It's that time of year again... for some, it never stopped-- they homeschool year-round, and this is just the time of year to stock up on cheap looseleaf and scribblers. For others (like us) it's time not only to buy school supplies, but time to start a brand-new school year.

Now... the whole school supplies thing? It's totally my thing. There's just something about crisp new paper, binders, Hilroy scribblers, and crayons... yup, at 36 years old, I still love the smell of new Crayolas. And even though we rarely use those Hilroy (or "Canada") 4-pack 32-page exercise books, it doesn't seem like back-to-school without them.

When I was a kid (get comfortable, it's story time), my step-dad was what they used to call a "travelling salesman"... he worked at a small warehouse that stocked and delivered pharmaceutical and medical supplies (ie: anything found at an old small-town drugstore, including watches, sunglasses, aspirin, 

candy, some toys, and yes, school supplies) throughout western Nova Scotia. He went to these small businesses, took orders, delivered goods, unloaded trucks, you name it, all from this warehouse that used to house apples. It was a normal thing for him to come home with some new product, a "hot new item"  for us to try out. I never bought my own shampoo or "feminine protection" until I moved away from home-- embarassment over these thing was unknown since it was as normal for him to hand these things over to me as a newspaper (by the way, stuff wasn't free, just wholesale cost got taken off his pay). Anyhow... back to my story.

August was the magic month for me. I knew that sometime in August, we'd go over to the warehouse, and I'd get to pick out my school supplies. I must have been a real pain in the neck. "When can we go?" "Not yet..." A week later: "Are we going soon?" "Yes, soon, not today." I must've asked a dozen times during the month... then finally.... after an agonizing wait, we'd head over. Invariable, I'd be the only kid in school with whatever "hot new item" was available that year. I still have a green metal pencil box with "School Tools" written on it (that nobody else had), and somewhere, a wooden pencil box with a sliding cover and swing-out top compartment that later got decorated with A-Team stamps of Hannibal and Mr.T. Both of which were also hot new items that nobody else had. One year, we took a friend with us, and her parents were greatly relieved.

Anyhow, that would be my "big" back-to-school memory. Certain aisles of Costco trigger it, because the smell is the same... and I have an urge to scout out binders and paper and erasers, and see what unusual 

treasures I can find.

What are your back-to-school memories?