Back to school shopping already?!

I can’t believe it’s already August. My kids start school again in less than a month – right after Labor Day. Which means my kids and I went back to school shopping the other night. I have no idea where the summer yet. I had so much in mind for the summer and so far have accomplished none of it. That makes me terribly sad. On the other hand, I am recovering from surgery nicely and next weekend I am taking my kids to a water park in Wisconsin Dells. Should be a good time.

But back to this back to school shopping thing. My twins are going into second grade. Here is the list for them:

 

 

48 pencils? 48? And sharpened too? What are they going to do with 48 pencils? That is more than one pencil a week. Then I realized something. That is probably making up for the kids who can’t bring in any pencils. Suddenly 48 didn’t seem like a big deal. And then the universe brought a post by our own Ben Leroy. He is offering to buy school supplies for those families that need help. Here is the link – please share it widely. My work is also doing a collection. You better believe that I will head back to Target to buy some supplies for a child in need. We all need a hand now and then and I feel fortunate that I can play a small part in someone’s education.

And while the water park capitol of the world is next weekend, this weekend I am heading to Phoenix, AZ for the SinC Desert Sleuths Chapter’s writing conference. There will be some big names there. Like Sara Paretsky. Super cool. Little ole me will be talking about submission policies, state of publishing, and creating an elevator pitch. All things I can do in my sleep. Which is really great because my flight leaves tomorrow at 5am. Not super cool at all.

I am really looking forward to the conference. While they tend to leave me exhausted, they also tend to get me excited about my job again. Because talking to writers and other industry folk makes sitting in my cube the rest of the time somewhat bearable.

 

When I get back to work, it will be full on acquisitions mode. That fall catalog isn't going ot fill itself!

Comments

[Kristopher]

My company is doing a collection of school supplies. And I too spread the message about Ben's generous offer.

But 48 pencils. I was going to comment on that even before I saw that you did so in the rest of the post. That is just ridiculous and a safety hazard. What are they planning to do? Eat them?

And I completely don't understand the different size ziplock bags based on gender at the bottom of the list. A co-worker says this is a classroom contribution, but even still why do the parents of girls have to spend more money? The Gallon size is more expensive than the sandwich size.