New Puppy

My parents got a new puppy a couple of weeks ago. His name is Roscoe, and he's a chihuahua. He is the cutest thing you've seen in your entire life. Picture the most adorable baby animal EVER, then multiply that cuteness by infinity, then you will begin to understand how cute Roscoe is. These pix don't even do him justice.




He was playing with a leaf that was blowing in the wind on Saturday afternoon. Chasing a leaf, people. With such enthusiasm and curiosity and innocence it just makes your heart melt. Into a puddle. Then you step in that puddle and go, "Wait, that's not my heart, that's pee!" Yeah, he's still working on his housetraining skillz. But that only takes away from his cuteness by .1%, so he's still got plenty to spare.

Wind Point Lighthouse

Near Racine, WI, on Lake Michigan, there is a lighthouse. I went there yesterday after my trainings. I was surprised at how ocean-like the waves were.


And to think in a week this could be covered in snow.

Another Victory!

Prop 2 passed in CA, with 63% for to 37% against. Yay for farm animals!

Victory!

Updated 11/5:

NC is still too close to call...let's just call it a purple state and be done with it. Otherwise, electorally, it's a landslide for Obama. In the popular vote, also a clear mandate. Hooray! He has no time to rest on his laurels, as the NY Times says. There is quite a daunting array of tasks ahead of him. The scrutiny will be immense. In the end, he will bring the change we need.

Halloween in the Office

My coworkers shared my Halloween spirit and it showed in their costumes. I love the people I work with!

Taylor as "McPalin." By far the most elaborate costume at the office.

Jeff as a proctologist (complete with gross smudges), and Susan as an injured (dead?) skier.

Brent as a golfer, Brandon as Maverick from Top Gun, JD as a basketball player, and Jeff again.

Renee as Salt, and Amanda as Pepper. Loved the silver knit berets for shaker tops.

Andy as a beer keg.

Erin as Sarah Palin poses with the other Maverick in the office.

Kendall as a Pink Lady.

Ashley as a cop.

Daniel as Indiana Jones. He really fits the part, no?

Jason as an asp. Ha ha.

Rosie the Riveter

My Halloween costume:

Video from rally

Obama rally

When I heard yesterday that Barack was going to be in downtown Raleigh, I shuffled my appointments and cleared the morning so I could go. I'd never seen a past, present, or future president in person, and figured this would be a prime opportunity. My coworker Erin and I went together. It was a great experience to be with a huge crowd of like-minded people. And thanks to a decent zoom lens and some cropping, I got some good photos:


According to WRAL.com, there were about 28,000 people there! Let's make NC a blue state!!! (Below is a view looking behind where I was standing.)


This is basically what I saw when looking forward. Obama was kind of far away, but still close enough to see his expressions.


We got in line at 9:30 and waited for about an hour and 45 minutes to get "in." The rally was at Halifax Mall, a grassy area near the state government buildings. When we got up to the news vans we knew we had to be close.


Waiting in line--which, by the way, was a freezing cold venture--we were approached by many an Obama volunteer to ask if we had voted yet and if so, if we could help in the effort to get out the vote. There were also many vendors selling buttons and shirts, but I'd left my wallet in the car so I couldn't buy any. Oh well. We saw this sign when we were almost to the front:


We saw these guys walking in and could tell they meant business.


Here are some of them at their posts:


Security was tight for an outdoor rally, but not quite as tight as an airport. We didn't have to take off our coats or shoes, but we did have to go through a metal detector.


Here are some of my other shots:





About half an hour after we made it to the grassy area, right around the published 11:15 am start time, a preacher said a prayer, and then a local politician (pardon me for not remembering his name) spoke a bit. Then the music came back on, until about 15 minutes later when a field organizer came up to give a speech. He was very impassioned. We all expected Obama to come on next, but there was about 30 minutes more of music, which by that point was a little frustrating. Obama didn't come on until about 12:15, but when he did, there was quite an eruption in the audience. I must admit it felt a little like ogling a celebrity. Ooh, there he is! His speech had a couple new tidbits I hadn't heard before, such as:

Obama denounced the attacks on him by his Republican opponent, John McCain, saying McCain's desperation to win next week's election was reaching new heights.

"By the end of the week, he'll be accusing me of being a secret communist because I shared my toys in kindergarten."

There was also a moment when someone in the crowd fainted (not unimaginable after standing for 3+ hours) and since we could not take any drinks into the Mall, Obama reached into his lectern for his personal bottle of water and tossed it over. Of course it was the decent thing to do, but it was still impressive that he stopped in the middle of his speech to acknowledge the situation and help.

Here's an interesting bit of info I hadn't heard yet, that is greatly pleasing, at least to me:

More than 1.5 million people have voted statewide since early voting began Oct. 16. Almost 60 percent have been Democrats, compared with about 25 percent who have been people enrolled as Republicans.

Kim's wedding

(I'm not in this pic, but I am in the one the real photographer took!)
L-R, Jason, his wife Anna, Jace's wife Cheryl, Kim, Jace, Susan, Sy, random kid, Emily, Taylor, Emily

I have been a slacker when it comes to blogging lately. So sorry. I'm sure no one even checks anymore. But for what it's worth, I went to Kim's wedding 2 weekends ago, and here are some photos. I didn't get any of the ceremony, because I was playing videographer.

(BTW, I work with Kim, and we go to bagels every Saturday morning...except when she's getting married. Or on her honeymoon. Duh.)

(How crazy are these cakes?! So amazing. And delicious too!!)

Kim and Susan

Here are Sy and Emily. Sy caught the garter, and since a little girl caught the bouquet, he put the garter on his fiance Emily instead. They'll be getting married in May!


Next we have Taylor and his new girlfriend, also named Emily.


And lastly, we have Kim with her boss, Jason.


Fun story about the garter: Jeff, Kim's husband, is crazy about the Buffalo Bills and the Miami Dolphins. Months ago she went onto Craigslist and bought two tickets for their game in Miami. At the reception, she stuck them under her garter. So when Jeff went to take it off, he found them! He was totally and completely surprised, and turned beet red. The game was last night, so I hope they had fun!! Rather than come right back up, they are going to stick around and go to Disney World on Halloween. That should be a blast.

Your vote is worth money to charities

Trip Advisor, a website I hold near and dear to my heart for all the help it provided in helping me plan my London trip, is doing something unique. They are going to donate a total of $1 million dollars to five different charities in the name of helping the people of, and preserving the beauty of, the places we enjoy visiting. The kicker is we, the travelers of the world, get to decide how it gets divvied up. The five contenders and their standings as of today are:


I chose Doctors Without Borders because the work they do is amazing. These are health care professionals putting their own safety on the line to help people in desperate need due to war and natural disasters. All of the charities are worthy, so you can't really go wrong. If you have a spare moment, go to Trip Advisor to vote. (You do have to sign up to cast your vote, but it's free.) For every percentage point someone's share goes up, that's an additional $10,000 for them!