Depending on when you get your paper, Halloween is officially behind us, or about to be. That means we now have a little bit of time to just be before the holiday season begins.

I know that all the 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.

After some warmer weather last week, fall seems to be officially back in action, and things are getting chilly again. The leaves have all but run their course and we have a couple of weeks until Thanksgiving, so I think now is great time to collectively decide to veg out — be still like vegetables. Lay like broccoli. (Bonus points if you get the reference.)

Enjoy a night in with a movie or, spend the evening with a blanket on your porch with a book, 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. Personally, I refuse to do anything shopping related before sometime between December 18th and 24th, but I know there are weirdos out there who think that it’s a good idea to get on that stuff early.

Now is also 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 home 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 outlived 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 to Vote…

Tuesday, November 7th is election day. I tend to leave politics to Jimmy, but I always like to drop a reminder to vote. These smaller elections tend to have really low turn-out rates, so make sure you get out and have your voice heard. If you live in the City of Williamsport, there are a couple of City Council seats on the ballot, Lycoming County has two Commissioner seats open, and there are lots of borough council and township supervisor positions outside of Williamsport proper. If you want to know who exactly is on the ballot for your voting district, you can go to lyco.org/vote and download the sample ballot for your township, borough, etc. It will also tell you where your polling place is, and since there have been changes to those around the area, it’s always a good idea to double check where you should go to vote.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have do go find something relaxing to do…