It seems at the end of each summer, I hear many of my friends lament over the summer accomodations: the parents were in the way, there's so much work to be done on the summer house, they had to share the time with annoying siblings and their families. And I am trying to feel their pain. They so take for granted that they pack up on the weekend and head out to the summer property, whether it's by the lake or ocean. Dear God, some of the kids had to share bedrooms.

This is so foreign to Barry and me. Yes, Barry grew up on the coast. His parents packed up each summer in Atlantic City and moved to less than desirable quarters to they could rent their place to tourists. Not fun when you're thirteen years old.

For me, I can remember early summer mornings - like 5 am - when my parents would wake my sister and me to head out with them to pick cucumbers. To this day, nothing tastes better than a fresh picked stolen cuke, run under the spiket on the farm.

And yet, I remember dancing with my children on Saturday nights to Oldies on the radio (Two Less Lonely People in the World), Katie in Barry's arms, David in mine, and I think, does any of all that really matter? What could be more geniune than this"

So I am happy for my friends. They will pass on the legacy. But when all is said and done, kids will love their parents, no matter what.

"I Know You're Busy But"

If there is one phrase I have tried to catch myself starting to say to someone, it's "I know you're busy but..."

Those five words should just be sliced off the beginning of sentences. It means nothing. In fact, what it really means is, "Even though you might be busy, I want you to listen to what I have to say. Now."

It is far more courteous to simply ask, "Are you busy?" or "Do you have a couple of minutes?" But most people would never choose to word it that way, because they might get a reply they really don't want to hear.

When you call me at work, of course I am busy. You know I am busy. I know that you know I am busy.

It's just one of those little annoying phrases that I think we should all try to use less frequently, unless it really is important. Like "I know you're busy but I think your car's being towed."

What's not that important? "I know you're busy but do you have so-and-so's phone number?" "I know you're busy but do you remember that recipe for...?" "I know you're busy but what's the name of that place you stayed at..." And then there are the business calls. "I know you're busy ~ and I won't take much of your time ~ but may I ask who you use for your credit card processor?"

I know you're busy, but thanks for reading this.

I Blogged in my Head for Years

My first blog: This is a long time coming. For at least the past ten years, I have been in the habit of scribbling down random thoughts and questions as they pop in my head. They might be on the back of a toll booth receipt, the back of a take out menu, or even the back of my hand, in a pinch. I've tossed all these notes in an old empty pickle pot for brining. Someday this was going to be my book.

About three years ago, I decided it was time to do something with all these scraps of paper. So I collected all my random thoughts (long before "25 Random Thoughts" circulated on Facebook) and got them all down on a Word document. There were easily 100. I would add to it from time to time, and share it with my employees, who would inevitably ask, "How do you even think of these things?" My reply was simple. "We all think of these things. I just write them down." Just like Andy Rooney and Erma Bombeck.

Suddenly about a year ago, the hard drive went kaput. Of course I hadn't backed it up. So long, years of thoughts. Years of "I Wonder Why..."

Fortunately, for me anyway, most things have to occur over and over and over again for it to become a random thought. So I continue to wait patiently as I recollect my thoughts. I know sooner or later, each one will pop in my mind, and I'll think, "Oh yeh, I forgot about the merging traffic thing." More on that later.