A Historic Day

Barack Obama became the first African-American to run as the presidential candidate for a major political party tonight. As I watched his speech, I felt such a thrill. I'm excited to record this in my journal and share it with Ella one day as a great historical day in our lives.

We listened to him speak and I will print and save this speech for my daughter. Here are some of his remarks I found so moving and motivating:

Obama declared, "Sixteen months have passed since we first stood together on the steps of the Old State Capitol in Springfield, Illinois. Thousands of miles have been traveled. Millions of voices have been heard. And because of what you said – because you decided that change must come to Washington; because you believed that this year must be different than all the rest; because you chose to listen not to your doubts or your fears but to your greatest hopes and highest aspirations, tonight we mark the end of one historic journey with the beginning of another – a journey that will bring a new and better day to America. Tonight, I can stand before you and say that I will be the Democratic nominee for President of the United States."

He later went on to say, "In our country, I have found that this cooperation happens not because we agree on everything, but because behind all the labels and false divisions and categories that define us; beyond all the petty bickering and point-scoring in Washington, Americans are a decent, generous, compassionate people, united by common challenges and common hopes. And every so often, there are moments which call on that fundamental goodness to make this country great again.

So it was for that band of patriots who declared in a Philadelphia hall the formation of a more perfect union; and for all those who gave on the fields of Gettysburg and Antietam their last full measure of devotion to save that same union.

So it was for the Greatest Generation that conquered fear itself, and liberated a continent from tyranny, and made this country home to untold opportunity and prosperity.

So it was for the workers who stood out on the picket lines; the women who shattered glass ceilings; the children who braved a Selma bridge for freedom’s cause.

So it has been for every generation that faced down the greatest challenges and the most improbable odds to leave their children a world that’s better, and kinder, and more just.

And so it must be for us.

America, this is our moment. This is our time. Our time to turn the page on the policies of the past. Our time to bring new energy and new ideas to the challenges we face. Our time to offer a new direction for the country we love.

The journey will be difficult. The road will be long. I face this challenge with profound humility, and knowledge of my own limitations. But I also face it with limitless faith in the capacity of the American people. Because if we are willing to work for it, and fight for it, and believe in it, then I am absolutely certain that generations from now, we will be able to look back and tell our children that this was the moment when we began to provide care for the sick and good jobs to the jobless; this was the moment when the rise of the oceans began to slow and our planet began to heal; this was the moment when we ended a war and secured our nation and restored our image as the last, best hope on Earth. This was the moment – this was the time – when we came together to remake this great nation so that it may always reflect our very best selves, and our highest ideals. Thank you, God Bless you, and may God Bless the United States of America."

I can't believe I'm doing this...

Well I figured since this is a family blog maybe I (Tim) should do my part to contribute and get in on the blogging craze at the same time. Anyway, I must be getting old, because I never thought in a million years that I would ever be interested in making a garden. I spent enough tortuous days helping my mom in her garden when I was a kid that it never occurred to me that the desire hadn't been completely eradicated from my soul. I guess even those BACKBREAKING, HOT summer days of rototilling, digging postholes, weeding, etc. couldn't compete when the whole "be prepared" bit finally decided to hit home for me. So I decided to try this squarefoot gardening thing. It ended up costing us more money than I wanted but hopefully it will require almost zero labor to come.

I built this wooden frame first. The chicken wire cage thing is to keep the rabbits out and can easily be lifted off the top of the frame.



Then I covered the bottom with landscaping cloth, and then proceeded to build our own soil (one part peat moss, one part compost, and one part vermiculite). Then we planted a bunch of different stuff, one thing in each sqare. I've told myself that if this garden doesn't produce a whole farm's worth of veggies, I'm never doing it again, but I hear that this is one of the easiest ways to get a whole lot of harvest with hardly any effort. The setup was hard but since then we havent done a single thing to it (it's been raining here every other day or so so we haven't even had to water), and things are starting to sprout! I can see a tasty, organic-vegetable filled future for our family! After one week of doing absolutely nothing, this is what it looked like (except for the tomato plant; we bought it like that):



And the next day (today):



I hope soon we have more veggies than we know what to do with!

Tornado Warning

So, we're experiencing true midwestern weather this evening. We've actually had a few odd days like this since we've lived here - sunny and warm weather that's turned into thunder storms. The tornado warnings have always been in surrounding counties, though. Tonight we've had a watch, then a warning, then a watch. There's been hail, wind, heavy rain, thunder, and tremendous lightening. We're doing fine, but it's definitely an adventure!

Shut Up and Sing

I created this blog to share news about my family, but I'm going to do an extremely rare self-indulgent post. Pregnancy has made me react with more depth of emotion to what I read, listen to, and watch lately. While Ella napped this afternoon, I turned on the tv and tuned into the documentary "Shut Up and Sing" while folding laundry. Ella woke up toward the end and as I watched her dance to the Dixie Chicks' music and listened to their words, I felt incredibly emotional. I greatly admire their strength, their ability to move ahead in spite of fear, and their willingness to speak up for what they believe in and stand behind each other in spite of everything. When I looked at Ella, I wanted these things for her and mourned a bit for some of the loss of them in myself. I know many people can't even hear the name "Dixie Chicks" without wanting to scream, but I want my daughter to have many of the qualities I admire in them - to stand up for her beliefs and stand behind her words despite public sentiment. Most of all, I want Ella to let her conscience guide her. And as I contemplate my fears around the potential controversy of this posting amongst some of my family and friends, I wish more of those qualities for myself as well.

Baby Farmer

Now that I've hit my 12 week mark, I wanted to officially share our news here with family and friends. We're expecting a new baby on December 9th. Everything is going well with the baby - I just heard the heartbeat today. I've been much sicker this time around, but just received the good news that I am not (yet) a gestational diabetic like I was last time. Between my not feeling well and Tim's crazy work schedule lately, it's been difficult to find time to blog. Hopefully, I'll catch up soon and post some new pictures.

I Love My Daddy!

Ella really wanted to hang out with Tim, so he carried her on his back while he mowed the lawn. She loved the ride for about 10 minutes, then she was done.

There's nothing like a snuggle with Dad when you're sick!

Tim dressed Ella and was serious about this combo!

Lately, Tim has traveled quite a bit. He was gone 8 days in the past 2 weeks - 5 one week, 3 the next. Ella gets so excited when he comes home and just follows him around. The other day, he came home from running an errand, Ella heard him in the garage and turned to me saying, "Oh! Daddy! Oh!" I'm a bit jealous of her adoration (Can you say "mommy" when you don't need something?) but I totally get it, so I can't really blame her. I just wanted to share a few cute Daddy/daughter pictures from the past month.

Earthquake!

I woke up suddenly Friday morning at 4:45 to the house shaking. I instinctively reached over and shook Tim awake to make sure I wasn't going crazy. He sort of woke up and dazedly confirmed that the house was indeed shaking. An earthquake? Here? We thought we only had tornadoes to worry about. Turns out we're actually on a fault line. Around 10 am, I thought Ella'd bumped into the computer desk, but it shook too long for that...aftershock. This was my third earthquake in memory.