So it's getting into August and becoming the time of year when I start to get wistful for the first day of school. Don't get me wrong, I loved summer vacation, but somewhere around mid-July I start to get the itch to get new school supplies. I'm a nerd, I'll admit it. Even the grade-school prospect of new dress shoes for Catholic school was a huge deal (hmmm...brown loafers, black loafers or be daring and get Mary Janes?!).
It's just that the beginning of school made me feel like anything was possible, that maybe this was the year that I was going to be on the high honor roll all four quarters, or that this was the year I was finally going to *get* algebra, or this was the year that the St. Jude's girls basketball team was finally going to have a winning record. (For the record, none of these things ever happened.)
I also dislike hot weather, so I was looking forward to the cooler, leaf-changing months of fall as a relief from scorching August temps. Tell me I'm not the only one who would wear all of their new-school outfits the first week of class even though it was way WAY too hot to be wearing jeans and long-sleeve shirts.
But no, this time of year has me looking forward to the future. I love fall if you can't already tell. I like cooler days and picture-perfect drives to work under a canopy of multicolored trees. I like making apple pies and pumpkin bread and other fall-related treats. And getting closer to Halloween and the themed reading that goes with it (see above: nerd). And on a related note, is it too early to start decorating for Halloween? I was at Michaels the other day looking for wedding stuff and they had all of their fall decorations out and I want to start decorating RIGHT NOW.
Mallory Medved is an assistant managing editor of weekly publications for
the Sun-Times News Group. She helps cover the Lincoln-Way area and towns
southwest of Joliet. Being naturally nosy has led her to a career in
journalism and fulfilled her dream of getting paid to read. Being a new
homeowner and a future bride, she's also perpetually broke, but enjoys
hearing about other people in the same situation. She lives in Plainfield
but is a native of New Lenox.
Christina Chapman is a Will County resident who desperately wants to live in Grundy County. But since she lost that battle with her boyfriend when they bought a house, she makes due covering Grundy County news for The Herald News in Joliet. When not covering municipal meetings, school events and finding the truth behind the latest coffee talk, she is trying to balance life as a young home owner who is fighting the stereotype that she is living in sin because she is not yet married. She hopes to share with you her perspective on life and the news in hopes that you’ll share yours.
I'm with you Mallory. For some reason I always love fall. I bought my books the other day and it hit me that this is my senior year of college. Possibly, with a little career luck, my last year of school. Ever. And I cried. When my fiance asked why I was crying I explained it to him and he hugged me, kissed me on the forehead and called me a nerd. Yeah, well, maybe I am.
Here's to nerds.
And fall.
And to mary janes.
And to lunch boxes (I proudly take a pink one in the effort to be both economically and environmentally savvy)
And halloween.
And gorgeous leaves.
And cool weather.
And pumpkin pie.
And apple pie.
Okay maybe Pie in general.
F.Y.I.- Nice wedding stuff is also available at half the price at Home Goods. I accrued some nice apothecary jars for centerpieces and candy holders at $9 and $6 a piece.
I was in Wal-Mart the other day and went on a rant to my boyfriend how I missed school supplies. When I was no longer able to by supplies for myself I bought them for my brother, and now he is too old and doesn't want anything to do with it. So now I walk every school supply aisle picking in my head what I would have bought. We may be nerds, but we so would have had the coolest homework folders if we were in school right now!