Back to School Shopping

Back to school shopping has been a tradition for many years with me. As a student, I always loved the day my Dad would pack us up in the car to go on this adventure, and over the last 6 or so years, I have enjoyed this with my own 3 children every August. There is something about the cooler nights, and the leaves changing color that sets my heart fluttering in anticipation of a new school year.
I finished my BA (in Music and Law at Carleton University) way back in, well... I'm not going to tell you how way back, you can just trust me that it's been a while. So school shopping has not been for ME in quite some time.
This past week, a friend of mine (who is also a Mom and has recently gone back to school) and I headed out to the stores to get OURSELVES some back to school supplies.
This trip set my heart racing rather than fluttering! I felt a bit like I did at 13 when I was starting high school. I have no idea what I need, what the 'other kids' will be using. I just want to 'fit in'. So, to remedy this gut-wrenching situation, I fbd (facebook-d - yes, I have played into that time sucking website!) a fellow student already in his 3rd year for advice.
Upon not receiving an immediate response (apparently I'm not the center of the universe!) I headed out the door to Future Shop, Wal-Mart, Staples, Best Buy, and Chapters just to name a few, in search of the perfect equipment for myself.
In short, I was shocked at how little I saw that appealed to me (as a MATURE, lol, student) and how expensive everything was that I did like.
We spent a good portion of the excursion, joking about whether we should get the 'tinkerbell' or the 'Hannah Montana' licenced merchandise, or spend the big bucks on a beautiful, masculine, leather briefcase. Those seemed to be the options.
There were pens, and pencils, highlighters, and all the regular supplies, but somehow, I just had a really hard time, deciding on what was right for me.
One of the last stores we went to was Chapters. There I did manage to spend some of money. I found a staple-less stapler (a true find, that I had been coveting since Rick showed me his!), a pencil case , made out of recycled cotton and pop bottles, and a notebook made completely recycled materials. What you need to know about these purchases is this: Since I returned from a National Youth Gathering in Whitehorse last summer, where Pastor Fred Ludolf challenged the youth (and their leaders) to go green and help to show our churches and communities how to be good "Stewards of Creation", my life has been a series of weighing cost against 'green'. But that is a whole other blog post!
At the last store, my girlfriend purchased her laptop, and I found a lunch bag, that 'would do'. The end result.. money spent, and little to show for it, although the purchases were mainly enviro friendly.
I still feel no where near prepared for school to start, and although I did end up receiving some great advise about being myself, and not trying to fit in. Being an individual is important and being true to who you are is even more so.
Perhaps this part of the journey is to learn that it's not about 'stuff' and more about the person I am, and who God wants me to be.