ok, so finally things are over. halloween, the election, etc. i can finally relax. what? i can't? we are going to florida? in 2 days? are you kidding???

yup, i get to go on "vacation"! in 2 days. with no prior warning. in my book, increasing the stress in ordeto relax zeros out the gain! sort of. i am still pretty happy about it, now that i have resigned myself to scrambling for the next 24 hours. and there is a bit of pleasure in being able to say "hey. you do it (insert whatever undesirable task you can think of--taking the dog to the vet for example). this was not my idea."

halloween was fun, exhausting and quite a challenge to simultaneously provide a steady stream of sugar in the form of candy, cookies, halloween party treats, etc and yet also regulate the emotions of 2 small children so that they could actually make it through the day. more later.

as for the election, yes, i am very pleased that obama won. honestly, primarily because sarah scared the poop out of me. voting was a bit of a challenge but accomplished. but i do have to say my mood was not the elated one that many others have had. the uglier aspects of this election really have gotten me down, and while it is obvious that we made history etc etc, we also exposed a festering wound in this country that has been hidden (or at least bandaged) for a while. of course we all knew it was there, but having all of the racism (and misogyny earlier in the campaign) come to the surface in the way that it did put a damper on my celebration. i won't put a damper on other's celebration any further, but that is my take away from this.

on a much different note, ava's skating has literally taken off. since i know so little about the sport, i cannot speak intelligently about it, but she has been progressing through the levels (you have to meet a certain set of milestones for each level, assessed by a certified teacher and then you move up. ) right now ava is in basic 5, about to pass into basic 6. this is meaningless to most people, but i wish i could adequately explain the physical progression she is making. she is just soaking up the instruction and really getting it. it is really rewarding for her, so that is great. she is very very proud of herself. it is like she suddenly understands her body.

and carter as well--he finally decided that it is fun, and he is making progress too. which is great.