So I woke up this morning and heard Pat Robertson on “Morning Joe” say “This is the end of the Conservative era.”   What?  Excuse me?  Could you repeat that?  That is too much to take in at 6:30am.

Then I went to vote.  I packed up Claire, a wagon, umbrellas, snacks, activities, even a big trash bag to keep us dry as we waited in line.  There was no line!  Are you serious?  The line was bout 15-20 minutes long and was inside. But quickly we were escorted to a separate line for our specific Congressional district and there was NO one there! 

Now, Virginia has gone to Obama.  I even checked the VA Department of Elections to see how my precinct did.  It’s so heavily military in this area, I was prepared for lots of RED, but my precinct and every other one attached to the base – even the one with the heaviest concentration of enlisted military housing.

I hope I don’t wake up for awhile~

Ok, I know…this is supposed to be a home-school blog, a blog about military family life.  But what’s happening is to important to ignore.  It’s Election Day!

But let me back up 18 hours.  People are scared.  Why?  How do I know?  Well, I don’t entirely understand why, but I do know that they are.  I also know that the more I am quiet and confident in my candidate(s), the more upset and anxious people seem to get.  So here’s the very disquieting thing that happened yesterday:  I got a call from a neighbor friend and after we covered the usual day-to-day business, she asked if I could tell her why I was voting for Obama.  After a deep breath – these things never go very well – I listed my arguments and addressed some of the individual issues.  We discussed back and forth and then the bombshell…..”What do you think will happen?”  When I pressed for an explanation, she explained that she was afraid of the violence Wednesday and maybe even the violence at the polls on Tuesday!  Her husband had reassured her that the riots would be controlled near the base because of the national security implications.  Seriously… she was dead serious, and really, really scared.

I tried to determine if she’s worried about a race war.  That was part of it, but not all of it.  She wasn’t able to articulate exactly, but her general feeling was not hopefulness, excitement, even boredom – it was fear.  And the fact I said I was not afraid was alittle mind-boggling for her.  I was very quiet for a minute and she asked what I was thinking. My response – “I’m sad for you.”  And I was – I’m really sad that she operates in her everyday life with such anxiety and apprehension.  And I told her I am not afraid.  I am not afraid of violence at the polls or after; I am not afraid the government will wipe me out financially to protect others.  I am not afraid of dying while trying to exercise my right to vote…there are worse ways to go.

This is Virginia, not Ghana, not Somalia, not Ireland.  There will be upset people on either side depending on the outcome, but most everyone will get up Wednesday and do their thing.  Here in America, polls don’t get bombed, Catholics don’t get assassinated.  And it does not honor the people that fought for our rights to vote – women, African-Americans, heck, all of us that aren’t the Queen’s subjects - to be so afraid of the process.

Edited to add: T over at Therapy on a Shoestring reminded me that 2 of 3 assassinations of famous Americans were Catholic, and that perhaps I should reword my post.  Point WELL taken.  So I’d like to clarify, that here in America, religious-based assassinations are not nearly the norm.  Nor have Americans had to live with generations of Catholic vs. Protestant violence. 

I woke up to this perfectly stated explanation of what I’ve been thinking for the past 10 days.

This is what $400 looks like:

Who are these people and where did they go? 

Interesting side note, I recently go sucked into Facebook where I found tons of old friends from college and high school – many I have barely kept up with through my parents.  Tobe honest, I have long ago stopped missing any BFF’s and have made some real, true life-long friends that are there for me and show it.  But these Facebook friends, I have realized, are my history.  My first crush, my first friend, my first date, sorority sisters, nursing school lab partners….they all know TO MUCH!    So when I say “It’s our anniversary” – it’s Aprille who remembers because she missed the wedding due to having a baby, or Marcia, who ran all over town for me that day, or Billy, who sang at the service.  So to them, I want to say thanks – as much as I may have disliked it at the time, all those experiences got me to here – a place I wouldn’t have guessed, but really, really like.

Living where we do, I’m sorta used to be outnumbered.  Recently, I’ve met (and embraced) 2 other liberal-leaning spouses on my street and one at co-op (who even invited me to a protest!).  I had not realized how nice it is to be amongst sisters, or how often I feel slightly under attack.  The upside is that I’ve had to spend real time thinking about what I truly believe.  The conservatives that I sleep with know well repeat what they hear on the “Talk Radio Du Jour”.  Many conservatives seem to think all liberals are for increased taxes and handouts and against personal responsibility, ethics, and/or initiative, and of course, none of us are “religious”.  I realized that I am for personal responsibility, initiative and ethics – but doubt many others will rise to my own standards, so I am happy to meet people where they are (which I believe is a tenet of most faiths – “Do unto others….” ring any bells?). I am not for increased taxes, but better use of the ones we currently pay. I am not for handouts with no consequences, but I am for leveling the playing field.  I believe that most thoughtful, intelligent people want decent, affordable healthcare, good schools, the right to choose how to live your own life – whether it includes lots of religion, no religion, abortion, 10 kids, or a partner of the same gender.  I have absolutely no problem requiring some personal responsibility of the able-bodied once the playing field is level.  Once every child has a well-equipped schools (computers, art classes, a library – heck, how about having air conditioners and inside bathrooms), and every child goes home to an encouraging family with plenty to eat, medical visits when necessary, and – heck, how about having air conditioners and inside bathrooms, then we can talk about who gets federal scholarships. 

Then, a few weeks ago, while in the BX I found this book.  It’s not exactly light reading, but the author has managed to find citations, quotations, and research supporting all the ideas I listed above.  You’ve got 20-something days – pick it up and think about it alittle.

So now, I’m feeling so supported and confident, I headed out to my first political rally. Barack Obama was in the area on Saturday.  I wasn’t ready to stand in line for hours, so I went close to speech time and got to the gate (along with about 200 others) but was turned away.  Apparently, the 13 -18 THOUSAND people were packed in pretty tight and the Fire crews were having trouble getting out those with medical needs.  It was disappointing – so close, yet so far -but I was impressed at everyone’s good mood (even when denied entry), and the police’s professionalism.  I walked around downtown for a while, checked out the vendors, and tried to get some pictures.  Links from the paper are here and my pictures are below.

http://www.dailypress.com/news/local/dp-local_obamascene_1005oct05,0,810809.story

http://www.dailypress.com/news/dp-dayinphotos,0,5558855.photogallery

Here are mine:                                                                                            

From WAY far away

Some of the 200ish in my group that was turned away.

McCain is here next week…time to get out the tempra paints again!

Link the tagger and these rules on your blog.
Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird.
Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs.
Let them know they have been tagged by leaving a message on their blog.

So, here are seven facts about me:

1. I have a serious school supply (papers, folders, cards, pens, etc.) addiction.
2. I have had an active nursing licence in 5 states.
3. I have moved 7 times in 15 years within 6 different states.
4. I’ve done open heart massage.
5. I’ve been to the Great Pyramids.
6. I love college football, but not NFL.
7. I get motion sick sitting anywhere but the driver’s seat. 

Now my tags: Cynthia, Traci, Teresa, Laurie, Angela – that’s as close to 7 as I can get….

For a bonus, if you go over to Maricar’s you’ll see her fantastically organized and clean home.  In the event she thinks she has clutter or dust bunny outbreaks, I’m including some current pictures of my disaster area. Enjoy (and send help!).

Two quick heart-warming homeschooling moments – at least they are heart-warming to the teacher!

1 -  Into our 3rd week of Singapore math and we’re moving into more difficult territory. Like adding real numbers.  For those not familiar with Singapore, the general idea is to progress the student from adding 2 apples and 2 apples, then 2 apples + 2 apples, then 2+2 (concrete to abstract).  Singapore is big on “mental math” – so shifting from concrete to abstract comes fairly quickly.  So I spent lots of time on it, helped, used extra concrete manipulatives; I tried explaining it a couple of different ways, writing it different ways, playing games.  Claire gets the concrete stuff great,  and she gets that the numbers represent the actual objects being added.  But when pressed to just do a problem, she is UNHAPPY! It’s going to tough at Auburn carting around all those teddy bear counters.

Then we had a good math day on Monday – she just seemed to “get it” more. When I tucked her into bed, I said “goodnight math genius.”  She asked why I said that, and I explained that I was so impressed that she’d somehow figured it out. Her answer: “I just realized in my brain that 0 means nothing and then it was easy.”  Now somehow, she knows her 0, 1, 2, double math facts! 

2 – We had our first piano lessons today.  Personally, I loved using new brain cells.  I am concerned, however, about my ability to memorize 8 measures of music.  That’s my homework, and I’m not 10 anymore!  Claire was playing with both hands and finding middle C on her own after 30 min.  She could hardly wait to try it out on our piano (teacher has a keyboard) and then teach Daddy.

Maybe, just maybe, the lack of sleep, the untidy house, the constant togetherness is actually all worth it!

Dont faint!  A new post!  AHHH!

I have been plagued by perfectionism – yet again.  This time, I don’t post because I don’t have time to format and upload pictures exactly as I want them to look.  Posts need to be edited and put with the pictures I know we have on the other hard drive.  WHY, oh WHY, can’t the posts in my head download directly???

Anyway, I’m slowly updating:  The links to the right are updated, and my pages are updated (Books, School Policies). 

Baby steps….

related to earlier posts.

• I got this cool comment that appears to be real:

The team at Hooked on Phonics came across your blog and wanted to say how thrilled we are to hear that your family is enjoying our Learn to Read program.

We wish you continued success and look forward to hearing more reading success stories from you. If you are interested in sharing your Hooked on Phonics story with others, we would love to feature your story on our website. Please contact us at success@hop.com if you are interested.

Hooked on Phonics

From Home Education Week Meme #2, 2008/06/23 at 2:21 PM

• Re: Motherhood Maternity:  In honor of moms and wanna-be moms everywhere, I loaded up the kid and my stash of maternity/newborn/childbirth related mailings and headed to the local mall on my due date.  Since I had sometime ago decided that the change this miscarriage was going to cause was to help enlighten and educate, I thought our Motherhood Maternity franchise was the place to start.  I spoke to an assistant manager and explained my personal situation and then told her that as bad as that was, it was just that much worse to find diapers and formula in your mailbox each week.   She was very kind, apologized, and explained that they have an opt-out program.  On the day you give your info to them for making a purchase, you can also get a small postcard to fill out and return that removes your name from the 3rd party mailings database.  You can also get one of these anytime – or better yet, if you have a friend that has lost a pregnancy, stop by and pick one up for her.  So it worked out, I made my point, they told me valuable info, and I’m passing it along.  And, yes, I did leave my bag of stuff….

• re: Moving tributes and deployments:  TDY gremlins attack the active duty member too!  This latest TDY took the IG team to the Northern Midwest.  DH reports that 2-3 rental cars used by the military for the week were vandalized in the hotel parking lot.  Several electronic things taken. 

• re: The Neighborhood Gang:  They all went to art camp sponsored by Parks and Rec this week.  2 hours daily of multi media fun.  Now when Claire asks why we have such a big car, I can remind her that I can fit 6 little girls in it!  Even the gate guards looked at me funny with so many chattering girls in the back.  Now to figure out where to put all the projects. You know you’re in trouble when the teacher says “Claire was prolific this week.”  

• RE: Where’s my music?  I miss my Josh Groban music.  It took me awhile to notice it b/c I dont always to to my own site (just the dashboard).  Eventually I found info that said Sonific was out of business for now.  Too bad – Come back soon guys!