Is August just the busiest month of the year or is it just me? How much can you pack in? This morning I checked Facebook and there were pictures of fresh-faced kids smiling back at me from all over Florida where I have lots of relatives. Today was their first day of school. Indianapolis started two weeks ago so most of you have already had school open houses and the back to school shopping sprees. You no doubt crammed in last minute vacations and trips to visit grandparents. No longer is there such a thing as a slow, lazy summer. I learned that freshmen kids often go to summer school between eighth grade and high school just to get the basic classes out of the way such as speech and phys ed. They actually want to but don't really need to. It helps build credits so they can take more during the school year. Remember when summer school was for catch up if you got behind? Kids might just get bored, so there is a dizzying amount of summer camps to choose from. If kids are so busy in their summer off weeks then August becomes catch up time on the weekends. I experienced some of this as a grandmother this year. I volunteered to watch my two granddaughters while their parents took an anniversary trip. We were up at 6:30 AM daily for a week driving to North Central Summer School and then picking up at 1:00 PM. (Then she did the second semester - not on my clock.)

But August was the true test for me. On August 1st our beloved dog of eleven years and founding partner of our business, City Dogs Grocery, became terribly ill and we had to make that awful call to put her down. What a tough day and one that many of you have experienced. On Sunday, August 3rd, we packed our retail store, on Monday we moved it and on Tuesday we opened it in its new Broad Ripple location. I have to give credit here to Stuart's Moving and Storage. They did a superb job for us and I highly recommend this family-owned company that has been moving locals since 1938.

After the big move I worked 12 days straight and then experienced the afore mentioned crammed-in visit to the grandparents. We took a few days off and dashed off to the airport to meet the Florida granddaughter. The next few days were filled with going to the zoo to see the Orangutans, traipsing around the State Fair to get our fill of fair food and rides and then culminating with the local cousins and friends spending overnights. Somehow we fit in a drop by visit to our customer's dog's birthday party to take a special treat. To all of you parents I ask. . . how do you do it? I know I used to but times have changed and there is so much more going on.

Today in the Indy Star I read my son's horoscope (Capricorn). . . .. "Blandness is a necessary part of life. You need to shift into neutral once in a while." Blandness. What a great word. Bring it on. I'm tired and it is OK. It was appropriate for him because he always shakes his head with wonder at why people go to the same places every possible opportunity. He doesn't understand why, with such a big world to see, anyone would go to their lake cottage, be it Wawasee or Michigan. Why would we go twice a year to Hilton Head where we have time share in a fabulous Marriott resort right on the ocean? Why would anyone get in their RV and go to familiar campgrounds? In his mind, once you've been there and done that, it's time to move on and experience new places. We have this discussion often. I tell him that I am like a cell phone. I need to be recharged and going to my favorite place is the charger. I don't have the time or energy it takes to plan a trip. That of itself can be an ordeal.

On another note I want to congratulate our friend Rusty Wann who many of you know. He started with the post office when he was very young and just retired after 50 years. If I have my story straight he was the second most senior carrier in Indianapolis and was working in these parts. He was spotted this morning at the Broad Ripple McDonald's getting breakfast. Rusty, enjoy your road to blandness but change it up once in a while. You deserve it. You've worked hard.