The countdown is on. It may be happening next week, or you have have to wait until next month, but for all of you the end of the school year IS coming. We know that there are exams to take and papers to write in the last days of school, which can be a drag, but we also know that you have one eye on the calendar as you do this, and you are looking forward to whatever you have planned for your vacation weeks.

Is there anyone else annoyed about the postage increase this week? I find this maddening since I feel like we are being asked to invest more in something that is a failing system. Sending and receiving mail has become a game that is about as much fun as trying to figure out the timing of traffic patterns at the Lincoln Tunnel (which I have not figured out in 29 years of commuting). We still get mail from the person who owned our house two people before us, which is not astounding unless you realize we have owned this house for 17 years. I used to be able to mail something in New York City to someone in New York City and have it get there in a day. Now it could be a day, or a week, IF it gets there at all. No wonder I love email. The way I see it, if I relied on the post office to get you this newsletter, you might never hear about new releases --- and you would miss all contest deadlines. And that's my two cents on this, which is the same cost as the increase.

Is it just me, or does this seem like a really hectic time of year? Though my boys do not finish school until mid-June, the fever pitch that harkens the end of the school year already has kicked into gear. Between events like the school concert and the arts fair and baseball games two nights a week, I feel like I am racing from one event to the other while juggling an intense schedule at the office as well.