November 6, 2012

• Waiting in Lines

  I started the day waiting in line to register the kids for winter swim team. Granted, I was first to arrive, so there wasn’t technically a line to join, and since I set the tone for the rest of the moms queueing after me, we did more of a courteous sofa seating arrangement than an actual line. But still – it was all about waiting. At least our kids got the coveted T/Th spots that were needed to fit our schedule.

  The next line of the day was at our local polling place. I’m well aware that I am not the only one who had to wait in this sort of line today. And I don’t actually mind waiting for the privilege of voting. It’s just the theme of the day – waiting in lines – so I have to emphasize that aspect of the voting process, you see.

  I remember voting at the same location in the past, when we were much newer to the area, and seeing one or two familiar faces in the mix. Sheesh – now it’s like a big ol’ reunion of every person I’ve ever met in the local area. It’s amazing how raising two kids in a community really gets you connected to the place. 

  Some faces I was happier to see than others. A few of the faces might actually have voted the same way as me…..though not many.

  The Mr. voted earlier this morning and actually had a shorter wait. He said the atmosphere was tense, with little to no talking and some announcements about no cell phone usage. Fast forward about 4 hours and there’s cartwheels taking place in the space between the snaking lines, more than one school aged kid in pajamas, iPads blaring Angry Birds, old folks chatting up their neighbors LOUDLY…..yeah, it was anything but tense. It was more like a side show, but at least with patriotic decorations and seemingly unobstructed voting processes.

  After voting, I took the kids out to lunch at a busy restaurant. It was the kind of place where you have to (guess) stand in line to place your order and then to pick it up. It was so busy today that I even had to queue up to get ice for my unsweetened tea.

  Maybe it was all that patient waiting in line, or the fact that I missed my cardio workout, or the fact that we are finally going to find out the new President of the United States (hopefully) – but I have had a lot of nervous energy coursing in my veins today. I need to keep busy and keep myself off the Facebook.

  This morning, I convinced our daughter to do a pilates for kids video with me. It was very well done, giving simple pilates-inspired exercises at different levels for kids from grades 1-4. We did all the grades, because she’s a fifth grader and I’m quite advanced, especially compared to the first grader in the video. (Not to sound braggy.)

  Small movements, big results. That’s my summary of pilates. And I don’t mean girly waist band results — I mean strength. My core is absurdly strong, though you might not know it from looking at my post-two-c-section abdomen – but trust me, I can plank longer than you can.  Our daughter seemed to like the workout. Especially the parts where you don’t have to move much. She is not the most energetic kid on the block.

  We tried to follow it up with a “tween yoga” workout, but neither of us could stomach how cheesy and pseudo-zen that scene was, so we bagged it to go vote instead. (This exercise session came between the swim team line and the voting line.) She waited patiently with me and was excited to press the big red VOTE button on the touch screen to actually cast my ballot.

  Over the last few days, we’ve had a lot of really good talks about the political process and various issues of importance in the election. She is one smart cookie, if I do say so myself. She can also spout the number of electoral votes for most states off the top of her head, in a freaky show of 10 year old sponge brain capabilities. At the polling place, she scanned the crowd to see who was wearing red vs. blue, to determine who might win our precinct. Personally, I’d say the fleece party has the edge. (It was chilly in Virginia today.)

  To quell my nerves after the lunch lines, I decided to do some cooking. Our daughter walked up to me just as I had decided (in my head) to do some cooking, and said, “I feel like cooking something.” Freaky. Anyway, she was my helper. She baked banana chocolate chip bread, and we made a white bean/collard/chard soup and a batch of tomato sauce together. It smells kind of awesome in here now.

  I don’t remember feeling this nervous about previous presidential elections. Maybe I did, but I have forgotten in the passing years. I know I was excited about the possibility of Obama being elected last time, but I don’t think I felt so worried about the opposition being in power as I do this time. For me, it feels like we have a lot more to lose.

  So what should I do now that I’m done blogging? Join the rowdy football game on my front lawn? Dance around the kitchen? Clean a closet? I feel like I’m going to start pacing soon, and it’s not even 5:00pm EST. It’s gonna be a looooooong night, and I think I’m going to need some wine. Luckily, I secured a bottle of my favorite cheap wine – Cupcake Red Velvet. I even paid a gouged price of over $10 a bottle because I knew I was going to be needing it.

  Ohm. Ohm. 

   

  • 4:27 pm
  • 1 Comment