What a Week!

Where do you start with a week like this one?

I sobbed nearly all day Tuesday, watching the inauguration with Abby most of the day and enjoying the up to the minute updates by my friends attending and posting pix on facebook. I am so proud, so hopeful, just like nearly everyone else, it seems!

I was struck by the huge positive spirit of the crowd, by the amount of people who were there (and arrived at 3 am!), and most of all, by the very serious and somber tone of Obama's speech. I watched it live that day, listened to it on NPR that afternoon, and read it online last night. Every time, I heard authority, a refusal to give in to fear, and an attempt to go beyond the popular phrase to the more complete, complex idea about a timeless values. Finally, I emerged liking his seriousness and intentionality, however disconnected it seemed to the popular feeling of the day.

The rest of my week was a blur. Wednesday was spent travelling to meetings in Durham and ended with a fabulous work dinner in a 5 star restaurant followed by a recouperating swim in a very strangely shaped and decorated hotel pool. Thursday I was in NY, and ended my grueling first teaching day on the snowy and pretty Columbia campus (see pic) with 4 extra hours stuck in LaGuardia, running into some work colleagues from VA that had been talking about me earlier that day, and hit my bed at home finally at midnight.

Back home on Friday, it was an intense day at home with both kids, as Jake was too sick to go to school. Today, finally, some fun - a morning playdate with one of Jake's friends from school. Actually one of his admirers. A gorgeous little girl (not even in his class!) who adores him and was dying for him to come over. She grinned from ear to ear the entire time we were there, had made Jake some valentines before we arrived, and made him paper fans while we were there. And I liked chatting with her mother. A new friend?

Perhaps most newsworthy of the week, was the discovery that my friend and former employee Jason attended an event with the Obamas on Monday (he's known Michelle for years) and ended up with his infant son's pictures in all the papers, including the FRONT PAGE of the NY TIMES on TUESDAY! Amazing. Little 10 month old Jedi (short for Jedidiah) ended up on the front page in Bangkok and beyond. See this story. Oh, and I guess that also means I am two degrees from the President. Amazing.

I voted today! (Absentee that is)

Some people have been predicting that the lines on voting day might be VERY long, given the closeness of the race in VA, and the importance of the presidential election this year. Mike and I wanted to be sure our votes are counted even if the lines on election day make it impossible to stay and vote with our impatient little girl in tow. She has about a 20 minute limit in her stroller if it is not in motion.

So we went to our town center today to see about voting absentee and it was delightfully easy. In our little town, you can vote absentee between now and November 1. The voter registration building is about 500 square feet in total volume, but they have a voting machine and if you're pregnant, caretaking, working, or planning to be out of town on election day, they unlock the machine for you and keep your vote electronically confidential until election day.

It felt great to press the buttons and hit "VOTE!"

Now, can you guess who I voted for????

A Change in Tone

The tone of the political debate is changing, in interesting ways. Obama's starting to give speeches about the hard work in front of us, and others are pondering the job the new President will have to bring our divided nation back together after such a divisive race. It is heartening and encouraging to see some long-term thinking happening a full three weeks before the election. Perhaps there is hope for this nation yet.

My great friend and former boss Charlie Firestone also wrote a nice piece for the Huffington Post yesterday proposing new responsibilities of citizenship. He talks about a bundle of literacies we should be responsible to achieve. Not just reading and writing, but being civically literate, media literate, financially literate, environmentally literate. I cannot agree with him more. Imagine if every American teenager had to become knowledgable about how credit card and mortgage debt works before graduating from high school. I am sure it would do a lot to curb our greed-centric banking system and help young people make good choices before it's too late. Kudos to you, Charlie!

Reality Check

Here's a good reality check from Thomas Friedman on the relationship between the economy and politics.

This is also good - distills the facts behind the assertions in the Presidential town hall debate last night.

For Some Election Fun...

click here to try the Match - O- Matic!

A Must-Read for West Wing Fans

This is priceless!
Aaron Sorkin Conjures a Meeting of Obama and Bartlet