Things that make you go, "Hmmmm"

So Bjorn and I both applied to register to vote in Texas. And both of us had our applications returned for "insufficient information." Bjorn's was because they said his social security number wasn't valid, mine because it said I failed to complete the "citizenship question."

As you may have heard, the Texas governor's race between incumbent Rick Perry (R) and former Houston mayor Bill White (D) is getting a lot of attention these days. It wouldn't take much to figure out that Bjorn was active in the Barack Obama campaign in Virginia and would likely be voting for White as well. Do you think there's a conspiracy here? I mean, one incomplete voter registration form is one thing, but two? A solid 100 percent?

I must say I have voted in most elections (I won't say all, because come on, I was in college for a while) and I have never had a voter form rejected, whether it be for voting absentee or changing my location. Considering the White campaign is trying to tap into the Hispanics, many of whom are first time voters and might be dissuaded by an official letter like this, the whole thing smells a little fishy, that's all.

Catching up

With the election over, we spent the weekend catching up on chores. The son of a neighbor came and did the lion's share of our leaf raking (without asking to be paid although Bjorn did slip him some cash) because his mother said we had been too busy with the election. That or she really thought our yard looked like crap. Josh did about 25 bags of leaves and Bjorn did another 10. All that and we still have leaves on our lawn. So in an exciting weekend, we did leaves.
Planted bulbs at Margareta's.

Made a baby laugh (okay, not a chore, but how cute is this picture? Who cares if it's not part of the theme.)

Crawling.

Bjorn replaced the kitchen sink.

And the babies looked all adorable (again, not part of the theme, but how cute are they?) This isn't Meg's best picture, but I liked that both their heads were in the frame so I can see how really similar they look. Her mouth, sadly, is always open these days. I actually don't mind it being open like this because she has also discovered how to grind her teeth and it. makes. me. crazy.

Election fatigue

With Meg figuring out how to crawl, I'm just getting around to posting some classic election photos for the archives. Here is Andy, clearly tired and bored with the whole thing. The Wednesday after the election both Andy and Bjorn were exhausted. I let Andy get in bed with Bjorn since I had a soccer game that night and it was 7:30 and Bjorn was already in bed. I went downstairs to get dressed and found them both sacked out.

I am excited for all the work Bjorn put in (I was only an enabler). I have told Bjorn I really want to attend an inaugural ball. Sure, everyone says they're stupid and overpriced and hoity toity, but I want to go to one in my lifetime and this seems as good as any.

Victory

The election is over. I am thrilled about this for many selfish reasons. This means the robocalls that seemed to come on the hour will stop. The negative ads from both campaigns will finally end on TV and the radio.

It also means I will get Bjorn back. The guy has been volunteering many hours toward the campaign. It's been cool to watch the mechanics of a campaign, but I have missed having him around to play with us. I'll admit though that I've loved meeting all the volunteers who came to Virginia to help in a swing state. Last weekend, I met a nice retired couple from Bakersfield, Calif., who came to Virginia for two weeks to campaign. They were here on their own dime because they cared about the issues and wanted to make a difference. How cool is that? It never occurred to me that people did that kind of stuff. When I get older, I want to take cool vacations like that.

We have also had volunteers come down on weekends all the way from places like Delaware and Connecticut to campaign, not to mention all the locals from D.C. and Maryland who crossed the bridge to try to make a difference. Like their politics or not, that kind of activism is pretty cool.

On election night, I volunteered to be a "poll watcher" at the voting station at my local elementary school. I was there with a nice lawyer from Reston who was there to watch as well. She really knew her stuff, I was just standing there. However I think the other poll workers presumed I had any idea what I was doing. My job was to oversee the process and look out for any monkey business. There was none of that, rather there were probably 15 people who worked all day -- from 5 a.m. until 9 p.m. on election day to make a difference. Clearly, everyone had their own political beliefs, but all they really cared about was doing their job well. That was remarkable to see as well.

Virginia has electronic, touch-screen voting. At the end of the day, they print out the receipts from the machines on these little paper tapes, like receipts. Then they get added up, checked against previous tallies, checked for anything funky, signed off by workers from both parties before finally being officially tallied and posted on the door. My precinct had more than 80 percent voter turnout on Tuesday. Just amazing.

Now that the election is over, I can go back to my previously scheduled life.

This and that

Apparently my kids don't understand the concept that "fall back" daylight savings is the good one where you get to sleep an extra hour. Instead, they seem to believe they can stay up later and wake up earlier. Good times. So in lieu of a decent post, here are the highlights:

• Meg can crawl. No, not fast. Yet. But she gets up on her knees and actually ooches forward.
• Meg doesn't seem to answer to Meg, or even Baby Meg, but her head turns for Margaret.
• Andy is obsessed with a book we found on the shelves about Professor Poopypants. It's a chapter book in the Captain Underpants series. In Googling it for this post, I found the Professor Poopypants Name Changer. My name is Flunky Toiletsniffer. You're welcome.
• Bjorn has been working hard on this election for Obama. He was up until 3ish last night walking a route and putting "Vote" doorhangers throughout Fairfax. The cooler thing is he took a 17-year-old neighbor and her boyfriend to get a route, too. (When I typed that, it somehow seemed sketchy taking a teenager and her friend out at midnight, but it really isn't. Promise.)
• I got a job working the polls today at my local elementary school. It's a non-partisan job. I get to stand outside the school and hand out sample ballots. Then after the polls close at 7, I get to help as they add up all the numbers. I'm actually pretty excited about it. I hope it's not totally lame.