Our ground game is phenomenal

Our campaign knocked on over 5000 doors TODAY.

FIVE THOUSAND doors TODAY.

Four thousand of those were knocked on by Young Dems from 3 nearby universities. I am so grateful to everyone who came out.

I did 106.

Then I made some calls to Obama voters.

Now I'm going to bed.

In my car right now

Is everything MM needs for the weekend. He's spending it with QuiltsALot and TellsDonaldDuckStories. They'll be canvassingtrick-or-treating with TellsDonaldDuckStories youngest brother's family (my cousins are MM's age); going to museums; and swimming in the hotel's indoor pool.

Am I jealous? YOU BETCHA!

Meanwhile, I'll be trick-or-treatingcanvassing my heart out.

MM & QuiltsALot will rejoin us Sunday night (TDDS is going back to work in The City) and will be exploring our area until Tuesday evenings Watch Party.

I miss him already.

It's a BUY-cott!

Please ask your school's library to order Love Ya Bunches for their Scholastic Book Sale. And then buy it. Buy two. Buy seven.

Because Scholastic needs to learn that families come in all shapes and sizes: some have a mom and a dad; some have just a mom or a dad; some have no mom or dad, but a grandparent or other guardian; some have two moms or two dads; some, like my family of origin, have two moms AND two dads. They are all still families, and they should be represented in books for sale at the fair. Especially if a book WOULD have been represented if the family had heteronormative parents.

When I was young*, I loved reading Paula Danziger's books, especially The Divorce Express (I still have my autographed copy), because it was such a joy to see MY FAMILY represented in a book (the main character, Phoebe, has parents who share custody - and their starting custody arrangement was the one my family had for my entire childhood)

So join the BUY-cott! Ask for Luv Ya Bunches, and then buy it.



*Who am I kidding? I still read it at least once a year!

7 days left

Holy guacamole.

The Governor was a total sweetie last night. Talked with Muffin Man and made him laugh.

We had about 60 volunteers show up for the event and then boom! it was a walking/calling/envelope stuffing extravaganza!

Did I mention that thing about there being only SEVEN! DAYS! LEFT!?

Holy guacamole

Meet the Governor!

Where: Miller for Delegate HQ 22360 S. Sterling Blvd. in Sterling
When: Monday 10/26 (TONIGHT!) @ 4:30 PM

Come on out and rally for GOTV!

Putting People First

With thanks to my many friends who have talked to me about this, both in person and on various blogs - especially Dave from Rolling Around in My Head and laureldhel from Hoyden About Town.

Putting people first means saying "children with autism" instead of "autistic children" and "people with disabilities" instead of "the disabled".

Remember, just because someone has autism or is disabled doesn't mean that that is the be-all end-all of that person's existence. Zie may also be a baseball player, or a brilliant writer, or love music, or be a die-hard Skins fan, or root for anyone who plays against the Yankees, or all of the above. Zie may have problems unrelated to disability or have an otherwise perfect life. But the point is, zie is a person.

I have found, facing my own biases, that this word order matters. The more I use person-first language, the more I am able to recognize that there is more to a person than the thing that makes that person different from me, whether that difference is in gender, or mobility, or sexual orientation, or heritage, or education level.

Everyone has their own "I Am..." list. Putting people first is a good way to acknowledge that.

More MM

• He's become fond of a certain singer who was embarrassed on national tv recently. I, getting sick of hunting for her music on the radio for him, bought him her CD and we are listening to tracks 3 and 6 ad nauseam. When I was his age, I was obsessed with The Monkees, and wished my name were Valleri, so I now owe my mom an apology.
• It turns out he had homework this weekend (work he hadn't finished last week) and didn't do it. He did inherit my genes after all.
• He's gotten blase about my volunteering in his class, and did the eyeroll at me when I kissed him goodbye. Well, excuuuuuuse me, Mr. ClungToMeLikeABabyChimpWhenILeftLastWeek.
• He opted to bring his lunch today, which would have been fine if we'd discussed it yesterday MORNING instead of yesterday evening. In his bag, 2 hard-boiled eggs, some bread-and-butter, some Halloween candy (yeah, yeah), a juice pouch, and some grapes for snack. Not bad as it goes, but it's a darned good thing we had eggs in the house.
• He's a great big ham and I love him to pieces.

Muffin Man

• Writes long, complicated sentences.
• Knows what 300 squared is.
• Loves math and does his math enrichment packs without any help from me. Unfortunately, he's not so hot about reading instructions. Fortunately, he's in great company in his class. (I grade the math enrichment packs - the mistakes he makes were common to a third of the class. They looked at the picture examples instead of reading the instructions.)
• When asked by a voter why they should vote for his dad, piped up with "Because [the other guy] voted against the stimulus package!"
• Is pretty happy to go with us to various campaign shindigs as long as he's got his DS with him and has eaten or can have food at the event. He finds a corner, settles in, and sometimes joins the conversation.
• Is less happy about the amount of time spent with sitters while I do doors, but doesn't want to do doors with me either. He's pretty darn pleased that the election is less than 3 weeks away.
• Will be a bit scruffy for school picture day next week because he's growing his hair out for Halloween. He's going to be Harry Potter.
• Has had his desk moved at school because he has a tendency to stand up while doing his work (still leaning on his desk), and is a bit chatty (but in all fairness, his teacher said, he never STARTS the conversations. The problem is, he also never finishes them.) She's fine with him standing up, but he needs to be where he doesn't block the view of or bump into other kids. He doesn't seem to mind having been moved.
• Thinks that since he was born in the middle of Winter, he shouldn't have to wear a coat. buzz! Wrong answer! Actually, I make him BRING a coat, but I don't make him wear it.
• Hates tags in his clothes.
• Is the most snuggly 7 year old on the planet.

Herndon Council Member: First Amendment for me but not for thee

Washington Post

Lowell at Blue Virginia has video. He brings up Rust in that article because Rust was instrumental in getting the council members in question elected.

Bullet Points of a Busy Weekend

Saturday:

• Breakfast with MM. Delicious soft-boiled eggs at his request.
• Dropped him off at the babysitter's, where he was greeted with cheers and fawning adoration by her 4 YO nephew.
• Went to Sterling Fest. Handed out tons o' literature, met Paradox13VA (and became an inarticulate gibbering fan girl - I love meeting bloggers I admire. Especially unexpectedly!)
• Knocked on 77 doors, gave out (and planted) 4 yard signs.
• Picked up MM from the sitter's, where my arrival was greeted with groans of disappointment from the 12 or so children jumping on the back-yard trampoline.
• Went home.
• Had dinner.
• Fell asleep.

Sunday:

• Out to a local restaurant for breakfast (bagel and lox, mnmmmm!)
• A rousing game of Clue (MS won)
• Lunch (ham & cheese sandwiches)
• Took MM to see The Flying Karamazov Brothers, whom I first saw when I was his age. He loved them almost as much as I do. Alas, we forgot to bring a challenge object for the Champ to juggle. MM got a set of juggling balls. Much of their show is new, but they still had some of the same routines from when I first saw them. They are delightful.
• Sushi for dinner.
• Bed.

Mr. Spock speaks

At a Young Dems event.

He mentions the Progressive Kick site that I mentioned here. They are doing a matching fund challenge. Please donate there, and scroll down to Mr. Spock's picture to dedicate funds to him.

Thanks!!!

I've got a song in my head

And I'm worrying about it.

It's Tom Paxton's "Lyndon Johnson Told the Nation"

And my brain has replaced "Lyndon Johnson" with "Barack Obama" and "We're sending fifty thousand more, To help save Viet nam from Viet namese." with "We're sending forty thousand more, To help save Afganistan from the Afganis"

So, like I said...worried.

You must read...

This post. Sincerely.

OMIGOD!!! MATCHING FUNDS!!!

Read this! Then go here and donate! It's gotta be in increments of $25, $50, or $100. And Virginia's Progressive Kick will MATCH IT!

I am so excited!

As per the FTC rules

I am married to this guy. Just in case you missed that fact.

What I did this weekend - now with Video! And edited for a typo!

Brought the coffee and donuts to the balloon filling station for our float (awww) in the (awww) (awww) Herndon Homecoming Parade. Woot!

The Parrot:



What's that spell?



Then I did a hundred or so doors on Sunday.


Bonus video: MMMS's speech at the event with the Governor

Relearning old lessons

Yesterday I did 23* doors IN HIGH HEELS.

These are black patent-leather oxfords that are comfortable shoes in general, but not up to the rigors of road-work. I didn't want to take the time to go home and change. It was an experiment, I should've known better, I will never ever do it again.

The biggest reason it was a mistake was because they slowed me way down. They weren't uncomfortable per se, just not the right shoes for the job.






*Should've done 39, I'll do the left-over 13 this evening