A new day.

It's been one hell of a week. A wonderful week in our nation. A week that has changed history.

It feels like the week started on Tuesday. I can't even remember Monday at all. It feels like life has taken a new turn on Tuesday and has evolved to a new different world. We woke up bright and early Tuesday morning. Our polling place opened at 7 am. We made and ate breakfast as fast as we could and around 8 am, the three of us, walked down the street to the grade school where we were able to vote. The three of us. My family. Holding baby Eleanor's hand. She not knowing where we're going, or what we were doing. But just has happy to be walking between, or rather swinging between the two of us.
She won't know for many years the historic event that she had participated in and I am elated to have had her by our side.

Our polling place had one electronic voting machine and several booths for paper votes. A-man and I both decided to vote electronically because we thought it was faster and didn't know that there was only one. I was first in line but since I had to chase Elle around in the gymnasium, he went first. As usual, Elle went up to pretty much everyone in that room and said, "Hi". She just loves to say Hi, she gave one random person a hug, also something she loves to do, and she followed and watched another child like a hawk. When A-man was done, he took her outside to the playground and I finished my vote.

I checked the right box. Then I reviewed it, and reviewed the review. I wanted to make sure. I know that Illinois is a democratic state and I knew the outcome of our state. But I also needed to make sure that I took part of this election to make sure that my vote was in. If everyone thought that their vote didn't count and didn't vote, it could very well swing the final result one way or another. So each vote does count, even if you live in a RED or BLUE state. Every vote and every person counts.

The rest of the day was spent wondering. Wondering what would happen. Could this country really pull through and vote for a change? Could this country where most of the states have small towns with conservative values change to bring a Black Man into power? Would it really have been an issue of change had He not been Black? If Barack Obama was a white man, was named John Vanderbilt or something with the same background of experience, same principals, same determination for change, would it been as historic? I'd like to believe that it isn't about his Race, that it is "about the content of his character" and I hope that our world has changed.

As the polls started to close in the east coast and seeing more blue than red, I knew. I knew right away that it would happen. I knew that Obama would win but I was scared nonetheless. Most of the Red states were in the central to mountain time zones and those tallies would come hours later. But when the electoral votes were 207 to 135, there was no doubt. California had 55 electoral votes and I knew that that would be BLUE so he was undoubtly going to win but the announcement came much sooner than before the Pacific Coast's polls were closed. He won by a landslide. I have never been so interested in politics. This is my second Election that I voted in. I was one of those people that thought that my vote didn't matter because we lived in a democratic state. But in 2000, I was living in Asia and did not vote and was devastated that it was so close and had to vote in 2004. Unfortunately it didn't go as I had hoped then either.

I waited patiently for the speech. I wish I was at the rally but being a first time mom has some limitations such as leaving half of the day. It just couldn't happen. So I sat by the television, waiting just like half of the world, not just our country but the entire world to listen to his speech. McCain went first and gave a very respectful speech and I was impressed. He finally showed a decent side of him that I didn't expect. But the speech by President Elect Obama was amazing. It felt so unreal that I was alive and watching history take place. I was apart of something that would go down in our books not just because this election had the possibity of a woman or a black man go into the White House but because it gave so much hope. I just felt like we finally did something right. We, as in 52% of our population, made an impact that will change everything.

There is a lot of turmoil in the world, in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Congo to just name a few but there is also a great deal of devastation in America with our financial crisis, our poor health care and education system and so on. The changes that were promised to us might not happen over night, or in a year, or even in one term but I strongly believe that Obama is the person, the only person, who would bring about positive change by uniting our country, respecting all sides, and leading with love, respect, and understanding of all races, gender, and sexual orientation. I am proud to have been part of something so much bigger than myself. I am so proud of helping someone become president that respects the personal decisions of woman, that respects all people for who they are and not who they love, that appreciates the values of the working class, and that worked hard to fight racial barriers through his own life as a student and a person of color. He wasn't given a silver spoon when he was born like Bush or McCain yet he accomplished just as much.

I don't believe in all the things that he is planning to do but I couldn't possibly let this country be run by people that didn't have the best interest of the people in mind just to save my pocket book as a small business owner. It's a new day and a new life for every one of us and all I have is hope that things will start to change.

(By the way, shame on you California, shame on you.)