obama ( of course)

Wow, I'm still pretty dazed. Tuesday, I went to vote at 7am when the polls opened. I waited in line about 35 minutes but it was pretty pleasant. I think I saw half my neighborhood coming and going. People seemed in a pretty good mood, and no one complained about the wait. There were several babies and little kids, and even a St Bernard. (Must of been one of those newly registered voters). By 7:45 I was standing at my desk at the obama staging area. It is in the local Union hall , a very large, two story building with lots of offices and space. I've been working out of the very large main room which is actually divided into two separate areas. I got to do the same job I've been doing for about two weeks now and with the same woman; a great volunteer from New York who has been living down here for 2 weeks. We like working together and have a great system going. Totally smooth with no mistakes- not easy when things get crazy. Some guy came over to the table to start asking a zillion questions about what we were doing and tried to tell us to change stuff. We tried being polite but finally resorted to throwing him out. After that I told her we should refer to ourselves as the mean girls popular table and only let the 'cool kids' sit with us!
The volunteers never stopped coming; young people from Manhattan, union guys from the painters, carpenters and engineers union, families with kids in strollers, and tons of people who showed up on their own and were happy to be matched up with a total stranger to go knock on doors.
At 6:30 we stopped sending people door to door and instead sent them to every polling place in Upper Dublin and Ambler to help people out who were waiting on lines. Within 15 minutes most were back to report that there were no lines as almost everyone in Montgomery county had already voted!
So we got to put on the TV they set up for us and were all together when at 8:00 CNN projected Pennsylvania for Obama. Everyone was screaming, hugging and crying. It was an amazing moment. Our fearless leader ran around yelling it was all worth it! Hopefully he is now catching up on several months of missed sleep.
I am eternally thankful to Donna who allowed me to be a real part of this wonderful time in history. She worked so hard and never lost her cool no matter what was going on. Love her! It felt amazing to be able , in some very small way, to ut such a great man into the white house. Most of all it feels wonderful to think that I will be leaving my children a better world and a brighter future.
After Pa was called I went over to the neighbors to watch the rest of the returns. It was lovely to be able to celebrate with my husband and friends. Determined not to be a total mess the next day I went to bed after they called Ohio. So much for good intentions. At 11, when CNN called it for Obama my daughter started texting me and then my cousin from Oregon called! Poor guy; he wanted to share his excitement and all he got was a completely incoherent response. But since I was awake I wound up staying up to 12:20 to hear McCain's concession speech- very gracious- and the incedibly moving acceptance speech by Obama. Call me shallow but how amazing were those coordinated outfits with Michele and the girls. I think I may be almost as excited to see her as first lady and those girls grow up in the white house as I am to see him as President. I said almost! I was glad I stayed up to hear him , thought I didn't feel that way at work the next morning!
The whole thing is really moving and I love the way so many members of my family were a part of this historic moment. Both my kids were at the original rally way back at Independence Hall, my Mom made phone calls in Florida and at 1 in the morning my daughter found herself spontaneously swept along with a cheering huge crowd down to city hall.
Now the only problem- what will I blog about?

volunteering

Sorry it's been so long between posts. Though I'm not sure who I'm apologizing to; it's not like there are 100s of readers out there breathlessly waiting for my next post.
xoxo, you know you love me.( inside joke for any female under the age of 25).

But I have a good reason; any spare time I have I've been at the Obama campaign volunteering. I really love being there, it's so exciting and moving. I never feel tired or worn out when I am there but the minute I get home all the adrenalin stops and I just want to crawl into bed.

I'm not fond of the word patriot. I find it only gets used by conservatives to disparage people who disagree with them. But I am in complete awe of the people I meet at the Obama office who come in and work 7 days a week, 9am to 9pm. They are true patriots; sacrificing their personal lives to try and make the country a better place. Volunteers have been coming in from up and down the east coast; New York, Maryland, Washington, Boston. And not just young people. but tons of people in their 50s , 60s and older who pile into a car with some friends and come down to Pennsylvania to lend a hand for a few hours or a few days. One of the women I work with is from Long island and has been living in a generous strangers house for 2 weeks to help out.
A great shout out to my Mom who made phone calls today and brought home a yard sign for her front lawn. GO Mom!