Four years ago
Yesterday I was too nervous and distracted by the election to post anything. But now we're breathing a big sigh of relief; I feel excited and hopeful for the next four years. There's lots of work to be done but I think we're heading in the right direction. I'm especially encouraged by the turning tide of gay marriage. My hope is that by the time our baby is old enough to vote marriage equality won't need to be on the ballots any more because it's accepted and recognized across our country.
Four years ago Chris and I woke up early and biked to a local school to vote. Even though we arrived by 6:30 AM there was already a line from the school, through the parking lot and out to the sidewalk along the street. We waited for about two hours to vote but we did so with excitement. We knew that we were voting in an historic election and I remember thinking, "We'll tell our kids about this."
That evening we hosted an election party!
We served mavericky chili, yes-we-can cornbread and red state/blue state cupcakes. Oh, and our friend dressed up as "the crazy lady from the McCain rallies", I'd forgotten about her! And that makes me remember the days of Sarah Palin and Tina Fey. That was amazing political comedy.
I love voting on election day so we didn't take advantage of early voting. I get sentimental thinking of how lucky we are to be living in a place where we have the right to vote and where everyone is entitled to their opinion, even though some of those opinions are frustrating to me! I love it when everyone across the nation takes part in the same thing - like voting on election day and celebrating Thanksgiving (things we do regardless of religious beliefs) and I was thinking of all types of people voting in big cities, in rural areas and in suburban neighborhoods, like us, across the country.
Yesterday, we got the the polls 30 minutes before they opened. I even dropped Chris off to grab a spot in line (we were third!) and went to get us coffee since it was a chilly morning. We waited excitedly again this year.
In the evening we had a quiet (nail biting) evening at home watching returns. I was so so sleepy but am so glad I stayed awake (...or that Chris woke me up) to hear President Obama speak. We are bummed about some of the state and local elections here in Arizona but there are exciting wins for women and gay marriage across the country and I'm excited for us to put the campaigns behind us and get back to work, there's certainly lots to be done.