We don’t need no education

When I opened up the newspaper today, something was made very, very clear to me: It’s back to school time. The paper was stuffed with flyers and advertisements for back-to-school clothes, folders, crayons and backpacks. I know I should have caught on by now, but I am not quick to these things as I don't have any children to be prepping for school.

I want to go back to school, but not for the reasons you may be thinking. It’s not about furthering my education or earning an additional degree. I just want to go school supply shopping.

Each year after I was handed the official school supply list during registration, I knew something good was to come. It wasn’t just about getting new stuff, but that was part of it. It was a fresh start of sorts. You were free of those tattered old notebooks and Trapper Keepers. You started anew with empty notebooks and unmarked binders.

You let go of the school year before and all the baggage attached to it and got a chance to get it right. It didn’t matter if Kristie ostracized you during the third lunch shift in eighth grade or if you had to sit alone on the bus, you got a second shot. This time you’d be organized and popular and pretty. It would all come together thanks to the shiny purple Trapper Keeper and coordinated hot pink folders.

Yes, it’s silly now, but I pinned my hopes each year for all 12 years to a new binder and associated items. And, it worked for a while. For the first few weeks as I walked into school proudly carrying my bounty and wearing my new Zena jeans, immaculate, white K Swiss tennis shoes and monogrammed sweater I felt like a homecoming queen. Eventually reality hit me like a locker door in the face, and I realized that I did still have braces, the bangs had indeed been a bad idea and I was still a nobody. It was nice while it lasted.

Don’t you wish that something so simple could renew your faith in life? What if there was a $3.99 pick-me-up like that for adults (and I don’t mean a margarita.) I wish that each year I could get another chance. Even if it didn’t work out and the harsh truth did eventually come back at me, at least, for a while, I’d think that all things were possible.

Update:
Lawn Mowing:
Miraculously it has been mowed. (Thanks, Cynical!) Now I need a solution for clumps of brown, dead grass. I am thinking of using the clippings and some mud to create a hut in the backyard. It would make a great “guest house” for some selected visiting family members.

Cola Intake:
I have consumed a 12-ounce Caffeine Free Diet Coke. (Once you take out the caffeine and sugar, it’s really just colored water, right?)

Included the photo above just because I thought it was interesting. I shot it because I just realized that my initials are side-by-side on the keys. Doesn't take much to interest me.