And the Nomination Goes to...

This little nugget started out as a Facebook post, but when I went past three paragraphs, I decided that this was a better venue for my ramblings, and also less likely to get my blood pressure elevated as I was forced to deal with comments from the masses.  We all know I can't ignore things very well, so I'm much better off this way.  The root of it is that I'm not trying to get into a political argument with anyone today, but I AM marking the moment in time for my son, in the hopes that he doesn't have to rely solely on his fading memories in later years, as I do.


You see, he watched the DNC with me all week (the RNC last week, too, because we believe in being well-informed and listening to all sides, and checking facts, even when we don't agree with the opinion), and he stayed up with me last night as well.

He humored me while I told him that someday he will be able to tell his kids that he remembers seeing our first black President speak on the soccer field at JMU after freezing to death for hours and then being disappointed when we didn't get into the official speech in the Convo.

Barack Obama at JMU October 28, 2008

He also humored me while I told him to look around and remember what was happening while Hillary made her acceptance speech as the first female presidential nominee--his father asleep and snoring in the chair, the "porch kitties" chasing moths attracted to the light shining through the window behind the couch, and his sentimental old mom, who was moved to tears and applause, first by Mr. Khizr Khan, then by Hillary's speech.  Don't jump to conclusions, this isn't about Hillary, per se, but because it's been too long in the making.  The fact that I even have to celebrate the nomination of a woman as groundbreaking in 2016 should be cause for dismay.

Save your political comments of disgust or whatever...this isn't about whom I've voted for, or for whom I intend to vote.  This is about moments in history, and I want to make sure he can say, "I remember when..."

Flashback Friday & More

We've neglected our Flashback Friday theme day recently. It's partially to do with the fact that during the summer, I had time to dig through old photos, scan them, edit them, etc., and these days, I'm lucky to even realize it's Friday. The other part of it was that I got kind of sad looking through old pics--the reminiscing that was supposed to be fun ended up depressing me or making me mourn for people who aren't around anymore. I do melancholy well enough on my own, without a traumatic trip through time each week. Anyway, a dear neighbor of ours gave me some pictures on Halloween night, and I immediately thought of the Flashback.I don't know if it's technically possibly to Flashback to something I didn't even witness, but I'm doing it anyway. I don't know what the occasion was for this little picnic--although what excuse does one need for an al fresco dining experience? Good weather, good wine, good food, and good friends--all of which are present in these pictures. My grandmother is the older lady in glasses and my grandfather is the roly-poly man in the brown shirt. I've mentioned that we live in Granny and Grandpop's house, right? This picnic is in the neighbor's yard, which still looks very much the same. I managed to get sad looking at these, too--see the dog staring longingly at my grandparents? That's PeeWee, Grandpop's chihuahua, whom I had almost forgotten about until seeing this picture. PeeWee disappeared mysteriously one night when I was about 11 years old, and broke my grandfather's heart. Anyway, I like these pictures. It looks like a very pleasant afternoon.
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In other news of the non-flashbacky variety, lest you think that the election passed me by without recognition, WOOHOO! We were ecstatic, to say the least, and stayed up all the way until the end of President-elect Obama's speech. I was moved to tears repeatedly, both from joy and from the overwhelming feeling of witnessing such a monumental historical event.

I would have blogged about election night earlier, but the little guy's been sick with some nasty stomach virus for the last few days. We stayed home together Thursday, with Andrew alternating between not eating anything at all and puking up whatever he tried to eat in momentary surges of appetite. Today he was better, though, and we all went back to work. Tonight we tried to go out to dinner with our friends, one of whom had just gotten a clean bill of health after a cancer scare, but just after the appetizers arrived, Andrew said he had to "gag," so we high-tailed it to the restroom. Well, he didn't make it, and ending up tossing his orange juice in the hallway to the bathroom (thankfully he made it out of the dining room--this is one of our favorite restaurants). So, we're home--he ate nothing, but drank some apple juice that we're hoping stays down, and he fell asleep in about 15 seconds flat. Any mom would say that they'd much rather be sick than have their little one be, and it's true--I'd take the nausea for him in a hearbeat. It's just so pitiful to hear him say, "I'm not feeling very well," with the most pathetic look on his face he can muster. Hopefully tomorrow will be better.

ELECTION DAY!

I can NOT stand the suspense any longer. I'm chomping at the bit to watch the news and the tickers as the polls start closing at 6. We were at the polls early this morning and didn't have too much of a wait, although some of my colleagues are reporting 30 minutes to an hour--in a fairly rural area like this, that's a big deal. Andrew was happy to help me vote. Although he has no clue what's going on, he knows we want Barack Obama to be president, and through no prompting from his parents (I SWEAR), said, "John McCain's a bad man." I said, "Honey, he's not a bad man, he just won't be a good president." Out of the mouths of babes.

Andrew, Lion, and I cast our vote for BARACK OBAMA!

Getting ready for Halloween

With the firefighter costume assembled weeks ago and the excitement of Senator Obama's visit waning, it was time to carve the mega-pumpkin from the Golden Kernel in Grottoes.

Here is Andrew scooping out the 47.75 pounds of innards from this noble plant.

While Mommy did the bulk of the carving, Andrew ran to his kitchen to get a knife. This is the first year he has been an active participant in the process and he seemed to enjoy it.

Here is the finished product on the front porch table ... PRETTY SPOOKY!

This is Lion, Andrew's best friend, and he approved this message.

Barack Obama in Harrisonburg

I should just let the pictures speak for themselves. Andrew is in bed sound asleep, and that's where I want to be, too. But, I dragged myself off of his bed, where I was cozily surrounded by 8 million stuffed animals, to write this post--it shouldn't wait until tomorrow.

We ended up venturing into Harrisonburg today for the Obama Rally. James had taken the day off and stayed home with Andrew, and I left school at 11:30 so we could go up early enough to get in, knowing that JMU students were planning to start lining up early this morning and that there was a chance we'd be out of luck. All went as planned--our luck even allowed us to cross paths with our friend Sue, who hitched a ride with us onto campus after her preschool field trip to the pumpkin patch with son Jackson. James dumped Sue and me out in front of the convocation center after seeing that there were TONS of people already there at 12:15. Sue and I got in line, and James and Andrew went to pick up Leigh Ann and McD's and park the car. It was a long afternoon of waiting in the cold---we were even graced with a few snow flurries and some hellacious wind, but it was tolerable waiting on the cushiony astro-turf of the soccer field, where our line coiled around and around...and around.

We ended up not getting in to the convocation center--they filled up around 4:15. But our timing was good--just as we found out they weren't letting anyone else inside, we found ourselves at the corner of the soccer field where an impromptu "stump" had been set up--a small, square platform, surrounded by metal crowd-control fencing. Rumor got around that Senator Obama was going to stop there before going inside--a consolation prize for the unlucky thousands who didn't get in, us included. By that time, there was also a line to get inside the metal fencing in front of the platform, so we just positioned ourselves behind the last barrier to wait the last few minutes before Senator Obama's appearance. He made a short speech, came down in the crowd to shake some hands, then went on his way. Well worth the wait--we had better, closer, contact than we would have inside, and we were able to get away before the throngs of people left after the rally.

After escaping Harrisonburg, we decided to swing past the airport to check it out and were able to get in to wait for Senator Obama's arrival, with a small crowd where we saw many familiar local faces. We couldn't get close enough for a look, although the motorcade arrived while we were there and drove right past us. We walked around for a little while waiting for the plane to take off (we could see it, but the pictures are crappy), but Andrew finally said, "I'm cold, and I want to go home." He had been a trooper the whole day, never complaining about being bored just holding onto my coat strings, standing in line, or freezing his little butt off, so we took him at his word and came home to a late, store-bought dinner and some hot chocolate--tired, cold, but happy to have had this experience as a family and with people close to us.

No matter what your politics are, the chance to see the man who might be president in a few months is something you shouldn't pass up. Would I have gone as far for McCain? No way in hell, but that's just me. When deciding whether to go or not, to take Andrew or not, etc...the thought that kept at me was, "This is history in the making. This is a story you'll be able to tell Andrew and that he'll be able to someday tell his own children." So the fact that I've personally been just about disowned over this election is trivial--my father will get over himself eventually, stop sending me text messages that say, "Marxist Socialist!" and getting mad at me when I ask him to stop costing me money to send asinine crap he heard on "the news" he watches. In seven days, the future will be decided, today will be history, and we will have been part of it. It's worth getting a little cold. --T

Who is coming to Harrisonburg?

Yes, that is right...Barack Obama is coming to Harrisonburg to rally support in the waning days of the campaign. Tam and I are already trying to work out logistics. Knowing that the JMU Convocation Center only seats 7,000, it means having to be in the Burg and be on line fairly early. So, do we go or do we go to the airport and try to run into him there? If you had told me that either presidential candidate would be traveling to the Valley six months ago, I would have told you to jump in a lake. This area is a Republican stronghold. I still look at this graphic and can't believe it says Harrisonburg. We got the e-mail from the campaign and it befuddled me. The Convo...where we used to have basketball season tickets, where I first saw Jimmy Buffett (April 1987), where the quietest men's room is the one next to the ticket office...OUR CONVO!?!?!?!

As for what else has been up with us, I hope to do some heavy blogging to get everyone caught up on our last trip to SML for the season and anything else that is rolling around our heads. Once again, we apologize to our loyal readers for not keeping the blog timely. We are working on it.

Really....Obama is coming HERE?

For more information, click the Obama-Biden logo on the right sidebar. Also, thanks to the O-B campaign for not hunting me for lifting the graphic - I never thought I'd see those words together!
---J