School

It always amazes me how much energy there is at the beginning of a semester or quarter. I can practically feel the flurry around me as I watch people studying or walking from class to class. It is the kind of beginning of school feeling that you get as a kid, but maybe with a little less of the butterfly in the stomach feeling and more adult excitement mixed with anxiety. I love nothing more than new books and school supplies. Always have. The smell of pencil shavings or a new pack of paper is just heavenly. I guess this is why I have always kind of liked office and art supply stores, whether or not I am in school at the time. It is even more fun in the fall, when the weather is just right and that adds another dimension of sensation. As uncool as it was, I always loved to walk home from school once the weather turned a little colder. In Georgia, we usually have to wait until Halloween or later for that to happen, but it was absolutely magical to walk down my street with a canopy of trees in their fall colors.

I keep thinking about Maggie and her school experiences. What it will be like and what she will choose to explore. Or if she will hate school and try to make her own experiences separate from it. If I know my girl, she will definitely have her own unique view. She makes the funniest observations and picks up on the funniest things. In some ways, it is like she is too adult for her own good. She tells me constantly that something is "just ridiculous" or corrects me using my own words. A couple of weeks ago, she chided me for using "potty talk" when I said peanuts. At first, I was really confused, but then I realized that she thought I was referring to male genitalia instead of the nut. She used to call that particular part "peanuts" when she was younger. Cheeky young lass.