OMG is right!

I drove by a handwritten sign today after dropping Maddie off at school and it said something along the lines of Hey Kids, you can be anything you want to be in the United States of America.

That's what I'm talking about!  The type of emotion and gut-wrenching hope that inspires someone to find a piece of cardboard, write that, then go stake it out in their lawn on the morning after.

The morning after we went from the potential dark depths of hell to a brand new beginning.

Yeah, I think it is that serious.  Someone said on TV that Obama spoke to the consciousness of people last night.  And that is exactly what happened.  This is a unifying moment that I will never forget.  I will never forget how it felt to witness the goodness in people.  What a difference the McCain crowd was -- all white.  White White White everywhere, faces, hair ... a sea of white.

The Obama rally was a sight to see.  Black babies squirming in their mother's arms, every age of American stretched from one end of the park to the other ... all together ... all as one.  It was so cool to know I had a daughter in that crowd -- a young person who cared enough to be there. 

It was a very small percentage of the black vote that put Obama in office.  The majority was white.  Why is this important?  Because it is.  Because it means that a really large percentage of us have moved beyond color and race and are seeing the person.

This is evolution.

Hallie!  Tell us what it was like to be there last night.

OMG!  President Obama.  If you don't look behind, you can almost forget the burning Bush.

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Following are Hallie's comments about being at the rally in Grant Park, Chicago, Nov. 4, 2008:

So that was probably one of the coolest things I have ever experienced! We made it to where we wanted approximately one minute before they started counting down the closing of the west coast polls and then the projection came on that Obama was president and people went nuts! People were crying and laughing and screaming, it was just so incredible to be surrounded by all these people who wanted Obama to be president so badly. I have to say it was probably the first time I have ever been so proud to be an American. Being with a crowd who was willing to look past the fact of how horrible our economy and everything is and to put all of this good energy towards this one person.

And the crowd just in itself was amazing! I mean there was no pushing, shoving, anger or anything. Everywhere you looked there were these huge beaming smiles. And even when McCain spoke, the crowd got quiet and respectful and listened to what he had to say. The only harsh remarks I heard were when he thanked Palin, haha but that is to be expected. I truly hope that this rally is a sign of how people will act for the next four years, with compassion and respect.

His speech was very eloquent and calm, kept the entire crowd fired up, but not to a ridiculous point. He is an amazing speaker. It was so nice to see him with his family and Biden’s family. And the comment about the puppy made him feel so real! There was laughter and then a collective sigh from the whole crowd when he said that. I feel like that was the point where everyone just felt 100% confirmed that they had made the right choice.

So you say 125,000 ppl were there? I have no idea how many actually were but it was just people everywhere you looked. And walking out they had shut down Michigan Ave for awhile so most people walked up that and the side streets going off of it were packed and people were still yelling and making noise. People had lined the streets and were taking pictures. It was amazing. We prob left at like 11:45 or so and I didn’t get home till 1. We ended up walking most of the way! 

You didn't have to be there, to be there

I just want to write about this because it's worth remembering.

Obama spoke to 125,000 people in Grant Park in Chicago.  You could have heard a pin drop.  At no time did the crowd overtake what has turned into an almost solemn awe of what has happened tonight.

Because it was (is) awe-some.  Obama was incredibly calm and he threw that out into the crowd and I thought, wow, if he took on a different vibe, think of how that just wouldn't work in that throng of people -- it would have been bedlam.  He has that kind of aura, if you will.  While he spoke, people everywhere stood silent, tears streaming down their cheeks, and they listened.  In Times Square people stood silent and gazed up at the screen.  Blogs across America went silent as people listened.  And it wasn't even so much what he said, it was that he was there projecting his vision of hope and a dose of reality in the fact that things suck right now, but that's okay.  No false promises.

And I sat there, in my living room, and sobbed.  Like a big baby.  I didn't even realize it until my nose was running and I was blubbering ... but I was mesmerized.  So many young people in the crowd, so many black people.  So many people full of hope.  It was so worth the fact that it is almost one in the morning to have felt it.

I am telling you -- there is so much hope out there right now, if only we could bottle it.  I hope we can hold onto it in the years to come, because we're so going to need it.  But we have a leader now, and just think.  We haven't had one IN EIGHT YEARS.  

Good night America.

We're going to be okay.

Why it is ...

Because he had a clear vision -- and he's worked towards the goal of being the President of the United States with no wavering.  Call him on his preacher, he just keeps trudging on.  Tell him he consorts with terrorists ... trudging on.  His grandmother approaches death, he goes to her, he tells her goodbye ... and continues to trudge on.

You can't wrestle with that kind of determination ... ahhh, that kind of INTENT.  He put himself in the White House many months ago.

And McCain listened to everyone but himself.  He lost himself along the way ... he became desperate, he picked up Palin.

It's a lesson to all of us -- decide what you want and then do it.  

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

I can feel it (seriously)

I am all tingly and feeling the energy -- there is actually a shift in the universe -- I'm not kidding.  The hope that people are beginning to feel is coming through, like in waves.  There is NO WAY I am going to bed until this election is called, because I want to feel the surge -- because it's coming.  I can feel it in my bones.

I have been ignoring TV until now ... and I realize that some would say that it's still too early to call ... except that I know.  It's almost 10:00 ...   AND IT'S SO COOL!

OK, I have to go now and intend for Hallie and her cousins to get into the Obama rally in downtown Chicago.  

WOOOOOOOOOOOOO HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Oh my

I went shopping today for food.  I wandered the aisles of the store wondering what I could get everyone else for food.  I had an extensive list for myself, but I don't know, what do they need?  I picked up some lunch meat and rolls, some spaghetti noodles and sauce and a loaf of french bread as well as some turkey burgers.

No one here is going to cook fish.

No one here is going to cook much of anything!

So what do I get them?

Ya got me.

But **I** filled my cart with produce and fruits and nuts, ohyesIdidboyohboy.  I have NEVER spent as much at the supermarket at one time than I did today.  Like, I should have had filet mignon and lobster in that tab -- but no.  I had nuts.  And vegetables.  What type of world do we live in where basic food costs a fricking fortune?

But I am letting that go for now ... I can't get bogged down in cost.  But as I was driving home I was thinking, "can I really eat six pieces of zucchini this week?"  Five avocados?  A bag of apples, a bag of kiwi's -- pears, tangelos, grapes, bananas???  Four heads of lettuce, a head of broccoli, celery, red peppers, orange peppers, 8 lemons, collard leaves and a partridge in a pear tree?

Oh come on now, that last one is meat.  I might eat the tree though!  :)

And the nuts!  I must have bought about 20 pounds of various nuts and grains.  Talk about nuts.  I know.

I am.

I watched everyone put their stuff on the counter, and I thought, hmmm, interesting.   I did not think I wanted to eat any of it -- but still.  It is interesting to think that most of the world eats a certain way, and now I do not.

So I just prepared my dinner -- which is a pasta with a cream sauce and parmesan cheese (all nuts) and Charlie made their dinner -- he made a spaghetti sauce and garlic bread.

So, all I've been hearing is that there are a record number of people voting this time around.  I bet that some of those people were the ones who didn't bother last time, but know in their hearts that their vote would have made a difference.  There is already screaming and yelling about fraud and broken machines (and if there is a problem with screwed up chads, I am moving, I swear, OUTTA here!)

Landslide, baby.  That's what we're headed for.  I don't think it is going to be a close race.  

You heard it here.  

Time for change.

La la la la la ... I don't hear you!

Do I still have anything to say?  Will I be able to maintain a daily blog anymore?

I am still formulating in my mind how I am going to go about creating this new business based on raw food and I just can't seem to care about politics or really any of the things I've been blogging about the past few months.

How cool is that?

I don't care!

I have no idea what the stock market is doing today, I have no clue where the candidates are in the polls, I have no idea what type of stupid thing Sarah Palin did today, yesterday or days before that.  I don't care!

I truly don't!

It is so freeing.  I do feel as though I have been released from a vicious cycle that I'd somehow gotten into without intending to.  But even more so, I just inherently know without a shadow of a doubt that what will be, will be.

And the only thing I can do ... is let it be.

I used to think that inaction was a sign of passivity.  I used to think that in order to initiate change, I had to get all fired up and charge full steam ahead and DO something, even if it wasn't productive.  The thought of doing nothing made no sense to me.

There will always be a need for leaders and action, but I now realize I can't take it all on -- I can't read about it and become consumed with it.  I need to take the information and process it, for sure, but then let it go.  If I can change something within my own realm, then I should.  But I know now, like I know my own name, that I can't make people change their minds or habits or anything just because it might change their lives, save their lives even.  It just doesn't work that way.

It should!

And wouldn't it be nice if it did.

But it doesn't.  So I have had to accept that people do not do anything they don't want to do -- no matter what.

And I'm alright with that.

I was having my hair done today and I brought everyone some raw chocolate pudding.  I explained that they were market research and I was curious to see if they liked it.  The majority did ... and said they would eat it again, even after finding out that it was made from avocado, dates, maple syrup and cacoa powder.  One of the customers that was having her hair done tried it as well and liked it, and quizzed me about the way of eating, etc.

When we were leaving she was eating some of the candy that they have left out on the counter, and she looked at me guiltily and said something like oops, probably shouldn't be eating this, it's not good for me.

And I smiled at her and said that she didn't have to feel badly around me -- it was none of my business what she ate.  Which is what anyone would have said I suppose, but the big thing for me was THAT I MEANT IT in a non-judgmental way!

She then went on to say that she had no vices ... she didn't drink, she didn't do men, she really only did one bad thing and that was to eat candy.  And I thought, why does she feel the need to explain herself?

We make our own choices.

Good or bad.

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

It is so nice to have hours stretching out before me with nothing PLANNED!

I am fresh off a five-day intensive course where for five days I sat for 12 hours (with a few breaks) and learned and listened and listened and learned.

It was hell.

It was fabulous.

And that really sums it all up in a nutshell!

I am not ready to write about it yet.  It was a lot to take in, a lot to process, and I am still not sure how to sum it up.  Or even if it can be!

But one thing I know for sure:  I am going to stay raw!  It was such a great thing to be in the company of people who have been eating raw for a long time -- to see how beautiful they are, to see their vitality, their ageless beauty.  Seriously.  Why would you not want that for yourself?

I do!  I do!  I do!