Yes We Did!

President-elect Barack Obama.  

That sounds so right.  

I have hope for our future; both as a country and us personally.  Yes, we can.  

Election Day!

November 4.  The day is here.  

I'm shaking in my boots over here.

Voting at 7:30 am proved wise as there was already a line.  My ballot is counted and I've moved on to canvassing.  I musta walked 10 miles already.  

I can't wait for tonight.  I can't wait to see that Yes, Indeed, WE CAN.

Six Days

A little less than a week.

How can that seem like just a blink, yet an entire eternity away?

Six days. It's like having a baby: the six days before the child is born take FOREVER. Seriously, time stops. Thinking about the possibility of having six. whole. days. more of being pregnant is just about as daunting as thinking you'll be pregnant until Christmas. Then, as soon as you have that newborn in your arms, she is six days old, then fifteen months with nary a second to catch your breath. Can those six days really be the same amount of physical time?

Six days. In six days, this election will finally be over (we hope, anyway. I'm personally praying for a non-repeat of 2000, thankyouverymuch). Time for unity. Time for healing. Time for change.

I just hope it is around my candidate. I don't want to be the gracious loser. I want to be the celebratory winner. I want AMERICA to be the winner.

I'm just so nervous. So, time is slowly ticking away, yet racing way too fast. November 4.

ps. I went to vote this morning, and there were lines down the street. Yikes. I'll try again this afternoon.

So, it is almost official. I told my boss that I am leaving. Papers still need signing, but for all purposes, it is done.

I'm terrified. What have I done? Left my family with no income? And I gambling my daughter's well being for my own selfish reasons? Will we make it through this?

I'm relieved. Living life means taking risks, and I want to live my life again, not just be in it. I want to live deliberately, do what I want, find who I am. I can't do that here. I'm showing my daughter that she deserves the right to find out what makes her go, to change when things are working, to be fully present in her life. I need to lead by example.

I'm scared, but optimistic. I've already signed up to volunteer on November 4th, getting out the vote. Never before have I been so certain in our need for President Obama. When you are faced with the prospect of no health insurance and no income, it would help to know that there is a government behind you who wants to help. Something there to catch your fall and help you get back up.

Now, I need to go dust off that interview suit and find the courage that I know I have somewhere around here.

Inspiration

Did you see it?

The DNC last night was simply incredible. From Al Gore (did you watch his speach? Seriously, go to YouTube, it was fantastic) to Martin Luther King III to our man, Barak Obama, I was purely inspired. These people make me proud to be an American, proud to work hard and live life for those I love. Proud to be a democrat, and certain that Senator Obama needs to be our next president.

The stadium was overflowing. Outside the stadium was overflowing. Times Square in New York looked like New Year's Eve, but with Red, White and Blue. Viewing parties were set up all over the country, including my very own home.

It is time for this country to move in a progressive direction. We need the type of change spelled out last night, and we need it now. We needed it four years ago, we needed it eight years ago. Will this be the year that we get it?

I received a call yesterday asking me to volunteer this weekend for the Obama campaign. I'm conflicted. I have strong opinions, but don't necessarily want to force them on anyone. Going door to door isn't exactly my bag. However, if we get all the progressive-minded people to realize that they ARE progressive and their vote DOES matter, we could make the difference. This inspirational night makes me reconsider returning that phone call. It is time for a change, in the country and in me.

They read part of a proverb last night. "When you pray, move your feet". I love that. It isn't the praying that brings the results, it is the moving. The action. We all need to move our feet.

I Heart Hillary Clinton (but not as much as I heart Obama)

DNC, baby, Yeah!

Have you been watching the shindig? Does it make you all weepy in the eyes and weak in the knees? No? Just me then?

Hillary Clinton kicked ass last night. She was so REAL. and HONEST. and HEARTFELT. I could taste her disappointment at not being the nominee, but could also feel her earnest love for this country and her party. She's accepted she will not be the president inaugurated on January 20, 2009 and will do everything in her power to make sure that Barak Obama IS that president.

I like Hillary Clinton. I was a conflicted primary voter. In the end, I voted for who I believed to be the candidate needed at this time in this place. Not because of his or her gender or his or her race or even because of his or her experience. Because of their ideas, the people they'd place in their cabinet, the voters they could inspire. I simply cannot fathom the voters who went from die-hard Hillary to McCain. The hell? If anybody's policies are on different political spectrums, those two are. In Hillary's words, are you in it for HILLARY or are you in it for your children? Your future?

I am very much looking forward to Bill's speach tonight, and have an excited anticipation of The Man Himself (Mr. Barak Obama) on Thursday night. I love the joy and pure excitement that I feel this year, this election. I love that I'm not the only one.

I am NOT looking forward to Friday, when the spotlight turns on the RNC and McCain's VP. Because after all the weepy eyes and weak knees this week brings? I'm preparing for then nausea and exploding head that next week will usher in. Maybe I'll just keep the TV and computer shut off. Yeah, that would be best.