Thanks

There are so many things to be thankful for. Our families are the first. Life may get crazy sometimes but we are lucky to have parents and siblings to share our lives and to share our children with.


I'm thankful for having two wonderful kids and an awesome husband. I love him and he loves me; regardless of what happens, that much I know.

Wishes to you all for a wonderful thanks-filled day.

Aruba 2008

Last week, we came back from our family vacation in Aruba. We have been about 5 or 6 times before, and we always go with my husband's family - his parents, brother and sister-in-law, and usually an aunt and uncle too. (I'm one of those lucky folks who actually enjoys my in-laws quite a bit!)


These are the moments I relish the most on vacation.



We had a grown-up night out with my brother- and sister-in-law. It was a blast and completely silly; after a delish dinner we hit a piano bar. We said "one drink"...I think we left after about 6.


You get to take pictures like this, that you never have time for at home...



The coconut flan finale to family dinner out presented with great flourish by O.

We took O on a submarine ride, which was truly cool - shipwrecks and coral reefs and lots of sea life he's never seen. Down 130 feet and you get the "wow"...



Our last big dinner night out pooped out our little party girl.


Mmm. Happy.

I have been really lame.

I'm sorry, blog. I haven't been paying attention to you, ignored you on vacation, and just haven't kept you up to date with my goings-on.

What's happened in these last two+ weeks since the election? Hmm.

I've been trying to get that free agent thing moving. Working with some very lovely folks and meeting new people. Feeling lucky even though much money isn't coming in yet. I have faith for that. It will happen. More to come soon.

I got myself on facebook. Yeah, yeah, it's about time.

I am on Twitter. Trying to figure out how to have it feed into the blog. Which should be easy enough, I think.

I submitted some articles to a site I'm working with, travelingmom.com. I'll let you know when they get posted.

I met a great gal named Beth who owns rolemommy.com. Check out the site...she has a great sense of humor and if you're a mom, you'll pretty much always relate to where she's coming from.

Oh yeah, and we went to Aruba! Okay, I'll do a separate post with lots of pics on that tomorrow.

Forgive me.

Wow.

It's been a long time since I posted, but I can't help but do this right now, even though I was hoping to catch up with Halloween and some fun stuff first. Anyhow, apologies for the dry spell but you're just going to have to wait for those Halloween shots.

Barack Obama was just predicted to win the presidency by all three major news networks. History has been made.

I have friends and family that I am certain did not vote the way that I did. I, for the first time a good number of years, voted for the president-elect, for Senator Obama. I am thrilled. I'll even admit my eyes welled up with tears as the networks all announced the prediction at 11pm.

John McCain is giving a gracious concession speech right now. Honestly, one of his best of his entire campaign--emotional, inspirational, genuine. The negative vibe from his followers in the crowd is palpable, which is unfortunate and he is doing his best to dissuade...but perhaps it's just a vocal handful.

C isn't home--away for work in Boston. We've been on the phone on and off much of the evening. Kind of in disbelief, and excited.

Entering the election period, I had the usual concern that I was going to have to vote for the least offensive candidate. I tend to shy away from politics, and dislike the negativity that reminds me of middle school torture. I am typically insulted by the level of discourse that they think should satisfy most Americans. While there seemed to be enough of this to go around, I do feel like Obama took the high road, for the most part. Admittedly, both campaigns had their divisive moments, and both campaigns had their high points. One clearly balanced a bit better than the other.

I'm a registered independent. I've voted with both parties in the past, though primarily Democratic for presidential elections.

I feel like, for once, someone gave me the respect I deserve and earned my vote. He didn't tell me how to vote, he told me how it was. He showed he was intelligent and thoughtful and knew more than simply the party-line worldview. He speaks to everyone with the same tone, one that I think will resound strongly with our allies and aid in foreign relations.


This election was more important to me than ever because of my children. I don't want anyone leading this country through anger or resentment, or even someone who uses a snarky tone to communicate to the public. I don't want them to see a leader that believes aggression is a first means of approaching an issue. I don't want them to see us living in a "bully" nation. I want them to be proud and I want them to genuinely understand the value of all human beings and what anyone can contribute to this world.

I am really proud of our country for making this decision. I am thrilled to see the excitement throughout the entire country! When have we ever seen celebrations like this over an election? This is the passion America is supposed to feel, all the time. I took pictures of my TV, as you can see.

I can't wait to see what happens tomorrow. How will the world perceive us now?
Very, very differently.