Chicken Duty

What Would Barack Obama Do?

It's a new day. Obama is in office, the sky is blue, the sun is shining, hope abounds. Wonderful. Great. I'm reveling in it just as much as the next northern California liberal but I have to say that my happiness is tinged with a bit of disappointment.

Obama's been in office eight whole days now and still I'm hearing snippets of nasty bad mouthing about our former Commander in Chief from folks all over town. It really bums me out. I disliked Bush too, believe me I did. I thought he did and said the wrong thing most of the time, so much so that over the past eight years I basically stopped listening to his speeches and press conferences, stopped watching the news, stopped clicking on any of the online headlines having to do with him. Until Obama hit the scene I was politically disaffected.

However, when I hear people talk about George W. as though he was purposely evil, that he was malevolent in his intent for this country, I disagree. Yes, he screwed up this country, and to some extent this world, but I have to believe that he did what he thought was good at the time. I have to believe that his heart was in a good place if not the right place. Otherwise I lose faith completely.

Barack Obama has brought discipline, smarts, concern, responsibility, coolness and most importantly dignity back to this nation. If we want to fix what's broken in this world, we must first find our dignity. It is not dignified to bad mouth a former president with such hatred and disgust, no matter how much he or she might deserve such ridicule. It just isn't.

Let's move forward with our glittering hope and make change happen instead of looking back over our shoulders and spitting on our history, however bleak it may look to us now -- now that there is so much to look forward to.

Next Year It's 40

It's the eve of the year that I turn 40 and while I don't generally care that much about New Year's Eve, I'm feeling a little differently this year. I'm gearing up to mark the occasion and I find that what I'm doing is a bit of cataloguing, like:

Flourescent lighting sucks. There is no reason why anyone should have to assess themselves under this most unflattering light.

My left eye is smaller than my right. Only slightly, but still, when did that happen?

It's not so terrible to have a little tummy, especially when you do lots of sit ups, try to eat right and it's still there. I can live with it.

I'm not sure if 40 is really the new 30 but it doesn't really matter. It is what it is and so I'm going to enjoy it and (hopefully) many more years after.

It's okay to lie about your jean size.

Plastic surgery is fine if it makes you feel good. And if you don't want any, that's fine too. Just don't be so judgemental all y'all!

Good friends are important and so I'm going to work on keeping the ones I have and appreciating them more often.

Same goes for my husband (hear that honey?).

Trying to Write

I'm trying to write, really I am, but I just can't get my head to stay on the page with the kids in the next room horsing around. In between the squealing and giggling is the autotronic voice from someone's Leapster and then there's the constant knock knock followed by the immediate entry into my sanctum. At least they're knocking first. They just need to learn to wait for the yay or nay. 

Maybe I should give up and pull a board game off the shelf. Give in to this rainy day. Junior Scrabble ain't so bad. 

Numbers Game

Number of times, before 11 a.m., I thought about calling it a day and crawling back into bed: 8

Minutes spent perusing other people's blogs: 28

Number of words I need to write to successfully complete NaNoWriMo: 10,000 (see why I want to go back to bed?)

Number of times I've reminded myself to call the refrigerator/dishwasher/water filter repair guy: 4

Number of times Ruby kissed me goodbye at preschool drop-off: 6 (so delicious!)

Number of times Ella kissed me goodbye before jumping in the car: 0 (we're in a bit of a mother-daughter rough spot)

Hours I've been moping about the no-kiss-goodbye: 4 1/2

Loads of laundry waiting to be run: 3

Loads of laundry I'll do today: 0 (the laundry can kiss my ass)

Number of words I'll try to write today: 10,000

Keep On Barackin' Me Baby

On our way to the polls, Ruby and I were listening to our regular classic rock station when Steve Miller's "Keep on A Rockin' Me Baby" came on and I kid you not, my almost 4-year-old changed the lyrics to sing "Keep on Barackin' Me Baby" and I gladly rocked out with her. We were psyched! I offered to let her draw the black line for me on the ballot, but she was more interested in her I Voted sticker and getting it to stay on her fleece. I felt a heightened surge of pride leaving the classroom of the neighborhood school, our polling place. I haven't missed an election, national for sure and most local ones, since I voted for Dukakis a few months after my 18th birthday. I'm a sap for democracy. 

What a relief. That really just sums it all up, Obama's victory. I huddled on my couch watching the returns flipping from CNN to MSNBC, knowing that my home state of California would be the one to put Obama over the 270 mark. Josh was out of town and the kids had already gone to bed so I was on my own and I just cried and cried. I realize now that I was crying with relief. 

I still had that choky feeling in my throat most of the day today, not ready to turn in my tears for pure elation. I sort of like that vulnerable feeling, that I'm-about-to-cry-again feeling. It reminds me that there's so much more going on than just the carpool and the grocery shopping.

I am so proud to be an American at this moment, so grateful to be part of this history.