DOG DAYS

The first order of business today is to send a big fat sniffly thank you out to all of you faithful readers who put up with my drivel day after day. I'm truly humbled that y'all think this little corner of the Bloggy-verse is worthy of your time, and I hope you'll keep coming back.

Today is a particularly interesting day here at Chez Spinster. I woke this morning with an urgent need to go buy school supplies. I have a school supply fetish that would make Mead, Bic, and Crayola proud. I come by it honestly, since the best day of my entire life was the day that Flossie Percy's box arrived on the doorstep.

Flossie Percy was my mom's best friend when we lived in Athens, Tennessee. I was a soon-to-be kindergartner and was naturally a little anxious about the first big day. Mom reassured me that it would be just like I imagined it and almost exactly like the little play school that I had assembled in the basement. (What can I say? I was a weird child. I used to play school.)

Anywhoose, the week before Labor Day was quickly approaching and we hadn't done anything other than order the "little missy" sized school clothes from the J.C. Penney catalogue. (Why didn't they just call them what they were?....."Bigger sizes that you won't want anybody in your age group to know about and that will haunt you for the rest of your miserable life"). So as I was stressing out over the fact that nary a pencil had been procured, a HUGE box arrived on the doorstep addressed to ME! My name and everything! Right there on the box!

It was my first parcel-receiving experience, and let me tell you, it didn't disappoint.

That box could have outfitted a small elementary school, let alone one lonely little six year old. Pens, pencils, papers, notebooks, rulers....oh, the bounty! There was stuff in that box that I wouldn't use for decades, but who cared?! I had my very own, official, Flossie Percy provided, first day of school supplies and I wasn't going to let anything get me down!

Flossie Percy sent that box to me every year until we moved to Lima and I started the sixth grade. I'm pretty sure that I have some remnant of one of those boxes around here somewhere, and although Flossie passed away years ago I think about her every August.

Stewey is ready to go back to school. Summer bored him to tears this year, and I suspect that me being a general fool everyday didn't help matters. We had intended to get through a comprehensive reading list, organize his little desk, paint the bathroom, and buy a new lunch box, but alas, there was just too much stitching to do. Maybe next year."Traveling Stitcher" is nearing the finish line. All that's left to do is the lettering, but I fear that I won't have enough Brandied Pears to see me to the end. Damn, drat, and phooey on that one, but if I put my mind to it, I bet I can find a suitable replacement. I'm auditioning a few different choices here on the left:I suppose that this will be finished tonight and a Happy Dance will ensue. I am really quite shocked at my progress on this WIP pile, but I don't want to get too cocky or it's sure to stop dead in it's tracks.

Thanks again for all of your fabulous commentary about The Sister Mary Etiquette Project. I'll keep you updated as she goes about town righting wrongs and making the world a better place for humanity!

Woo Hoo!