I cast my vote today

Because I care. Because I deserve to be heard. And because I believe in the power of one voice.

On my lunch break, as I sat in a chair in in the back of the Salt Lake County Clerk & Recorder's office waiting for my voter card to be programmed, I observed the mix of people around me and I was filled with pride.

I smiled at the Hispanic family who visited the office together to register to vote and while the words being spoken were not those I understood, I identified with the excitement they had for being there.

I watched a middle aged couple standing closely together, filling out their papers to register to vote.

Another man dressed in his neatly pressed pants, shirt and tie walked in the with a beaming smile on his face as he pulled out his ID card and took his place in line.

Polling workers frantically took information and processed new registration cards with smiles on their faces. As voters handed their programmed cards back to the workers they said, "Wait, don't go until I get you your voter sticker," and happily handed the red, white and blue stickers across the counter.

All of us were in that room for a reason. A reason of passion...and a need to be heard.

It was the year 2000 when I was able to fully appreciate the emotions that surround me when I vote. I worked my little heart out on committees working to defeat Colorado Ballot Amendments 21 and 24. After my hard work, I went to the polls, proudly cast my ballot and anxiously waited on election night as the results trickled in. When the votes were counted and I saw the campaigns I worked on were successful, I breathed a sigh of relief and was filled with a sense of pride.

To this day, every time I go vote, my heart swells a little, and I leave with my head held high.

I am thankful to live in a country where I can freely cast my opinion with out fear of persecution. My vote matters to me, the people in my community and to the people of this nation.

So I'm asking you - my friends, family and community members to rise up. Rise up and take advantage of this opportunity to freely cast your opinion on the issues that matter to you.

Late Show: The Sarah Palin Debate Recap

Contractor parade

Week one in new home.

While we have successfully escaped the suburbs (and could not be more excited about our new location), we have been busy with projects, both planned and unplanned that have led to meetings/repair work with the following:

Electrician guys
Plumber #1
Plumber #2
Home Depot installer guy
Sears garage door guy
Cultured marble shower guy
ReBath guy
JC Penney window coverings girl

The cats are doing aerial assaults on each other from the stacks of boxes yet unpacked. The master shower leaks into the basement laundry room and mismatched sheets cover the windows in the master bedroom.

And, because none of my adventures are complete without injury, I'm walking around while appearing to be simultaneously flipping people off with one hand and trying to hi-five them with the other...A late night finger smashing followed by a battle with a boxcutter have left the digits a bit on the sore side.

I'm beginning to feel a bit like Shelley Long in The Money Pit...

Deja Vu - dog style...

We just can't have nice things.

Or things from Target for that matter.

I'm moving in two weeks, so naturally my house is chaos. While kitties love chaos, Busters do not.

The other night we had churned up a moth in the house and kitties decided to try and kill it. While it was on the ceiling. I know the cat can't jump that high, but she thought she'd go for it anyways.

She landed on top of my red and bronze Target lamp. It crashed to the floor. The bug flew away.

I thought the lamp was broken, but was then relieved when Jason swapped out the light bulb and the lamp worked just fine. We repositioned it on the table and went back to watching the cat trying to catch said bug.

About, oh, five minutes later, Buster decides he wants to get in on the action and came darting from behind the couch and got tangled in the lamp cord. And freaked.

In slow motion I watched the lamp go up into the air and come crashing down on on its top just as it had before.

Only this time, part of the lampshade broke. And so did the light bulb.

Because I have faith that the lamp will fall yet again, I turned the unbroken side facing out until another animal (or human, probably me) knocks it down for a third time - which I'm sure will finish it off for good.

Just one more reason why I own Target, not Tiffany.

Large Hadron Rap

Why? Because my boss shared this with the group at work today and I too believe it is worth sharing...

And because my hubby is a chemist and loves this stuff...

AND...because it's hip to get your geek on...

Enjoy!