Love. Charity. Duty. Patriotism.

I can't believe we just had another presidential election.  I vividly remember four years ago stopping my schedule for the day and turning on my classroom's little 14 inch tv so my 8th graders could watch history as Obama spoke in DC after the election.  Boy how time flies.  This year was a little different.  After voting in the we hours of the morning, I headed to Lance Armour Day school for my peds community clinical.  They want us to get a well rounded picture of pediatrics so we have a couple extra clinicals outside the hospital setting.  LADS is a year round preschool for Rush faculty.  I was in the 4's going on 5 room.  Ironically one of my old clinical instructors had her daughter in that class and was coming in to do a little party for her birthday.  Before the party, the teacher went through her morning routine on the rug and mentioned the election.  It was so cute how all the kids knew exactly what was going on.  They knew who both the candidates were and a few shouted that they would vote for Obama.  One little boy told us that "If Obama doesn't win he has to leave".  Not bad for 4 years old.

After observing and working with the class I headed to Nadine's to get a lot of work done and watch the election.  We were able to knock out assignments which made up 15% of our final grade before turning on the tube and devouring a delectable spread made by Brady for the "election party" aka, Nadine, Brady and I sitting on the couch.  We had wings with an awesome sweet and spicy rub and stuffed jalapenos both smoked in the smoker as well as a scrumptious Reuben dip (and Im not just saying that because you're reading this Brady.  It was delish!).  Our friend Mary, however, had a much more exciting night.  She got a ticket to McCormick Place and went to the Rally!  That's where the Nurses for Obama pin pic came from.  She was kind enough to give us some sort of play by play throughout the night.  

My favorite part of the live broadcast was when they painted the state on the ice at Rockefeller Plaza.  It was just such a detailed process and I only felt secure that at candidate got the electoral votes when the ice state turned red or blue.  I mean we know our news has had incidents in the past where they call it too early.  They can just say oops and fix it, but I guarantee it's not that easy to change the color on the ice, so they better be sure ;o)  I headed home after the election was called but early enough that I could catch the speeches before going to bed.  To no avail I fell asleep and missed both Mitt and Obama's speeches that night.  

Today however I had some time to catch them and I must say I appreciated them both.  Im not one to shout red or blue or go on political rants, but I want to say my piece just this once so bare with me.  I enjoyed that both Mitt and Obama mentioned togetherness and a united states.  I hope citizens can now get off their donkeys and elephants and embrace this concept that their candidates, win or lose, still stand for.  I feel so many people are quick to judge our political leaders for the state of the nation yet, have simply sat on the sidelines waiting for change to come.  Obama mentioned in his speech that we are a group who asks "not what can be done for us, but what can be done by us" yet I question how many citizens live each day with that mentality.  I hope both Mitt and Obama spoke honestly about working together and making strides in the future.  I hope Obama's campaign becomes a reality and we do move forward as a nation.  Yet I know the Depression took something like 12 years to get out of so patience it critical.  

Also, the massive campaign spending needs to stop!  A New York Times article stated that Obama and the democratic party spent 852.9 million on his campaign and Mitt and the republican party spent 752.3 million.  My blood boils thinking of all the better causes campaign money could have gone towards.  There needs to be a cap on political campaign spending and there is no argument to that.  Ohio doesn't need 1400 commercial ads PER DAY to make a decision.  I love that Brian Williams kept putting in a side comment that that money could have really helped in other areas, like I don't know... healthcare!  It's just a waste and Illinois Rep. Tammy Duckworth proved that you don't need money to get the votes by beating her competitor whose campaign funds were 10 times her own. Now to end on a positive note.  Here is my favorite part from Obama's speech on Tuesday.  You don't have to like him, but you can't deny that the statement below is inspiring not just for our country but within our own personal lives.

I have always believed that hope is 

that stubborn thing inside us that insists, 

despite all the evidence to the contrary, 

that something better awaits us so long 

as we have the courage to keep reaching, 

to keep working, to keep fighting. 

Well said Mr. President...

My Favorite Holiday

Halloween is one of, if not the best holiday of the year.  I started getting ready October 1st, well maybe it was September 30th, but whose counting.  It was a nice day out and I didn't want to freeze while decorating outside.  I set up a grave yard, hung some bats and a skeleton on the porch and adorned the inside with cute little ghosts and pumpkins.  While we were a house divided on the decorating issue, I appreciate my one roommate letting me have this month to do as I please with the house (Thank you, Matt! Christmas is all yours :o).

Last weekend Tyler went to a pumpkin patch and bought some beautiful pumpkins for us to carve.  I was going to look up ideas on the internet when he said he wanted to do Jack's face from Nightmare Before Christmas so I decided to go with the theme and do the cover scene with Jack walking on the cliff in the moonlight.  It took us over two hours from start to finish but the pumpkins turned out great!  I also made special pumpkin seeds this year.  One batch with cinnamon and sugar and one with sea salt and cayanne pepper.  The cinnamon and sugar were to die for.  Tyler took about 10 pictures adjusting the dimmer switch to capture them in the perfect lighting.  I'm glad he did because I came home the other day and my Jack was already starting to wilt.  

While I much adore dressing up, I wasn't sure if I'd have time with school and the new job to think up and make something because there is no way I'd ever use one of those generic out-of-a-bag costumes.  I'd rather not dress up.  But then I get a voicemail from my friend Austin one night and it goes along the lines of this... "So we were thinking of ideas for Halloween.  We're doing Pinocchio characters and it turns out you have to be Jiminy Cricket.  Call me. Bye."  Of course I got excited because I knew I could do this one spot on after a little research.  That weekend we went out shopping and I snatched a red sweater and hideous pseudo-suede pants from a thrift store.  Then I was able to get a top hat that I could spray paint blue and put a tail coat on hold to rent for the weekend.  Last stop was Joann Fabrics for some finishing touches since I love to pay attention to detail.  The costume came together rather quickly and I was so excited to get dressed up Halloween weekend.  Our group consisted of Pinocchio, Gepetto, Jiminy Cricket, the fairy godmother, the boy who turns into a donkey, the whale and Cleo (a real goldfish).  I must say, Geppeto, Jiminy and the donkey boy were the front runners.  Im still trying to get my hands on a group pic so stay tuned.