Discovery

Three things I discovered, or rather, rediscovered today.

1. Still can't talk about it. I had hoped that by now, three full days after the elections, I could get through a conversation about it without tears leaking from my eyes. Nope, no can do. The emotions are still too raw, I'm still in the unbelieving stage. Did we really elect a smart, capable, inspiring leader? Oh, here I go again...


2. Being with my husband, even in public, for more than a few minutes at a time restores my soul. Mark is off on his, sadly, annual outage, where he is gone for 15 hour stretches six days a week. Today we juggled things to be home in time to sleep enough to join our Roots&Shoots group at the Ted Stone Forest Preserve. Chopping down invasive brush restored his soul, being in the same general vicinity of him restored mine.


3. Delivered pizza is better than grocery store pizza. No explanation needed. Thanks, Mark, for working the outage night shift and giving us the extra cash to splurge. I'm fighting every urge not to analyze where that $15.95 should have gone.
   
   Life is good.

Imagine

Imagine this. Except that for the people there it went on for 57 minutes, from 10:00 p.m. when it was called until 10:57 when Obama spoke. Friends say it was unbelievable love and uphoria.

Oh, What a Night

I feel like, for the first time, my American has voted and been counted. It's an end and a beginning, we will never be the same again.

With Mark's work schedule, we couldn't possibly head down to Grant Park. I would have been in charge of the three kids on my own, would have ended up carrying Small the whole time and, well, it would have been just too hard. I regret now that I didn't' splurge like my friend Kim and stay a night in a hotel, witnessing it without the long drive home.

We watched the coverage on primitive, cable-less TV and on two computers, connecting with Mark by phone. I didn't start crying until Obama won Ohio, then I was just weeping uncontrollably. The kids were enthralled, cheering. Medium and Large went into the voting booth with me, loving the touch screen, participating at their level. They felt a part of it.

Here's a funny bit from Letterman about the coverage:



Yesterday we went downtown to Orchestra Hall for a concert and a quick trip to the Art Institute, bordering Grant Park. Clean up was still in progress. Road closures, sidewalk chalk remnants of the celebration, garbage cleared. When we drove home we passed the remaining TV crews parked along Columbus Drive - huge trucks, satellites and equipment. It was fascinating and the city was still in a friendly, happy mood. I'm glad we went.

It's still pinch me time. I'm proud of my elderly parents getting to their polling place in Indiana. My father unstable on his feet, my mother just unstable. They voted, they made a difference.

Creative Overload

Wow, this was one hard to carve pumpkin! Lots of little lines, curvy lines. But I was pleased with how it came out. And it made lots of grown-ups smile as they waited for their kids to get their goodies. I am hoping those smiles are ones of approval, ones of support. Only two days left, the anxiety is killing me.

And then there were my Super Mario kids. Mario, Luigi and fire Mario. I should really learn not to buy the cheapest fabric possible for these things, but I couldn't see forking over significant money for something they would be wearing just a few times. You may notice only Small, Fire Mario, got the side pockets. They were way too complicated with this slippery fabric to do six of them.

The reaction to my kids' costumes was best from the teenage set. They would answer the door to pass out goodies and get rave reviews on their costumes. they were just brimming from ear to ear.

I have to say I behaved myself pretty well for the holiday. I only complained to a few close friends about how it is my least favorite holiday, didn't hover over my allergic children or repeat endlessly that they shouldn't eat anything until we've read the label. Small announced to his Uncle Bill "I'd like to have a piece of candy, but can't have any milk, eggs or nuts!" No need for hovering anymore. They get it and have moved on.

Man Cold

The two youngest "men" of the house have a cold. The oldest has never seen this video, first sent to me by Kim. Enjoy.