Back to School Excitement

I'm going to come right out and say how much I loved school.  It may sound strange to some of you, but I think there might be a few of you out there who were the same.  You might be a back-to-school nerd (like me) if...

...you perused the circulars from various discount stores (Target, Walmart, etc.) for weeks in July and August looking for the best sales and coolest gear.
...you found any excuse to walk past (and pick up a few goodies) at the local discount stores (Target, Walmart, etc.) and couldn't pass up a deal where notebooks, notebook paper, glue, scissors, pens/pencils, or crayons were an exceptionally low price.
...the aforementioned section of Target, Walmart, etc. made you feel at peace and was actually a "fun" place to go spend some time.
...you were excited about meeting your teacher at the classic ice cream social.
...you were excited when the bus company put out its routes.
...you "practiced" getting up early for school and figured out how early you'd need to get up to get everything done and still make it to the bus on time.
...you had a "first day of school outfit" with new shoes (white keds that were never white for long...), and your best clothes.
...you packed your lunch the night before.
...you couldn't wait to see where your desk would be and where you'd keep all of your school supplies.
...you always got a bit nervous when the teacher took attendance-- wondering if he/she would say your name right.  (and being overjoyed if they did!)
...you color-coded your binders/notebooks/folders by subject... red was always math for some reason and blue was almost always for science.  The others varied each year based on what subjects I was taking and what was on sale at the local discount stores (Target, Walmart, etc.)

Does this sound like you?  It was definitely me.  And while living in Tanzania has curbed my living-at-Target-during-back-to-school-sales appetite, I don't know that that's an entirely bad thing.  I was still really excited when Tim brought home two bags filled with binders, dividers, folders, paper, and chalk.  Not quite the same, but I enjoyed it nonetheless.  :)

-JLR