Where did summer go?

I'll be the first to admit that I don't love summer. I really don't. It's too hot (and boy howdy was it hot this summer!), too sunny, too allergy-inducing, and just too icky. The one and only redeeming quality about summer is its relaxed energy. I work for the Purdue Libraries, and much of what we do revolves around the school year. We are busy from mid-August to early May, and we treasure those few months in between. We have time to work on projects--like repurposing a little-used basement office into a reservable group study space or weeding duplicate books that haven't been used in 10 years or sending older issues of journals to repository storage. We have time for training staff how to use new resources. We have time to take vacations.

But this summer went too fast. Between cramming in a last-minute family vacation in June, my daughter's enrollment in Summer PE in July, and marching band camp the first week of August, our summer was eaten up in a flash.

My daughter started high school and my son started his last year of elementary school last week. This week, all the Purdue students are back. Don't get me wrong! I love fall! I love the energy the returning students bring with them. The sense of possibilities and potential is almost palpable. I love that my kids are back in school, learning and spending time with their friends. It just seemed to get here much more quickly than I was expecting.

I had a list of big things I wanted to accomplish this summer that just didn't get done.

• Paint my kitchen cabinets
• Build a sectional daybed thing for the front room (I know this sounds weird, but trust me: it's going to be way cool)
• Learn how to use my knitting machine
• Paint the dining area (really just an extension of the kitchen)

I'm hoping all of those things will be done by Christmas, in addition to my list of fall projects. We'll see.

So, sayonara summer. I hope when you return in May your stay will be more pleasant.

Hello, fall! Even though you're here sooner than I expected, your cooler temps and wonderful smells will be a welcome change!

In closing, check out the adorableness we discovered in our front shrubs Friday afternoon: