Election Day

I love me an election day...it's such a strange feeling when you go about your life on Tuesday of a presidential election and you know that by the time you go to sleep (well, except for the year 2000) there will be a new president and no one knows who it is yet.  Also, like the loveably dorky Chuck Todd on NBC, I highly enjoy, in his words, "geeking out over demographic maps".  Oh, I love those maps where you can see every county in the U.S. outlined in various shades of red and blue.  It's so fascinating to think of all the people in all the counties, all with their diverse backgrounds and reasons for why they vote the way they do.

Justin and I voted this morning at our neighborhood middle school.  We were going to take turns while the other watched Milo and Tessa but as I displayed my horrible parallel parking skills on the street I saw my next door neighbor running over.  He had already voted and passed Justin on his way out and he jumped in my car to watch the kids so we could get it done quickly and painlessly.  It was perfect. 

I have already seen countless voting posts and check-ins on social media and it seems that some locations in some cities even have photo backdrops and signs you can pose with after voting.  I think anyone of a certain age is probably rolling their eyes sky high at voting turning into something that needs to be shown off and I agree.  Just do it, it's kind of a given...Although...I can share a picture of my voting sticker on here because like five people see this and I fixed my hair for once.  Also, there are two sets of voting stickers in town and one has weird grammar on it and I got a normal one so I was happy about that.  I took the picture at home since the volunteer retirees for the Sertoma Club didn't think to set up a selfie station at our location.  Because why would they?

I hope there is some compelling new movie on Netflix for the kids tonight because I plan on a evening long news and demographic map binge.  It is a fun tradition.  I'll never forget watching the news into the early morning hours when I was a senior in high school in 2000 and waiting for results which didn't come for months.  I recall my mom talking about staying up late to wait for an election result with her dad when she was a teenager.  He was a social studies teacher.  I thought it must have been 1972 but I just looked up that race and it doesn't seem like that was a very tight race at all...

LAWD. 

I don't think the entire country will be one color tonight and I think I know who will win but I also think the people giving us news coverage are telling everyone who they want to win.  I struggled with this election just like everyone else in America and I kept thinking, up until yesterday, that some boring but experienced and responsible politician would step in and say, "FINE, I'll do it!" but I have to say I felt a thrill in that little flimsy booth to see a woman on the ballot for president.  I think it's just the beginning.  By the time my kids are old enough to vote no one will think anything of it and when my parents were kids it would have been unthinkable. 

Well, I'm off to daydream about the days when everyone made fun of Bob Dole for referring to himself as Bob Dole and joked about John Kerry getting botox.  That was what we rolled our eyes about.  Sigh. 

Speaking of...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z8Q-sRdV7SY

Watch this.  Just do it.  It will lighten your mood today!  The good old days...