The tumbleweed rolls by...

And you can hear that familiar harmonica tune, that brings to mind being on a horse - alone in the desert. 

That's how my mind feels. 

I don't know what to blog about today.

So I need help - comment and ask me something, anything.

Wordless Wednesday

Charlotte didn't find the election all that exciting.  Yes, those are words - but the video is wordless. 

Ain't I a Woman?

Sojourner Truth (1797-1883): Ain't I A Woman?
Delivered 1851
Women's Convention, Akron, Ohio 

Well, children, where there is so much racket there must be something out of kilter. I think that 'twixt the negroes of the South and the women at the North, all talking about rights, the white men will be in a fix pretty soon. But what's all this here talking about?

That man over there says that women need to be helped into carriages, and lifted over ditches, and to have the best place everywhere. Nobody ever helps me into carriages, or over mud-puddles, or gives me any best place! And ain't I a woman? Look at me! Look at my arm! I have ploughed and planted, and gathered into barns, and no man could head me! And ain't I a woman? I could work as much and eat as much as a man - when I could get it - and bear the lash as well! And ain't I a woman? I have borne thirteen children, and seen most all sold off to slavery, and when I cried out with my mother's grief, none but Jesus heard me! And ain't I a woman?

Then they talk about this thing in the head; what's this they call it? [member of audience whispers, "intellect"] That's it, honey. What's that got to do with women's rights or negroes' rights? If my cup won't hold but a pint, and yours holds a quart, wouldn't you be mean not to let me have my little half measure full?

Then that little man in black there, he says women can't have as much rights as men, 'cause Christ wasn't a woman! Where did your Christ come from? Where did your Christ come from? From God and a woman! Man had nothing to do with Him.

If the first woman God ever made was strong enough to turn the world upside down all alone, these women together ought to be able to turn it back , and get it right side up again! And now they is asking to do it, the men better let them.

Obliged to you for hearing me, and now old Sojourner ain't got nothing more to say

Accentuating the Positive

I spent the majority of this election season working to concentrate on the things I agreed with, for each candidate, instead of the things I disagreed with.  My own little attempt at "accentuating the positive".  

So tonight, when all the numbers are in - I'm going to be excited regardless.  I cast my ballot, that's the most I can do to control the situation.

Either we'll have our first black president, or our first female vice president...  pretty cool for Charlotte's first election. 

Hit me with the firehose...

Because I've got the FEVER.  

I don't know where it came from, why it's here, how long it's going to stick around - or what to  make of it, but I really want another baby.

The past few days  it has popped into my mind over and over and over.  I know what our next baby will be (another girl), I know what she'll look like (a lot like Charlotte, but slightly darker hair, longer fingers, and no Jason-crazy-toe), and I know what her name will be (Harper).  

When the new PBK catalog came in the mail on Saturday, I was flipping through it and said to Jason (with a squeal) "Oh look at this! I love this!  This would look  GREAT in Harper's nursery!"

He pretends to think I've lost my mind, but he doesn't fool me.  I know he would knock me up in a heartbeat if I asked him to.  Or at least start the anxiety-ridden process of trying to.  He also gives me that look that says "Are you serious? Don't tease me... I'll call your bluff." 

I see pregnant bellies and where just a few months ago, I felt sympathy for them and how exhausting it is, carrying them around... I'm now starting to get that pang of jealousy.  I guess we're far enough out from it that I've forgotten how scary it is, how uncomfortable it can be, how tedious and stressful the pills and injections were that kept Charlotte growing and developing, the moment each week at our perinatologist appointments where we held our breath until we saw that yes - her heart was still beating.

But that's the thing... I'm not ready.  Charlotte's not ready.  We're not ready.  We're still getting to know HER.  She's not even a year old... I'm still nursing, for goodness sake! And I still say, at least once a day, "well I did just have a baby."   (Really?  Did I?  How long do you get to say that you "just had a baby?" That's a topic for a whole other post).

But when we are ready, I'm willing to bet it will be the Harper in my mind's eye.   Charlotte looks just like I thought she would (only her hair isn't quite as curly as I thought it would be... at least not all of it), and I knew she was a girl even when they said she probably wasn't.   It's just about 2 months until her first birthday...  I can hold out that long.  

I think.

Day 2 of NoBloPoMo

Am I out of things to write about already?  Is it only day 2 and I'm resorting to photos?

Maybe.

I'm constantly mesmerized by this little person living in our home.  Everyday it's something new. Case in point: This morning, we had to get to church early because it was our weekend to run the coffee shop.  The nursery staff wasn't there yet, though, so Charlotte and I went into the sanctuary with Rachel and Dealey to listen to the worship team practice.  Dealey was running around, showing off his impressive mobility - which included climbing up and down the steps to the stage.  Charlotte watches carefully, soaking it in, then crawls her little self over to the first step, pulls up to a stand, and starts trying to get her leg on the first step.

She thought she would just climb on up, like some kind of big kid.  

I don't know if she actually could've pulled it off or not because her sweet little legs were too short to get up there, so instead it was just an observance of an exercise in futility - but you could just see the gears in her head turning.  She's a person.  A real, live, breathing, thinking, risk-taking little person. 

I wonder how long it will be before I actually get used to that idea...

I said NaBloPoMo, Yo.

NaBloPoMo is starting - 30 blogs in 30 days, and my goal is to try and make at least a few of them about something other than what Charlotte did that day.  At least a few of them.  

I'm certain that each blog post will be more profound than the next, illiciting deep thought and intense conversation... life altering convictions and soul changing revelations.  Or maybe they'll just be completely random thoughts and observations.  

Whatever they end up being, here's the first  - and I only have 15 mins left of "today" to get it out. 

I'd like to point out a few things that irritate the c-r-a-p outta me. 

1. Daylight Savings Time:  My baby is going to wake up at 6am because of this crap.  It will probably take me 2-3 months to get the clock in my car changed, and I'll undoubtably screw up my station presets in the process.  Not because I'm technologically challenged, because I'm not.  It's actually because changing the time on an automobile clock is the most un-intuitive process, that always seems to require two hands, leaving none available to hold the wheel.  I think that counts as two things that bug the crap outta me, but whatever.

2. (or 3).  The Electoral College:  Really, need I elaborate on this one?  

3. Political Mudslinging:  If you watch the ads, and absorb their "messages" and are naive enough to believe that the ads are the whole truth and nothing but the truth - then we're screwed no matter WHO ends up the victor on Tuesday.

4. I procrastinated and wish-washed my oppportunity to vote early away.  Now I'm going to have to stand in line for who-knows-how-long, with a squirmy baby who will want to crawl on the floor of the municipal bldg and lick the shoes of whomever is lucky enough to be in line beside me, only to cast a vote that really only matters in theory because Texas always goes Red anyhow.

You should NaBloPoMo, too, Yo.  All the cool peeps are doing it.