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Get in the Game

For some reason the code I need to embed this won't pop up for me so I'll just say, here's a little video for you. And you can click when you are up to it.

So, I was just wondering. Are you one of those people who is still on the fence regarding who to vote for this Nov. 4th? I was just wondering - why? When the choice was Hillary or Barack, OK. I could see some confusion about what the real differences were other than the obvious. But that's a done deal now. So now you're still wondering Obama or McCain. Why? Because their beliefs are so much alike? Because their backgrounds are so similar? Because the differences in what they vow to do in office are negligible? I honestly can't understand not knowing by now - 13 days away. I've voted a few times now and I've done the lesser-of-2-evils kind of voting. I can see that. But this time? Really? You still don't know?

Now I presume you've heard all the debates and/or read articles and/or visited their websites and/or watched their infomercials and/or discussed all this with umpteen people at work and everywhere. I am guessing you can get the news from wherever you are so you do hear that too.

I'm curious. If you are on the fence and you come across my blog, will you be willing to share why you stay on the fence? I'm truly curious about what it could be that's got you so unsure. Now if it's that you just don't believe in sharing who your choice is, that's not on the fence. That's just being private and that's your right. I don't mind telling you my vote goes to Barack Obama because this is one of those times when I think it helps some people to know they are not alone in making this "radical" choice. I am curious though. Even the Bible will tell you that you must choose. There is no lukewarm, only hot or cold.

My concern? Whatever side you choose, you need to show it by actually voting. Lip service is not enough. And don't wait until the end of the day if you can help it. First thing in the morning. Take your children. Set your cell phone alarm to remind you if you have to wait until the end of the day. Or go on your lunch hour. A friend said we should get Nov. 4th off as a holiday so there are no excuses. I totally agree. It will be interesting to see how many people say Obama and then back out at the last minute - aka The Bradley Effect you've been hearing about - or even how many swear McCain but in their heart say Obama - The Reverse Bradley Effect. It's going to be interesting to see how many voting issues come up and claims of wrongdoing. Will it be another month-and-a-half-long counting process? Will it be a landslide? Will you get off the fence and go vote?

The world shall see. Watch that video yet?

Quick P.S.: Obama is awesome but remember he is NOT God. He is just a man trying to make a difference and to expect anyone to go in and save us all is unrealistic. Great if it happened, but maybe you shouldn't get your hopes up. It has taken years upon years to get to where we are. It is unfair to expect anyone to clean it up in just 4 years. Taxes go up whether they say they won't raise them or not. People lose jobs whether they say they will save the economy or not. Global warming continues whether we drill offshore or suddenly find all kinds of new ways to create safe, clean energy for ourselves. Take your realism to the voting booth with you. You are voting for the person who you truly think is going to try to do what they say they will and who best represents the majority of your interests. No one can represent your EVERY interest. All this goes for McCain too. Who would you want to work with on fixing our present state? Pick him.

Race Matters

I love this and I hate this. My brother forwarded this to me recently and it's fitting because I know it is on the minds of every black person who sees the significance of this but no one wants to utter it out loud too much. No one wants to make too many waves and get this brother off course.



The email that came with it said:

What must it feel like?
To carry the hopes and dreams of an entire race of people on your shoulders? As much as I hate to say it, I know beyond a doubt that the next four weeks are going to be nasty. He's leading, and there are people who simply cannot stomach the idea of his beautiful family living in the White House. There is going to be smears, slander and lies, the likes of which you¢ve probably rarely seen. So ya'll, we got to pray for this man. And please . . . make sure you VOTE!!!

And so we wait. This is a scary place for any black person who cares about their people. This man DESERVES to win. But the burden on him, whether he articulates it or not, is not just to help this country as a whole. He has the perception of our race in his hands. Whether any of us like it or not. We are excited for him and scared for him. To fail hurts us all. To succeed puts his life in jeopardy. It's not fair and we HATE to think like this. But we do without even trying, without being taught. It is ancestral memory at its best. When he wins, we will all hold our collective breath for four years praying he makes it through and does not do anything any worse than any other president has done. But here's the thing - he can't do anything wrong. He does not have that luxury. He's got to be damn near perfect. It's not fair. Still, it's the reality of being black in this country and YES, it is the reality in 2008 whether you were born a minute ago or a lifetime ago. It is what we still have to teach our African-American babies. It is what they know instinctively as well. (Remember Daughter choosing white dolls over black dolls?)

What angers me is knowing for a fact that if Obama were white, there would be fewer people on the fence. And you know why they are there but won't admit to? They like him and what he has to say. After all, it's really no better or worse than any other presidential hopeful as said. It is because he is black that they hesitate. It is because he is half-white that he gets some support. There are those giving lip service but will white entitlement win again and pull the lever when it's time to vote, despite what their common sense is saying? We'll see. It's gonna be close, I'm sure. I wouldn't be surprised if it ended up being so close votes will have to be re-counted. Amazingly, some may disappear or suddenly be found. But I have to check my cynicism and pray that God is saying the time for this foolishness to end is now and no matter how hard "they" try, this deserving man will rise above it all anyway. God works all things together for the good of those who love Him. I'm going to keep looking for the good.

Sigh of the Times

So my friend says, "Blog already!" Well, not those words precisely but close enough. It's not that I have nothing to say. It's that I have no time to say it. My job has been INSANE lately but we have those times. Times of still waters and times when it's all hands on deck, every man and woman doing everything that needs to be done. For at least two solid weeks I could think of nothing but all the stuff I had to do at work and I'd go home wishing I could do some more from home but knowing I needed to chill.

What I NEED is a laptop, much like the one Mr. T. once bought and promptly sold to the first person who asked him if he'd be willing. The freedom of the laptop is that when I get home tired, I just want to sit and let the TV watch me while I maybe work on something for the project we're doing for my business or maybe while I edit some columns to go on the website at my job. What I don't want to do is go all the way back downstairs to sit on my stool and work my way through my email and catch up on a few things. I'd be willing to do that in my bed right before I fell asleep though. So I need a laptop. Again.

But the issue here was time and time is money, right? I have no time, so what does that mean? Yep, not enough money either and I'm about sick of it. As I told said friend, we have money to survive. What we need is money to live. Cub scouts cost. Halloween costumes cost. New earrings for my newly pierced 4-year-old cost. (Yeah. I'm sorry I didn't blog about it. She hounded me and hounded me and I knew she didn't know what she was in for but I didn't want to put fear in her either so I gave in. She tried to jump out of the chair after the first one went in. It took 10 minutes to talk her into the second hole and now she is over the moon.) Anyway, she's turning 5 soon and birthday parties cost. My car REALLY needs help on all fronts. But that costs. Basically, I've been maintaining but it's time to get ahead.

So I thought, what can I do? The business can't help right now. We have 2 FANTASTIC new children's puzzles in the works and when they are done, I will share that with you all as I look for stores to take a chance on them. We do have our printer taking a chance on our holiday cards in his highly trafficked store, though, and we still have the first store we were in, so the potential exposure IS there. We just have to work them - after the artwork is finally done. It's taking longer than I hoped but I anticipate something awesome because both of these women are dynamic artists. The puzzles are election related, however, thus the time concern.

So I keep thinking, what can I do? I can't work outside the home more than I already do. I can't do anything that will require more gas to get there, you know? But I can edit and I can write and that has to be enough. But I am working on my own book and I don't write as much as I'd like for my job due to the millions of other things that need to be done, but I write for them nonetheless. So do I want a third writing job? Not really. Copy editing? A form of writing and very time consuming but doable. You know what's even more doable? Proofreading. Haven't done it since I was temping after I got out of college but I do have that weird gene one has to have to even like this kind of work. I didn't know I had it until after college but I suppose it was like having a disease and just not having the diagnosis until years later. This stuff is in my blood somehow so this is what I do.

I went looking for a proofreading company I can deal with virtually. Took no time to find one but now I had to go looking for my resume again. I updated it 3 years ago after I had been working my new job for a bit but I hadn't done it since. I had different versions for different positions so I had to find the right, well-edited one so I wouldn't have to worry about typos. Then I had to update it.

This morning I sent it off to the guy and I was honest in the cover letter because honesty works for me. Basically, I can do what he's looking for in an editor and proofreader. I can use the programs he wants the person to be able to use. There is one program I don't have or use because I never needed to but I told him if I have just cause, I will buy it and use it. No big deal.

No typos in the email and off it went. It must have taken him 5 minutes to respond. Cool. He was impressed. A far cry from the days when I first started and just needed a chance to get started. I needed a job to get experience but first you had to have experience to get a job. At last, experience is no longer an issue. He sent the preliminary test and it sits waiting for me. I glanced at it and the number of errors in it is making me jumpy but you can't do these things quickly. I intend to take all weekend.

If I make it through this part, there are THREE MORE PARTS, they say. Yikes! Am I sure I don't want to go back to SAT Prep teaching? Naw. Who has time to get re-trained and I don't want to drive all over the state anyway. I want to be with my kids as much as I can. They are so grown. Son has his friends he likes to go see and thankfully those boys' mothers adore him and welcome him when he comes. Daughter is sad thinking Son doesn't have time for her anymore. "He's MY best friend!" she cried recently. I explained that Son had made those friends in kindergarten and now that she was in kindergarten, she'd make her own friends too. "He's not moving out, you know. You'll always have each other." In the meanwhile, she comes home and tells me about all the kids she gives turns to on the schoolbus so they can sit next to her.

My children are social and I don't want to think about what their social lives are going to cost me over the years. I've got my own friends though and it costs to hang out, you know? But hang out with them is what I like to do. And my co-workers have joined that group since just about every wall that SHOULD be up, went down over the past few months. I won't even go into the stuff we've shared - with each other AND our boss! - but I am thankful to work with people I like and can relate to. Of course that's more people to do stuff with (we're going shooting next month. More later.) and that requires disposable funds.

I can't think about the economy or continue to watch my retirement going down in huge chunks like it is right now. I just trust things will work out in the end and I do thank God I have some more time ahead of me for things to rebound. In the meanwhile, I'm praying this at-home stuff works out and that somehow I'll find time for that and puzzles and my own writing and my own life.

This is my sigh of the times.