Going to Bed Early Tonight

I've been up way past my bedtime the past two nights so I'll be heading to bed early tonight.

I'm definitely a "morning" person. I wake up cheerful and have quite a bit of energy (well, for me). By afternoon I'm getting a little slower, and when nightfall comes, I'm nearly out of any new ideas. Tuesday night I drove to Austin with one of my friends to attend the annual Hormel stockholders' meeting. We left my home a little after 4 pm, and drove through blowing snow for part of the way. Laurey had never been to Austin, so I drove her past where I used to live, past my grade school, showed her Main Street, and then we stopped for dinner at a local restaurant.

The stockholders' meeting is held in the auditorium of our high school. It's always fun for me to return to this place. Though it has changed a bit since I graduated, many parts of the building are just the same. This event is one of the social events of the year for Austin. We arrived around 7:15, to find the auditorium, which seats 2,000+ people, two-thirds full - the meeting time was 8 pm. Good friends of mine attend every year, and usually sit in the same area, so we made our way down that aisle and sure enough, there they were. We sat with Merlyn and DoLores. Alan and Pam and Alan's mother sat in seats right behind us. At the conclusion, I saw some people I used to work with. So it was a nice time - except for getting home after 11.

Last night I had good intentions of getting to bed at my regular time, but just before closing down my computer, I noticed Hans was "on line." So I chatted with him until 10:45. I don't regret it one bit. I love communicating with my kids. But tonight I'm dragging.

There's not much on TV. My laundry is done. I've checked my email, family and friends' blogs, Facebook, and soon I think I'll take a book to bed with me and call it a day.