And now, a PSA from Spielberg et al

This post is all about the Muffin Man

He knows about Santa Claus. A little girl in his class told him.

"Mommy, does Santa Claus exist?"
"What do you think honey?"
"I think it's you and Daddy."
"Well, you're right. But we do a pretty good job, don't we?"
"Yeah!....Can I be Santa too?"

My heart broke.


Every night, when brushing MM's teeth, I sing him a song that I made up. It's a little Elvis-y and MM loves it. I am thinking of singing it to Dr. Corndog, have him record it with guitars and all and make it a billion-dollar children's hit.

Also, most nights I sing to MM after the lights are out. I have a little repetoire for him to choose from: The Star-Spangled Banner; O What a Beautiful Morning; People Will Say We're in Love; Somewhere Over the Rainbow; My Johnny Was a Shoemaker; or A Few of My Favorite Things (this last one gets sung ala Ethel Merman - cracks him up to the point of hiccups). MM was overwhelmed, as I was, by the sound of over 30,000 people singing The Star-Spangled Banner and saying the Pledge of Allegience at the Obama Rally (I'm sorry, I can't get through one post without the election creeping in!)

I need a break

Today and tomorrow, I'm straightening the house (changing sheets and towels and vacuuming and making sure the bathroom is sparkly) for the campaigner we're hosting. And aside from that, I'm not doing any campaigning until Saturday.

I am tired.

Write to Marry

Crunchy Granola, along with a host of other people, is writing about the right to marry today.

Twelve and a half years ago, on a misty day, MS and I were married by a judge who wore bright red barn boots. We were married at my mom's house, in a big tent, with our family and friends around us.

There was no religious component to our wedding. We wrote our own vows, exchanged rings, and signed the paper. Love made that misty day sunshine-y and beautiful.

There was nothing about our wedding (except, perhaps the clothes we wore) that would have been different if we had been two women or two men instead of a man and a woman. There is nothing about our marriage (except, perhaps the way we conceived our child) that would be different if we were two women or two men instead of a man and a woman.

We are a white man and a white woman married to each other and living in Virginia. If we were a bi-racial couple 40 years ago, our marriage would not have been legal in the state we live in. If we were a same-sex couple now, our marriage would not be legal in most states, including the state we live in.

In the same way that it was wrong to out-law bi-racial marriages, it is wrong to out-law same-sex marriages. A marriage should be a union between two adults who love each other.

If you live in California, vote NO on Prop 8.

An invitation

If you live in my area of VA, or in nearby MD, or DC, would you like to come walking with me this weekend?

I've got a baby-sitter to take care of MM both days and will be walking from 10-6 Saturday and Noon-6 Sunday. It's a GOTV for Obama walk-a-thon! How many doors can we knock this weekend? If it rains, how many calls can we make?

If you live in solidly blue MD or DC, come on out to our (now) purple state and help turn VA blue!!!



Also, if you can take the day off on Election Day, come on out to the precinct I'm heading and help me hand out sample ballots. Or go to the nearby HQ and help make calls to GOTV! Or, if you're a lawyer, go and Protect the Vote. Genevieve's doing it!

We are all Californians

VOTE NO ON PROP 8

Today was a perfect day for walking

T-shirt weather! I picked up another volunteer and id'd at least a dozen strong Obama voters.

Next weekend is going to be reminding friendly voters to get to the polls. If you've never walked or called, next weekend is the best time to do it. Friendly calls, lots of excitement!

What an Obama Volunteer does when it rains

"Hi! I'm your neighbor, Mystery Mommy and I'm volunteering for the Obama campaign. I'm calling today to ask YOU to volunteer too! Only tennine days left until Election Day! There are a ton of volunteering opportunities from making phone calls like I'm doing right now, to door knocking on nice days, to bringing food to the local headquarters to feed the phone-banks! I could also use folks to help me hand out sample ballots on Election Day at YourVotingPrecinct! Can we count on your help?"

I got 1213 out of the nearly 100 I called. And one at the kids birthday party I attended.

I am DANGEROUS.



I've also been promoted. I'm now the Election Day coordinator for YourVotingPrecinct (as opposed to MyVotingPrecinct. I actually live closer to YourVotingPrecinct). MS and I are also going to host an Obama volunteer for the last four days.

Annika update

She's doing great!

I voted

Damn, that felt good!!!

I was noodling through youtube

...looking for this from 1980*



when I found this from the '70's:



Holy guacamole. Prophetic or what?**




*Somehow, being at the Obama rally made me think of being at this concert when I was 11.

**I had only ever remembered the first three verses of this song, it's the last verse that just knocks me on my ass.

This is beautiful

H/T Leesburg Tomorrow

Estimated...(ETA more links)

This is what a small portion of an estimated 35,000 people look like:

They look pretty real to me.
And this is who they all came to see.



I should have recorded it as a movie. D'oh! Here is some of what he said. I brought along MM, and a friend of mine and her daughter. My friend got a hand grasp and an autograph. We were both just blown away by the incredibleness of the experience. So many people, so much enthusiasm, and a candidate that makes us want to go vote FOR him. MM and my friend's daughter were thrilled to have been there.

Here is what Raising Kaine says about it.

Two pieces of news

Obama will be going to Hawaii Thursday and Friday to see his ailing grandmother, cancelling events for those days. I hope that his grandmother recovers.

Before he goes, he'll be visiting my county on Wednesday for a rally. I'm going to be there come hell or high water.

Over 100 doors, yesterday and today

Colin Powell made a difference.

And so did Nancy Pfotenhauer. (MS was out there with me today in a shirt that said, "A REAL VIRGINIAN FOR OBAMA")

And the picture of St. Louis.

And the thought of 632,000 people who never donated to Barack Obama before deciding in the span of one short month that it was time to get off the pot and donate. In September, the Obama Campaign got 150 Million dollars in contributions averaging less than $100 each. If you can't donate, walk and knock on doors, call, work the polls on election day. VOTE. If you CAN donate, walk and knock on doors, call, work the polls on election day. VOTE. If you can't donate, or walk and knock on doors, or call, or work the polls on election day, then you better get out there and VOTE.

Money doesn't win an election. Knocking on doors doesn't win an election. VOTES win elections. Money buys literature and yard signs and buttons and postage and tv time and phone lines and rent. Volunteering gets the word out. Only VOTES get the job done. Get out there and vote.

What's old is new again

Topical before, topical again. Love that Christine Lavin!



Take that Palin!

Bling, bling, BLING, Democrat Rabbit!

My house (that truck doesn't belong to us).
My car. Driver's side...
Center...
Passenger side...
Me.

No doubts as to where I stand, eh?



And here are the socks. They've been packed and sent. I hope they keep the recipient warm and cozy through the watches of the night.


And, in other news, MM asked me if I'm the tooth fairy. Sigh.

NSFW

Because I laughed out-loud uncontrollably. Kept reading. Laughed louder.

I love The Yarn Harlot.

Thoughts on last night's debate. EDITED (again) (and again) TO ADD (yet) A(nother) LINK

TRANSPLANTS are equivilent to cosmetic surgery and shouldn't be covered in a generic plan? ARE YOU SHITTING ME?

"'Health'"? Really? (Phantom Scribbler just pointed out Julie's post on the scare quotes which actually says what I meant to.)

And here's what Cecily has to say about it.

And Dooce points to Alexa's post.

Julie and Cecily and Alexa. Thank you for saying it when I couldn't.

Holy guacamole

Did you see that? He all but said, "McCain, you ignorant butt". I can't wait to see what the papers have to say about it.

A response

A guy I used to work with, who I like a lot mostly except once every four years, keeps forwarding me anti-Obama emails. Today it was about ACORN. I sent him back a link from Momocrats about McCain having his own ties to ACORN. So he said, yeah but it's not apples to apples. So I sent back this:

... Just sayin' that if we start throwing mud around because of who the candidates have worked with or done speeches with, we're gonna have a mighty messy country.
F'rinstance: Obama and Ayers. Fine. McCain and G. Gordon Liddy and Paul Schenk. Okay? So we've got BOTH candidates "associating" with militant domestic terrorists. And while G. Gordon Liddy has moved into the mainstream, so has Ayers.

ACORN may be overzealous in getting people registered, I don't know. I haven't particularly paid attention to them, being more interested in trying to help come up with new ways to make a 20% funding cut in the budget of the board I'm on not mean that we're going to have to stop serving some of the mentally ill or intellectually disabled in [my county]. What I do know, is that there are partisans on the Republican side who are just as overzealous in scaring vulnerable voters away from the polls. Again, neither side is covering themselves with glory.

Let's stick to what our candidates are actually doing and saying. Neither looks great if we go back 20 years (Obama: "Of course I inhaled, that was the point" and McCain in trouble with the Keating Five, and leaving his crippled first wife for a younger, richer one). Neither has exactly been quick to disavow the rhetoric of their ministers.
Both have visions of where they want the country to go and how they'd like us to get there. That is what I would really like to talk about with you. All the rest is just crap.

HT to Cecily, Momocrats, and the folks they linked to.

In which MM comes to work with me and has fun doing actual work

We went down to the mail room to peel labels off 167 boxes for re-shipment, stacked 'em, watched them get shrink-wrapped, and pushed the cart full to the store room to await the trucks. Then, MM got to push the empty cart all the way back.

The busy work I do to keep from going crazy is a perfect task for a six-year-old. I love my job.

The socks are done.

I will photograph them tomorrow and send them on a secret mission across state lines to offer aid and comfort.

I failed platelet donation...

Will they confiscate my diploma?

To quote my reply to an email from Kathy A.:

"They blew out the vein on my left arm (after I'd been on the machine for about a half-hour) and then, when they moved over to the other arm, I started feeling woozy. Which, it turns out, is because my left arm was still bleeding pretty heavily.

I didn't give enough for them to use any of and I won't be able to donate again until December 5. I am disappointed."

And I got a lovely elbow bruise as a bonus! However, I'm ready to try again in December. Maybe next time, they'll listen to me when I tell them I don't think the needle is in right.

And she's back out. (Edited to add link. Thanks Kathy!)

Doing well so far.

Tomorrow, I'm donating platelets. Please donate blood. Become an organ donor. Send money to COTA (link on my sidebar). Let's do it for Annika.

She's going back in...

Apparently there's a hematoma they need to deal with.

She's OUT!

And she's doing okay!

On my way to bed now, but my thoughts are in Chicago

I hope all is going well.


May all our children outlive us. May we live to see to see our children's children have children. May their lives be as easy and happy as is good for them. May they be useful, and kind, and compassionate. May they be trust-worthy and strong. May they make the world better for having been in it.

Moreena will be up-dating through the night

Here. As of 8:30 PM, things were moving apace.

Go support Moreena, Annika, and the rest of the Tiede family

Annika is getting a new liver

One sock down

One on the needles. I expect to have a pair by the end of the week.

In other news, Virginia seems to have fallen in a vat of indigo, as does Ohio. I am hoping that these trends are real. Keep knocking those doors!

Would you believe????

I totally neglected to bring any knitting gear with me to this conference because I am a dork.

And then, last night, a woman got on the hotel elevator with me, carrying a small pretty shopping bag.

"What did you buy?" I asked.

"Yarn!" she said. "The only yarn store in Roanoke is five minutes away from this hotel! And it just opened TODAY!!!"

It was a sign.

I went. I swooned. It's a great store in a house across the street from the mall near the airport. Really nice inventory of sumptious yarns. I bought the makings of a pair of socks. Local yarn (Blue Ridge Yarns Jubilee in Evening Jewel).

I knitted six inches on it during the two (really excellent) sessions I went to today. It was just lovely.

It's almost 7 PM and so far today

I woke up at 4:30 to leave at 5:30 to drive 4 hours to a place SW of me in my state to attend a conference on my volunteer committee work.

Good conference. Good workshops. Good food at starting luncheon.

My hotel is nice, but not as nice as the conference hotel which is NICE. I wish I were staying there, but it is also EXPENSIVE.

Must go find food for dinner, no restaurant in hotel.

Night all.