A perfect Friday--voting problems and all

Yesterday, I had the day off. A glorious day to spend time with my little girl and run errands. We had a girls breakfast, joined by my mom and grandma before they headed to the airport to go to New Jersey. We went trick or treating with Maggie's class to the nursing home. Hey, here's a good idea--let's have 150 plus children traipse through a nursing home and line six old people up to give them candy. Who do you think was more overwhelmed--the kids with the slow lines and not understanding what to do, or the elderly people looking exhausted and fumbling to give them pieces of candy? Might have been a toss up.

After that, I stayed in Maggie's classroom because we were going to have cupcakes to celebrate Maggie's third birthday (it's tomorrow--EEEK!)with her classroom friends. This was such a treat. I went out on the playground to watch them play all together. I saw Maggie play with her best little friend, Abbey, and saw her interact with the other children. When we got back in and her teacher was getting through the potty regimen before lunch time, so I sat on the carpet with the kids and sang songs. It was so much fun! Lunch time was a sight to see and then came the main attraction--cupcakes!! Maggie squealed and smiled as her friends sang her Happy Birthday, then proceeded to lick off all the icing before promptly throwing away the cake part. Me, I scraped off the icing and ate the cake part. We're related?

After cupcakes, I took my leave of Maggie's school so she could settle with her friends and attempt to nap. I say attempt because Maggie is one of the worst nappers in the class. Her teacher now puts her in the corner of the room to keep her from disrupting the others when she is sitting up and playing or singing instead of sleeping. Our days of naps are few and far between lately. So, I was off. What, seriously, what was I to do with myself? Friday afternoon with no meetings, lunch appointments, or time in the office to catch up? What could I do?

First, I attempted to go to Party City. That, let me assure you, was a mistake. Party City one week before Halloween is a freaking nightmare. I need party favors for a princess and knight themed party, and as the lady at Party City so politely told me, I might not "find a darn thing for knights." Then she chuckled, walked off, saying "yeah, good luck with THAT one, ha ha ha." So, I gave up my search and drove myself to the movies. I got as far as the front of the theater while on the phone with my Board Chairman (it might have been a day off but I still had some business to discuss with him). Whether it was him laughing at me saying, "man, you're a loser" or my general lack of enthusiasm at any of the showings, I turned around and left the theater. So, a trip to Target and run home to take care of Brandy before off to the polls to vote!

I'm going to confess to something--I've been a deliquent voter. In the more than 12 years that I have been able to vote, I have only voted once. In college. In 1998. Until yesterday. I reregistered and sent in all my paperwork right before the deadline in September. Yesterday, I marched myself up through the voter lines, proudly holding my voter registration card and eargerly ready to vote. The line was quick and I was standing up at the front in less than ten minutes. Yes, this was going to be a breeze! Except, wait, there was a problem. "Oh, you're not in the system," the woman told me. Well, huh.

I was told to sit and wait for a woman named Molly to come and attend to me. Ten minutes go by, then another ten. Every once in a while, someone would glance my direction, and the woman that helped me said, "oh, she's not in the system." Finally, Molly came my direction. Because I had voted before but reregistered under a new name, I was not properly ready to vote. But, not to worry, Molly said, she could get it taken care of. I was shuffled over to a group of four men, all with the same problem--they were not in the system. Molly tells a women with a clipboard how to handle us. One by one, the other men are helped while I stand and wait. And wait. And wait. Finally--my turn! Clipboard lady tells the lady monitoring the line, "hold up for a second and let this lady go through--she's not in the system."

"Oh, you're not in the system??" No, apparently I'm not I told the woman taking my card for the second time. "OK, sign here." I do, and then she takes the clipboard and writes "NOT IN THE SYSTEM" next to my signature. Time to get my access card. Another sign in sheet and another notation of my error of ways. Finally, I was able to walk up to the polls and cast my votes. And as I walked out of the room, I heard the attendant ask another lady, "Are you not in the system??"

Last night, it was back to her school for our annual Fall Festival. We spent much of the evening visitng with Abbey and her family, watching our girls act silly and play together.

Voting issues and all, I would say it was a pretty perfect day. This weekend is all about family fun with a Halloween party, visiting with "Aunt Bobby," birthday party for Jen's little guy, Six Flags, and birthday dinner with Andrew's mom. Today, I have a cute little two year old. Tomorrow, I will wake up to a gorgeous three year old.