This past weekend my stepbrother, husband, and I attended Garlic Fest in Southern Vermont. 

Among its many festive offerings were garlic chocolate chip cookies, garlic fudge, and garlic ice cream.

Not to mention this T-shirt.

Fabulous, yes?

In addition to its inherent fabulousness was my stepbrother’s rumination on the way home,

“You can really slot in anything in place of garlic breath…”

“Such as?” you may be thinking. 

Well, based on our personal experiences over the weekend we came up with,

“You say the puppy pooped on the living room rug like it’s a bad thing.”

“You say we are out of milk like it’s a bad thing.”

“You say the kitchen sink is backing up like it’s a bad thing.” 

You get the idea.

Why do I bring this up today? 

Well, if you are experiencing the world the way I have been in recent days, you may have noticed an inherent post-Labor Day tenseness in the air. The hazy, lazy days of summer are in our rear-view mirror and everybody appears intent on making up for lost time.

Given that, I gift you with the above phrase as a way of keeping things in proportion as we move into the fall season.

For more good advice on how to keep things in proportion, see “Fail. Fail Again. Fail Better.”