Where were you for the inauguration?

my friend Lisa captured these moments when we were at her house for the big day. where were you?

Claire and Talia share this historical moment together (although i'm sure they'll never remember it. :))

Repairs

the industrial size fans and dehumidifiers in the kitchen are really loud. it's hard to think, let alone talk, in the house. six men came tramping through the house yesterday, ripping up carpet, cutting big holes in the kitchen ceiling, spraying disinfectant, and bringing in big fans and dehumidifiers that will dry out the house. i was thankful they arrived--i couldn't mop up any more water--but they are rather impressive and LOUD. for some kids, this would be great, but my children don't like anything that makes big noise, so this has been hard for them to adjust to. but, tomorrow brings the plumber and i hope we will have our bathtub back. it hasn't been fun carrying buckets of water back and forth between the tub and the sink so that we can wash up. i will be thankful to have a shower again. :)

with so much noise in the house, i drove to a friend's house to watch the inauguration. it ended up being much more fun than trying to watch it at my own place. the kids played while the adults watched. Skye came home from school saying even she got to watch the inauguration on TV. :)

Election jitters

no matter what the polls show, i'm still a little nervous about today's outcome. this election has been quite exciting. i tried to vote early, but couldn't because the wait was so long and it would have been impossible to wait so long with Claire in tow. so i went to vote today and was pleasantly surprised to not wait at all. i went in the middle of the day, so that helped too. but i think most of Madison voted early. i don't remember the last elections being this way. when was the last time Americans were so eager to vote?? it's exciting to say the least. Phil wishes he could attend some of the election parties - the one in Grant Park, Chicago sounds like the place to be! but me, i'll be happy to roll into bed tonight knowing that Obama won!

Skye had to vote at school today too. her school apparently always votes for the school mascot on election day. they had to "join the arrow" to make their vote, just like the big people! :) Skye jumped off the bus, excited that the mascot she voted for won! i hope i feel the same way at the end of today!

Canning season & Formula trouble in China

we are in full canning mode. we went to Door Creek Orchard over the weekend and picked lots of apples (Greening, Jonamac, Cortland) which will be made into applesauce, apple butter. we also picked grapes to make into grape jelly. there is something satisfying about seeing all those cans lined up after you're finished, but right now, i'm just thinking about all the canning i need to do!

on another front, all this formula trouble in China makes me think more of us need to be encouraging women to breastfeed. Breast milk is best!

Virginia shooting

it is a shock to hear that the shooter of the Virginia Tech shootings is a Korean man. what troubles me the most is what may happen to other Asian students on the campus as a result of this shooting. i would certainly hate to be there right now. the Korean government even has issued an apology in the hopes of preventing racial backlash. our Korean friends in Utah said their parents called them telling them to stay home and not go out - at first, it sounds really funny and ridiculous, but like i said, i'd hate to be in Virginia right now. and then this whole thing about the shooter's violent and dark writings - these always become evidences of a violent mind after the fact, but when these writings were discussed in classes, i'm sure no one thought the guy could be a killer.

it's very very sad. and now that i am a mother, i find myself being paranoid about where my children are because who knows what can happen?