Thursday, November 27, 2008

Happy Thanksgiving!

Things I am thankful for this 27 November 2008: the world's greatest husband (who never complains when I have class or need to work late or travel); three adorable kids (who I love even when they make me crazy and leave Legos out for me to step on); extended family; amazing co-workers; my health, such as it is; the opportunity to attend grad school in Washington, DC; the batch of Joy the Baker's pumpkin pie bars that should be on their way back from Dayton at this very moment; fabulous friends all over the world; positive political change; crackling fires and hot chocolate; good books; Thanksgiving leftovers (which I won't get until Saturday!); one successful year in a job I love; tickets to GWU's Inaugural Ball; pancake breakfasts with my children every weekend; my newly discovered theme song; and the chance to keep on truckin' every day.

And here's a shout-out to Liz, who is thousands of miles from a homemade turkey feast (though at least she's in Germany, where the good beer floweth): I'm going to try and send a batch of these cookies your way. Not sure how, but I'll figure that out later. Hopefully Customs will let them through...

*Special thanks to Deb over at the Smitten Kitchen, whose recipes continually inspire me to try new things (and whose blog post gave me the inspiration for this entry)!

Tuesday, November 4, 2008

Election status (10pm EST)

As of 10pm EST, Sen. Obama has a rather commanding lead over Sen. McCain in Electoral College votes (195-70 according to Politico). I find it interesting to compare the tallies between Politico, CNN and NBC. I don't even bother with Fox News since I know which way they're skewed.

I'm still keeping my fingers crossed that I'll be dancing in celebration of a Democratic win on 20 Jan...

;)

Voting

I took my 5-yr-old with me to cast my vote this morning! He didn't really understand; he said he had already voted (in his kindergarten class, where they voted for their favorite animal - he chose the "buffalo"), so he wasn't sure why Mom was going out to vote. He asked if he could vote with me, but they didn't have the "Kids Vote" at our polling place. There was an extremely nice and gracious older woman who offered to give her "I voted!" sticker to #2 - he was most pleased and did remember to say "thank you".

As for the lines, there was a really long line at the school where I voted - luckily, it was only for those voters with last names that started with L-R. There was absolutely NO line for any of the other letters, which suited me just fine. I didn't see any reporters or exit pollers at my polling place, but when I went to my daughter's school for a parent-teacher conference, there was a young woman there. She asked if I had just voted, and when I responded that I had voted earlier at another location, she blew me off. Honestly, as if I don't have anything important to say as a voter just because I live in a different precinct up the street! *end griping*

In any case, I feel terrific about getting out today to cast my vote. It truly is our civic duty to exercise our right to vote, and it kills me that so many people choose not to, particularly in this historic election. Here's hoping that my candidate of choice wins!

One last thing: I just bought tickets to GWU's Inaugural Ball (20 Jan @ 8pm). How freaking cool is that?!?!

Sunday, November 2, 2008

Wild week in Nashville

I flew in Friday afternoon from Nashville after a week at the 2008 GEOINT Symposium. It was a truly wild week - I had tons of fun, but I am sooooo exhausted!

I thought I'd post some pictures from the event for your enjoyment. You can view pictures from the three days it took to actually set-up the booth, as well as some photos of the booth and some of our exhibitors. I also took some random pictures throughout the week; as a quick background, Craig is one of my co-workers (we work in the same branch - Greg is our branch chief), and the other girls are either fellow co-workers from other branches or exhibitors invited to participate in the show.

I had such a blast at this show. It was extremely hard work (too bad there aren't any pictures of me climbing the truss!), but a terrific experience. I met some wonderful new friends and made great contacts that I hope will pan out for future opportunities. All in all, it was a great time - I hope I can do it all again next year!