to love

Between the time the California Supreme Court ruled that it was unconstitutional to prevent same-sex couples from marrying and Prop 8 passed making same-sex marriage in California illegal, thousands of committed couples were legally married. Now the Prop 8 Legal Defense Fund and Ken Starr have filed legal briefs seeking to nullify those marriages.



I'm pretty emotional on this topic, so I'll just say....I signed here.

(Thanks, Nilsa.)

presidential party

Today we celebrated change and country and history and hope. Sharing today with my children was pretty amazing. Emotional and exciting. I am so proud and honored to be a part of this great country. Today was a very good day.

destiny of a nation

Four years ago I reached around my infant and put my hopes for the future of our country into a tiny little circle. A vote for a man I knew was destined for great things. My little vote a stepping stone, a propulsion into the arena...to lead. Now it has come to be.
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Since that vote four years ago, I've done a lot of reading and research. My reasons for voting for him again this year are many. I'm not naive enough to believe that things will now be perfect. He's just a man and he'll make mistakes. But I am hopeful. For the past few months I've tried to set my emotions aside so that critics in my immediate circle couldn't accuse me of merely being an emotional voter. Today I am able to let that go. There are lots of tears over here.
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For me...race always seemed irrelevant. Some sort of media inflicted issue. I was voting for the man, not the gender or the race. But today I woke up and realized the historical significance of this election. What it means for so many Americans. I am overwhelmed by how far our country has come. And I am so very proud.
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Years ago when we hung this picture in our kitchen, it seemed a little quirky. But now that he's going to be the president, I'm starting to think it might be a little creepy.

productivity

Thanks to a little case of pink eye, Alex worked from home today. Which meant I had time to:

1) make a few calls for work
2) have lunch with high school friends
3) exercise my democratic right to vote

Initially I felt pretty strongly about holding out until election day. I wanted to be a part of the day, feel the energy and burden of the single, defining day. But I began to fear that something catastrophic might happen on Tuesday that would prevent me from voting.

I'm a freak show because I was tearing up just waiting in line. And when I put my finished ballot in the machine, actual tears fell.

Now on Tuesday all I have to do is cuddle up on the couch with a cup of coffee and watch the numbers come in.
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I would also like to take this time to thank all the McCain supporters out there (and I know there are quite a few of you) for being so respectful on my blog. You guys let me ramble on about how much I love Obama without a single negative comment. It didn't go unnoticed.

motion sickness

I feel like life has put a blindfold over my eyes and spun me around. I take the blindfold off and find myself in a stupor of self-pity, completely overwhelmed by the hard facts of our situation. Alex and I both unemployed. Two precious little girls who depend on us. A mortgage. And brand new $1400 a month health insurance bill. A mailbox full of bills.

And then the blindfold is back on and I'm spinning again. This time I take the blindfold off and see how lucky we are. Alex has a job lined up. A flattering number of unsolicited job offers coming out of the woodwork for him. Freelance work for him. Freelance work for me. And two precious little girls who are completely oblivious to all the grown-up things going on around them.

Spinning again...I'm sad our family will be split up while Alex follows freelance work to another city.

Spinning again...Random days without work mean our little family can spend quality time together.

Spinning...family members so graciously and forcefully willing to help.

Spinning...spinning....spinning.....spinning....

I'm dizzy. I have trouble writing on this blog because one minute I feel a certain way....and then ten minutes later I feel something totally different.

But I can say that the uncertainty right now is exhausting. And I'm really no fan of being an unemployment statistic.

still time

I'm not a door-to-door kind of girl. Or a phone person. So...I constantly feel like I'm not doing my part. I'm NOT doing my part. The least I can do is post this little video on my blog and hope you are all registered to vote.
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I don't listen to much NPR in the car since the news portion is always about the horrible things going on in the world, and it's just too harsh for little ears. But today I had it on thinking the girls were preoccupied and oblivious. When the commenter mentioned John McCain, Canon immediately perked up. "John McCain. I know him. But I like that other guy better. What's his name? Oh, yeah. Barack Obama. I'm going to make up a song about Barack Obama." And she did. And it was beautiful. And then she wanted me to make up my own song about Barack Obama. Which I did.

Ahh....the brainwashing has begun.

political pick-me-up

I've been in desperate need of some positive political energy, and a big Obama rally did just the trick. Alex and I joined tens of thousands of supporters in downtown Charlotte today. Lines to hear Obama speak stretched and wrapped and weaved and curved and stretched some more. And though we weren't able to see him on the stage, we could hear him. We stood there surrounded by thousands of people hushed and hopeful to hear every single word. There was an energy there, positive, excited, hopeful. I feel much better now.

The only bummer of the day was that my camera battery died. So the only decent shots I got were of security and secret service.

changes

I am declaring a moratorium on talking about my kids or posting pictures of my kids...for two weeks. I feel like all I do on this blog is go on and on about the girls. And a 100% mommy blog is not what I intended when I started this.  Surely I can find something else to say for 14 days. Honestly...I'm not so sure about that, but it's a challenge I'm up for.

Since today is my last day to mention the girls for a while, I have to indulge.
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Today was a very exciting day in our house, election day!  I was very emotional as the girls and I walked into our local polling place.  Even though I had tried to stress the significance of what we were doing there, the girls were unimpressed.  Canon lay spread-eagle on the floor in the middle of the voting room while I filled in my ballot, and Elly was determined to grab the pen out of my hand and color in her own circles. When I completed my ballot, an election worker gave me three " I voted" stickers.  I placed one on Canon, one on Elly, one on myself and then proudly walked with my girls out of the room.  By the time we got home Canon had stuck her sticker to the bottom of her shoe, and Elly had eaten hers.
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Canon was all about lying spread-eagle on the floor today.  She threw herself on the kitchen floor just before nap time to rest for a bit.  When Elly discovered her there, she lay on top of her and started sucking her thumb.  The two of them just hung out there, hugging for the longest time.  Sisterhood is so cool.

self portrait challenge: political

Lately when I hear the word "politics,"  my brain short circuits, smoke rises from my head, and I have complete tunnel vision;  I can only hear and see this man.  I've seen so many beautiful and very artistic self portraits over at SPC this month, but for me the word is straight-forward and literal right now.

To be honest....being open about who I support politically isn't as easy as it should be. I know the polite thing to do is carefully tip-toe around the topic so as not to offend anyone. Truthfully, I don't want to offend anyone.  This is not about anyone else.  This is about me and my children.  My vote.

I even used my poor, sick, girls in a photograph.  How can you possibly deny those little faces?! Voting for Obama would make them feel better.  I am sure of it. 


In case you missed the full story on the drawing, you can go here.  

about time to talk politics

Canon was just four-months-old and it was cold in Chicago. I bundled her up, strapped her into the baby-carrier, and headed out to vote. We walked to the voting location, which was just on the other side of my block. I was excited on the walk over, but as soon as we reached the building I became very emotional. There's something about punching a ballot while peering over the winter hat of the child who is strapped to your chest that really forces you to think about the bigger picture. I cried the whole walk home.

And I felt that I had been thinking about the bigger picture. I felt I had voted for her future. I voted for a man to be my senator, but my hope was that my vote would propel him further into the national spotlight. That people across the country would think of him the way I do. That others would be inspired and moved by him. That others would be hopeful that he has the power to make changes. And I hoped the propulsion would be quick, that the Washington machine would get very little grasp on him.

I grew up with the notion that it is impolite to discuss politics. I find myself tip-toeing around the subject even with my closest friends and members of my extended family. Most people seem to guard their choices and decisions. I am tired of that. This is too big of a deal to me. I'm not getting into policy wars or cutting down other candidates, but I would like to make it very clear that I strongly support Barack Obama. Whew...I feel so much better now.
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If you have been to my house, then you know that Obama watches over us. This is a picture of my kitchen. See Obama over the doorway?


Here's a closer look. I know it looks a bit like a mugshot, but I think this magazine cover was used as a reference.

When we moved into our house, we hung Alex's artwork on existing nails just to get them out of the way until we moved everything in. For some reason there was a nail above the doorway in our kitchen. That's where Obama landed, and that is where he has been for almost three years now.

The sketch was a study for a larger scale painting that hung above the fireplace in our Chicago loft.

You might have to click on the picture to enlarge it so you can actually see the painting. The picture isn't great, but it's all that remains of that painting. It's kind of a long story, but Alex painted it as an exercise in creating something that he would discard. The painting was thrown away the day he moved out of the condo. I have reason to believe someone rescued it from the garbage dump. So...if you ever happen to see this painting, please let me know; I want it back.

Just further proof that we really dig Obama.

yes we can

I was off-line for a few days, which was actually kind of nice. But while I was away, this video made its way onto the internet. Even though many of you have probably already seen it by now, I really didn't want to pass up the opportunity to post it here.



(thanks Tracy and Nilsa)

for the people

It's official, people! Barack Obama for president 2008.