I have an addictive personality- my vices are many. Not the average vices of a 324-yr old, though. I am obsessed with office and school supplies. Post-its, pens, notebooks, markers, pencils, the list goes on and on. One of my favorite store is OfficeDepot because of their phenomenal clearance section. In the past I have purchased Post-it notes for $0.25. And Post-it notes are my worst vice. Well, Post-its and Moleskines.
For the past week I have been planning a trip to OfficeDepot because I hadn’t been there in a while. This morning I discovered that this week’s circular has a coupon for $10 off $25 which also made me excited. Thankfully, I discovered the coupon before heading to the store and not after it, like I usually do.
Upon entering the store I made a beeline to the left-hand corner in the front, the bright red signs and exclamation points drawing me in like a moth to the flame. This was a particularly good day for clearance! There were Crayola art tools for $2, 5-packs of bubble mailers for $1, Expo marker holders for $2, calendars for $2, and much more! I began pulling items off the shelves, balancing them in my arms. Soon enough, I realized I would need a hand cart- I couldn’t keep carrying all of the items I was grabbing!
Bubble mailers, check. Post-its, check. Crayola Explosions for my little sister, check. Expo case, check. My hand cart was quickly filling up. I was attempting to reach a total of $25 so that I could use my coupon, but it wasn’t happening. I just kept adding to my order and I still wasn’t close enough!
Shopping for office supplies relaxes me. And I love new supplies for school. It reminds me of the first day of school, back when I was a student. Walking out of the store with my two ginormous bags, I smiled. This was a great start to my week!
Filed under: slice of life challenge, writing | Tagged: slice of life, slice of life challenge '08 |
The Reading Zone 
I am such an office supply store junkie! I’m glad to know there are others out there like me. I not only love the supplies, I love trying to find the best organizational tools for my classroom — notebooks for student conferences/anecdotals, file organizers, notebook dividers, stick-on tabs for our history alive notebooks and our word study notebooks! I never seem to run out of things I “want” or “need”.
This was a fun post for me to read!!
During my puppet season unit with my students, I will often go on a similar spree — buying all the cool craft things that I imagine they might need to create strange and delightful puppets. Then I watch as they use everything in ways I had not imagined.
I like that part of it.
Kevin
I used to be you, until I gave up my classroom and moved into the Apple Store. Now I’m a tech junkie. It’s getting so bad that I can’t really keep my study closets closed, but I remember, as you describe, the absolute thrill I had every August when school supplies were plastered everywhere. I used to head over to Staples just to watch moms drag their kids around with long lists. Now those were the days…
Bonnie
I wonder if it goes with being in education -that love of paper and stuff. I just bought a new moleskin today with my 25%off coupon at Borders. I can’t wait to crack it open.
Juliann-
Have you heard that they are releasing softcover oilskins in different colors through Moleskine? They are in Europe right now but I am DYING to get my hands on one! They are Moleskine Volants, and are going to come in green, blue, pink, and black.
I share your love. While reading this I could actually smell brand new crayons.
So glad to hear I’m not alone! I am a total office/school supply junkie! When I have to put together supply orders for school, it’s sooo hard to just put on the list the things we actually need as opposed to overloading the order with the things it would just be way cool to have even though we don’t really need them!
R.I.P. to our favorite Office Depot. 😦