Fin

Another NaBloPoMo is over.

I had a lot of fun this year, but have no intention whatsoever of signing up for the full-year in '09.

And now, I shall celebrate by having pie for breakfast!

It's Coming...

Christmas ornaments on a hairy red blanket? What's THAT all about?

You'll have to stick around next month to find out...

(I will tell you this much now: I think I have gone above and beyond during this year's NaBloPoMo and posted a lot of actual substance. Next month, however, I'll be on vacation for a few days, working hard for the rest of the month, and attempting to squeeze in some holiday cheer and memory-making, so posting will probably be light. But I've got a plan in place to keep you entertained)

Thanksgiving Miracle

I filled up my gas tank yesterday before work. FILLED it - put 10.2 gallons in my 10 gallon tank - and the total was less than $20. When the pump clicked off, I looked up and saw $18.42 and nearly squeezed the trigger again thinking the tank couldn't possibly be full. And then I saw the gallons dispensed.

Honestly, I nearly cried. What a wonderful world!

The Best Kind of Lap Dance

...is the kind when there's two cats square dancing on your lap jockeying for position. Unfortunately, it's not the best for photography, but enjoy my efforts!

"Mom...he's sitting on me!"

He may be cranky and anti-social, but he'll always be my baby! (and in case you were wondering how we got to be the same height, Milo sometimes thinks he's a parrot, only instead of sitting on my shoulder, he perches on my chest!)

"Seriously! He SAT on my HEAD! What's up with that???"

Black Friday

Word to the wise: avoid the crowds of rabid discount shoppers at the mall and do your shopping online. I am now a HUGE fan of Google Shopping. You tell them what you want, and they provide you a list of retailers selling your product, their price, and the shipping cost. That saves a lot of comparison-shopping windows at the bottom of your computer screen!

Of course, I'm not going to tell you what I bought. But I am going to tell you I got a great price, and picked up some additional stuff from the same store. The total was less than I'd expected to pay for just that product.

And so, today I leave for work knowing that my holiday shopping is now about 80% complete. Can't beat that!

Happy Thanksgiving

The nice thing about having our dinner yesterday? I get to wake up on Thanksgiving morning and watch the Macy's Parade while eating a bowl of leftover sweet potatoes. Yum!

Here's a small portion of our feast: turkey, green bean casserole, sweet potato casserole, and gravy.

Also, there's a bonus to not participating in any big family dinner: no need to change out of your pajamas or brush your hair... and no fighting over the drumsticks!

Wishing you all safe travels, delicious food, and warm memories!

Thanksgiving by the Numbers

9 pound turkey
4 baked side dishes
2 stove-top side dishes
1 cold side dish
2 vegetables
4 starches
7 cups of chicken stock
4 hard-boiled eggs
1 dessert

Here's how that breaks down in the actual menu:

• Turkey
• Cornbread dressing (new recipe this year that used 7 cups of stock and 4 eggs)
• Sweet potatoes a-la-Jamie - less candied than sweet-potatoes a-la-Joe (and made with real sweet potatoes instead of canned yams), but still with marshmallows on top
• Green bean casserole
• Yeast rolls
• Mashed potatoes
• Stove Top Stuffing (you know - for sandwiches, and in case the cornbread stuff doesn't come out... and because I don't really like cornbread dressing)
• Cranberry jelly
• No-bake two-layer pumpkin pie (and I think I got the seasoning right this year for the first time!)

I'm also making single-serve pumpkin pie "jewels" for the work pot-luck tomorrow. We got phyllo shells from Publix and I'll be using the same two fillings as the whole pie. And if the phyllo shells don't work, I have mini muffin papers and the ingredients for graham cracker crusts. (I'm *really* hoping the phyllo tastes ok!)

Picture from Yesterday

Scott rides the Caro-Seuss-El at Islands of Adventure. There was an equally embarrassing photo of me, but I was terribly back-lit. That's a shame, because my "horse" was much cooler than Scott's!

Full Day

I had my annual visit to the girly doctor today (and was a little hurt that he didn't comment on my pink-on-pink knee socks). Nothing to report there.

After that fun was over, Scott and I went over to Universal. We finally got to try out the Simpsons ride (fun, but it made me a little nauseous). We did three rides in Islands of Adventure, and just the one on the Universal side because Men in Black went 101 right when we walked up. Oh well... we still had fun and got sore feet. :)

Then, trip trip to Publix to buy a pound of butter... and some other stuff. Scott's got cornbread in the oven, which means that Thanksgiving food preparation has officially begun. Mmm... gluttony...

Quote of the Day

(from espn.com)

On Tuesday's Big Ten media call, Paterno gave a rare acknowledgment of his age.

"I know nobody's immortal, but I thought I was the exception," said the coach, attributing the quote to Tennessee Williams. The reference sailed past his audience of sportswriters, many of whom wracked their brains to recall if Williams coached at Tennessee or merely played there.

Coming Up Roses

Penn State is the 2008 Big Ten Champ and Rose Bowl Bound. That's nice... makes me happy.

Penn State is one last-second field goal from having a perfect season. That's pretty darn good.

Unfortunately, we lost that game to an unranked team. (shakes fist skyward and bellows, "damn you, Iowa!")

And so, we finish our regular season ranked #6 in the AP Poll, #6 is the USA Today/Coaches Poll, and even #7 in the ESPN Fan Poll. Can someone please explain to me why we are #8 in the BCS?

Oh well, let's focus on the positive. And let's send good thoughts to Joe Paterno, who had a hip replacement yesterday. Hopefully next year he'll be back coaching on the field instead of the press box. (side note: who has a scheduled surgery on a Sunday? Paterno does!)

Wow, that was weird...

I had a dream last night with so many crazy bits and pieces that I can't even wrap my head around it. It's embarrassingly random, so I thought I'd share...

I was at a steep hill - picture lawn seating at a stadium - for some kind of public fireworks display...

I was with someone else's toddler, which was probably a residual Molly from spending time with Jenn's family, but was unexplained in the dream...

The kid and I were walking down a line of people to get to a specific spot (maybe the rest of the family?), when she stopped and sat on someone else's blanket. Before I could reach down to scoop her up, the woman on the blanket (early 60's, curly short hair, red t-shirt) picked her up. I thought she was going to hand the kid to me, but instead she rolled her down the hill!

At this point, the kid was no longer in the dream. I don't know whether she was hurt, and I never went down to look. I feel a little guilty about that. But the most important thing to me at the time was vengeance on that woman. I yelled at her, I was outraged, I said a lot of curse words (which strikes me, because I can't recall ever hearing profanity in a dream before), and I told her if she didn't effing leave right now that I was going to call the police.

She didn't, so I did.

I went to the bottom of the hill and into some strangely empty building to call the cops. The dispatcher was very nice and promised to let the general manager (don't ask me...) as soon as we got off the phone.

And then a few minutes later I got a call on my cell phone (which, amazingly enough, was my actual real-life cell phone) from the chief of the Vatican secret police. I guess they were in town for the fireworks? He told me they were going to take care of her. I didn't even have to point her out - they just knew! And after they took care of her (I think they may have shot her by sniper, but I'm really not sure), they all ran out of the amphitheater. And that's when I noticed that the Vatican secret police looked like they belonged with the Joker. They were wearing navy blue tuxedos (with tails!) with teal and purple accents.

I wish I could draw a picture of the herd of them running out. It really was funny.

So that's most of what I remember. Believe it or not, there was no Taco Bell before bed last night. There was no Nyquil either. I just had a freakishly random, vivid dream. I guess it happens sometimes!

Ugly Betty Ugly Betty Ugly Betty

(sorry, I wanted to see if she'd pop out of my computer monitor like Bloody Mary or Beetlejuice!)

I caught up on the last three episodes of Ugly Betty last night. I really love that show, but I have to be in the right mood to watch it. That's why DVRs are so great!

The story arc of the last episode was about Betty trying to get into a management training program and how her boss was supporting her, but was too busy chasing around a pretty girl to help her with her presentation or write her letter of recommendation. At the end of the episode, he made it up to her by writing her a six-page letter of recommendation and calling the judges to speak to them personally. And she got in. And he said the same thing he has said every other time the story takes Betty to a higher place - I hope that you're still here a while longer because you're great, but I know you won't be here forever because you're great. And I'm proud of you and I support you. (yeah, total misquote... that's why I didn't put it in quotes!)

I'm about to indulge in a paragraph or two of pointless whining, so please stop reading now if you might be inclined to say something snarky or mean.

And so, I had a total moment of "waaaaaaaaah - nobody I work with cares whether I ever do anything other than what I'm doing right now." I've been banging my head against this wall for over a year - I ask to learn new things and I ask for different responsibilities and what they hear is "Jamie needs more busy work." I also told both of my managers in the past two days that they are bad managers for not nominating one single person for the quarterly award since I got it last August. "What do you think that says to your employees that you don't think enough of any of them to nominate them?" I even sent them reminders for the past two quarters! In a company that prides itself on its advancement training and its culture of recognition, this location falls dreadfully short.

That moment in Ugly Betty took me back to that feeling I get every time I watch Finding Nemo. "Waaaaah - my dad would never cross an entire ocean and battle sharks and jellyfish to see me. He won't even battle my Wicked Step Mother!" Sigh...

And thus concludes my whine for the day.

Scrapple: 2 Liverwurst: 1

It turns out that Scott does, in fact, have a weird meat threshold. I gave him a bite of my liverwurst sandwich last night, he chewed thoughtfully for a few bites, and then he spit it in the sink. "It was fine until I got through the mustard taste!"

It turns out the southern boy who has become a scrapple addict, and eats greens and cube steak by choice doesn't like liverwurst!

To tell you the truth, I don't think I'll be eating it again any time soon either. But I'm sure I'll try again in 2 or 3 years... no such guarantee for Scott!

Back to Work

...but first, check out all the excitement from our weekend:

• 2 dentist appointments, ZERO cavities!
• Pumpkin pie ice cream at Cold Stone
• New work shoes and a new RED purse from Payless - in and out the door in less than five minutes!
• 3 hours at the Saturn dealership to check on Scott's squeaky brakes. The verdict? Annoyance, not hazard. They're good for another 3-6,000 miles.
• "Lunch" at Buca di Beppo at 3:30, with take-out purchased for dinner
• Watched Casino Royale on DVD, in preparation for going to see the new one next week (we think)

Don't be jealous of the fabulous life we lead. We're just normal people like you. ;-)

Life with Kitten

First, before I say anything else, WHO IS THIS GIANT CAT AND WHAT HAS SHE DONE WITH MY TINY KITTEN?

That's no lunch bag, folks. It's a full-size brown paper to-go bag from Buca. It's also a fun toy for my cats. And now, a story...

Milo finds a to-go bag in the kitchen and assumes it contains a yummy treat for him.

"Where's the meatballs? Sardines? Pepperoni? Anything???" But while poor unsuspecting Milo explores the bag (just like a box, only floppier), he gets attacked from the back...

...and the front...He tried to fight back, but she had the tactical advantage in this match. And so he had no choice but to cower inside the bag until she got bored...Luckily, Elphie's attention span is about 10 seconds, and she quickly reverts to cuddly kitten mode, whereby she and Milo make a truce and decide to be friends again and to gang up against me and Scott if either of us attempts to clean eye boogies or clip front claws!

Q & A

I just saw this meme over at Patrick's Place and figured I may as well play along. Otherwise y'all are just going to have to hear about my dentist appointment later. (you're welcome)

1. How many pets do you have?
Four! How did that happen?

2. How do you style your hair?
By blow-drying it with a round brush. :)

3. What’s new in your life right now?
Well, we have a new President-elect. That's pretty exciting! On the home front, there's the new(ish) kitten, and the new project at work. And I'm buying new shoes today.

4. How many colors are you wearing now?
Well, just a white t-shirt and navy sweat pants... but throw in Scott's psychadelic slippers and I can't count all the colors!

5. Are you an introvert or extrovert?
Introvert by choice, but my job requires me to be all friendly with the rest of the world

6. What was the last book you read?
I believe it was John Scalzi's chapbook, Waiting for Athena. The last whole book I read was probably Zoe's Tale.

7. Do you nap a lot?
Not as much as I'd like

8. If you could live anywhere else than where you live, where would it be?
In a city... with seasons

9. Is there anything that has made you unhappy these days?
Money, credit scores, the fact that I'm sort of trapped in my job...

10. What was the last thing you ate today?
Water. Breakfast is on the stove: scrambled eggs and bacon

11. How long does it take you to get ready in the morning?
I get up at 9 to leave by 11:15, but only spend 15 minutes for the shower and 20 minutes to blow dry, dress, etc. The rest is spent letting my hair air-dry while I goof around.

12. What websites do you visit daily?
This one and most of the ones on the side bar over there --->, plus facebook, cnn and the Orlando Sentinel.

13. What kind of animal or insect do you not like?
Roaches

14. Do you like to clean?
no.

15. What’s the last TV Show you watched?
The West Wing, and I thought if Aaron Sorkin ran for President, I'd vote for him.

16. What are you doing right now?
Typing this, and smelling bacon.

17. What is the last song you listened to?
Well, I have "Santa Baby" stuck in my head, but I'm not sure why. The last music I listened to was the Across the Universe CD in my car.

18. What would you do if you see $100 lying on the ground?
if there was no way to find its owner, I'd spend it on something stupid.

19. Best time of your life?
I hope I don't look back some day and realize this was it!

20. Tell me something good.
Breakfast is ready! :)

Monday at Work

I spent the day in an office building running mind-numbing test cases on a barely-working future system. It's very technical and secret. But the computer lab we were in used to be the boardroom. Something about that added excitement to the day.

Anyway, since I can't really talk about my day, here's two more pictures from our trip to Animal Kingdom last week. Both taken in my favorite section of the park, Pangani Forest. I present a Chillin' Silverback and a little waterfall. Enjoy!

Who Are The People in Your Neighborhood?

Scott and I have had some very colorful neighbors in this building...

Mia, our first downstairs neighbor, who had aerobic sex on weekend mornings,

Ghetto Superstar, our second downstairs neighbor, whom we hated. He of the loud wall-shaking music. To be fair, I think he hated us as much as we hated him. I can't imagine why! ;-)

Granny-Smokes-a-Lot: her granddaughter used to get dropped off by the school bus outside our side of the building, but Granny lived on the parking lot side. The bus would sit there and idle and HONK HONNNNNNNNK until Granny would come to get the girl. This was tough on us because each of us worked grave shift at some point and would be woken up by the noise.

There's also Mr. Loud Car down on the first floor, a.k.a. Taco Bell Guy, a.k.a The Drug Dealer. This guy is now on his second loud car - the kind that's been modified to be even louder, guaranteed to wake you from a sound sleep while it idles for five minutes before he goes anyway. Scott noticed that he starts the car and then walks around it as if he's doing a NASA-grade safety inspection or something. Quite often, he does the car starting ritual, leaves, and comes back 15 minutes later. Scott used to joke that he was going to Taco Bell. "Where else could he be going and getting back so fast?"

Now that our windows are open, we get to know even more about him. That's because he's always on his cell phone. I'm convinced that he's a low level dealer of some type of drug, and that he gets a call for a delivery and that's why he's not gone for long. Or he has an elderly family member that lives close by, and he drives over to help them to the bathroom or something.

One night, I was sitting by the window playing on the DS and he came rolling in. As soon as the car door opened, Scott and I both heard his whole conversation. There were lots of expletives thrown in (so we can also surmise that he doesn't have a good vocabulary), but the gist was "I just came from Taco Bell and they charged me for guacamole but I didn't get it." And so, Scott claimed victory, now having proof that Taco Bell Guy does in fact go to Taco Bell!

This building is definitely more like Avenue Q than Sesame Street!

Still Training

Have I mentioned that I'm training someone we technically haven't hired? There seems to be a hiring freeze, but her current location isn't using her so we borrowed her.

Anyway, training is going well, but it's so darn stressful. And for the past two days, my boss has been off from work but still checking his messages and sending me stupid crap to do. Tonight he's back and the other manager is off to go to a wedding. I just know it's going to be a looooong night!

$2.01

It seems that none of the gas stations between home and work are willing to go below $2/gallon. Really, I'm not complaining. $2 works for me just fine. But given the current price per barrel, we should be showing more of a discount at the pumps. Even the "expensive" stations that are usually a good 10 cents more expensive than the rest are at $2.03.

C'mon guys... give us cheap gas. We deserve it!

Kitten on My Lap

Elphie is laying across my lap right now, rocking her front feet back in forth waiting for my thigh to start lactating. I relish these moments of "nice kitten." Recently, Elph has decided that she needs to run through every door that opens. That was funny when she'd make it into the bathroom, or occasionally all the way into the bedroom and under the bed. It's not so funny when I come home at 10:00 knowing I need to hold my bag at calf level so that she doesn't have an easy escape route into the great outdoors.

She's the size of a real cat now, but still weighs practically nothing. Perhaps that's just a matter of perspective, since all I have to compare her to are the two moo-cats. She chases her brothers all over the apartment, but I can tell they both think she's the best thing ever.

She also likes to wait until we turn out the lights and stumble blindly toward the bedroom at night and then lay right in the middle of the floor. She's actually pretty easy to pick out if you squint and really look for her - she's the black hole. She doesn't lurk in the shadows, she is the shadows.

Alas, while I was typing this, Elphie moved on and Milo jumped up. If I don't start petting him soon, he'll start gnawing on my wrist.

Skulls & Bones

"I don't know, doc. All of a sudden, it felt like my skull was being crushed..."

Yep, this is what happens when you set me and Scott loose with skulls and a digital camera with fresh batteries. Of course, while we were horsing around, we missed the hippo swimming right along the glass wall behind us.

And for anyone with Facebook who saw my status yesterday and wondered what 1-2-3 Whee is, here's a blurry action shot to help explain:


From left to right, that's Trip, Molly (in the stroller with her tongue out), Jenn, Kara and Scott. It's hard to tell who is having the most fun!

We had a whole lot of fun at Animal Kingdom today, despite a little afternoon shower and the humidity that followed. The whole park smelled like Vo-ban, which was a little disgusting, but we made it through. In addition to everyone in the photos above, Aunt Mary and Uncle Rich were also around. Anyone with Facebook will see pictures in the coming days. For now, you'll just have to believe me that they were there.

I love my family a whole lot. We're a whole lotta fun!

Red Hot Poker

Scott took me to lunch at our favorite Japanese place today. He ordered an appetizer that we've had before - the wasabi shumai. I can't really describe what it is, except that it's like a dumpling, but not the same shape, and that they put tiny orange fish roe on the top.

Oh yeah. And it's made with wasabi. Lots and lots of wasabi.

They were more potent than usual today, and the second one I ate caused me to convulse in pain, much like the feeling when you've been drinking soda and you burp and it comes out your nose. I had tears actually coming out of my eyes!

Normally, wasabi burns my sinuses. I know my limits, and though I love a little of that burn, I don't overdo it. Today, I was describing the pain to Scott. Rather than burning between or above my eyes, it felt like someone stuck a red hot poker up my nose, through my sinuses, and stopped about an inch before they hit the back of my skull.

Scott's reply? "Hurts so good!"

Oh Mah Achin' Feet

I spent the day today at Epcot with my cousin Jenn (that's Jenn A, as opposed to Jenn K, who comes with her teenage friends and not her husband and cute kids) and the aforementioned husband and cute kids.

And ever since I left them, I haven't stopped telling Scott what a great day I had. Precocious kids are the most entertaining thing ever!

Of course, tomorrow I'm looking forward to sleeping in and not walking 3 miles in circles!

Job Security

Financial Crisis Hits Home

When an e-mail from the company CEO includes the following, everyone starts looking over their shoulders:

During the last several weeks, our senior management team has stepped up to the task of identifying and implementing steps to reduce expenses and to create more efficient operations. Many of these steps are designed to mitigate current conditions, but some we expect to have long lasting benefits. Significant savings will be delivered.

Rumors across the company are running rampant. Talk includes everything from eliminating all seasonal employees to eliminating part-timers to cutting full time hours to 30/week. I'll admit: it's scary. Of course, we're still busy through the holidays, which means that January will be the time for those cuts.

Scott and I keep looking at the seniority list for his area and are pretty confident that he's high enough that cuts by seniority won't affect him. My gut instinct is that his worst-case scenario is a cut in hours. I know that my job and my hours are safe as long as The Restaurant is open. I just wonder if a restaurant with such a specialized niche - $300+ for dinner for two - is like the canary in the mine shaft.

One of my managers pointed out that The Restaurant stayed open after 9/11, with the company choosing to temporarily shutter another Hotel restaurant instead. And besides that, people with big money still have big money.

Even still, I'm keeping a closer eye on our savings. That seems like the responsible thing to do.

A Response

Ordinarily I would just respond to a comment with a comment. But since it's NaBloPoMo and I have to write an entry anyway, here we are. Yesterday, Janette responded to this post with the following:

Oh I hate to be a blog party pooper (or to even sound all pollyanish) but do people really think that's the best way to win voters over to their side? I know everyone is ticked about the results right now (and rightfully so) but wouldn't a better plan be to better educate voters next time around? The Yes on 2 people won by misleading people and people generally don't like being misled. Flipping off well intentioned but uninformed voters isn't the way to help the cause.

Nope. I don't think anyone is going to be swayed by a flock of flipped birds all over the internet. I don't think there's enough well intentioned but uninformed voters out there who are going to change their minds. There will always be vocal opponents to this right, just like there are still vocal opponents to the rights of women and minorities. I don't see this fight ending until the US Supreme Court hears a case (which, since Prop 8 overturned a previous ruling by the California Supreme Court, I bet could happen sooner rather than later). If not for the SCOTUS, I don't think there's a chance until our parents' generation is greatly depleted and a generation of kids who grew up not using 'gay' as an insult are eligible to vote.

In the meantime, I am even more amused by this than I am by the flock of flipped birds. For every donation of $5 or more, the L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center will send a postcard to Mormon Church President Thomas Monson’s office in Salt Lake City, acknowledging your donation in his name. The text of the postcard is beyond the link. (via Whatever)

Let Freedom RING

Found via Adventures in Juggling:

A photographic protest of Proposition 8 (and other ballot initiatives)? Excellent!

I welcome supporters of gay rights to snap your own photo showing your wedding ring on your middle finger. Spread the word that this fight isn’t over. Whether you’re gay, straight, bi, white, blue or tan — show your support by letting freedom ring on your blog then go here to log it for everyone to see!

I'm not good at flipping the bird. In fact, it turns out I can't do it with my left hand at all, so I had to use my right hand for this photo. Even still, it's awkward. You! Go forth and support the rights of ALL Americans. It'll make you feel good...

Loser!

CNN.com still hasn't updated their electoral map to include North Carolina and Missouri. That's problematic because North Carolina ends up being the tie-breaker for my contest with Janette.

That being said, both ABC News and The Daily Show (not kidding... watch last night's show!) have called North Carolina for Obama.

She and I called three states differently. Here's the breakdown:

Indiana:
Janette
Jamie
Results

Montana:
Janette
Jamie
Results

North Carolina:
Janette
Jamie
Results

We both called Missouri for McCain, so it doesn't really matter to us how that one ends. This means I lose by one state. I was closer on the electoral count, but that was just our tie-breaker. She won the actual state count. Still given that Janette is a news junkie, I'm proud that I made it as far as I did.

Bring on lunch!

Unrealistic Expectations

I just got an e-mail from a co-worker asking if I recognized the name of a certain customer. This woman yelled at my co-worker for not knowing her name, favorite table, and special cake order off the top of her head.

Believe it or not, I did recognize the name. Because the same woman yelled at a different co-worker about a month ago for the exact same thing. It's a plain chocolate cake, and I think it's table 14. I'll be researching when I get in today.

Actually, people like this are a big reason that we have our repeat customer database at The Restaurant. Her name didn't come up when the co-worker looked her up yesterday because the last two times she was in, she wasn't the primary name on the reservation and this time she's coming with a different person.

I can't stand people who think the entire world revolves around them. If I could do so without my name being attached to it, I'd cancel her reservation. And if we had a way to do it, I'd black-ball her from booking her there again.

Not Perfect, But Still Pretty Sweet

I'm still weepy, though not so much in a good way. Apparently I missed my window of opportunity to get all the tears of happiness out of my system last night, and now the tears are corroding my insides and making me tired and sad. Of course, the less than six hours of sleep and the alcohol I consumed last night might also be a part of that.

I'm happy beyond words that my candidate was elected. My candidate from before the primaries! I finally got one right! In two and a half months, a man that I voted for, whom I respect and admire, will finally be President. For the first time in my "young voter" life. Oh My God. I can't even describe how happy that makes me.

Of course, there's a few gray clouds poking around in my blue sky of hope today. I am really disappointed (yet not surprised) that Amendment Two passed here in Florida. I am appalled that Arkansas passed a ban on non-married couples adopting/foster parenting children. Because marriage is obviously more important to these people than finding loving, nurturing homes for children in need. And let's not forget the 18,000 couples in California who woke up yesterday married to one another and who woke up this morning to a completely different reality. (side bar: if the state dissolves your marriage, do you have to return the gifts?)

I have been glued to Scalzi's Whatever for the past few weeks. It's helpful when I'm at a loss for words to find an author who shares many of my beliefs and says what I want to in a way that's infinitely more eloquent than I possibly could. For example:

I’ve had a couple of people write me and ask me if I had any thoughts about the fact the US elected a black man to the presidency. I do, but aside from saying I’m very proud we did, I can’t speak too much to it — or more accurately, won’t. I was obviously aware of Obama’s race, but it wasn’t close to being a factor for my vote, and I think it would be insincere for me now to push it into the forefront of my personal consideration. But more than that, look, you know what, I’m white, and the Obama victory doesn’t have the visceral weight in my psyche that it has for blacks in this country, and I don’t want to pretend it does. I stand outside that particular victory, and I am content to let others have it, because it is theirs. I have enough victories through Obama at the moment that I don’t have to have them all.

(from here, which also addresses Prop. 8 and some other electoral odds & ends. I also recommend his reality check about the election and the difference between Obama the ideal and Obama the President)

What he said is what I tried to say to Scott earlier tonight. Yes, it's fabulous that we were a part of history. I'm proud of that fact, and look forward to telling my kids about it some day. Right now, I'm less concerned about this moment's place in history and more concerned about the promise of tomorrow.

And tomorrow looks pretty sweet to me.

First Family-Elect

photo blatantly nabbed from orlandosentinel.com

I'm still at a loss for coherent post-election thoughts, so I bring you a picture of the new First Family. I can't wait to see them (and their new puppy) in their new home!

Post-Champagne Post

So... a rare drunk posting from me. Enjoy as much as I'm not enjoying correcting the 7 typos I've had so far...

ABC had one of their reporters holding up newspaper headlines from other countries and they were ALL positive. And I yelled to Scott (yeah, yelled, we were 12 feet apart...) that the rest of the world likes us again.

We popped open the bottle of pink champagne right after 11 when the "President Elect" graphics started popping up on every channel. (I wanted to open it when they called Ohio BLUE, but Scott is superstitious)

I cried during John McCain's concession speech ("best speech he's ever given" even though he still said "my friends" a thousand times). I cried watching Oprah and Jesse Jackson cry. I cried looking at the throngs of cheering people. And I cried - a lot - during Barack's victory speech.

...and I'm crying a little now, too.

So good night, world. I'm off to drink 2 glasses of water and take some aspirin before bed. Tomorrow (well, today, but let's not split hairs) I'm guessing will be the first day of a whole new world, and I for one would like to greet it without a hangover.

Yes We Did!

Young Voter

According to ABC News, their "young voter" demographic is voters ages 18-29.

Hooray for me! I'm a young voter!

(by the way, right now Amendment 2 is up 63-37%. that's the cloud on my silver lining right now. COME ON Palm Beach County...)

Election Day

First, two photos. Me and Scott before and after voting:

The ParkHoppers: turning Florida blue two votes at a time!

We had quite a day. After voting (I think I waited 5 minutes before I had my ballot in-hand), we walked to Gators for lunch, walked to the rental office to pay rent, and walked home. And then we, in all of our be-stickered glory, went to DisneyQuest to burn off some adrenaline. (notice my giant pupils? Scott made me a super-caffeinated cup of coffee this morning that turned me crazy for an hour. oh what fun!)

Cat and I had a fun conversation back and forth via text messages, she taunting me with a picture of a NObama bumper sticker, and me retorting with a picture of me in front of the sign above, holding my Obama button and pointing to my I VOTED sticker.

Of course, Scott's text messages have been a bit different. He got one from a co-worker that said something along the lines of "Obama is ahead right now, but that should change after 5:00 when the white people get off work." Well if you're reading, co-worker, these two white people voted WAY before 5:00, and our votes had nothing to do with race.

But back to the fun. I'm off to watch the election coverage. So far they are projecting that McCain won Kentucky and Obama won Vermont. Can't WAIT for more!!!

From the In Box

I got an e-mail from Spirit Airlines today that made me groan and laugh out loud:

Spirit, a Maverick in airline sales, brings you Ochobama! He's built his platform around bringing you low fares, from only $8* each way for $9 Fare Club** members. We're also offering many more great fares for everyone. Check out the low fares and save big today! All other sales Palin comparison. But hurry, the polls close on the best fares on November 4, 2008 at 11:59 PM ET! All fares are based on roundtrip purchase and taxes, fees & restrictions apply.

I'm the ParkHopper, and I approved this message.

Predictions

Janette and I have a friendly wager going based on the results of the election TOMORROW!!! Each of us has created our own electoral map, and the person who correctly calls the most states wins lunch from the loser. In the event of a tie, the person closest to the actual number of electoral votes wins.

Here's my map:

make your own map at cnn.com

Actually, our maps are really similar. Her final electoral count is 353 and mine is 352. On a quick glance, it looks like she gave North Carolina to Obama and Montana to McCain. I took Montana for Team Blue because they have that fabulous governor that I enjoyed so much during the convention.

I can't wait for tomorrow night! I've got a bottle of pink champagne in the fridge (sorry... they don't make it in blue) and we're going to snack ourselves silly. I'll be at the TV flipping between ABC and CNN from 7-10, and then Comedy Central from 10-11. Hopefully by then the race won't even be close and I can get to bed after that. Meanwhile, I'm sure Scott will be at the computer trying to pretend I'm not yelling/whooping like it's a college football game.

McCain Fine Gold

Just proving that every now and then the writers of SNL can still pull off a funny sketch!

(sorry, I just have issues embedding videos from nbc.com)

On a slightly unrelated political note, a girl I work with went to the Obama-Clinton (Bill, not Hillary) rally last Wednesday and brought me back a button and a yard sign. The button is proudly displayed on the strap of my purse and the sign is on my front door (on the inside).

...and on a completely unrelated sports note, Texas LOST last night to Texas Tech. This means that when the rankings come out later today, Bama and PSU should be #1 and #2 in the country! There was some speculation by the commentators last night that Oklahoma could jump Penn State, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the fact that we're still 9-0 and Oklahoma has a loss will keep us up.

Farewell to W

We heard that the Hall of Presidents was going to be closing until July 4, 2009 (hopefully so that they can move Bush 43 into a barely visible corner) so we made a special trip to the Magic Kingdom to take one last look.

Be proud of me - I made it through the whole thing without booing or walking out. It was hard though, especially when I realized W's entire speech and Abe Lincoln's speech were built around the premise of the Declaration of Independence - that all men are created equal, that we have certain unalienable rights, and that if we can not grant people rights that we should not set out to take the rights away from anyone. **cough**unlessyouaregayorMuslim**cough** Oh yeah - and he didn't mention plans to drag the country into a war with no end, torture captives, listen in on my phone calls, or destroy the economy. I guess those were all prizes we won in the '04 bonus round!

But I digress. Today is the start of NaBloPoMo, which means 30 days of posts that will probably be more like this:

Dole Whips for President!

Actually, I think that caption is rather lame. How about "Registered Voters: Thanks, ACORN!" Anyone have anything better?