Back To School Countdown

I realized I've skipped out on this blog all summer when my mom started calling two weeks ago with the countdown (in hours) to preplanning - an annual teacher ritual. I was left scratching my head wondering where all my good intentions for a hot tan went. It got me thinking about this bittersweet time of year. Shopping trips for school supplies, buying blue Bic pens by the bushel and praying my mom would finally buy me a real live Trapper Keeper. I perused the aisles of Roses and Wal-Mart for hours looking for the perfect supplies to last me through the year. Then, came picking out the first-day outfit. Probably the most important decision of the entire year. It's a defining outfit. Literally. My first day of fourth grade at a new school in Blairsville, Ga., I wore a bright orange Ronald McDonald T-shirt. I loved it and thought it was the perfect complement to my green shorts. People still remember me to this day as "the girl who wore the Ronald shirt to school the first day." This is one of the most stressful times of year for a kid (second only to the CRCT or whatever asinine test determines the future of their next grade level and, therefore, social life forever.) As the countdown comes to a close this Sunday and alarms are set for times that should be illegal, I fondly remember those days when the biggest decision I had to make was college-rule or not and does bright orange match green? Why, yes it does.