I have been exhausted the last few days. On Tuesday, I fell asleep during the season premiere of 24, even though I’ve been looking forward to it for weeks. And last night, I went to bed as soon as I got home from dinner with my supper club. I’m not normally one to hit the snooze alarm, but I’ve reset my alarm clock twice in the past four days so I could sleep just a little longer.

The dilemma…I’ve been invited to a Halloween party tonight that should be loads of fun. Well, it would be fun if I weren’t so tired. And if I go to the party, I’ll have to figure out how to handle my shot. Do I take Tylenol while at the party, then stay up an extra hour once I get home to give the medicine a chance to get to room temperature? Do we leave the party early? Do I reschedule my shot? Delaying my shot means taking it the night before the Pooch Parade, since I can only delay it for a day. Will I have trouble handling things on Saturday if I wait until tomorrow night to take my shot?

The other alternative would be to stay home from the party and try to get some much-needed rest. Easier said than done tonight, since there will be trick-or-treaters ringing my doorbell for hours. When I was growing up, my parents would never let me go to a house that didn’t have the front porch light on – that was the signal. Have things changed? In prior years, we’ve left the outside lights off when we’ve had to go somewhere on Halloween, and we still had trick-or-treaters ringing our doorbell. One year, it happened while we were in the carport getting into our car.

I don’t mean to be a party pooper. Normally, I’m a big fan of Halloween. I’ll dress up in some silly costume and party with friends. If I’m home, I’ll hand out candy to the neighborhood kids, then donate the rest through church to needy children. But this year, I just don’t have the spirit (pardon the pun), because I’m just too tired.