scabby

WHOHOOO! Yes. That was me. My underarm and chest are officially scab-covered, meaning I can leave the house! :)
On my errand list for today:

• Food Lion
• bank
• dry cleaners
• Agri-Supply
• Target

then rush home and tackle housework and projects before starting supper so we can head to the funeral home later tonight.

And one really cool crazy thing? I can see orange leaves from the window by the front door. Yes, it is time for Thanksgiving!

decisions, decisions

Next week we leave for Gatlinburg to celebrate Thanksgiving, Christmas, the Iron Bowl, and my parent's 50th wedding anniversary. I'm not even sure how to begin packing for all of this. Here's what I do have:

• food items for a turkey craft
• puzzles
• anniversary gift for my parents
• and a growing list of food items to take with us/purchase when we get there

Holidays, here we come!

a funny wedding cake

We went to the State Fair last month, and this wedding cake just made me laugh. This is one of those things that I love but would make my mother shake her head and say, "Now, Monica..."
I love that God created us all with different viewpoints. :)

I can't find the close-up photo I took of the bride & groom, but they're to the right of the cake. Love the bananas, the monkeys playing patty-cake up front and the traditional see, speak, hear no evil monkeys. It's just a hoot!

colors of fall

 I didn't have time to grab my good camera as the sun was starting to set and I knew it get it quick or don't get it at all.  First time I've noticed the colors in the pond.

be still...

I was a bit frantic before the election started trying to get life lined up and organized as I knew things weren't going to slow down anytime soon.

Or so I thought.

Last week during Early Voting I developed a sore under my arm. I thought it was from pulling ballots all day at the ballot table, so I put cream on it that night, and shrugged it off. Then I woke up during the night with the most horrible burning and itching imaginable. The next morning I had quite a bad rash. We thought it was an allergic reaction to something, and so the rest of the week I smothered it with antiobiotic ointment and anti-itch medicine and dealt with it. When I had twinges of pain, I thought it was just sore muscles.

Monday evening my arm was slightly swollen and very red in the lymph node area, and I knew that meant an infection. So Wednesday when the elections were over and it hadn't cleared up, I called the dr to make an appointment. I fully expected to get a steroid cream and be told it was either an infected mosquito bite or an allergic reaction.

I have shingles.

Yeah.

As in, the child who never ever ever got chicken pox and grew up before there was such a thing as vaccines for that, has shingles.

As in, quarrantine from kids, elderly, and pregnant ladies for 10-14 days or until this rash clears up. Did I mention I'm supposed to be in charge of the kid's play at church, and that is the first Sunday in December? So 2 of the next 3 weeks I'm not supposed to be around children (and the next Sunday we're in TN celebrating my parents 50th wedding anniversary).

I don't know whether to laugh or cry.

And the saddest thing? I'm stuck at home but don't feel like quilting.

I guess when God said to "be still" he meant it.

:)

After getting Bobby out the door this morning, I went back to bed and slept and slept and slept. If I didn't have an appointment soon, I think I could easily sleep the day and night away.

But I did want to quickly post some things I'm thankful for:

1) the election is over.
2) As a poll worker, I was VERY excited about the turnout and attitude at the polls on election day. Despite the huge turnout for early voting, election day was still very busy.
3) All but one of my precincts had a great day.
4) No "get to x precicnt immediately and if you can't diffuse the situation with an irate voter we're sending the police" phone calls this time.
5) Laughter.
6) Poll workers who don't get angry or pouty when you correct them, and who are correctly following procedures on follow up visits.
7) Sleep.

8) I'm not much of a fashion fan, but I've always appreciated how Michelle Obama dresses her girls in appropriate attire. I don't know whether or not they are designer duds, but they always look nice and normal, yet pretty. Unlike some previous first kids, they're not hiding behind the secret service holding up their garment bags because they're not appropriately dressed or washed for the day. Could be the age difference, but the girls dress like normal kids, except modestly. And that is refreshing.

blessed

Saturday evening at 5:45pm there was whooping and shouting and cheering and clapping at Wake Tech's Main Campus. What? You didn't hear us? It was the sound of relief and rejoicing as poll workers closed the door behind the last voter and took a few minutes to pause and laugh before starting the task of take-down and clean-up. There were many jokes of "we deserve a t-shirt that reads 'I survived the2012 Election' and I was very pleasantly surprised to look up at 6pm (I was on my knees pulling wrapped, unopened ballot packages from the cabinet) to find almost ALL of my fellow poll workers pitching in and helping the ballot table workers clean-up. And I think it's safe to say that TEAM was an accurate description for our site's pollworkers. For eleven days straight, strangers (or slight acquaintances) of different political parties and walks of life worked diligently to process the voters and ensure the process operated both accurately and quickly. It wasn't always easy. We had more than a few disgruntled voters and two irate political observers. During one of those rougher times, I sat down at lunch beside another worker. She was working the application (registration) table, and that morning they had encountered more than a few vocal voters (people who forget we're normal civilians and don't make the laws about voter id) and even had quite a few get a little ugly. She sighed, shook her head and said "Lord, let everything out of my mouth be pleasing to you" and then began to eat. It was so good to hear refreshing words in the midst of an emotionally charged situation.

I was reminded again this week of how perceptions aren't always truth, and how there can be more than one side to a story. I was energized by the smiles, enthusiasm and nervousness of first-time voters. You could recognize them right away. And I was thankful for the ones who waited in line for an hour just to stand in yet another line for the ballot table, and still approached us with a smile.

Democracy and freedom are precious. I would rather see someone vote the opposite way from me than not vote at all. It's a freedom no American should take lightly.

So if you haven't voted already, MAKE time to go vote tomorrow. Our democracy depends on it.