Halloween is officially behind us and now we have a little bit of time to just breathe before the holiday season begins. I know that local stores would have you believe that the holidays are right on top of us, but let’s not rush things. Right now is the perfect time of year to just be.

The weather is getting colder, the leaves are just about finished turning, and we have a few weeks until Thanksgiving, let’s all just make a collective decision to relax a little bit.

Enjoy a night in with a movie or Netflix (Looking at you, new season of “Stranger Things”), spend the evening with a blanket on your porch, or hang out around a bonfire with friends. Keep it simple. Because we all know that once Thanksgiving hits, the majority of us will be on the run until New Year’s, so take a little time for you while you can.

This time before the holiday season hits is also a good time to get ready and organized for the holidays. Now is a good time for some fall cleaning, or plotting out your shopping lists for Thanksgiving and Christmas. Or maybe take advantage of pre-holiday sales and spruce up your bedroom or bathroom with new accessories.

If you are one of those who insists on starting holiday decorating as soon as Halloween is over, now is a good time to sort through and get rid of or donate decorations you are no longer using or have out-lived their usefulness.

Most people associate spring with cleaning up and out, but fall can be a great time also. Especially if you know you and/or your kiddos have presents coming and are going to need to make room for the new influx of toys, clothes and knick-knacks.

Don’t Forget!

Please, please don’t forget that Tuesday, November 7th is Election Day! These smaller elections are often overlooked, but this is where serious changes are made to government when you aren’t paying attention.

If you live in the City of Williamsport this is a particularly important election. Not only are there a couple of City Council seats up for grabs, but there are important questions on the ballot concerning whether or not a Charter Commission should be formed to study if we have the best and most effective form of government in place for the City.

There are also questions regarding who should be on these commissions, so again, please make sure you get out and vote.

If you want to know the exact wording of the questions, see the two “Notice” ads right below.

If you live outside of the city, there are still a lot of borough and township positions up for election, so make sure your voice is heard in your community. It’s easy to believe your vote doesn’t matter, but like I said, these smaller elections are where big decisions are made when others think you aren’t looking.

If you want to change the status quo, now is the time and this is your chance.

If you want to see who is on your ballot before you head to the polls, they are available at http://www.lyco.org. The link is under the Departments tab, then voter services.