Summer

Summer is flying, as usual, and it is already the Fourth of July weekend. Ack! Summer has included various things over the years, swimming at the pool, teaching class, taking classes, playing in the yard, taking family vacations, going to Frostie Freeze, to name a few. Last summer, I decided to deliver Yellow Books, the directory that mysteriously appears on your doorstep. Kate came with me and we discovered backroads we didn't know existed, saw creatures we wish we hadn't, and generally determined it was not something we would like to repeat anytime soon.

This summer, the discussion of a summer job resurfaced. Since my school-year job was just that this year, I also needed/wanted to get a summer job, too. So, Kate and I applied for and got summer jobs at the same place, the warehouse of the art store in our town. Admittedly not the most exciting job on the planet, we are "packers"... not The Packers, because that, as people from Wisconsin know, is different. All of the "arty" orders.. and some health care stuff.. comes through this particular warehouse. After "pickers" gather the order from the shelves, they place it in a bin or on a cart, it gets inspected, then it comes to us for packing. So, we select an order, big or small, and prepare it for shipping. Today, I packed a single, metal pencil sharpener. Not the kind that you crank.. this one was about an inch by a half-inch long. Yesterday, the woman next to me spent most of the day packing a single order for a school district in California. It is also sort of a geography lesson....there is a town called... what?! Imagine living in that town... going to that high school... just what is their mascot?

So Kate and I get to work next or near to each other each day, Monday through Friday, discovering new places, and new products we want to order! :-) Good thing we are not working in the store, where we would basically have to endorse our paychecks to pay for all of the amazing things we see in the orders we pack.