The Vocabulary Vixen

Michelle and I share a love for words. We love to write them, speak them, dissect them, and even invent them. When we first opened our office together, we had a chalkboard (Michelle loves an old-fashioned chalkboard) on which we listed interesting words. We never really established what the criteria would be to qualify a word to make it to the board, which we should have. Most of the time we are in complete agreement as to the value of a word. But on occasion, one of us will laud the merits while the other is in total disagreement. It's at such times, that we really need some guidelines. We no longer have the board; now we each have a special book of Words to Remember. One would think that we each would feel the freedom to include any word we choose in our books, but we still critique one another's choices. Now I have to say that Michelle did present us with these books as Christmas gifts, but I'm not sure that means she can just override my decision to include a particular word. I did concede to duly note her opposition to the word "scurry." I, for one, like that word when used in the context in which I used it, which I won't go into here, but I will say it described my daughter Lindsey's movement across the racquetball court. I recognize that scurry has neither as many letters or syllables as Michelle's current favorite word "curmudgeon," but it does have its place on the list. And frankly, if she weren't such a curmudgeon, she'd know it.

If There Had Been a Contest.....

If there had been a window dressing contest this year,I would like to think that our holiday windows would have garnered a wee bit of attention. I can't begin to tell you how many people have commented on how our little penguin choir practice makes them smile each time they pass. Those little guys are so popular that most of them have already been presold with plans for pickup Christmas Eve. We hope our windows, like our bubbles, always bring a smile to your face.

Back to School

After being out of the classroom for a year and a half, I went back today to sub for a teacher friend. I have to admit that 20 years as a classroom teacher under my belt didn't keep me from being a little nervous. I know full-well what subs go through. I've heard the stories from the students and the subs and it's tough on everyone. I had a brief sub experience. It actually came several years into my teaching career. I was unable to start the 90-91 school year because I was on maternity leave, and my class was placed in the capable hands of a certified longterm sub. What I didn't realize was that the students saw her as their teacher. They didn't even know me. So when I started in mid-October, I was basically the sub. I can't count how many times the kids told me, "That's not the way Mrs. So and So does it." I barely knew Mrs. So and So, and I have to tell you, I didn't like her. She had sabotaged me! I know that's a little unfair, but you have to remember, I had a new baby, I was still a little hormone crazy, the students hated me, and I felt perfectly justified in blaming all my problems on Mrs. So and So. Things did not get better. However, heaven finally dealt me a card I could play. In December, 2 months into my prison sentence, I saw an interesting little tidbit on the Atlanta news. A convenience store had been robbed; that's not the interesting part. Get ready...here it is...the clerk being interviewed on TV was none other than expert teacher Mrs. So and So. The next time my class hailed her as the Classroom Queen, I threw that out there at them; their precious one was out of the business. And suddenly, I was back behind the podium, Mrs. So and So was safely out of the way selling lottery tickets, and once again I was Queen!

What's the opposite of arachnophobia?

You remember the nursery rhyme...little girls are made of sugar and spice and everything nice, while their male counterparts are made of snips and snails and puppy-dogs' tails. Well, throw that out the window. We've met an adorable little preschooler named Presley who's made of sugar and spice and puppy-dog tails and...spiders! That's right, spiders! She came into Mulberry for the first time a couple of months ago when her precious family moved to Madison, and she immediately fell in love with our remote control tarantula. Everytime she comes in, which is weekly, she has to hold it, to stroke it, to love on it, and then she insists that her dad put it up on a high shelf so that no one else can get it. You see, she just can't risk some other spider-lover coming in and buying it. Now we've sold lots of spiders, but honestly I don't think we've had another customer quite like Presley. She honestly loves the hairy, creepy, crawly little thing! I don't think she even realizes that it actually moves. She loves it because she finds it "cuddly!" Word from Santa is that Presley can expect to find one under her tree on Christmas morning. I hope Mom and Dad video. Since we at Mulberry have been a part of that love story from the beginning, we don't want to miss a thing!

What do we want for Christmas?

Michelle and I are excited about the next few weeks. It's lots of fun seeing friends like you come in and make a fuss over the toys that we picked out just for your family at Christmas. Last February, we went to NYC to Toy Fair and selected many of the toys you'll find in Mulberry Toys today. We searched many catalogs to add even more. Nothing was purchased without you in mind. We want you to love your experience with us. We want shopping at Mulberry to be a part of every special occasion, birthday, and holiday. We want your children to grow up and come back here to introduce their children to their favorite childhood toy store. We want to be your friends, not just two crazy toy women! It's important to us that you recognize how grateful we are for you. We want to be able to keep doing what we've been doing these last 19 months...that's what we want for Christmas!