New Kind of Tired

It is 2:26 (even though the clock says 1:26). I am at the Campaign for Change office. I feel like I am asleep, but I'm working sometimes with my eyes closed.

Letter to the Editor

It's 5:23 am and I am preparing for another long day. I get to school by 6:00 to gear up to teach 7th grade social studies, stay for after school tutoring, then rush to my second job as canvass manager for the Campaign for Change.

I see these two positions as absolutely linked, especially in light of the tone and character of vice presidential nominee, Sarah Palin's latest rally, where supporters were worked up into a racially charged frenzy climaxing with a reveler's call to kill Senator Obama; a suggestion that was not condemned by Gov. Palin. The fact that the McCain campaign is stooping this low, playing on the ugliest of human tendencies, shows their desperation and intentions for this country. At a time when the entire country is suffering in so many ways, they attempt distract and divide us with racist innuendo. So that fear of the other rather than hope for the future will inform our decision on November 4th.

I am choosing to believe that we have come farther than that. That the unchecked sentiment chanted at that rally represents a minority of the country. I have to. I teach 100 middle school students who had a very difficult time wrapping their head around racial segregation, perplexed by the idea that there would ever be a time that their co-existence in the classroom would not be possible. This innocence is the future. And it is for them that I am working these long, taxing days – to lose this election is to embrace the ugliness, the hatred and fear that has separated us. It would take us a thousand steps back from the distance this nation has come in dissolving the racial divisions that have plagued our history. We cannot afford that.

Sincerely,
Maura

Weekend Wrap Up

Friday: Doctor's appt, gym, grocery store. Home for ravioli and the Office with Matt. Off to my aunt's house to watch the debate and drink wine.

Saturday: Up early - hung around house for a few hours then took my car to the shop to repair damage from hit and run. Headed downtown to stand in line for three hours:

Then in the rain for three more:
To see Barack Obama and Joe Biden:

The last time I was on that field, I heard Newt Gingrich speak (it was my grad school graduation). We left the field soaked to the bone and completely exhausted and came home to eat cheap pizza and watch Flight of the Conchords in our bathrobes.

Sunday: Up at 7 to write lesson plans and do laundry. Volunteered at Obama headquarters for several hours (I've been drafted as a volunteer recruiter/organizer), then jetted to the gym. Came home to make potato leek soup and hang out with Matt. More planning, then drove around to find copies of today's local paper.

Poot

I apparently have the gassy kids this year.

Yesterday, one was covering his nose in the cafeteria. When I asked him what was wrong and he told me someone had farted; I offered him the kind of wisdom only a public school teacher can impart: whoever smelt it, dealt it.

GOP Fan Club President

Today we started our elections unit. I told each class how I volunteered this weekend for one of the candidates, but I refused to reveal who. In my last class of the day the consensus was that I had volunteered and was planning to vote for McCain.

Their suspicious, they claimed, were confirmed when I allegedly "blushed" every time John McCain's name was mentioned.

I offered that I was either utterly embarrassed that they would assume I was a Republican or totally in love with John McCain. YOU BE THE JUDGE.

Weekend Wrap Up

Friday: Gym, home for stir-fry and candlelight then In the Name of the Father and early-ish bedtime.

Saturday: Up early to shower and prepare for canvassing for Obama. 9:30 - 1:30 walked around Fredericksburg knocking on doors and being overly nice to shirtless McCain supporters. Iced coffee on Matt - home in lie down and be airconditioned before driving up to Arlington. Dinner with my fam, including FOB from China brother.

Went out with Matt and Jim to meet Amanda downtown. LOVELY time. Stayed out later than I have in ages.

Sunday: Hung with my mom all morning for some heart to hearting. Back to Fredericksburg by lunch time. Wrote lesson plans all day with a sprinkling of Office episodes here and there.

An-Ree

My mom and I visited my sister in MA this weekend and this video pretty much captured my activities for the last three days. There's nothing like hearing your 19 month old nephew say your name - seriously he knows like 30 some words so that makes me pretty important. Also, judging by the way he says his own name, he might be French.