At Least I Apologized

It has been a long, strange Election Day. Christopher got up a little after 4 this morning so that he could be out the door and to his polling place by 5:45am (so they could finish setting up and be open by 7). I had every intention of seeing him off and then going back to bed, but... well... I was up long enough to be wide awake. 

Because Christopher took my car today (his is having its rear brake rotors looked at), I've been sticking close to home most of the day. Luckily, our voting location is just a block away from home. I walked over around 11 this morning and was in line for just under an hour before becoming voter number 895 in our precinct. It's been a really warm few days, so we were all enjoying standing outside in the 70-degree sunshine, chatting and watching the kids play while we waited to get our "I Voted" stickers. Oh. Yeah. And to vote, too.

Unfortunately, without the car, I was unable to take my sticker to Ben & Jerry's for my free scoop, but I have to say that I was happy to have voted, even so. Although... maybe I can blame that for my crankiness this afternoon when ONE MORE person stopped by to knock on the door and ask if everyone in the household had voted. The very polite young man then asked if he could put a paper hanger on our front door. I said no, until he explained that, without it, more people would probably come by and ask later on. At that point I agreed, saying "Okay. Fine. Sorry. I just [expletive-ing] want it all to be [expletive-ing] over." Luckily, he took my expletive-laden apology with a grain of salt and glanced at his watch saying "We just have to make it through six more hours!" 

So now it's about 7:30pm. The local polls close at 8. I'm hanging out and have just turned on the TV to check out some of the returns. Christopher's "official" day won't be over for at least another hour, and there's a very good chance that he won't be done with everything and able to make it home until at least 10 or so tonight. Since he's the one who has been working the phenomenally long hours today, I'm going to try my best to stay up until he's home. (Wish me luck!)

I hope you all made it out to vote (again... as I said yesterday... assuming that you were eligible and all that). Just think--no matter who wins we'll be making history. How cool is that?

Helping Out the Electoral Process (sorta)

Christopher and I just got back from setting up the room he'll be working in during the election tomorrow. I had never known anyone who did that kind of thing before Christopher. I mean... I knew people worked at polling places during the day, but I didn't know anyone who gave their entire day to sitting in the voting room making sure that everything goes smoothly. And, yet, that is what Christopher will be doing tomorrow for a thoroughly mind-numbing 16 hours! 

To make the start of the day go a little smoother, tonight we went over to the school where Christopher will be working and got the bare bones of the room set up. It's a multipurpose/cafeteria room in an elementary school, so I spent my time moving some tables and chairs and setting up the "voting booths" (which are, honestly, fairly spindly plastic desks with three partition walls around them). Then I spent some time taping Spanish, Russian, Hmong, Vietnamese and Somali voting instructions on the wall--covering over the lunchroom monitor schedules. Christopher spent his evening making sure everything he needs for tomorrow was in the right places, and trying to figure out the proper layout of the room so that the "Automark" machine (really a rather cool gadget) and the Ballot Counting machine were properly spaced away from other things. 

Tomorrow morning Christopher will head for the school so that he can be there around 5:45--yes in the morning. He'll have a few volunteers meet up with him around 6, so that they can open the doors to voters at 7am. From that point until 8pm, he'll be in charge of a roomful of volunteers making sure that anyone who wants to vote can have that opportunity. And... well... for anyone who isn't eligible, he'll have to deal with that, too. If all goes well, he'll get home around 9:30 or 10 tomorrow night. 

Alright, so, here's the deal:

1) We've all sat through months of political posturing and ads and mudslinging--and that was from the newscasters.

2) We've had to deal with people phoning us at odd hours to tell us what they want us to think, as well as the constant visual barrage along the roadways.

3) The rooms are set. The ballots are ready. And Christopher--and everyone like him who is going to be overseeing the elections--is waiting.

Which leaves me with only one question: What are you waiting for? Go vote. 

(Well... if you're reading this on Tuesday, November 4th, at least... and if you live in the States... otherwise--yeah--I guess you're fairly exempt...)

Falling Back... Saturday's Post on Sunday Morning

Having worked at The Minnesota Opera for a while, and then leaving that company when my position was "reorganized" last summer, it should come as no surprise that going to see "Abduction from the Seraglio" at the Opera last night was a little strange. Let me break this out in two sections: The show, and the "Show."

The show:

The show was fine. Although I worked in marketing for the Opera while I was there--writing copy for all sorts of mailings (print and otherwise) promoting the shows--I've never really been a huge opera fan. I've got to admit that I'm glad "Abduction from the Seraglio" wasn't my first introduction. It's a Mozart comedy (while this does mean it's funny, in opera terms "comedy" really just means that there's not a lot of death) about two women who have to get broken out of a harem by their true loves. In the production playing in St. Paul right now, the conceit has this all taking place in lavishly-decorated cars on The Orient Express. The set (complete with scenery moving by outside the windows) and costumes were lush. The act-closing quartets were quite enjoyable. But I have to admit that if this had been my first opera I probably would have left after the really bland first act. Luckily, Blonde (the maid) and Pedrillo (her intended) got to sing more after the first intermission, and combined with some great comic slapstick, they took me along for the rest of the ride. 

The "Show"

I fully admit that I was a little nervous about going back to the place that let me go 6 months ago. But it turned out great. I got big hugs from people I haven't seen (although I've talked to/emailed/etc) since I left the Opera. Just as good, since Christopher is young enough to be part of the Opera's "young professionals" group, Tempo (I aged out if it last year, already), we are able to get tickets for cheap after buying a membership. So we got to go to the post-show meet-and-greet at the St. Paul Hotel. The food was great. The drinks weren't too expensive. And the mingling was nice. 

So... yeah... it was a nice evening. Would I say it was a spectacular evening? No. Unfortunately "Abduction" didn't hold up its end of the bargain for that. But the rest of the evening was great.

** sidenote ** If you happen to be in the Twin Cities, The Minnesota Opera has a phenomenal discount deal for next Tuesday for "Abduction." If you're looking for a good way to get away from the hour-upon-hour of voting predictions, I would definitely check it out. Just settle in for the first act and know that it keeps getting better. (And hope that Tuesday does, too.) ** end sidenote **

Trick or Treat - The Snack-Sized Posting

This being late in the evening on Hallowe'en, I fully admit that I've had a little bit more sugar than I probably should have, so today's posting is going to be a whole bunch of "Snack-Sized" topics. Are you ready? Here we go...

1) Christopher and I went out to dinner tonight with friends. Went to a great place in Minneapolis called Blackbird. I think all four of us had great meals--none of us had any complaints. And we had some wine called "Basket Case" which was a really nice syrah.

2) Our new roof looks great. I promise to talk more about the process which got us the new roof in the next couple of days.

3) In the past 60 hours we have made 2 pans of bars and a chocolate pound cake. I made the two kinds of bars (to take to a meeting--although there are a few left), Christopher made the amazing chocolate cake (for a friend's birthday--we sent the leftovers home with him). It's truly that time of year--time when we find ourselves baking every time we turn around. Luckily, Christopher can take things to work so we don't have all of those calories in the house.

4) The flowers with the fresh "branches" aren't looking all that great. But we've placed them in a south-facing window to get as much sun as possible. And we're keeping fingers crossed, but not placing any bets.

5) Now that Hallowe'en is almost completely over, we just have to deal with the Election and then we can hope that the ghouls and goblins will go away.

So... Happy Hallowe'ekend. I hope you've all gotten your fill of snack-sized candy goodness. I'll work on something a little more substantial for next time.

A Bloomin' Update

Having received three comments on my last posting "A Bloomin' Dilemma"--each of which suggested that I take the chance and put the branching roses into fertilized water--I have done that this morning.

After all, that's more comments than I've gotten on any one posting, so far, so who am I to say no?

I'll keep you posted on whether or not they survive...

A Bloomin' Dilemma

Warning: The following questions are not necessarily rhetorical.

What do you do when flowers start to sprout? No. We're not talking tulips in spring--those I know what to do with.

Remember the great yellow roses that Christopher brought me on the 17th? Well... When he came home on Monday the flowers were still looking really good, except for one strange thing...

Three of the stems have sprouted new leaves. And not just new leaves, but new "branches" of leaves. They're coming out kind of pale, then turning the reddish-green of growing roses. And I have no idea what to do.

Part of me wants to put those stems into a highly fertilized water and see if they'll take root. Part of me (this would be the practical side) says that I should just throw them out and be done with them.

Thoughts? Ideas?

A Quick Gripe

We are now one week from The Election. 

Today our household received 4 pieces of mail. Total. And every single one of them was a political ad.

Today our household received 5 phonecalls. Total. One was Christopher calling home. One was a friend of mine. Three were political (and, as we've discussed, none of us are protected from those by the Do Not Call list).

I heard, recently, someone's response to the question "How do you think the American public will feel on November 4th?" The answer: "Relieved." 

When the surprised interviewer followed up with other people, it turned out that this was an overwhelmingly bipartisan answer. And, from what I can gather from friends and family and pundits across the land, that's pretty much how everyone feels about it. We all want to get to the 4th, go out and vote, and celebrate on the 5th when no political ads are on TV.

** REMINDER ** By the way, don't forget to go out and vote next Tuesday. After all, if we don't all go out and vote, then we'll have sat through the torturous process leading up to this election for no reason. I don't know about you, but I, for one, am not going to get beaten up for all these months without taking the chance to have my say.