New Improved To Do List

I was going to start by bragging that I did, in fact, polish the kitchen cabinets but it seems I've already said that. But I did. Polish the cabinets, I mean. For real.

Here's the list floating through my head right now (in no order whatsoever.)

• CLEAN OUT THE OFFICE AT WORK FOR FUCK'S SAKE!!
• Gestate
• Get emails out to non-bloggy friends
• Call moving men and get them scheduled
• Clean up the kitchen (this shows up on every list, every day)
• Stretch my perineum
• Sort my clothes with bitter honesty about what I will or will not ever wear again
• Pack up the chachkas in the basement
• Pack up the pantry
• Pack up the linen closet
• Email the new landlord and set an apt for our walk through
• Pack for our thanksgiving trip to Tx
• Get over this cold
• Sort through my dry goods
• Pack up the chachkas in our bedroom and the living room
• Pack up the medicine cabinets
• Clean sweep & pack up the extra coats/jackets/etc in the front closet

In other news I had my OB appointment yesterday. Scully & I got to hear the heartbeat (135) my blood sugar, blood pressure were all fine. I've lost about 5 lbs in the last two weeks so I got to do an ultrasound this morning.

The Bean is doing fine--4 1/2 lbs. By size I'm due on Jan. 10th=perfect. Plenty of amniotic fluid. Everything is looking good. Al-Hamdilallah.

And we saw the Bean's face so clearly that I now touch my belly and feel like I'm stroking the Bean's face.

So everything on the list will happen. We have many beloved friends and will definitely be taking them up on their offers to help to get through our to-do lists (with the exception of that perineum stretching. I have to draw the line somewhere.) And it will all be okay.

So keep growing, Beany.

We can't wait to meet you!

omfg

So a few things have been happening around the fruit basket.

We had an october that we are likely to never see again.

Scully took & passed her comps. She interviewed for a new job. She took & passed her orals. We all voted for Obama and will have the first ever African American president of the us. She got the new job.

In Iowa.

We are moving to Iowa. In four short weeks. OMFG.

And not just to Iowa. To the new not-to-be-named town where, actually, the vast majority of my family lives. Khubz is going to grow up with MajPaj and the rest of the tribe. The Bean is going to come into the world and straight into Grandma's arms.

Scully is going to positively kick ass in this job--pretty damn near her dream job, in my dream location. She is ABD and will be able to work on her dissertation remotely. She is going to be insanely busy but I will have the support of the tribe as we all adjust to a new schedule, a new home and a new baby.

Completing this perfect opportunity? The university has partner benefits. So I will get to stay home with Khubz & the Bean and even keep up with MajPaj once we've adjusted. This will be our chance to get well adjusted. It is also my opportunity to either decide I should be staying at home with the kiddos or to stop bitching about daycare. One or the other will happen.

Yes, it is a bit scary to move when you are ridiculously pregnant and quit your job when the entire world is nestling in for an economic depression. And it is also scary to be having another kiddo at the same time you adjust to being a one-income family. And it is a pretty hideous time to try and sell your house. And it is scary and also feels sad to be leaving our community of beloved friends here in Kansas. And I do truly suck with change. And there is a to-do list that is positively overwhelming.

On that note, I have made some progress on my previous list. The office is still a hole and a complete hole and it really, really, really has to get cleaned up today & tomorrow. For real. But I polished the kitchen cabinets. And I've cleaned out the door of the refrigerator. The rest of the fridge needs to get actually cleaned but I've at least cleaned it out.

And I've decided that I need to add "gestate" to any to-do list that I'm working on. It just feels more honest, you know?

Anyway, there's the news.
OMFG.

Because when you're cool

The sun shines on you 24 hours a day

Cheater post

There is so much going on.
This is just not the time to write about it.

Instead how about some pics?

It has been a very good month for us.

Possibilities seem endless.

She may become a

Gardner or Archaeologist?

Puppy Dog or Furry?

Politician or Human Weather Vane?

Farmer or Corn Pool Olympian?

We'll all have to wait and see. . .

These two

Watching these two cry is making me cry all over again!

For Sure

There are some things I know for sure.

Barak Obama is not jesus. And I don't need him to be.

The "everything has changed" is not poised on anything that he may/not do next: policy decisions, leadership of his administration, whatever. I did not have faith in the people of this country to stand with a man of color, someone who refuses to give up nuance and complexity when talking about the world, someone who ran on more than bumperstickers. I did not have any faith or hope in the people of this country.

And, again, I do not feel magically like people everywhere have now demonstrated that they have risen above our collective legacies of racism.

But (and I know this sounds strange) I do feel, for the first time, like I have some sort of citizenship. And hope. It is a fragile sort of feeling.

But it is truly not about Barak Obama needing to be Jesus--he is not. He is and will be thoroughly human.

A few other things I know for sure:

Morning snuggles are fabulous. The girl joined me in bed about 4. . . The bean had already woken me up for our spring training at 3:30. Scully is in Tulsa. So Khubz walked up the little step ladder and burrowed in for a cuddle. Heaven.

I really, really can't slack on my to-do list. I did mop yesterday. . . sort of. Maybe "spot-cleaning" is a more apt phrase.

I am not worrying about Christmas cards this year. Because COME ON.

and then the world changed FOR REAL!!!!!

I am stunned. Completely stunned.

Scully and I sat there last night sobbing on the couch.

People in this country are celebrating this bi-cultural/multi-ethnic/international/american Black man. People are celebrating him for his leadership, his vision and for what his identity means to us.

This does change things.

It does not magically fix anything

But it changes the world that my daughter will move through.

It makes things possible for her that I did not believe would be.

It really does change everything.

and then the world changed

Just got this from my good friend. She keeps me hopeful even in spite of Bush's second term.

Keep the Faith, my Friends! Today will be a remarkable day for America and the world.

"Obama's roots, his past and his multiple cultural identities stand in stark contrast to the profiles of George W Bush or John McCain. His understanding of, and relations with, the countries of the world--particularly of the global South--and with American society itself point to a different outcome. Taken together, his life and experience make hope for a new understanding of domestic and international issues possible.

On the most fundamental level, Colin Powell has laid out the terms of reference: Barack Obama is not a Muslim; he is black and Christian. But, in the final analysis, what if he were a Muslim? What is wrong with being ''African-American'' or ''Muslim'' in today's America? While it now appears that the US can live with the election of a black American, indications are that a new, virulent anti-Muslim racism has arisen in the wake of the events of September 2001.

Given such fears, and the hardening of religious and ethnic divisions, Obama's past and origins should make it possible for him to emerge as ''everybody's president.'' In rejecting manufactured divisions, cultural biases and the ''religionisation'' of social issues, Obama could well become the symbol of a new United States simply by wielding his stature as president to promote domestic policies that favour justice and equality, empowering citizens of all origins. The first black president's greatest achievement would be to cause people to forget his colour." Tariq Ramadan The International News

Artist Shepard Fairey created the picture.

We Did It!

We voted today!

This really is the most excited I've ever been about a national election. We all went together this morning because we wanted to be in the thick of it. We never go to rock concerts or wait for hours to get basketball tickets. This was our day to wait in a throng of people full of anticipation, crushed together like all the leaves on the ground.

It was awesome.

We got there right as the polls opened and waited in line about 15ish minutes. There were lots of kids there--all excitedly instructing their mothers to remember that its OBAMA they want. One 7 year old girl had her Mom's cell phone and was going through calling various family members to remind them, "Grandpa, don't forget today. Who are you voting for? That's right: OBAMA."

Scully took Khubz in first and then handed her off to me. We stepped behind the curtain and the girl asks, "Hiding?" Well, sort of. The lovely poll worker gave Khubz a sticker in exchange for his pen back. We were dropping her off at daycare at 7:30--not bad at all!

We have lots of people to thank: not the least of whom is Hubs 'o Dawn and the whole Pair Clan. Missed family time, stress & long hours are a very high price to pay--so thank your county clerk AND remember to thank their family's as well!

And, yes, there is bullshit in too many places.

But that is a reminder of the many, many women and men who have been fighting these battles for a long time. It is not all long & far away. These are clearly contemporary battles. But we also have a legacy of liberation movements. I vote in gratitude for those movements. Even when the voting options suck--even though both major parties agree there should be an endless, unified american blow job for israel--to not vote at all is a slap in the face to my father who cannot vote, to the men & women who died so that I could participate in this process. And frankly, given how the u.s. has been terrorizing the rest of the world in the last 8 years--to not vote is a betrayal to all of humanity.

So yes, challenge election irregularities, agitate for third party participation in debates, protest and take political action way beyond voting. . . But for fuck's sake. VOTE ALREADY.

Remember, all the hatemongers will come out to vote. Don't let them outnumber us!

She did it!

Scully passed her orals!!!!

She is officially ABD (all but dissertation!)