Life in the Summer

We’ve been in and out of the shop this summer, the entire gang coming along for the ride, although sometimes we’ve been missing one character or two. This is my golden era, the sun shining so bright that I can hardly take it, even if an occasional pen cup crashes to the tile, or the cardboard forts block customers from coming in, or someone’s baby gets run over by a car.

We’ve come in for events like Letter Writing Club or the Traveler’s Notebook Meet-Ups, but we usually just come in to hang out and make a ruckus. I also like to investigate Brendan’s bin of damaged and returned items because those are my best bet for things Jon will let me keep. Sometimes someone does a bit of work.

It has been especially fun spending time hanging out and bumping into old customers or meeting new ones. Sometimes I worry customers will forget me, and it’s such a pleasure when they cough up my name: Excuse me? Are these children mixing up the ink cartridges yours? Oh, you work here? Lisa??

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The summer! I buried my head into some smelly turkey and when I looked up it was time for a diaper change and the start of a new school year. I am clinging to the dregs of the summer, even as the kids head back into the classroom. I am filled with dread and anxiety and nervousness, a thousand terrible scenarios playing out in my head in various iterations, but the kids seem okay.

I have several blog post drafts that I meant to post, and maybe with the kids back in school I’ll start getting them out, in between my panic crying and panic emotional snacking.