'Tis the Season...

...for me to be bahumbuggy and overly sentimental.  'Tis the season for my seasonal affective disorder to kick in and send me on a quest for sunlight and warm weather.  'Tis the season for me to get over one
illness and start right in on another.  'Tis the SEASON for me to start wondering where Santa Claus is going to find the time and the money to make Christmas happen..  And 'tis the season for the public to start acting in a very un-Christmasy manner.  Case in point, the lady who pepper-sprayed her fellow shoppers on Black Friday, the crowds that stampeded for $50 Blu-Ray players, and the shoplifting grandpa who cried foul when he was taken down by police.  Add to that list the family of ne'er-do-wells that ruined my annual Christmas parade experience.  A family that makes the Herdmans in The Best Christmas Pageant Ever look like angels. 

I'm trying, trying, trying to take the high road on this one.  It was obvious that the family came from limited means, both financially and...intellectually.  But it's hard for me to excuse bad behavior that so blatantly infringes on my enjoyment and well-being.  And when the "matriarch" of the family insists on blowing smoke around my head while she cusses about the "damn antique cars that don't belong in the damn parade," I sort of lose my tolerance for any shortcomings they might have to start with.  Clearly their kids would have been better off being raised by wolves, because at least a mama wolf will grab her cub by the scruff of the neck and jerk his little tail back into line. 

The smallest member of the family, a little boy of about four years old, was trying desperately to see the parade.  I can sympathize with that.  But, people, we were here two hours ahead of time to set up chairs on the curb so that MY son could have a good view as well.  There were plenty of other spots to stand with your brood, and that doesn't include allowing the little guy to squeeze between the armrests of of our bag chairs, when they were overlapping each other.  And it doesn't mean your little hooligan can punch the bottom of our coffee cup out of the drinkholder, spilling lukewarm coffee all over the hubby's pants leg. 

It also doesn't mean that you allow your ragamuffins to scramble over my head for candy canes and other little goodies being handed out by those in the parade.  You would have thought a small bag of local potato chips were made of gold, the way this lady shrieked at her kids to "Put your hand out, grab some!" into my ear. 

It certainly doesn't mean that I put my chair there for you to LEAN on during the entire parade.  Again, we were there early to avoid that very thing.  Plan ahead, come earlier, and get out of MY SPACE! 

It definitely doesn't meant that you irritate me to the point where I'm ready to say STRONG words to you, but don't because of worrying about making a scene with the Hoos from Whitetrashville.  And "lady," it CERTAINLY doesn't mean that you can push me to the brink of a brawl and make me leave before Santa Claus comes at the end of the parade! 

Yes, we took the high road and packed up our chairs, and they had the NERVE to glare at us for getting in their way as we vacated the curb.  I might have stood my ground a little bit longer, but it was raining pretty steadily at that point, and it just wasn't worth it to be miserable and risk losing my cool and making the front page of the paper. 

So, we might try again Friday night when our "other" local city has their parade, complete with the Marching Royal Dukes of JMU.  It can only get better, or so I would hope.  And if I make the paper this time, at least I'll be able to say, "I tried." 

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