SURVEY SAYS: What Are Your Plans for Labor Day?

But since we (you and I, anyway) are still “here”, this week I asked readers what their plans were for the upcoming holiday weekend.

For a solid plurality, the answer was simple; “just taking it easy” was the choice of 42.9% of this week’s respondents (and that was a lot more than in last year’s survey – see SURVEY SAYS: What’s on Your Labor Day Agenda?) .

Just under 29% said they were “going somewhere”, while 10.7% were “entertaining visitors” and another 7.1% were being entertained as visitors.

Roughly 16.1% were making it a FOUR day weekend, and another 14.3% were planning on making it MORE than a four-day weekend.

Perhaps not surprisingly, nearly one-in-ten (8.9%) said they would be cleaning up after the disasters of the past week (natural OR unnatural).  

And then, of course, there were those that opted for “other” – and the ones that follow certainly fit THAT bill!

One day off w/spouse, one day with friends, one day getting ready for the inevitable Monday/Tuesday workday-worse than any real working Monday!

Start of soccer season for the kids, both play travel soccer so they are in Labor Day Tournaments, that's 4 games on Sat and 4 on Sunday, so this marks the end of my weekends as from here on it soccer every weekend!

Celebrating hubby's 50th birthday with a BBQ for friends. Then cleaning up. I plan to go to the State Fair with the kids for one day too.

Meeting my nephew for the first time.  Not too bad, he is only 2 months old.

"Taking work home so I can catch up from being on vacation last week."

Looking forward to making a big pot of chili.

Fishing in the Pacific Ocean for at least one of the days.

Leaving this afternoon. Shopping for a vacation home in Florida.

Grilling, chilling and some light construction in the back yard.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL!!! 

You have to ask?  It's the start of college football.  ROLL TIDE!!

Taking a friend for an all-day pampered girls' day out for her birthday

Going on a long hike

Going a thousand miles away to my childhood home to celebrate my dad's 80th birthday!

Hoping to have power back by then.  If so, clean up inside and outside.

Living the sport-parents '"dream" --- soccer tournaments all weekend.  Still better than the office.

Well, thanks to Irene my Labor Day plans were foiled--no power in Rhode Island and the beach we were headed for is apparently no longer there.  So I guess that means I'll be forced to face the mess in my yard.

Singing with my band, baking (yes, baking) donuts, taking said donuts camping where we will be entertained with a showing of Monty Python and the Holy Grail (while we get rained on...according to the weather outlook).  What better way to enjoy Labor Day...music, food, movies, and friends!

Spending one of the days at the lake!

Cleaning the garage, yard work and the gym.

Saturday, I'll be at the Millersport Sweet Corn Festival sampling this year's harvest.  Sunday is the party to entertain visitors and Monday is our traditional family hike through Hocking Hills.

A mad dash to do everything I was going to do until I said it'll be there tomorrow. Naw, it'll be there next summer. Got snacks?

WORKING!!!!  We have a major recordkeeping system upgrade being implemented this weekend and I'll be working Saturday and Sunday.  If it goes well, I might have Monday off!

As for other reader comments:

Every Labor Day I can remember has been spent laboring. Now it's even worse since we own our own home.

Summer ended early with hurricane Irene causing me to shut down our place in Rhode Island and bringing the boat back to CT. With all the kids activities, school, soccer, etc. we are just shutting down now and not trying to stretch it any more this year! Oh well, just 7 more months until May!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am looking forward to sleeping in, barbequing (if the rain stops long enough), reading and watching movies.  I am sure that we'll leave the house at some point, but the weekend is totally unscripted...yay!!!

College football, kitchen improvements, and a cookout.  That's all I need to say.

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE holidays even if I have to work at home or the office.  It is still different and celebratory.

I am particularly said to see this summer end.  I feel like I never enjoyed it at all because of extreme workload situations and miserably hot weather.  Of for the days when summers were actually enjoyable, the weather wasn't bad and I could spend long days at the beach.

Our fiscal year-end is 8/31.  Need to rest up for the craziness of the next 2-1/2 months.

Labor Day has become less of a summer-end mark since many of the schools around here are already back in session.

Labor Day is usually a somewhat depressing holiday, end of the summer and beginning of the Annual Enrollment season. But this year, down in Texas we're looking forward to the end of days of 100+ degrees of temperature.  It's almost got me believing in "global warming".

Summer didn't start until July and now it's over?!!!!!!!!!!!!  I liked it better when I was in school - at least summer came.

For the first time in 13 years we are taking our annual Labor Day Beach trip without one of the kids.  As they (we) get older we find that our schedules don't necessarily mesh with all of their activities and commitments.  I'm sure it will be harder on "Mom" than on my daughter!

Off to New Found Lake in NH where our friends have a lake condo and a boat--wish us good weather!

I love long weekends....I need more than two days to truly get work out of my system.

Random observation of the day ... since most of my poor little coastal Massachusetts town is out of power we have found one unexpected benefit. Every evening most of the town has been gathering in our little harbor village (the one area of town that, miraculously, has power). The restaurants all have waiting lines, the one tiny market has three ice deliveries a day coming in, and we all keeping running into each other at the Starbucks in the morning. I have seen more of my neighbors these past few days than I have in the past ten years. Proving that even natural disasters have surprisingly positive side effects ... it has made me appreciate the wonderful place I live. This weekend ... power or no power ... I plan to enjoy that to the fullest.

With a 17 month at home, my husband and I are taking a MUCH NEEDED 4 day weekend at Lake George.  The kid will stay with my parents.  They can get up in the middle of the night and at 6:30 on the dot each morning.  I'm mostly excited about getting a full night's sleep and being able to sleep in.

I HATE traveling on holiday weekends!

WORKING!!!!  We have a major recordkeeping system upgrade being implemented this weekend and I'll be working Saturday and Sunday.  If it goes well, I might have Monday off!

”Hopefully, the weather will cooperate. I would like to get the yard cleaned up after Irene. And maybe have a few cocktails with the neighbors after that!”

But this week’s Editor’s Choice goes to the reader who said, "Cool, now that the summer vacations are done I can take mine. No lines, off-season rates, no views of bodies in clothes they shouldn't be in... Did I mention no lines, no waiting..."

Thanks to everyone who participated in our survey!