but she still finds things to put in her mouth

What's that? You say you are impressed with the cleanliness of my floors? Every floor, I know! The carpets, the hard wood, the tile, it's all so clean. Well, thank you, would you like to know my secret? Sometimes the only thing that will get Josephine to shut up already is to get out the vacuum, swiffer, or carpet cleaner and have at it. So even though this hardly used room could easily go a few days with out a vacuum, every last little speck of fuzz is sucked up while the baby chases me around and charges the hoover in her own freaky game of chicken.
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I read a lot of blogs. Every once in a while I read an entry that bothers me or is annoying and I feel compelled to respond to it here, as if all of you who read this have been reading the same websites. But that's not a good idea, really. So if I can't find something else to write about, if that entry is stuck in my head, I have to step back from the computer a few days. That's where I've been. Hiding. And yet, I still can't help but make a comment anyway. (what is wrong with me) I've read in a few places about people who made sure their kids didn't watch the presidential inauguration at school. When these kids grow up their memory of this historic day, this day that the first black president was inaugurated, was that they had to sit in a separate room from their classmates because their parents didn't vote for him. Boo! Yeah I said it, Boo! It just irked me a bit. I think January 20, 2009 should be a day that you always remember where you were, regardless of whether or not you considered it a good or bad day. (It was a good day for me!) If you felt 1/20/2009 wasn't any more special a day than any other, oh well. Oh well oh well oh well, but keeping your kids from it? ah, why can't I shut up about this already? Why can't everyone think the way I tell them to think?
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Friday I went to tour a LDS Temple. If you know anything about the Mormon religion then you know how important the temples are to the LDS church. Not just anyone can go in once it's been dedicated. But! after one is built the church opens it up to the public for a short time, which is what is going on now about an hour south of us. If you know me well enough you know that I am always up for learning more about your religion so I was pretty pumped to be able to do this. I could go on and on about the things I disagree with in the Mormon religion, but there are many things that are wonderful as well and I don't want to turn this post into an argument for or against any faith. I will say this though, the temple smelled slightly like a hospital, and maybe it was just me, but a little like formaldehyde. It was at the same time, plainer and fancier than I expected. ( I know, What?!) Just trust me.
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Tonight I'm going to watch Ed Asner in a reenactment of the Scopes Monkey trial. I guess I'll have to fill you in on that later though.
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Back in November I applied to a local college. December, after I had allowed plenty of time for my trascripts to be mailed I tried contacting the admission office to ask what the hold up could be. After a million (seriously one million) attempts to contact them I finally found out that they needed one more piece of paper that they were waiting for even though they never asked me to send it! Fast forward to last week, I am finally officially admitted even though the semester started three weeks ago. I find one professor who is willing to let me join her class late, I get up at the ass crack of dawn to meet with her, succeed at buying my text book after 2 tries, and get to reading. It's an online class and when I tried to log on Sunday to start my massive catch-up of assignments I was greeted with a message saying it's all down for maitenence for 5 days! So there, when I'm not vacuuming, I'm reading.
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I leave you with a parenting dilema like no other:
The baby is asleep, finally, on your lap. She is a little sick and currently a light sleeper so any atempt to move her would certainly wake her up. You know she has poop in her diaper, and enough pee that it's leaking on your leg.
I normally wouldn't let her sleep in poopy pants but this is the first moment she hasn't yelled at me in what feels like years...ok it's been just this morning (and last night) that she's been cranky.
The decision may be made for me because I have to pee.

Yes we can

Dear Josephine,

I'm not sure how to start this; I want to present you with an eloquently written letter but I'm also finding it hard not to type OH MY GOSH I'M SO EXCITED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!LAKJDFLAKSADFSFJSFJ!!!!! over and over and just call it a day. You will always know a world where an African American can be the President of the United States and it's no big deal.

I can't help but think about the few similarities between you and Barack Obama. Like so very many other children out there who, until now, had no real reason to believe that America would have enough confidence in them to elect them as President, you have a white mother, an absent black father, and more love and devotion from your grandparents and me than you know what to do with. You could be our president 40 years from now! or really anything, an-y-thing. Now, don't misunderstand, I did not vote for Barack Obama because he is black, I voted for him because I believe he is going to be the the kind of President we need. I'm happy he won and I'm happy the outward, as well as the veiled racism in this country didn't win.

Unfortunately, even with this amazing step forward the same day held some terrible steps back as well and in all reality you will know a world where not all people are treated equally.

I hope that when you are older and you read this you are baffled at the idea of anyone being discounted because of the color of their skin, their sex, religion or lifestyle, or because of how they grew up. I hope that you are only known as Josephine.

You won't remember November 4th 2008 but hopefully your life will be filled with equally momentous days. Days where civil rights trump self-righteous attitudes and days where there is not tolerance, but acceptance and love.

i voted

Utah is so red that no candidate bothers to campaign here. Utah is the reddest state in the world. Most houses around here have signs in their yard but only for the local elections, I've seen one McCain sign and maybe 5 Obama signs. I'm pretty sure that as long as you don't have a Obama sign in your yard you are assumed to be a McCain/Palin supporter. That's how red it is here. The first Obama sign in our yard was broken and stolen so we replaced it and after a few days this one was obviously kicked/stomped/punched/something but it was at least left in the yard and I managed to rig it back up. I've seen that the one neighbor with an Obama sign has also had to replace theirs and move it higher in the yard away from the sidewalk.

I know McCain will win Utah but I'm looking forward to see how purple we can get it this year. Also, we have had beautiful weather lately, warm and sunny, but today it is snowing. I hope it doesn't stop people from getting out to the polls. Oh! and you know about those flyers and phone calls telling people that they can vote after the 4th or that college students will lose financial aid if they vote at their school rather than their home state? yeah I thought that most people have figured out the truth but just last night someone had a bet with my brother that the polls were open until the 7th. She had received an email. Oh My Gosh people, today is the last day to vote and you will not get in trouble if you go, I promise!