First of all, I should say that the end of Daylight Savings Time seems to have been a Godsend. Getting the kids up and off to school this morning was SO easy. (Last week, it was still dark when they were leaving. This week, you could see dawn when they were getting up.) As for myself, I've felt one thousand percent better the last couple of days. Of course, our weather has been gorgeous here since Friday, so that's probably helping as well, but the end of DST seems to really be helping me feel more motivated. I even made our racquetball game on time this morning. (And it's such a beautiful day, Josh and I drove out to the Burger Shack. It's right across from the lake, and it's been there since I was a kid. They have fantastic burgers, grill their fries, and make home-made ice cream every day for their shakes. (That's Josh Schleider, the manager for my main store).

This weekend is the Bransom Debate Tournament. I'll be there Friday and will check in Saturday about noon. Besides doing some judging for them Friday, I'm also helping with the snack bar. While there are things to eat right around the high school, kids as young as 14 will be there, and sometimes you don't have time to leave and go get a meal. Since the Party Palace is donating the use of some of our rental equipment, I'm planning to help set it up. The debate team is buying the food and are keeping all the proceeds. Some of the parents are volunteering to run it. I don't have to actually run it. Judges are too hard to come by, and I have too much experience.

The two weeks after that should be fairly quiet. Thanksgiving is kind of up in the air. Some of my kids have other family, and they'll probably be away at visits for anything from part of Thursday or Friday to all weekend (Bobby has to go to Oklahoma to see his grandparents). I'm sure the other kids will make up for that with plenty of guests, though.

The weekend after that (first weekend of Dec), I'm taking the twins to visit their birth father, which will take most of the weekend. The second weekend of Dec, we'll be doing the Christmas decoration. If the kids want to, I'll probably let myself be talked into putting basic lights up after Thanksgiving, but I don't believe in putting up decorations too fast (we'll decorate the stores for Christmas on Thanksgiving night - I pay people to do it on Thanksgiving evening or the night before, so it's ready when we re-open for the Christmas Sales Season).

Should be good, but at least I have a couple of weekends with nothing more than soccer games to worry about.

Sounds like a busy schedule coming up. The weather here has been lovely, and today is one of those perfect, heaven-sent days. I hate daylight savings time, but I find it difficult to adjust for how early it gets dark in the afternoon now. The extra hour, though, was welcome.

Kat

Getting dark an hour early bothers the boys a bit, I think; but not me. It's a bit of a shock to realize it's already dark when we're finishing chat, but not a huge one. I'm already up, most of the day's behind me, and I think it makes it a little easier to get the little ones headed for bed. On the other hand, in the morning, it seems that I'm seeing a LOT less sluggishness. It's just easier to get going when it's LIGHT outside!

I wish we could have more light in the morning and the evening! Maybe I should just hang out near the polls!