Time for a New Signature Block

I am no longer a lawyer-with-an-asterisk. I am a lawyer who passed the Bar!

Happy, Hopeful, Addicted

Last night, after spending nearly two hours pacing and cleaning my office because I couldn't sit still, watching msnbc stream live on my computer (expanded to Full Screen mode because who was I kidding, I wasn't doing work), but not leaving work because I really did have SO MUCH to do, I finally gave up pretending to be a productive lawyer and headed out to an election party. The party was also in honor of one of my oldest friend's birthdays and while I was so glad to get to celebrate with her, I was dying for my laptop and TV with sound rather than closed captions. I gave in to my inner political junkie and headed home around 8pm and soon had my perfect set-up: a glass of red wine, a comfy couch, a computer on my lap opened up to my five favorite political websites, and the TV remote in my hand, flipping between MSNBC and CNN. It was heaven.

And then, I got to watch my guy win. I have never thought Barack Obama was perfect or the answer to all of America's problems, but I do think he will be a great president. I think he is extraordinarily intelligent, confident, and willing to listen. I disagree with some of his positions, but it seems to me that a president's agenda almost never gets effectuated- what matters as much as anything is the way he presents himself and the way he represents America to the world, and in that respect Obama is a big step up. Seeing the faces of the people in Grant Park, watching the videos of people lined up around the block to vote, thinking about what election day means for every American no matter your views- I could not stop crying.

I'm almost embarassed to admit it, but I went to bed before Obama's speech. Landon has not yet accepted daylight saving's time and I was exhausted, but I DVR'd msnbc and planned to watch it when I got up (for some reason I really wanted to see it on TV rather than an internet clip). And so this morning at 6am with a Landon in my lap, I watched his acceptance speech. And I sobbed. And the truth is, it wasn't even that Obama won, though I'm happy about that, it was just all the emotions of the night. McCain's concession speech was also moving. It was classy and heartfelt in a way I hadn't seen from him in this election and I couldn't help but think that if he'd sounded a bit more like that during the campaign the results would have been a lot closer. His supporters on the other hand... well, I hope they decide to emulate their candidate. I think one of the biggest messages I found in this campaign is that voting FOR something or someone is more motivating than voting against them. McCain seemed to spend a lot more time telling people why they shouldn't vote for Obama instead of why they should vote for him, and while the negatives and scare tactics will get people talking and shaking their heads (and sending chain emails), it won't necessarily get them to wait in line for two hours to cast their ballot. The faces of the people in Grant Park really believed in something and even if you disagree with every one of their beliefs, it was still rather amazing to behold.

So here I am, still not sleeping or working because it turns out all those political websites I was watching up to the election are still there, and now they're filled with fascinating behind-the-scenes campaign details. I'm deeply disappointed in the results of California's Proposition 8 ballot measure; I'm a little amazed that a senator who was recently indicted on 7 felony counts won his reelection bid (seriously Alaska?); I'm still in awe at the states Obama managed to win (Bush won Indiana by twenty points in 2004 and Obama flipped it, that's amazing); and I'm really, really sad I couldn't join my friends in Grant Park (which we could have walked to from our first Chicago apartment - argh!). I'm excited about the years ahead. I'm excited to have a new president to read about, criticize, praise, and see made fun of on the Daily Show. I'm hopeful that someday my children won't get why it was such a big deal that we elected a half-black man named Barack Hussein Obama as their president because electing someone on their merit rather than their name or color will be all they know. I'm happy, I'm hopeful, I'm completely addicted to politics. It's a good time to be an American.

Yay America

I am drowning in work. There are incorporation documents all over my desk, unnecessarily complicated stock redemption and conversion provisions have given me a splitting headache, and sometime yesterday I reached the unfortunate conclusion that I have NO IDEA what I'm doing. To top it off, the senior associate I'm working for had two closings today so he has not been available to answer my myriad of questions. I'm an excellent swimmer but I am barely treading water right now.

But you know what? I don't care today. I can't stop clicking on CNN and MSNBC and www.fivethirtyeight.com and a million other political blogs and sites. You'd think being busy would serve as a perfect distraction until results start rolling in, but I've found I can't focus until those results are announced. I'm excited, nervous, and feeling almost overwhelmingly proud of being an American. It's not just that I'm excited about my candidate, I'm practically giddy over how many people are voting. The stories of people getting in line before dawn to cast their vote keep bringing me to tears (I am seriously not that emotional of a person, I don't know what it is about the electoral process that does this to me. This story, courtesy of Citations, did not help). Turnout looks like it will finally be what it should be- quotes like this are just so fantastic: "Secretaries of state predicted turnouts approaching 90 percent in Virginia and Colorado and 80 percent or more in big states like Ohio, California, Texas, Missouri and Maryland."

So whether you're GObama or NObama, yay to all of you who voted. Yay for waiting in line, yay for being informed, yay for exercising your right even in states where your electoral votes are pretty much locked up for the other side. Yay for this election being over and a new chapter in American history beginning next year. I'm off to a big election/birthday party tonight for one of my closest friends- we'll hopefully be toasting to our candidate's victory, but regardless we'll be celebrating the fact that so many people turned out to vote. And hopefully the news will stop showing pictures of people waiting in line because my eye makeup is not going to stand for much more of my continual eye watering.

Time to put on my political party hat - Hooray America!

On Marriage, Giraffes, and Proposition 8

I have little respect for people who see the world in black and white- especially in politics, where you can find intelligent, thoughtful people on both sides of almost any issue. However, there is one issue on which I cannot understand the other side, and that is gay marriage.

This is an issue that feels so personal to me I can barely write about it without tearing up. My best friend since I was five, the boy I grew up with, who was a "bridesman" in my wedding, and someone I've known and loved longer than my own brother, is gay. He told me that in high school and it rocked me to my core in a way you can only understand if you grew up in a suburb as conservative as mine. And while I struggled with what that meant in the aftermath of our conversation, one thing remained absolutely clear: this was my best friend, the same boy I made forts with on the greenbelt and immediately told the truth about Santa Claus when I discovered it - nothing about him had changed and my friendship with him didn't change either. From that point forward I was a secret gay-rights activist. I glared at those who used "gay" as an insult (which in high school is pretty much everyone) and I worried about my best friend growing up in an America that discriminated against him.

And that's what it is- discrimination. Treating two like people differently. I have yet to hear a single coherent, non-religious reason why same-sex couples should be an exception to the Constitution's fundamental right to marry. I've heard "marriage is a religious institution" and while that's true, it is also a governmental one, and until the government stops being the regulator of marital unions, you can't use religion as an argument when there is a Constitutionally mandated separation between church and state. Of course the flip side of that is that churches don't have to have anything to do with these ceremonies, but as a governmental matter, there is no reason to deny a governmental right to an entire class of people. And those rights are numerous and important- joint tax returns, hospital visiting rights, rights of survivorship in wills, the right to sue for wrongful death, automatic inheritance of a portion of your spouse's estate, exemptions in estate and gift taxes, insurance benefits, and so many more.

To me, it is a civil rights issue. Just as I find it crazy that my grandparents lived during a time when it was illegal in some states for blacks and whites to marry, I hope that my children will find it bizarre that I lived in a time when it was illegal for two gay people to marry. Another argument I've heard is that marriage has traditionally been between a man and a woman- well, black people were traditionally slaves and that didn't make it any more right. There's also the "it isn't natural" argument which I'm pretty sure people also said that about interracial marriage, plus there are numerous members of the animal kingdom who prefer to mate with the same sex and I'm not sure it gets much more "natural" than a bunch of giraffes out in the wild who have more same sex "couplings" than heterosexual ones (a random fact brought to you by Wikipedia). But as a married person, the argument that offends me the most is the one that says heterosexual marriage is somehow threatened by same sex marriage. I don't know about the state of your marriage, but mine is decidedly not threatened, weakened, or undermined in any way because more people want to join in pledging their lives to each other. And it's probably worth noting that this is one of the few issues on which JP and I are in total agreement.

Jerry Sanders, a conservative Republican mayor of San Diego who has campaigned for Proposition 8 which seeks to "eliminate the right of same sex couples to marry" (quoting the text of the Proposition), decided not to veto a city council decision to support same-sex marriage. In an emotional press conference that made me cry at my desk, he gets it right: "As I reflected on the choices I had before me last night, I just could not bring myself to tell an entire group of people in our community they were less important, less worthy or less deserving of the rights and responsibilities of marriage than anyone else simply because of their sexual orientation... In the end I couldn’t look any of them in the face and tell them their relationship, their very lives, were any less meaningful than the marriage I share with my wife."

We need more politicians like him- and by that I don't mean ones who think like me (though I wouldn't complain). We need leaders who are willing to truly reconsider their positions, who don't cling blindly to the positions of their party, and who are willing to take a stand and do what is right for the people they serve. I wish I lived in California so that I could vote No on Proposition 8 tomorrow for my best friend who deserves to have his relationship respected by the government just like mine.

Economic Stimulus

This weekend the Lag Liv house did its part to boost the Austin economy- not that the Austin economy seems to need much of a boost.

On Saturday morning JP and Landon had some big man/little man bonding time while I headed to a seamstress to finally get all my pants altered (I brought her ten pairs, turns out I actually do have a lot of pants in my closet, it was just that none of them fit) and did a little winter work clothes shopping at my favorite discount stores. I had great success at Ross. I don't think every state has these little gems, and I have no idea how they get their merchandise, but there is no better store for bargains. Sometimes you walk in and its all crap, other times you can strike gold. On this trip I found a dress for my law firm's "prom" in November- an absolutely gorgeous Nicole Miller-like dark fuchsia ruched satin dress that fits me perfectly, as long as I don't attempt to breathe, with original tags for $228 and a Ross price of $39.99, a beautiful purple dress for future wedding-type events for $40, and two black Calvin Klein dresses for work that quite possibly fit better than any dress has fit me before at over $250 off the original price. I felt extravagant spending that much money, but I knew I'd kick myself for leaving something that perfect and marked down on the racks. I wear a lot of black and have a lot of different shoes and accessories to play with, so I'm certain the investment will pay off (unlike our stocks right now). I also picked up a few things at Marshall's and didn't even look at the shoe section! It was a productive day.

This morning we went to church and then embarked on our first visit to Costco EVER. We went with a good friend of mine (she's a 5th year at the firm and lives near us) and her husband and nearly two-year-old son, all of whom are obsessed with Costco and their pizza. We kicked off the trip by eating several slices of the fabled pizza and then roamed the aisles looking bargains. Although, as I explained to JP, it's not a bargain if it's something you wouldn't normally buy. Here is our conversation in the refrigeration section:

JP: Look I found two-packs of big Naked Juices for only $7- I got two!
Me: That's $14 on green juice!
JP: But it's way less than at the grocery store.
Me: But we don't buy it at the grocery store.
JP: But we would if it only cost $14.
Me: No we wouldn't. This is how these stores make money- they make you think you're saving a bunch but really you're just buying things you normally don't get because they're too expensive!
JP: You are sucking the joy out of my first Costco experience.

He ended up with one two-pack of Green Machine and I ended up with pretty new glasses for the kitchen. Landon made off with a new Sandra Boynton board book - and oh my goodness, Landon-- I don't know whose toddler was in our cart but he was the most happy, pleasant, perfect toddler who has ever been in a Costco. We were shopping well into his nap, trying to push it back for daylight savings time, which I used to love but now hate, and he was so smiley and clappy and just absolutely delighted to be alive and sitting in a shopping cart. The last time I tried to take him shopping I had to abandon my cart in the middle of Walmart because he was screaming and I will not be That Parent. I didn't want to go home and break the magical spell- I must have said "he's just being so... pleasant!" a dozen times. People around me probably thought he was usually a monster and he's not by any means, it's just that this baby, whoever he was, was unreal.

We got home, unloaded the back of our car (we may have picked up a few other items while we were basking in Landon's idyllic behavior), and stuck him in bed. He slept for THREE hours and then continued on his happy, perfect day. We went to the park, where I continued my quest to cross the monkey bars (how were those so easy when I was little? they're so hard now!) and otherwise make use of my outdoor gym since I will apparently never again make it to a real one. Landon loved the slide and the feel of the wind in his face as he flew down it.

Man I love that kid. And Costco.

Dragon Tales

Last year Landon the Lobster charmed the Chicago law students and this year a Landondragon roamed the halls of a BigLaw firm.

The firm hosted its Halloween Party yesterday. We were given pumpkins filled with candy and toys, and children of attorneys and staff bedecked in a variety of adorable costumes trick-or-treated along the offices. It was lots of fun and Landon was a big hit. It didn't take him long to figure out that picking a crinkly wrapped object out of a pumpkin elicited claps and praise from the crowd around him- by the third office he would dig right in, pull out something shiny, and look up with a big smile for his fans. Somewhere along the way he developed a deep love of lollipops- you take that stick out of his mouth at your own peril.

Last night we dressed the dogs in their costumes. Do you think they look happy or embarrassed?

I'm gonna guess embarrassed, but by the end I swear Tex was wearing his bumble bee wings with pride and I know Rosie felt as beautiful as she looked!

This morning was Landon's daycare Halloween party. He switched up his trick-or-treating strategy, this time picking a piece of candy out of one of the buckets in front of each classroom, carrying it to the next classroom and dropping it in their bucket, and then repeating the process all the way down the hallway. He was redistributing the candy wealth, a sugar socialist if you will. At the end he had a single lollipop and plopped right down next to his classroom door looking content.

And then tonight, in the grand finale, we did a little trick-or-treating around our cul-de-sac. Landon made it to three houses before sticking a lollipop in his mouth and standing still in the middle of the street. The little dragon was promptly bathed, snuggled, and put in bed- he was asleep before I even closed the door to his room.

Happy Halloween from us both!

Babies and Career Ambition

I wrote 90% of a post answering a question from Anonymous about her "having a baby in law school" panel and whether or not I'm being naive in thinking that having a baby this early won't affect my career. I still want to do that, but this afternoon I became distracted by this comment to my last post: (The first two sentences about breastfeeding have been omitted because it really is impossible to have a rational internet-based discussion on the topic, as she proves.)

Seriously, LagLiv, you irk the heck out of me. You want it all- law school, career, and baby, all in a year's span. People can coddle you all you want, but I think you are simply an immature woman who wants to play house when you get home from work, but won't sacrifice to give your child the most of yourself. I'm your age, have my graduate degree, and have chosen to stay home with my daughter for the first 1 1/2 years of her life, and I wouldn't have had a baby this young if I wasn't planning to give her my all!

I deleted it, as I said I would, but then I realized the rebuttal I'd already silently fired off in my head ties in with the original topic so this time I'll give in to my desire to answer back.

But first I want to address the original commentor's question about her panel (she asked for discussion topics- I know many of you reading have had children in grad school, so please include yours in the comments) and my decision to have Landon in law school. I was really surprised to find that some of my readers think that getting pregnant as a law student and/or this young is something I would change. I suppose that given the tone of many of my posts during 3L year that's a reasonable assumption. I've been honest about my realization of how unimaginably difficult a baby can be, and I'll admit that even now that things are so much easier I've thought how different this phase of our life could be if we weren't parents yet- JP could spend more time at school and out with his classmates, I could spend more time at the office, we could go out and then SLEEP IN on the weekends... and all of that would be great. But I can say with absolute conviction that even knowing what I know now- especially knowing what I know now- I would never change our decision to start our family when we did. Being a student gave me the flexibility and freedom to deal with all of Landon's issues in a way I wouldn't have been able to as an attorney. By 3L year it was about graduating; I ended up doing well in my classes, but all I had to do was pass and there isn't a career student out there who couldn't have managed to do the same. Plus I love being a young parent, I loved having so much free time with him that year, and more pertinent to this post, I love that my career will grow around my family and not the other way around.

Which takes me to the next part- am I naive in thinking that having a baby this early won't affect my career? I think this is a good question and I'm going to try to answer it fully but I'm having a hard time turning my thoughts into coherent phrases. I'd say that yes, if I thought my BigLaw career wouldn't be affected that would be naive. But I don't. In fact I'm 100% certain my career will be affected because of Landon, but I want it to be. I have always wanted a professional career and I have always wanted a family- I never wanted one without the other. I want to grow up as a mother and a lawyer at the same time. The fact that I have a child means certain things- I don't stay at work late unless it's absolutely necessary, I won't ever be the super star associate who's always in her office in case a nearby partner has a last minute late night project, I'm not going to be the top biller, and I'm okay with that. Living the work-life balance I want from the beginning may affect my partnership track, but it also means that I'm building a law practice on (mostly) my terms and one that is sustainable with the family life I want. Basically, whatever effects children might have on my career I want up front because I'm not interested in being a lawyer if I can't also be the mother I want to be. But even with all that said, I'm not yet sure how negative those affects will actually be. I work hard, I get things done on time, and so far I've had new assignments requested from everyone I've worked with. I may not be the rock star associate , but I'm going to be a good one and that should keep my career progressing along the right track until I decide where this track is heading.

And where is this heading? I'm not sure. I grew up pursuing the most prestigious, gold-star laden path, but since law school I've been slowly letting opportunities pass that I know aren't right for me or aren't worth the time away from JP or Landon. I don't think I want to be a partner, at least not one at a large PPP-focused law firm. I really don't know where I'll be in ten years and that is a strange feeling. Right now I'm trying to learn all I can, build good relationships with those I work with, and pay down my law school debt as fast as possible.

This ties in with today's Anonymous comment about how I'm immature and coddled (which I have to say are two things I've never been called before) by doing law school, a baby, and a job all in one year. First of all, working right now isn't really a choice. My husband is in school, we have no income, and I don't think it would make me a better parent to let my $140,000 in loans and our inevitable future credit card debt build up by refusing to use this degree we both sacrificed for me to earn. I am providing food, shelter, clothing, and labradors for my family and I'm actually quite proud of that. JP is pursuing his dream of getting his MBA and starting his own company, and he can do that because my salary frees him from having to chase after traditional MBA jobs he knows he doesn't want (like investment banking or consulting). I'm proud of that too. Second, taking 1.5 years off to stay home with your baby is wonderful, but I'm actually more concerned about staying home when our children get a little older. I think it's then, more than now, that it matters that it is JP or I who greets them when they get home from school and is there to talk during that 30-second window in which they feel like opening up. We talked about this before getting pregnant and that's why we're not replacing our 10-year-old cars and not taking expensive ski vacations no matter how very badly we want to go on them- it's our hope that one of us can work part-time when Landon starts full-day school in first grade. I think it will probably be JP- who, by the way, I noticed Ms. Anoymous felt no need to include in the "giving your child your all" discussion. Now that may not be enough for some people, and I understand that view, but as I've said many times before, you can tell me your story and why you think your views are best, but you can't tell me what is best for me and my family. I know myself, I know I would be borderline miserable without my job and I just don't think that would be giving Landon my all.

As I was telling a friend this morning, a comment like the above would have really upset me before having Landon, but now I just shrug and delete. I'm the mom of a happy toddler and the wife of a happy husband. We're living our lives and trying to plan for a future of being the best parents we can be. Having Landon so early in our lives and careers means that we can build everything we planned around being there for him and his future sibling(s). Will there be sacrifices? Certainly in a traditional sense - not making partner, making less money, etc. - but neither of us see them as sacrifices. Our dream careers involve flexibility and family time and we're doing everything we can from the very beginning to make them come true.

Quick Answers

I have an almost finished post addressing Anonymous's excellent questions about babies, law school, and potential career effects, but I can't give it the attention it deserves at the moment- hopefully tonight. For now I want to answer some of the "quick" questions; I'm going to fight the (very strong and almost overwhelming) urge to turn each answer into a long-winded essay, but it's going to be hard and I'm probably going to have to steal candy from the employment office as a reward when I'm done.

The Bar: We get results next Friday the 7th (although the rumor is they usually come out on Thursday afternoon at 2:30). My stomach is already in knots, though I am significantly more nervous about the election results on Tuesday as I would rather fail the Bar than see a McCain/Palin presidency. Next week will be a difficult one for my stomach, I already have Tums on standby.

Breastfeeding: This could of course be a full post, but it won't ever be because I have learned through the reading of other blogs that the internet is never, ever a good place to talk about this unless you did in fact breastfeed for an acceptable amount of time, and even then someone is going to beat you down for some reason or another. But I will answer in short that I do not believe Landon's medical issues had anything to do with his not being breastfed. I've read the studies about breastfeeding and decreased chance of ear infections, but I had five when I was a baby and JP has had hundreds and still has tubes to this day because of malformed Eustachian tubes which the ENT believes Landon has inherited- the kid was doomed. And the reflux happened because he was premature and his stomach valves weren't fully formed. And with the initial feeding tube, breathing trouble, two weeks in the NICU, reflux, digestive issues (also common in premies), fussiness, and general insanity of his first year, I truly cannot imagine the stress I would have been under, both physically and emotionally, had I also been his sole source of food. Both of us feeding him (super expensive hypoallergenic lactose-free) formula was the best thing for our family. I have zero regrets.

Favorite Celebrity: I have to confess that I kind of love all celebrities- well, all the real ones. I've never seen The Hills or a few of the other shows that now have their "stars" gracing the cover of magazines, but if you're an actor, actress, or musician I probably secretly love reading about you and seeing pictures of you dressed up in outfits I either covet or hate. I am also eternally optimistic for all of them and am genuinely sad when it turns out that negative rumors are true (like impending divorces, bad parenting, bad behavior, etc.).

Who does Landon take after? Physically he definitely takes after JP- their toddler pictures look so alike, and now that his eyes have officially turned hazel there's even less of me in him (they stayed blue like mine up until a few months ago). I like to think he inherited his sunny disposition from me and his stubborness comes straight from his dad (well, okay, maybe a little from me too).

Dream Vacation: (I'm making this plural because how can you pick one?) African safari, South American tour, Mediterranean cruise, Australian cross-country tour (with scuba diving), Skiing in Banff (skiing anywhere!!), returning to Europe to show JP my favorite places (especially Germany, Italy, and Greece), China, Israel, Russia, Alaskan glacier cruise... We're hoping to take on the world over the next fifty years, which should be helped by the fact we'll still be in our mid-forties when all our kids are off to college.

Where would I live if I could live anywhere? Internationally: Amsterdam. Domestically: Denver or any biggish ski town in Colorady. Really I'd just love to move around more (yeah I know, this from the girl who hates moving, but I do love being in new places)- I'd love to live on the West Coast for a few years, go back to Chicago for a few more (sometimes I miss it so much it hurts, like this morning when we finally got a taste of fall weather, I nearly cried as it sharply hit me that we really don't live there anymore), and of course someday come right back here to Austin. Unless my family will also relocate to Colorado or Chicago, then we can all live there forever.

Blonde.counsels' offer for Houston dinner/drinks: Absolutely! I'm sure I'll be in Houston for business again soon. I had a trip next week that was canceled, but there's another coming up on November 20th. I'll keep you posted. And I'll definitely show you around Austin should you find yourself here.

Swimming scholarships: To Rj, athletic scholarships are generally an undergrad thing but there's no rule prohibitting you from continuing your eligibility into graduate school should you have any left. You only get four years of active competition eligibilty, all of which JP used up in undergrad. The scholarships are given for a full year the first year and then by semester and are assumed renewable at each term. If you are injured you do generally lose the scholarship; mine continued through my first year even though I quit in November when it became clear my hip surgery did not bring about a full breaststroke-ready recovery and then was not renewed for sophomore year. Luckily I already had a healthy mix of academic and athletic awards, so I just threw myself into applying for more academic money.

Austin litigation: I already wrote "Matt" back personally but yes, the litigators at my firm definitely seem happy :)

Favorite Austin restaurant: For those who know Austin, you know this is a nearly impossible question to answer. The food and restaurant scene here is phenomenal, especially for a city of its size. Our favorite fancy place is Shoreline Grill (it's next to the Four Seasons), we got engaged there and celebrated many other milestones there over the past 7 years. My favorite BBQ is County Line, my favorite cheap tex-mex is El Arroyo ($1 Margaritas on Thursdays, you can't beat it) or Chuy's, my favorite expensive tex-mex is Fonda San Miguel, my favorite steak place is Sullivan's, my favorite fancy Italian is Carmelo's, my favorite breakfast place is Kerbey Lane, and my favorite breakfast tacos come from Red River Cafe, Juan in a Million, or Taco Deli. There's a million more wonderful places, but if we eat out it's almost always for Tex-Mex or breakfast. Mmmmm, now I want a breakfast taco.

And that's all for the quick stuff! Back to my diligence list.

Smiles, Giggles, and a Big Belly

It's a beautiful, lazy weekend here at Casa Lag Liv. We're waiting for the Landon to awaken so we can head over to a friend's Oktoberfest party, so I thought I'd use the time to share a few recent pictures of the little man.

These are all from Thursday morning before we headed to work, school, and daycare. I thought getting everyone out the door in the morning would be one of the hardest aspects of being a working parent, but morning is often Landon's happiest, smiliest time of day and we have lots of fun before piling in the car. These are all pics of him in our (undecorated and unfinished) bathroom and bedroom, taken in between getting dressed, putting on make-up, and doing my hair. I didn't know that having a toddler around would mean I'd get to start out the day with so much smiling and clapping!

Helping mom pick out her shoes in the closet- he can open and close the doors by himself, how screwed are we?!

Chased into a corner by daddy

Now on the offensive

Consumed by giggles

We clap for everything
Hooray Landon!
So big!

And this is from later that night, but I just had to capture his belly in all its glory:

I think with a toddler you're forever vacillating between wanting to tear your hair out and wanting to scoop them up in a huge hug and beg them not to get any bigger. I think right now we're at a 10% hair tearing, 90% fiercely hugging ratio, so things are going well!

P.S. You had great questions! I'm already working on a few answers and will have periodic answer posts over the next few weeks- thanks!

A Right, A Duty, An Honor

I voted this morning. And I teared up twice while doing it. I may be a dork, but I'm a patriotic one.

I had planned to vote early since I drive right by a voting site on the way to work from Landon's daycare, but I hadn't had time so far this week. This morning I knew I had nothing waiting on my desk, so I pulled into the Randalls parking lot at 8:15 hoping there wasn't much of a line. When I walked in the place looked deserted, I used my handy dandy blackberry to google the early voting information to make sure that this site did in fact open at 7 am. Assured that I was correct, I began to wander to the back of the store in search of voting booths when I saw a hand waving at me from inside the cereal aisle. I followed the enthusiastic beckoning to find a friendly senior citizen sitting on a stool, he wished me a happy morning and asked if I'd like vote. I showed him my registration card and was directed to another friendly senior citizen named Bob who asked me to sign my name; he then pointed me to yet another friendly senior who gave me a little print out with my special electronic voting booth access code. Along the way I was warned by two different smiling senior citizens that I should not put my "I voted" sticker on my leather jacket as it would "just ruin it!" - I thanked each of them for their advice and cracked up as I pictured my grandmas telling me the same thing. By the time I stood in front of my little voting booth I had spoken with at least six smiling people who all seemed tickled that I had come out to vote this morning. I entered in my little code and the first thing that greeted me was my Selection of Presidential Candidate. I turned the little dial to Barack Obama/Joseph Biden, pressed Enter, and my eyes promptly filled with tears.

It's not just that I'm proud to vote for a candidate I believe in (my first presidential election was 2004 and I was voting against a candidate more than I was voting for one), and it's not just that I think Obama will be a great president, one who will thoughtfully and intelligently consider things before acting, it's because it is such a f*cking honor to get to vote at all. The fact that we can all voice our opinions, that we can vocally disagree, that we can choose our leaders- well, that's a pretty wonderful thing. Both of my grandfathers fought in Vietnam, and it's an honor to them to exercise my right to have a say in who will steer this country through the next four years.

So go vote. The idea of McCain/Palin winning this election may make my stomach churn, but I would at least like that selection to have been made by a majority of all U.S. citizens rather than the smaller percentage who usually vote. And if you're like JP and fundamentally at odds with both presidential candidates, at least research your local representatives and propositions, they often have more of a say in your daily lives than those on the national ticket.

And, just as a general public service announcement, please for the love of God, stop forwarding blatantly false or grossly misleading political emails. Make use of Google, snopes.com, and factcheck.org before clicking "Send" - I've had to request my name be removed from multiple people's forward lists because I found the contents of the email so offensive (one told me that as Christians we should fear all Muslims in America and our goal should be to drive them out - I try very hard to respect other people's views, but I will admit my opinion of the person who so eagerly forwarded that to everyone she knew is permanently negatively affected). The sharing of information is important, the sharing of false information is decidedly not.

In eleven days our next President will be selected by our fellow citizens, go be a part of that decision!