Thank you

To those who have served in whatever capacity to allow our country to remain free.

To those who have supported them, you are heroes also.

To those who are working so hard to protect our men and women in uniform by bringing them home.

Barack Obama Makes the Tough Decisions

I know we are in the middle of the worst economic crisis in almost a hundred years. I know that we are in an illegal war where men, women and children are dying and are hemorrhaging money like there is no tomorrow. But President-elect Obama knows how to guarantee my vote in his NEXT election, if he can just get this done!*



This was apparently part of his Monday Night Football interview on 3 November, which I missed, but it was replayed this morning on ESPN's GameDay with Chris, Kirk and Lee.

*Really, I am joking. I can live with the BCS throughout his entire FIRST term if the can get us out of Iraq and turn the economy around. I expect playoffs in his second term though!

Let the Healing Begin

We were watching the local 6 o'clock news last night (as we do most nights) and they were doing 'man on the street' interviews with people in a parking lot about the results of the election.* I don't know how many people were actually interviewed, but the first three who were shown had supported and voted for John McCain on Tuesday. I was astounded and touched by their graciousness in their loss. They spoke of hope, for our country and for our new president. They spoke of how much they respected the office of the President and how they were giving their allegiance to the man who would be taking over in January. One of them (an elderly man) said, "I will be praying for President Obama and that he takes our country in a new, better way."

WOW! How awesome is that?

You have to understand that my county is solidly red. I think the final count was 72% for McCain and 27% for Obama. The voters turned out and they were quite vocal in the support for McCain. So it was really great that (at least) these three people are classy enough to understand that Barack Obama will be our new president and that they need to support him.

Of course, they only spoke to one Obama supporter, but he was very gracious in victory.

So this gives me more hope that maybe, just once, without some sort of terrorist attack, we really can just all get along. **

*Why am I NEVER on the street for these interviews? Do I just shop on the wrong days? Or get gas?

** This isn't going to happen and I know it. There have been some joking comments from some I work with about the fact that I voted for Obama and they didn't (was told I couldn't have cake at one point yesterday). But there have been several very snarky, under the breath, but I can still hear you comments also. I can be gracious also.

A Great Day to be Alive

I don't even know where to start this post. I am still so emotional I practically can't stand myself. Not to mention just a wee bit hungover. So if I appear to be slightly mad and just babbling, well, I probably am.

If you'd like to shed a couple (more?) tears of joy, head over to Bird's Blog. She is an excellant writer and I really felt like I was celebrating right beside her.

I watched the election returns on my computer last night. Poor DSD cared about what was going on, but does not like to get bogged down in the minute to minute details. I just brought up every news page I could remember and rotated through them, constantly hitting the refresh button. President-elect Obama only seemed to gain numbers when I wasn't looking though.

I was talking to my bff, P, at 10:00 CST. BabyBoy was at play rehearsal and called in on my cell phone to check on the progress. I had a phone in each ear and I was trying to give BabyBoy the latest numbers when CNN refreshed and there they were! Winning amounts of electoral votes. I couldn't even speak for a moment. Then I began yelling into both phones and into the living room at the same time. "He won. He won. It's over! Barack Obama is our new president." They were all talking to me at the same time. DSD turned the channel over to CNN, BabyBoy was repeating numbers to the other cast members, P was yelling for her husband. It was a moment I will treasure.

It wasn't all good news, of course, although Glen Hess did win for State Attorney. But Amendment 2 passed. BabyBoy was upset. He spent yesterday afternoon waving signs for people to vote No! He said he even spoke to several people who were undecided on how to vote and felt he had convinced them it was the wrong thing to do. But it passed anyway. In California also. Now when the law (in Florida) is declared unconstitutional, we will have to spend tax dollars for another election to have it removed. Does anyone remember the Bullet Train?

After the West Coast was declared for Obama, I switched from the computer to the TV. I saw John McCain's concession speech. Very classy. Did anyone else notice that he appeared more comfortable, more at ease, than he has in MONTHS? I wonder if he isn't just a little relieved? Why would have picked Palin if he actually wanted to win?

Then the moment we had been waiting for, the 44th President of the United States, Barack Obama. What a great moment for our country, what a great moment for us, and what a great moment even for the portions of this country who did not support him, did not vote for him, because I believe he is the one who will get things done. (I hope!)

I haven't watched him a lot. I didn't have to. I researched his beliefs on the 'net. I looked up his past, his present, his voting record, I didn't have to listen to him speak to know what he stood for. So it was just a huge bonus that I understood, while watching him last night, that while this country had elected an intelligent, caring, active man to be our next president that we had also elected an elegant, articulate one. (Nice change from the last 8 years, isn't it?)

After his speech was over, I got up to go to bed. DSD congratulated me that I had voted for the winner (he didnt' vote for McCain or Obama) and I began to try to explain that by casting my vote for Barack Obama I wasn't voting for Barack Obama, I was voting for AMERICA. The country that I have loved and served and yelled about and I promptly burst into tears! Poor DSD was horrified. Had he done something? Why was I crying?

I then tried to explain the surge of hope, the feelings of relief, the terror of this somehow going wrong. But I botched it all.

So I went to bed.

And woke up to the beginning of a new era.

Ladies and Gentlemen: The President of the United States of America

Barack Obama is the next President of the United States of America.


I have much more to say, but I am slightly intoxicated.

God Bless America. We have chosen well.

Watching

I think I am going to throw up.

Obama 174
McCain 64

But there are many, many states who have not yet reported. And MY state is appearing a little wishy, washy.

I thought I had made my peace with the outcome of this election, either way, but I have not.

I honestly feel that this country will never recover from a McCain presidency.

Come on, Florida, show your loyalty to America.

Obama '08

I Voted!

BabyBoy and I got up early to go to the polls together. (Ok, he got up early, but he has school this morning and rehearsal this evening and he didn't want to drive all the way back to the church where we vote. Gas is cheaper, but he is not working right now!). So, I waited for him and we went together.

We waited in line for about 30 minutes. I know that is a relatively short amount of time, but I have been voting in the same place since 2002 and I have never stood in line.

It brought a little thrill when I marked Barack Obama for President.

I also voted for Glenn Hess for State's Attorney. While I probably would have voted for him anyway, because I like what he stands for, I was voting for anyone BUT Steve Meadows. I blame him for the fact that the Bay County Sheriff's Deputies who worked for the Bay County Boot Camp and abused an unconscious child are free and walking the streets.

I also voted NO! on each and every proposed amendment to the Florida Constitution. There has only been 1 amendment that I have voted Yes on and that was the one that raised the percentage required to pass a Constitutional amendment in this state. Thanks to that vote it will take 60% of Floridians to pass Amendment 2 (the one banning gay marriage) and the other 6 or 8 or however many there are. I voted No. I hope my vote counts!

Now I will just settle in for the long, long wait. It has all come down to today.

Obama '08

Whassup?

I have always HATED those Budweiser commercials, with the men screaming, "Whassssuuuup?" into the phone. You know every man I have met since then does the same thing. It makes them look like idiots.

This one, however, brought a lump to my throat, and a little more hope into my heart.

(I hope I do this correctly; this is my first embedded video!)




Twenty three hours until the polls close on the east coast. Please let America vote for America.
Obama '08

Ready for the Finish Line

I seem to spend most of my days swinging between euphoria (at the thought of an Obama Presidency) and nausea (at the thought of McCain in my White House). While the polls have Obama with a comfortable lead, polls have been wrong in the past and this country can not take four more years of Dubya's policies.

I am very proud to see this historic election. It is wonderful that a woman got as close as Hillary did to being on top of the ticket (it won't be many years before a woman leads this country) and it is awesome that Obama is at the top of the ticket. But, really, I am ready for it to be over. I am ready for the polls to be closed. I am ready for Obama to be named President. I am ready for McCain to call Obama and congratulate him. I am ready for Sarah Palin to disappear back under whatever rock she crawled out of. And I am soooo ready for Dubya to move permanently back to Texas (or under a rock next door to Palin's).

This has been the longest campaign in history and it needs to be finished. The healing needs to begin. This country has been without hope for a long time and will (hopefully, with fingers crossed) receive an injection of it in less than 36 hours.

Vote. Vote. Vote.

Tagged!

Mariecel over at Cosmopolites' Kaffeeklatsch tagged me last week and I just found the time to participate. I am supposed to share 7 random things about myself. Hopefully you are not bored to tears.

1. I have read 5 of the 10 books to read before you die list. And a portion of the 6th, but I don't see myself ever reading the entire Bible.

2. I have changed my college major 4 times and will probably never actually graduate.

3. I was in the band in middle school and high school, but I don't play an instrument.

4. I am completely tone deaf.

5. My speech patterns change depending on the people I am speaking with. When I travelled to Canada several years ago, no one could tell that I was American, but when I talk to my family on the phone DSD and BabyBoy can always tell, because my vowel sounds get longer. I can't hear any of it.

6. My sense of humor tends to run to the dark and the sarcastic. Many people don't seem to 'get it.'

7. Many years ago I was a TVaholic. I could quote times and days for almost every show on. Now I watch a couple of hours a week, maybe, plus Gator football on Saturdays.

Now I am supposed to tag 7 people, but I don't think there are 7 people who read this blog regularly. So I am tagging:
Shel
Pete
Andante
If they are interested and feel like it. If they don't it won't hurt my feelings.