Change

Today is Election Day in the US – we mailed our ballots two weeks ago, FYI. My dad asked me the other day about what kind of news about the presidental candidates made it to Oz. That day on the Today Show I watched Obama and his wife dancing on Ellen and some idiotic thing Palin said recently. But really , many Australians were concerned about who would become the next US President as it would have an effect on the world. Lots of Australians were also watching the election updates today, the coverage was on two of my five channels. Before I went to my massage (that's right, Makoa was in day care and thanks to Lois Brown I was being treated to a massage!) Anyway, before my appointment the numbers were just coming in and they were close in the beginning. I thought, “No really, we (Americans) cannot be that stupid.” Luckily when I came out of my appointment, my friend had texted me the good news and when I went to the video store Obama was giving his speech. Don is in San Francisco and went to Union Square and said it was nuts. He said people were so happy and cheering and cars were honking. He thought it was fantastic that people from all different walks of life could come together and rejoice in the moment. By doing a lot of traveling, and now by living abroad, I have seen some of what the world thinks of Americans because of our leader, and it is not always the best. I can't wait to see Obama bring about the change that is desperately needed and to help Americans come together and (I apologize for the extremely trite expression) “be the best that we can be.”