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Thursday, September 4, 2008

Taking My Victories Where I Can Get 'Em

I TOTALLY WIN at back-to-school supplies.

Aside from new lunch boxes (inevitable) and use-up-ables like pencils, pens, dividers and composition books, the only things I've had to purchase this year were scissors, one new trapper, and a shmancy calculator for my big kid (the hell's a graphing calculator, anyway?). No loose leaf paper, no folders, no binders, no rulers, no compasses, no pencil cases, no glue sticks (ha!). And no branded ANYTHING.

What pushed it over the edge to VICTORY status was the graph paper. Quin's math teacher requires 1/4" graph paper that is pre-punched for a three-ring binder. GUESS WHAT I HAD TUCKED AWAY from like the year that Michael and I were married (1990, for those keeping score)? At some point Michael decided that he needed graph paper so he could obsess unproductively lay out our early "furniture" (using the term as loosely as possible) in our first apartment together. He used exactly one sheet, and in the intervening 18 years the remainder of the package has moved with us from our first apartment to our first house, and then to our second house, where it has since kicked around for seven years.

AND I FOUND IT LAST NIGHT. Yes, I did. And I do not have to go to the store to buy 1/4" graph paper for my 7th grader. And there was much rejoicing.

11 comments:

katydidnot said...

not. possible.

you are my hero.

Domestic Goddess said...

Dang. Amazing. A new argument for pack-rat-itis for sho'. Me? I only had to buy tissues and hand soap. The rest we had floating around with daycare supplies and such. And thanks to LL Bean, he is using the same backpack and lunch bag for the THIRD YEAR in a row. OH YEAH!

Anonymous said...

That's amazing. I don't remember ANY year I already had something required on hand. Way to go!

Anonymous said...

That's not right, you know. If a school supply is more than fifteen years old, it can't be used.
Didn't you know about that rule? Hee.
Marcia

Z. Mulls said...

Please delete all your posts where you berate your husband for never throwing things away.

Thank you.

RuthWells said...

One victory in 18+ years does not absolve the husband of major pack-rat-itis. For the record!!

Anonymous said...

Me? I just shopped in the company supply cabinet.

nutmeg said...

Our school buys the school supplies for us. We just write the check. This year they asked us for 13 bucks times two. I was lazy and never sent the check, thus I spent 91 miserable dollars at Staples last week. Ugh!

Captain Steve said...

The graphing calculator is a wonderful school supply that enables the student to input pages and pages of calculus and trig functions into their file under ZShell in order to pass. It also allows one to pass notes in psych class without getting caught by the teacher.

Magpie said...

well done.

Anonymous said...

I keep telling my spouse and children....if I just hang on to it long enough, I'll need it!! I am making them read your post so they will see what I mean.