In cliffhanger like fashion, we left off with Allie throwing up, and Diana and I trying to keep the laundry ahead of the flow. Well, it turns out that cleaning up vomit and caring for a sick baby is a pretty good way to get sick yourself. Allie was really only sick for a day or so, and soon back to her normal happy self. The next night, however, Diana and I both woke up at the same time, and went to separate bathrooms to be sick. It was pretty incredible.

The day the followed was pretty much the worst ever. I’ll spare you the details, but after a night of rotating in and out of the bathroom, we spent the rest of the day as quivering blobs, knowing we had to rehydrate ourselves, but afraid to drink even water for fear of our stomachs continuing to revolt. Thankfully we were able to get Allie to daycare, so we could spend the day recovering. The next day, we felt much better, but still needed a day to get our strength back. Diana made instant mashed potatoes soaked in chicken broth, and I’ll always remember how good it was.

That second day of recovery happened to be Election Day, so we watched news for much of the day and the evening.

I remember seeing Obama speak at the 2004 Democratic National Convention. I don’t remember exactly what he said, but I remember being more moved by that speech than anything I’d seen by any modern politician. I distinctly remember thinking that if this guy ran for president that I would vote for him. So it was exciting to see that all come to fruition. It’s refreshing to feel like we’ve really reached the end-game of racism and civil rights. It’s also refreshing to see the world’s reaction to his election. After years of having to lie and say you’re a Canadian (the horror!) when traveling, all of a sudden, it’s cool to be an American again.

But as happy as I was to see Obama win, I was disappointed to see Proposition 8 lose (or “win”, I suppose). In most issues, I feel that I can really take the time and see both sides of the story, but with this, I’m really at a loss. Even after perusing Yes on 8 websites, I don’t understand what “protect marriage” means. I don’t understand why it’s bad for children to learn that homosexuality is a real thing, in an age-appropriate context (like how we teach kids about heterosexual relationships and mechanics). I just don’t get it. The websites all sort of take it as read that if you’re there, you’re already on board. So if someone can explain the Yes on 8 viewpoints, I’d appreciate it.

And regardless of the issue, I don’t understand why it only takes 50% of a popular vote to amend the state constitution. That seems way too easy. It seems like you could get 50% of the people to vote on almost anything. (That reminds me of a quote I just saw… “You know how dumb the average person is? By definition, half of people are even dumber than THAT!”)

Moving on, things are good. Allie had a rough couple days recently, beginning with a fever. She was pretty unhappy, waking up crying and so forth, but I think she’s really turned the corner on whatever it was. Sleeping through the night and happy in the days. She’s really a lot of fun as she gets to be more interactive. She definitely understands a lot of what we say, and it’s fun to prompt her to show us her shoes, put the basketball in the hoop, blink her eyes, stomp her feet, etc. But for some reason, whenever I say “Allie, can you say ‘Daddy’?” she responds with: “Maw-maw!” We need to work on that. She’s just a real kick, though. We love her. :)

Work has been busy, but it’s slowed down a lot lately as I’m rolling off one project and waiting for the next. It’s nice to have some time for a little education and research and development.

It’s going to be a busy couple of weeks coming up. We’re going on our first road trip this weekend to Palm Springs to visit my aunt and uncle and cousins who are vacationing there. Then Thanksgiving, which we’re spending with the Schatz’s. Then Mike and Gwen are going to be staying with us as they job-hunt in San Diego. My birthday is around that time, so my parents will want to make a fuss, especially since they’ll be leaving to Montana soon afterwards. Then various friends and company holiday parties after that. It’s going to be a fun couple weeks!