This has been a disappointment of sand.

"I would like to return this bag of sand. It did not meet or exceed my expectations."

The above quote comes out of Jer and me brainstorming our (imaginary) reasons for returning a 50 pound bag of sand to Home Depot. The sand was fine actually, if a little damp and clumpy. Turns out we only needed 100 pounds to fill the weight bags and not 150 like we'd purchased so we returned it, but the real reason sounded way too boring.

At Home Depot I also bought some wooden shims, "S" hooks, an inexpensive plastic toolbox, a couple of Velcro straps, cable ties, and... scene. Then we went to Taco Bell, followed by OfficeMax where I bought the rest of the items on my booth list. Things like: sign paper, a small calculator with a Tax key, an accounting ledger, pens, a plastic container to hold the 11x14 mats, a small clipboard -- you know, really fun, really exciting stuff.

After this part in the story, we veer off course in the telling, and Jer and I filled bags full of sand on our balcony for days. Then we returned the extra bag, ate delicious Greek food for dinner, stopped briefly at the Thriftway (nicest grocery store ever), and came home. Jer made more bookmarks (we appear to have infinite bookmarks), and I matted prints until after midnight.

Then, inexplicably, I decided to communicate all asides via parentheses until the end of time. (I learned it by watching you.)