After a week at the Democratic National Convention, I am FIRED...

UP!

For more Singular Saturdays go visit Jenn in Holland.

My Bling

There were tons of t-shirts and buttons to be had. I picked up quite a few of both and will proudly wear them (while not at work) over the coming months.

A couple of my favorite items, however were of a different variety...


A lovely gift from my stepmother from www.obamawatches.com

and my favorite item of all..



a tote bag you too can own from www.flashbagsonline.com

I Had a Dream...

I suppose every young girl dreams of spending a day at the ballpark with her dad. Or maybe having him walk her down the aisle.

I had a dream about going to the Democratic National Convention with my dad.

For months preceding the big event my husband and I scrambled for tickets. We contacted everyone we knew, and heading off to Denver, it was unclear that we would be able to attend any event.

Every morning was a scramble to find entrance into anything.

Wednesday night, our moment finally came. We had managed to secure floor passes for Joe Biden's acceptance speech. As the senior Senator from Delaware spoke, the senior citizen son of Delaware screamed and cheered and waved his poster on the floor of the convention.

It was a dream come true.

I'm Ready for My Close Up

As at any big, national, history-making extravaganza you're likely to run into a few celebrities.

In Washington, our celebrities tend to be of the political type - politicians and pundits anyone would be very hard pressed to pick out of a line up (but sometimes seen in a perp walk.)

On this trip I managed to run into/sight the following inside-the-beltway types:

TV: Wolf Blitzer, Katie Couric, Bob Schieffer, Luke Russert
Pundits: Paul Begala, James Carville
Politicians: Jack Reed, Chris Dodd, the governor of Iowa (who is incredibly nice and who I kept meeting and shaking his hand - and no I wasn't stalking him), Howard Dean, Sheldon Whitehouse (how's that for an auspicious name)...and others too numerous to count

But for the rest of you out there in the real world, I have a few others on my list who are probably a bit more exciting.

The guys from the Daily Show - Aasif Mandvi, Rob Riggles, and Larry Wilmore, the Black Correspondent.



Melissa Etheridge on stage singing the best American medley I have ever heard



And my favorite candidate for Senator for Minnesota, Al Franken.



Wow!

I Cried, I Cried

The most amazing night so far has been Monday night when we witnessed one of the most powerful moments in a Democratic Convention.

Any politics aside, Ted Kennedy's speech was nothing short of extraordinary. Here is a man who is fighting for his life and he gave every ounce of energy to not only be there - but to speak. As we waited for him to come out we noticed some crew putting a stool next to the podium. Would he need to sit? Would he even be able to walk?

A few moments later we had our answer - he hobbled out in that same way he has been doing for years. No assistance required on the loving arm of his wife. I was crying before he even walked out and by the end of it I was cheering louder than I ever have.

His wish is to see inauguration day. I could wish for nothing more.

Go Teddy Go!

Democratic Fashion

Sorry for the lag in posting -- we have been running around like crazy people. 8am to 12 midnight every day.

Today's post is about the fashions one finds here. Hundreds of Obama t-shirts to be sure. All a little bit different.

The thing that has been most impressive is the hats and hair-dos. Great to see so many people so inspired. Just brilliant!






p.s. these photos were all taken on the floor of the convention - so exciting!

Blogging from the Democratic National Convention

Hi Friends - you are in for a treat this week! I am (sort of) attending the Democratic National Convention in Denver. We arrived on Saturday afternoon and will stay until Friday afternoon - plenty of time to take in all the excitement!

And we are EXCITED! As I walked out of the airport terminal I encountered a number of airport pickup signs for Obama supporters and it was all so thrilling I just had to cheer! Even though I already had a ride.

Rather than post about the political goings-on around town I'll stick to the more touristy aspects of it all. I can't really blog about politics for a few reasons - and why add to the coverage from 50 million other bloggers and news websites.

Hope to see you all this week... it's gonna be FUN!

Akwaaba

It's that time of the week - injecting a little geographic exploration into an otherwise sedentary life.

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I haven't done one of these posts in a long time (and it's not Wednesday - so sue me) but since I'm on the road I thought I would post a travel story.

I'm currently in Ghana for a few days. 6 days to be exact. Hardly enough time to see anything and considering I'll be in meetings the whole time I don't know that I'll have much to report on besides the inside of conference rooms.

I arrived here this morning and walked off the plane to the lovely smell of West Africa. It's not so much a bad smell as a very distinctive one. Something like burning peat. Not too different from rural Ireland.

The most shocking things to me so far have been the safety issues - or really lack thereof. Given my recent trip to Haiti and my future trip to Nigeria (returning to both places again later this fall) I am so used to being on guard walking through the airport. I plain forgot that I could even wander outside the hotel without an escort while I'm here.

Weather is hot and humid - not unlike DC. The upside is that we get ocean breezes. Helps keep the mosquitoes at bay.

Looking forward to a fun week!

Oh, how I wish I could sleep...

IN

For more Singular Saturdays go visit Jenn in Holland.

I'm Lost

This post brought to you by Soccer Mom in Denial - posting every Monday on a different musical memory.

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I have been completely out of it. After a brutal week a couple of weeks ago, I spent last week vegetating. My husband was away and I had all these little projects I was going to work on. hmmmm...best laid plans.

I did manage to feed the cat and water the plants - although managed to mess up each of those on separate days. But at the end of the week, everyone was alive! Victory!

I flew up to VT on Friday afternoon to join my husband for a music festival he attends every year. An incredibly relaxing weekend to end a blissfully confused week and to kick off another round of back to back flights.

Alas, I have no soundtrack. Other than the explosively loud music I played to drown out a particularly turbulent flight last night, I have no musical memory to share this week.

Will you help me? I'm going to Ghana, Denver, Haiti, and Nigeria (and some twice) in the next 3 months. What music do I need to add to my iPod? What tunes will I associate with these trips? Something to bring me back to that 11 hour flight over the Atlantic? The interminable layover in Miami? The roar of the crowd at Mile High Stadium?

All recommendations appreciated!

Some Positive Affirmation

This post brought to you by Soccer Mom in Denial - posting every Monday on a different musical memory.

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I had one of those weeks at work where I thought I was going to get fired several times. Not having actually done anything wrong, but feeling under attack.

A book I'm reading right now about how to deal with difficult co-workers recommends releasing physical stress through exercise - walk your dog, take deep breaths, go for a run. As a matter of fact, they recommend running a lot. To the point where you wonder where people who are under such stress find the time. But I digress.

On Friday I was walking to a meeting I really dreaded. Just had a horrible feeling in the pit of my stomach. I pored through my iPod looking for something to calm me down. Tried slow stuff. Listened to tracks for my fear of flying (nice guy talking in a sweet voice). Hmmmm, somehow listening to someone talk about plane crashes wasn't really helping.

I finally gave up on the soothing stuff and decided on something to get my positive energy up.

Gotta love these women.

The meeting went well. Stood my ground and was surprisingly polite and composed. I'm very happy with my performance.