Grin.

What a crazy week it’s been. Monday was just the longest day ever, watching all of the last-ditch efforts by both of the Presidential candidates and getting all keyed up and impatient to vote.

Tuesday dawned with uncertain sunlight. I had heard that it was supposed to rain and rain + expected long lines to vote = bad news, but the rain held off until early evening. Jillian and I voted around 10 AM. She kept saying “Mama. We vote? We vote for Obama! Mama vote! In the school!” When we stepped into the booth she saw all the buttons just begging to be pushed and nearly lost her mind. Luckily, I have amazing reflexes born out of Tetris championships so I was able to make my choices and hit the “Cast Vote” button without any mishaps.

After voting, we went to the grocery store, where Jillian proceeded to tell everyone “We vote! Vote for Obama!” Now, we are shiny blue dots in a VERY red town (even though our county and the rest of our state went blue… my town? Not so much), so she got some silly looks as well as a lot of high-fives and smiles.

Tuesday evening was spent flipping between CNN and that foxy Brian Williams on NBC, while refreshing CNN.com and chatting with my Girlz on the bulletin boards. Watching the initial returns come in was kind of unreal – it’s so hard to tell what’s happening early on, but once Ohio was called for Obama, I finally let myself think that it was happening. Ohio! My home state! Eh, oh, way to go, Ohio. I’m happy to say that my home county also went blue, probably due in large part to the work my Mama did on the phones. Good job, Mama.

At 11PM, NBC threw up a graphic that said “Barack Obama ELECTED 44th President of the United States.” Awesome.

McCain’s speech was excellent. If he had campaigned like that, who knows what would have happened? He spoke as himself, as a real person and not just some GOP mouthpiece, which is what he became after the GOP convention (and before). He seems like a genuine sort of guy who truly loves this country to which he gave so much, but his campaign didn’t reflect that at all.

Obama, on the other hand… wow. He’s got some flaws, sure, but he ran a hell of a campaign and it was mind-boggling to see the crowds in Grant Park (as opposed to the swanky invite-only party for McCain… see the difference??) and how they went INSANE when he stepped out on that stage. Seeing Jesse Jackson get all teary was such a great moment because although he can be a jackass sometimes, this is something he has worked for HIS ENTIRE LIFE. It’s got to be quite a feeling to see all of that blood, all of that sweat, all of those tears bring this kind of result.

So we’ve got a new President. He’s got a lot of crap to start cleaning up (thanks, George), but I think, I believe, I HOPE he can get it done.