Yesterday was a boring-and-hot-as-hell day that I couldn't find anything even remotely interesting to write about so I attacked my husband instead. ;-) That was the only interesting (and boy was it!) thing all day.

This whole school supply shopping thing is quite a racket. I remember the days when we'd buy some filler paper, a few Pee-Chee portfolios, a ring binder and some crayons (if you were in lower grades), pencils and pens and that would be it, unless you needed the infamous protractor and compass (and I still can't remember which is which). Schools bought their own Kleenex and rulers and scissors. I also remember when your school supplies were your own. You knew if you brought a box of crayons to school that you'd be using them yourself and could keep them nice and unbroken. Now the stuff is community property in many schools. I don't know how it will be in my daughter's class. They didn't say *not* to label things (like they did in the Kindergarten and first grade classes) so I'm hoping that the kitty cat spiral notebooks we got (and labeled with her name) will actually be used by her. I put her name on them to sort of help in that respect. We'll see, I suppose.

The list was very specific. We had to get 48-count Crayola crayons. Rose Art was right out. (That's ok--Rose Art crayons suck.) She needed Prang watercolors. Not Crayola. Not the no-name brand. Prang. So we had to go to 3 stores to find it. We had to have a wood clipboard. Not a fluorescent acrylic one. Wood. What the hell do second graders need with a clipboard anyway, wood or otherwise?? She needed to have a 12-count pack of Mr. Sketch markers. You know, the scented kind? What's up with that? I was amazed at the specificity on that list. She needed a box of 12 nylon-tip black pens. You know, the old-fashioned 'Flair' pens. What are they going to do with all those freaking pens??? She needed 2 large and 2 small glue sticks. I didn't even know they made large glue sticks. Why not just 4 or 6 small (and easily obtainable) glue sticks?

It took us the better part of the day to go to 3 different stores (Target, Office Depot and Fred Meyer) to find all the items on the list. She needed gym shoes that she can leave at school (velcro preferred). I don't really like that idea but I guess it's ok. She's been taking dance and art and music lessons since she was 2 so we're really good at taking the required items like shoes and clothes with us on the designated days. I think we could handle remembering P.E. shoes, but I guess not everyone is on board with that. So she has 2 pairs of athletic shoes this year (not including her new soccer shoes). We had to get her a new backpack, too. Well, 'had to' is exaggerating some. She has a Scooby Doo backpack that she has used for the past 2 years and it is perfectly serviceable. (I always hated that word--my grandmother used it and it meant to me that I would be stuck using whatever butt-ugly thing I wanted to replace for a long time more. ::sigh::) But since she is changing schools, she wanted to have a new one. I don't really mind. Her old one has a locking flap over the top of the zipper and I hated having to open and close 2 things to get in and out of that backpack. Plus, it was rounded at the top and always bent over the corners of her folders and workbooks.

When we were at Target, my husband went looking for a pair of canvas slip-on style shoes to replace the $6 pair he bought 6 years ago and has worn out (he wears them in the garage and doing yard projects). He found a pair of white deck shoes and they only cost $1.84 (marked down from $15)! You can't even buy a pair of shoe laces for that price. We laughed so hard at that. I suggested that they just put a sign over the top of the shoes saying "Free to a good home."

After our big school shopping extravaganza, we decided to spend even more money. We went to the piano store and rented a piano. We need a piano soon and we can't decide between acoustic and digital and so instead of rushing into such a big purchase, we bought ourselves some time with this rented piano. It will be delivered next Wednesday. I'm excited for Joey to begin piano lessons. I want to start taking them again, too. So does Ed. We'll need to make appointments to practice if we all take lessons.

When we returned from our shopping and Chuck E. Cheese fest (Joey's reward for putting herself to sleep by alone 5 nights in a row--she had a relapse after 3 weeks of having friends or parents to sleep with), Joey finally got to meet our neighbor Ashley. It was friends at first glance. They just knew they were going to like each other. They played together (and with Ashley's little brother) for an hour or so and then made a play date for tomorrow morning at 9am. She's *so* excited. I told her she couldn't get out of bed until 7:30, though. I know her--she'd get up at 6am and be begging to go play for 3 hours.

I really like Ashley's mom. I think we'll be good friends. From what I can tell, we share very similar values and outlooks and parenting styles. Whew! She's going to be a stay at home mom again now that her husband is out of school and she loves it. Her son is in kindergarten which is a time when many moms are looking for a job so I think it is very telling that she is wanting to stay at home now.

Time to find a midnight snack. Whatever I ate earlier at Chuck E. Cheese is not setting well with me and I'm just sure that throwing more food at it will make me feel better.

Later,

--L