, with it's cool nights and high temperatures only in the low 80's.

This morning as I slipped from sleep to consciousness, I took a deep breath of fresh air and the first thing in my mind was, "Oh my gosh I smell fall".

I can't tell you what it is. But there is definately something in the air that has changed. I can smell it tonight too, as I sit at the computer with the window open in front of me.

I went to the grocery today, and they had ceramic pumpkins out front, and Reese Pumpkin eggs in the check-out aisle. I guess I should be glad that at least there aren't Christmas decorations out yet. But geez, I'm just not ready for summer to be over with.

But summer is just about done with us. The signs are everywhere- a few leaves turning colors on my maple tree, tomatoes ripening on the vine at lightening speed, and signs throughout town for the Greek and Italian festivals.

The end of summer is unofficially marked by the restarting of school, which in our town is less than two weeks away. And the start of school means all of us parents have to do the inevitable- the dreaded school supply shopping.

Pencils, paper, folders, and new backpacks. Which is all fine and good, but can someone please explain to me why the school asks for 6 dry-erase markers and every damn store only has packs of 5?! It's like the whole hot dog and bun conspiracy. And Lord forbid one store have everything that you need- oh no. That would be silly.

One thing is for sure though- I stay away from the mainstream when it comes to school supply shopping. I've seen school supply shopping get rougher than Black Friday, so I stick to the less-conspicuous stores like Office Depot and Walgreens. Much less chance of being stabbed with Fiskars scissors over the last bottle of Elmer's glue at those places...

All in all though, this year honestly wasn't bad. I already had several things on the list left over from last year (including those damn extra dry-erase markers), and the only thing Office Depot didn't have was the calculator our school asked for. And school supply shopping involves lists, which of course makes me happy. Suprisingly, the 11-year old stopped in the middle of the store and said, " I love school supply shopping".

I paused for a moment and tried to remember being on the other side of the wallet when it comes to buying new things for school. And yes, I can remember the excitement of new notebooks with fresh paper (lists!), picking out pencils, folders with Madonna's picture on them, and a Trapper Keeper to keep all my lists safely tucked away.

So tonight's picture represents the approach of a new season and school year, and the excitement that comes with new Post-it notes (lists!) and highlighters.