Prayer Request

My next door neighbor's 10-month old son, Joey, is in the hospital in critical condition, and doctors haven't been able to determine the cause. The prognosis appears to be pretty grim. Joey was born with severe heart problems and has had several surgeries in his short life. His current problem is not heart related. Joey is on the transplant list, although doctors had been hopeful that he won't need one. We just saw Joey on Sunday, and I was pleased with how healthy and happy he looked as the girls played peek a boo with him. He loves watching the girls run around with his big brother, Bobby. A day later he was sick, and on Tuesday he went to the hospital. Please keep Colleen, Adam, Bobby, and especially Joey in your thoughts and prayers.

More Reason to Hope

Tootle finished her first soccer season last weekend. I am very proud of the passion and joy with which she played. I am most proud of how well she performed as a teammate. She has the athleticism and skills to be one of the players who hogged the ball and scored often. Instead she put her focus on being a good teammate by passing to others and playing awesome defense. The undefeated Marshmallows toasted their season with marshmallows as they received their trophies. I hope every season will be such a positive experience.

Dreams

Let America be the dream the dreamers dreamed—
Let it be that great strong land of love
Where never kings connive nor tyrants scheme
That any man be crushed by one above.
--From Let America Be America Again by Langston Hughes

For over a year, I have had a dream that a visionary leader would be elected who would closely mirror my values and who would understand that big changes are needed to ensure my daughters' future is a bright one. That happened last night. I am filled with hope, especially after receiving an e-mail from the president elect himself last night, thanking me and millions of others for our support and stating, "We have a lot of work to do to get our country back on track, and I'll be in touch soon about what comes next." The grassroots effort will need to continue in order to encourage innovation, save the environment, and bring prosperity back. After eight long years of aimlessness, greed, and divisiveness, we will be on the right track again.

My mom reported this morning that she had a dream that Malia Obama enrolled at Doodle's school and was assigned to her class. In the dream, Doodle befriends Malia and has playdates at the White House. I think Malia is likely to go to one of a handful of DC public elementary school or one of the city's excellent private schools. Chelsea Clinton went to Sidwell Friends, where Doodle has been to summer camp. Doodle's public school in Maryland would be an excellent choice for the Obamas--it too is led by an energetic, visionary African American--but it's unlikely to happen.

Tootle had a dream that "our team, Brock (that's how she pronounces it) Obama" won and that our team had more candy than the other team.

Coloring in the Map

Doodle and I are watching the election returns together. She is coloring in the map for a media class assignment. It makes me very happy that she was able to color Pennsylvania, my home state, blue. I think she'll be finishing her coloring in the morning, but I'll keep watching as long as it takes.

Historic Day

I arrived at my polling place at 7:05 today--5 minutes after it opened--and stood in line for about 1.5 hours to cast my vote. I've never had to wait more than 30 minutes to vote before. Neighborhood friends were a few places ahead of me, a couple originally from India was in front of me, and an African American woman who had never voted before was behind me. The first time voter was in her 50s and told me that her sisters were also voting for the first time, as was her son who just turned 18. I loved the diversity and the enthusiasm of the crowd.

Election Eve Bullets

• My Obama/Biden car magnet arrived in the mail today. I dashed to the grocery store tonight for a few items, and I'm sure my magnet was the deciding factor for some uncommitted voters (insert heavy sarcasm here).
• I wish I had made the time to do more for Obama: I have friends and neighbors who are doing legal work, making calls, etc., but things like Halloween events planning, sickness, and school struggles have kept me home. I'll do my part in the voting booth tomorrow.
• There will be one fewer vote for McCain in Pennsylvania. My mom's twin sister broke her leg after the deadline for absentee voting so she won't be able to exercise her right to vote this year. She's in a wheelchair because she is unable to use crutches due to a shoulder injury a few years ago. Fortunately they live in a ranch house.
• We made some goodies for the election day bake sale at Doodle's school. Feeling a bit pinched for time, I bought Ghiradelli brownie mix for the first time. I got two boxes so we could try it before offering them for sale. The brownies got a big thumbs up from Doodle who said they were like "eating heaven." We also made whoopie pies.

Teenagers

I generally think that teenagers are too old for trick or treating but two older boys got my best costume vote last night. One of the boys had a Dick Cheney mask on one shoulder and a George W. Bush mask on the other shoulder. He had a sign on his chest that read "Your second worst nightmare." His friend was dressed as the worst nightmare: John McCain. When I opined that Sarah Palin is actually my worst nightmare, the boys agreed but admitted that neither was willing to dress like her.

This afternoon we saw a not so positive example of teenager behavior. When we got home from Tootle's soccer game, after being away for about four hours, we noticed that our jack o lanterns were missing. We found them smashed far down the street. Our next door neighbor, who was working on his car, remembers seeing a group of teenagers kicking something orange down the street. I wasn't aware that pumpkins made good soccer balls. Grrr.