Unexpected Free Day

I had set aside today on my calendar to help a friend paint her newly remodeled home before her baby arrives, but there was a change in plans (sick hubby - uh oh! - let's hope that the little one doesn't decide to come while Dad has the flu!) and suddenly I find myself with a clear calendar.

Oh. My. God.

I was very excited to help my friends, and I will do so on another day (possibly even tomorrow), but I can not begin to tell you what a gift a free day is. I've been running here and there, and I think I've started running in circles. I haven't had time to sit and think about what's important, and what's a priority, and what can wait, so I've been more reactive than proactive. I can't stand reactive mode - it's not my best, and things slip away that should be priorities, and somehow I get less efficient at just about everything, and too many things feel partially done and disorganized.

So, the first order of the day is to get my head in gear; to sit down and think about these things, and to come up with a plan. And oh, do I ever love having a plan.

Time to get busy!

Halloween Pictures

Plus one of Mozart, because he's mentioned that he's feeling overshadowed by the dog and he wanted to point out that he is a Very Handsome Cat.

Better late than never!

President Obama

Today I woke up so filled with hope, with joy, with gratitude. I am optimistic that America is learning that racism is foolish, and that we can start to undo the damage done for so many generations. I am optimistic that America has voted for peace, for integrity, for compassion for those less fortunate. I am filled with optimism. This election wasn't about race, but it sure made a huge statement about it - and that statement makes me so happy.

I do not forget that many people in my life probably woke up with pessimism today because of the election's outcome; John McCain had his share of supporters, too. To those people I will say that I hope that time will show that Obama will speak for you, too, and that time will allow your confidence in him to grow. I hope that you will find peace with our new president, and that your sorrow at McCain's loss will become overshadowed by the future victories of peace, economy, world relations, and other important political topics. I hope that you, too, will find room for hope.

I don't want to gloat. Yes, I'm very happy, and I am filled with feelings of patriotism that I haven't ever felt before. But I hope that there is room in this new vision of America for all people, not just for those who voted for Obama.

And for what it's worth - I thought that McCain's concession speech was powerful, full of integrity, well spoken. He sounded like a man of honor. McCain supporters should be very proud of his behavior last night.

Hangover

Okay, we don't have real hangovers, but in this house we're all a bit off.

Ryan's got an upset stomach.....and a big presentation at work.

Tessa stayed up late - with her Mama's permission - to watch Obama's acceptance speech, and this morning she woke up early. Uh, oh. This isn't pretty. ;-)

And me? Just dealing with the girl.....

But still walking on air.

President Obama

I am tearful. Tears of joy.....pure joy.

I've let Tessa stay up late to see our president elect speak. She doesn't truly understand the significance of this historic night, but she will one day be able to tell her grandchildren that she was a part of the excitement.

My president is a black man, a white man. My president was an atheist, is a Christian, loves Muslims. My president is articulate, intelligent, compassionate. My president is Barack Obama and I am so proud of America for voting for him.

I have so much hope. I am so grateful, so filled with hope.

President Obama, I support you. And I am SO HAPPY!

Me in the New York Times (website)

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2008/11/04/us/politics/20081104-election-user-submitted.html

OCD

I'm getting OCD about this election business.

1% of precincts reporting. My candidate is not ahead. My head starts to pound.

Hmmm.

In the news

I just did a quick news check, and found two references to the bake sale:

http://westseattleblog.com/blog/?p=11658
and
http://your.kingcounty.gov/votes/2008/11/fundraiser-outside-of-alki-polling-site.html

The West Seattle Blog has a nice picture of Katie & Linda at their shift at the bake sale, and the King County Elections website has a picture of Katie & me at our bake sale. (And an inaccurate quote, but that's a-okay......well intentioned, I'm sure.)

Election Day!

What's more American than a democratic election?

A bake sale to raise money for schools.

I spent the morning at the Alki Community Center polling station, at a table laden with baked goods baked by Alki Elementary parents. We encouraged people to vote, and then as they came back outside from their vote we encouraged them to buy something sweet to support the Alki PTA.

Maybe one day we'll live in a world where wars are funded by bake sales, and schools are fully funded by taxpayer dollars. Until then....I guess I'll bake! (Organic chocolate chip cookies, thankyouverymuch. Tessa helped, and then we printed red, white, and blue labels and Tessa helped me to bag them up in pairs.)

The atmosphere at our table was festive. We saw young and old, and many people who voted absentee ballot but chose to deliver their ballots to the polling station. We live in a very blue area, and people had a lot of Obama buttons, but we weren't conducting any kind of polls. (It was clear that the bake sale parents were Obama supporters, however.)

The children conducted a mock-election at the school, and it was clear that they had heads filled with thoughts of election day, as well. I heard children calling to each other, "Did you vote for McCain or Obama?" on the playground, and it made my heart sing to think of five year olds who feel involved in the political process. Right now, they are mere reflections of their parents' views, but hopefully they will keep their passion for voting for all of their lives, and continue to participate in the democratic process.

And our house? Well, we'll have the TV on, and the internet right in front of it, as we anxiously watch and await final results. We're having a few neighbors over to share this moment, and we're pot-lucking it.

Tessa and I looked up pictures of Obama's family, and Tessa pointed out that his youngest daughter is not that much older than she is. Tessa wants to write to Sasha and Malia to say how happy she is that they get to live in the white house. I hope that we get to write that letter!

Now, back to obsessively checking the web for early results....

The Day

Well, today is the day - Election 2008.

Last night I baked two batches of cookies, and bagged them in twos and put labels on them. This morning I will be at the Alki polling station, selling cookies to voters to raise money for Alki Elementary. (Alki is connected to the community center, and voting takes place at the community center.) It's raining, so I hope I don't get soaked- boots, umbrellas, and Gore-Tex are the order of the day.

I voted via absentee ballot, and those should have safely arrived at their destinations already. So today, besides selling cookies, all I can do is watch and wait.

A couple of neighbor friends are coming over tonight for dinner to watch the results come in - tonight is dinner in the basement, around the TV. One of Tessa's friends, Elena, will be coming, too, so hopefully the girls can entertain each other to refrain from boredom, because this Mama will be glued to that TV! We have a TV in the family room, and our other TV is in the guest room next door, and I suspect sometimes we'll have them both on, and I'll be on the NYT website, too.

This Obama Mama is hopeful.