• the old man (who reminds me of a sleepy owl) with suspenders that buys a New York Times at exactly 11:15 every morning. He always wants to know what's happening, and if you give him a bland answer he will coax a genuine response out of you. never ever fails to make my day, no matter how horribly it's going.
• standing outside the store at the ungodly hour of 7 a.m., buzzing the doorbell and waiting grumpily for a book shelver to come and let me in. then I walk in to hear my manager annette blasting her grunge music over the speakers...and all of that surliness melts into a huge grin. by far my favorite way to start the morning.
• the elderly folk that call me "dear" and "hon". Some people hate being called those things by strangers, but I love it. It makes me feel more warmth than I can say.
• Kim. Our store's music manager and my mixtape partner. She's fabulous. Honestly, if she ever left I would seriously considering quitting. That, and if not for her I would've never found Mike Patton. ack!
• the fact that my full name doesn't fit at the bottom of receipts...so instead of saying "Elizabeth" is just says "Eliza". Well, I've never been an Eliza. I sort of enjoy that.
• Amy. She's in charge of the kid's department, and she's like a big kid herself. We've had wonderful chili dinners, fantastic discussions about college options, and if it weren't for her I would never be updated on what's new in the kid book realm. Also, without her, I would've never seen "Emmit Otter's Jug Band Christmas". Gosh, I love that movie.

I'm sure there are many more things that my frazzled brain simply can't recall at the time being. To be continued...