It's March, Almost April!

It's been a long time since I've posted anything. I guess I've only posted twice this whole year. I've really enjoyed the break and haven't missed blogging at all. Between work, school, and the insanity of life lately, all I want to do is sleep in the evenings and so blogging and writing haven't been at the forefront of my brain. However, this week I was thinking that I probably should do some writing because I've got a lot going on and I'd hate to look back on 2016 and wonder what I did that year and then not have a record of any of it. So, I'll try to do better about posting because I've actually got some exciting things going on right now. 

I'll start with what I've been up to for the first few months of this year. I won't go into a play by play detail because we would be here all day, but I can probably sum it up so you'll get the gist of what's been going on around these parts. 

In February I celebrated my 39th birthday which I wrote a little about. In addition to the things I wrote about in my birthday post, I also went out to dinner with various groups of friends and family and to a local songwriter's showcase with another set of friends. It was a great month and the celebrations lasted about three weeks which is as it should be. At the end of February I went to the Alabama-Auburn basketball game with friends and we enjoyed a super fun day in Tuscaloosa. The month of February ended with a trip to the Donald Trump political rally with my cousins Lauren and Jon Mark. I went because I thought it would be an interesting day of people watching and you never know what is going to come out of Trump's mouth. We had a good time and left before it was over so we could beat the traffic and we got bored. 

The first day of March was voting day in Alabama and I fulfilled my duty as inspector of my precinct. It was a long, long day and I was exhausted after spending 14 hours at the polls and working my fingers to the bone (as they say). I had a whole new crew working with me that day but they all did great. I had to chase off one news reporter and one campaigner and dealt with so many different bizarre scenarios I couldn't even begin to tell you all about them. As always, it was a rewarding day and I look forward to doing it two more times this year when we have the municipal elections and the general election. 

The first weekend of March I chaperoned a high school spring retreat for church and it was just as I suspected with terrible food and think bunk bed mattresses; but, overall it was a good weekend. I developed a cough the Saturday I was on the retreat and by the time Monday rolled around I had a fever and felt like I had been hit by a freight train. I went to the doctor and had an ear infection and they sent me home with an antibiotic, but I felt like it was something more. On Wednesday when I was still running a fever and not feeling any better, I ventured back to the doctor and had a flu test which came back positive. It was too late for any medications so I had to ride it out. I spent the whole week in bed and missed work every day. It was miserable. That same week my mom was in the hospital with fluid on her lungs and two broken ankles from falling out of her wheelchair. Sometimes we just can't catch a break. 

The Saturday after I had the flu I moved out of my house which is probably news to some of you and not to the rest. After a whirlwind idea during Christmas break that I drew out on a piece of paper which turned into a set of blueprints, I am adding on to my little house and doing some renovations to the inside. I will be adding on about 600 square feet of living space and another 200 of a covered patio with an outdoor fireplace. The living space includes a dining room and an expansion of the back bedroom with built in bookcases and a walk-in closet which will also hold the washer and dryer. On the inside I am tearing down a wall between the kitchen and the room on the back of the house and making that one large kitchen complete with new cabinets and granite counter tops and a second oven which makes my heart so happy. The floor and sub floor in the back bedroom and the den will be torn out because the floors are rotting in both of those rooms. Every room will get a new coat of paint and the entire house will have new hardwood flooring. I'll also have some landscaping done which will include sod in the front yard and crepe myrtles along the back fence. The project is supposed to take three months (I'm counting on four because I know how these things go) and I'm very excited about the outcome. I think it is going to be gorgeous and I can't wait to see the end result of my Christmas break brainstorm. 

As a result of having all the work done, Pippa and I had to vacate the premises. Originally the builder said there would be no electricity for two months, but now that might not be the case. Still, it's probably better that we are not there. So, on Saturday, March 12, some friends and cousins and I moved everything out of the house and into a POD which is being stored in South Huntsville. I moved in with my cousins Benny and Jan which has been great. It is a little weird to come home to real people when you haven't lived with anyone for 10 years, but so far things are going great. Pippa was living with a friend of my brother's for a little while, but it wasn't working out. Thankfully, I found her a great place to stay over the weekend. I found a dog sitter who lives on the Flint River out in north east Huntsville and Pippa moved in there this week. The lady and her husband are so nice and worked with me on a price I could afford. They send pictures and updates in the mornings and are even letting The Pip sleep with them. I will probably pick her up on Saturdays and let her hang out with me while I go work at the house because I don't want her to forget who I am. I think she is going to do really well at this temporary home and I just feel so great about finding these wonderful people. 

So, that's what's been going on this year. It's been insanely busy and crazy, but, really, I wouldn't have it any other way. 

The 2014 Mid-Term Elections From The Poll

I had every intention of writing a post yesterday and posting it to the blog when I got home but then 815 people decided to come vote and I was busy from the time the doors opened until we closed and then some. I think it may have been the busiest and most insane day I've ever had at the polls, y'all! By the time I got home I just wanted to shut my brain down and go to sleep. 

Per usual, I got to my polling location at 6:00 a.m. I served as inspector for this election as well. I think the inspector torch may have permanently been passed on to me which is just fine. I'm happy to serve and happy for the little bump in pay as well. I think I was the last one to the poll even though I got there at 6:00 and had woken up 20 minutes earlier than I had intended. All the folks that work with me are old enough to be my grandparents and so I suspect they are up this early every day. We put the finishing touches on setting things up and took the poll worker's oath and had about 20 minutes to sit and enjoy breakfast before the madness began. 

At 7:00 a.m., when the polls officially opened, we had a line of about 10-12 people and when the doors opened, the line kept getting longer. People were fired up to vote. I had wanted to do two sets of books (clerks and voters list), but my top lieutenant  (if you will) wasn't keen on that idea. So, I gave in on that one, but will not give in at the next general election because I think two books would have served us well. I've also got to come up with a better flow of traffic because it was often crowded and chaotic and the check-in and sign-in tables. It was good for me to see how things went so I can work to create a better plan for the next go-around. We were only given five voting booths, one of which we couldn't use because it had a set of short and long legs and therefore wouldn't stand up. So, we set up three additional tables with chairs for people to sit at and vote. I was concerned that people might complain about it because as you are probably aware some folks are super secretive about their ballots. However, it worked out great and people were thankful for a place to sit and fill out their ballots. 

In addition to the masses of people coming in to vote, we had a new law to follow this go around which made the day even more insane that usual. In the past, if someone was registered in our precinct but had moved to a new address, we asked them to fill out an update form and let them vote. This time, as a result of a law suit that was filed in Mobile County, we had to send those people to what was now their correct precinct where they would be allowed to vote a provisional ballot. In turn, I had people sent to me who had moved into my precinct who came to vote provisional. The problem with provisional ballots is that they have to be approved by one of three members of the Board of Registrars and getting one of these three on the phone on election day was a nightmare. It's always hard to get one of them on the phone on election day but this time because of the new provisional law, it was 100 times worse. I had one gentleman wait a little over an hour before I finally was able to get someone on the phone to approve him to vote. I heard of another precinct who had someone wait two hours and 15 minutes. It was nuts! I spent 75% of my day on the phone and probably 90% of that time was dialing and redialing because the line was busy. 

I think my favorite part of this election day was when a young man born in 1918 came in to vote. He was legally blind and his caregiver brought him to vote. Apparently he must have had differing political views than the caregiver or he didn't trust her because he asked for me to help him with his ballot. First, he had to vote a provisional because even though he had a card and a letter from the Madison County Board of Registrars stating that his precinct was #03, he was not on the Madison County voters list. This is still a complete mystery to me. At any rate, once he was approved to vote, he told me in a very loud voice (he yelled rather than talked because I'm sure he is hard of hearing) to just vote a straight Republican ticket. Then I read each of the amendments to him to which he would reply (very loudly) if he thought it was good or bad and to vote yes or no. I filled out his ballot for him and placed it in the ballot box and he was on his way. I got such a kick out of him and was so proud to see someone his age get out and vote. Ya'll know how passionate I am about exercising our right to vote and it just made me so proud to be able to help this man. 

There were lots of other interesting and exhausting things that happened throughout the day and I probably couldn't recall them all if I tried. We had a man yell at us and call us liars and said the news station lied because he came to our precinct to vote but was registered at another precinct. We had another man make a loud and long announcement thanking us poll workers for our service, making it possible for him to vote. The man whose lone duty was to watch the voting machine let more than one person slip out the door before realizing the machine had rejected the ballot because of an over vote or some other such circumstance.  We had 19 people mark a ballot incorrectly such that they had to be given a new one.  

We were so busy throughout the day that we barely even had time to eat lunch. I had made potato soup and taco soup for my Bible study group on Monday night and made enough so that I could bring it for our lunch on Tuesday. Ruby, the lady who cooks for the church where we vote, made us some coleslaw and tea and she ate some soup too. We finally managed to eat in shifts, each getting about a 15 minute break. It was just a crazy day, y'all. 

Overall, most of the workers pulled their weight. At the end of the night, we pulled out the ballots with a write in and spent the next 45 minuted filling out the write in forms and closing up shop. I think I was the fourth person the courthouse and would have been home about 8:15 except that I had to track down someone from the probate judge's office to get a work excuse. Usually a sheriff's deputy brings one by, but I guess everyone else's day was just as nuts as mine so no one brought one by In fact, we usually get visited by a deputy three or four times during the day and only had one visit this go around. 

I finally made it home at about 20 minutes until 9:00 p.m. and was so glad to walk into my house, change into my pajamas and promptly crawl into my bed. I love our country and I love the freedom we have to get out and vote and choose our leaders and I feel so blessed and thankful to be able to watch the process each time and election rolls around and at the end of the night, that always trumps my exhaustion. 

My Debut as Inspector

It was yet another voting day in Huntsville this past Tuesday. This go-around was for the general municipal election for the city. There was only one office to vote for in my precinct so needless to say there wasn’t much thinking to do. We voted a total of 142 people, which is a great deal more than we voted in the primary run-off back in July but still hardly a drop in the voter pool bucket.

The inspector for my precinct had knee replacement surgery last month and decided not to work this election and so the duties of inspector fell into my capable hands. I’m also happy to report the lady that messed up the clerk’s list last month was on vacation so I didn’t have to deal with the headache of her getting us off count for the day. In other words, I had a good crew and a smooth day.

I stopped by the precinct on Monday afternoon about 4:30 to set up the poll. It took me about 40 minutes to get everything set up the way I wanted it and to take care of everything that could be done the night before. The morning of voting, I made a run by Hardee’s to get everyone a biscuit. Our usual inspector does this each time we vote and so I thought it would be a good idea to do the same thing for everyone. We all arrived around 6:00 a.m. Tuesday morning and signed all the papers and envelopes and took the oath of office and by 6:15 a.m. we were done setting up and ready for our first voter. Of course, the polls didn’t open until 7:00 a.m. so we were ready with lots of time to spare.

The day went off without a hitch. We had a very slow yet steady pace of people come in to vote. Per usual, we ordered Steak-Out for lunch which was delicious as always. Mid-afternoon, I made use of the church’s walking track and walked for about 30 minutes to pass the time and try to get in a little physical activity. One can begin to feel like a sloth sitting around for hours on end.

I brought loads of things to do throughout the day. I knocked out some Bible study lessons and prepared for my Wednesday night three-year old class. I cut coupons and played games on my Kindle and I also wrote a few blog posts, this one included.

About 5:00 p.m. I started getting everything ready for the closing of the polls. Since we had made it out in record time back in July, I wanted to try and get out just as quick this go-around, especially since I would be the one taking all the ballots and results to the courthouse. We closed the polls at 7:00 p.m. and I got the reports printed out, signed and in their proper envelopes and everything loaded into the car by 7:09 and was at the courthouse five minutes later. I made a quick run by Publix downtown to pick up a few items that were on sale before heading home, making it in the front door by 7:35 p.m.

It was a successful day as inspector at the polls if I do say so myself. This was our last voting day until the general election coming up in November which will hopefully be much busier and more entertaining than this particular election.  

Working Those Polls

Tuesday was the primary election run-off and it was quite possibly the most boring day of my life. Usually I don’t mind working the polls, for the most part there is a steady stream of people coming in; but, this past Tuesday was the slowest I think it has ever been. My precinct voted 55 people. Yes, you read that right. That’s an average of 4.6  people per hour that the polls were open.

We started the morning at 6:00 a.m. as always. I got up at my normal time of 5:00 a.m. and was ready to go by 5:45 a.m. I was having a craving for Dunkin’ Donuts Munchkins (aka donut holes) and so I sped to Dunkin and bought some and made it to the precinct at exactly 6:00 a.m.

We got the last minute things set up and took the oath of office and signed all the papers we needed to sign and at 7:00 a.m. we opened the polls. It was almost an hour before we saw our first voter. By the time we had voted 12 people, the old lady working the books where people sign in had already messed up by letting a voter slip out the door without signing. I don’t even understand how this can happen. It’s not like there were hundreds of people lined up waiting to sign in. The most voters we had come in at one time was three people. So, how do you miss something like this? It’s not difficult to pay attention. These people I work with at the polls, all they care about it talking amongst themselves and to the people who come in, not about doing the job right and it annoys me to no end.

The day was spent listening to all the other workers talk about healthcare, surgeries, doctors, insurance, the cost of going to a pro-sports event, mailboxes, and a lot of other mundane things. I think we discussed the fate of Mullins Restaurant at least 10 times. I just wanted to find a little corner and take a nap. It was such a boring day.

We closed the polls at 7:00 p.m. and thankfully I had staged everything for a quick close and wrapped up the paperwork and I was home by 7:15 p.m. where I finished watching Monday’s stage of the Tour. Tuesday was a rest day at the Tour so that worked out quite well for my TV watching schedule.

Anyway, I’m proud to be an American, and I love that we have the freedom to vote, it’s just that some days are a little more interesting than others and some days you just sit and watch the clock for 12 hours longing for quitting time. Unfortunately, this past Tuesday was the latter. Here’s to hoping the election in August will be much more eventful. 

Tales from the Poll

Well, in case you didn’t know, this past Tuesday (June 3) was primary day in the State of Alabama. I worked the polls once again and once again had some interesting experiences. Y’all, I’ll start off by saying my patience with the older folks I work with is running thin. In that it was all I could do at times to not lose it on these people. Look, to me anyway, working the polls is not that difficult. I, however, work with people who care more about socializing with every Jim Bob that walks through the door than they do about paying attention to the details of their job and as a result ridiculous mistakes are made and it makes me crazy.

The first mistake of the day was when a voter came in, was marked off the list and just ran over to the sign in sheet to sign her name. She signed the Republican sheet like she knew what she was doing and then when she was handed a ballot and went to vote, she realized she had a Republican ballot and said she wanted a Democratic one. So, we had to mark her name off the Republican list and move it over to the Democrat list and she voted as she wanted. Later on in the day we received word that someone had complained to the Secretary of State’s office and if I had to guess, it was this lady.

Later on in the day, when a worker came to the bottom of a sign-in page, instead of turning the page of the book, she flipped the book and the next two people signed in where witnesses sign. One of the two voters was still in the building so we were able to get that lady to re-sign.

A few hours after that, I walked in from having stepped out to the restroom, and a ballot was just sitting atop the machine because the machine had spit it out and the voter of that ballot was nowhere to be found. Long story short, the voter didn’t mark the ballot correctly and there was no one manning the machine because the man who had been there all day took a bathroom break and our inspector (who was told to watch the machine) was in another world.

It was just a few minutes after this that our numbers didn’t balance. Y’all, it was a frustrating day. We weren’t even that busy but all these mistakes made me want to pull my hair out. I’m hoping to become inspector of my poll one day and when that happens, I will be bringing in some younger people who can think clearly and perform their duties well and with a sound mind. Some of the workers are really not bad, but there were three working on Tuesday that I would never have back if I’m being honest.

What’s crazy about all these mistakes that were made is that the turnout wasn’t even that great. We only voted 316 people during the 12 hours the polls were open. People never cease to amaze me. I had people refuse to vote because they didn’t want to choose between Republican and Democrat. I had people come in that appeared drunk or high. Thankfully, no one was belligerent, which I had totally expected since this was the first time a photo ID was required. In the past you could use your voter registration card which does not have a photo. We also had a new voting machine this go around and very few people noticed it.

Hey, what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, or so they say. I will say it’s still good to watch the American system at work and when I read the pledge aloud that morning, I got goose bumps and almost started crying. I’m proud to be an American, y’all. However, I do know one thing, despite all the stress I’ve been under at work lately, I was very happy to return to my normal routine.

Another Tuesday at the Polls

Tuesday was another voting day in Alabama, or at least in Madison County. I say voting day rather than Election Day because the vote was for a special amendment rather than to elect someone into office. Once again, I worked at my precinct and believe me when I tell you, it was a long, long day.

The vote was to combine the tax assessors and tax collector’s office and either not many people knew about it or not many people cared because we only voted a total of 131 people, 96 of whom voted no. .

There were five of us working and I was the last to arrive at 6:00 a.m. I guess everyone else arrived a few minutes before 6:00. When I pulled up I kind of felt like a rebel as everyone else was driving a white vehicle and I pulled up in a black one. Is there a certain age you reach when a white car is required because it seems a lot of older people drive white cars; maybe my Aunt Linda could let us know, not that she’s older or anything, just wise. The precinct was set up on Monday night so there really wasn’t too much to do when we arrived other than sign all the papers and envelopes in preparation for the end of the day. Before we opened my stomach felt kind of upset which concerned me; but thankfully that passed quickly.

Surprisingly, we had one guy arrive a few minutes before the polls opened at 7:00 a.m. Once we opened up, he came in and cast his vote. After 10 minutes or so when we had no one else coming in, I went ahead and voted second. By the time the first hour had passed, we had voted a whopping 14 people. Like I said, it was a slow day. Most of us brought things to work on or keep us otherwise occupied during the slow periods. I brought my Kindle and played games and read and also brought my computer to work on some blog posts and of course had my phone as well. One lady brought her Christmas cards to address and another lady brought hers to make (she makes homemade cards for Christmas every year) and another lady brought a book to read.

I think I’ve mentioned before that at my precinct location, Jackson Way Baptist Church, there is a daycare and the lady that cooks for the daycare, and also for the church, sometimes brings us pie or other goodies. This time when it came time for lunch, she hooked us up with pinto beans and cornbread and coleslaw and sweet tea. The lunch was quite good and very filling and made me want a big ole nap afterwards.

The rest of the afternoon was much of the same. A few people trickled in every now and then and cast their lots and finally 7:00 p.m. came and we were able to shut things down, wrap things up and head to our respective homes by 7:17. It was a long and, to be honest, a boring day; but, once again I was able to have a front row view of democracy and that is what I love most about this great country of ours.

The Recount is Complete

Well, the recount is over and I've got to say, it was an interesting experience. It wasn't necessarily the most exciting thing I've ever done in my life, but I’m glad I did it.

The recount took place at the Whitesburg Baptist Church Outreach Center. We had to be there Monday morning at 7:00 a.m. so I didn't have to get up any earlier than I normally do since 7:00 a.m. is my normal work day start time. I arrived a few minutes before 7:00 and as I was walking in, my dad pulled up. So, I waited on him and we went in together and got signed in.

After a few instructions, we were sworn in and divided into groups. There were 15 tables and four people per table. I was at table number four and my dad was at table number five so we were able to keep tabs on each other throughout the day. My group consisted of two retired Air Force guys, Glenn and Nick and one retired school teacher, Ina. Ina was very soft spoken and didn't say too much, Glenn never shut up and Nick talked whenever there was a pause in Glenn’s talking. It actually turned out to be a really good group. We worked quite efficiently together and without any discourse which was good.

Each table was given a set number of precincts, totaling about 8,000 ballots each. We counted one precinct at a time, opening boxes and running each ballot through the machine. If a ballot was rejected, we looked to see if there was either a straight party vote or a vote in the probate judge’s category. If there was one or the other, we ran it through again and if the ballot was again rejected then it went into a pile. If there was not a vote in either of those categories then it was considered a no-vote and was placed in a separate pile. One all ballots from the precinct were ran through the machine, totals were printed, everything was signed off, the numbers were added to the spreadsheet tallying all the votes, the boxes were re-sealed and the machines were zeroed out to begin work on the next precinct. By the way, in case you were wondering, here in Madison County, ballots are kept for 22 months before being discarded.

We had a lunch break from 11-1 and my dad and I went by my house to let The Tide out and then grabbed a bite to eat before heading back. The afternoon session began at 1:00 p.m. and around 6:30 those that were closing out a precinct were able to leave and those of us in the middle of counting a precinct worked until 7:00 p.m. which was our official closing time. The number on the machine was written down and the machines were turned off for the night. Sheriff's deputies guarded the machines and facility overnight.

We returned at 7:00 a.m. on Tuesday morning and after being sworn in again, the machines were turned on and we made sure the number that came up on the machine was the same as it had been when we left the night before. Then we began running the remainder of the ballots through. When we were done and everything was signed off, we were free to leave as there were no more precincts to be counted. I finished up before my dad and so I waited around for him to finish.

When all was said and done, Tommy Ragland won by 197 votes – the total was 120 in the general election so the lead was increased in the recount. That was due to provisional ballots and absentee ballots and also a few ballots that were voted with an ink pen or some other crazy situation like that.

I was glad we were finished early on Tuesday as it gave me time to get some rest and also get some Thanksgiving cooking started. Let me tell you, I was exhausted after that first day of work. I would have never guessed that putting thousands of ballots in a voting machine would be so draining, but I was really dragging towards the end of the day and so was everyone else. I went to bed at 9:00 on Monday night and slept the whole night.

I’m so glad I participated in the recount. It was an interesting process and it truly was an example of proof that every vote does in fact count. I’m glad that Tommy won. I mentioned here before that he is a long time friend of my parents’ and he is a really good person; so, I’m glad he’ll be keeping that office for four more years.

My Day Working The Polls

It's the moment you've all been waiting for - my recap of working at the polls on election day. I hope it lives up to your expectations because I'm not even sure I can remember every detail of the day and this is already going down as one of the longest posts of all time. 

On Tuesday (November 6) morning, I woke up around 4:30 and got my shower and got ready for the day. I had packed up my backpack the night before as well as baked some pumpkin bread and chocolate chip cookies for us to snack on throughout the day. I also took a bag of Hershey's bars (left over from Halloween) and some crackers. I was out the door by 10 til six and at the precinct about two minutes later. It was a cold and rainy morning and we had to wait on someone from the church to arrive and unlock the doors.

We were inside by 6:00 and started to set up right away. I had printed out some signs that said "A thru L" and "M thru Z" as my plan was to divide the alphabet so that we could get more people through the line. I also had planned on us using two clerk's books and two voters' books and had an email from the probate judge's office stating that we could have a book at each division of the alphabet. I expected some push back from the old folks on using two books and I was correct. They once again thought that only one book at a time could be used and my email proved otherwise. For those of you who may not be familiar with these books, the clerk's book is where we print the name of the voter and the voter's book is where the voter signs on the corresponding line.

Before we got deep into the throes of setting up the voting machine and signing all the hundreds of items we needed to sign, we took our pledge. We also had a couple of poll watchers show up to observe the goings on of the precinct and they had to be sworn in as well. We got everything set up and ready for opening and a few minutes before seven a third poll watcher showed up. As the inspector started swearing her in, I informed him that she could not be sworn in as only one person from each party was allowed at a precinct, which he did not realize - the first of many rules the inspector was unaware of. The lady was kind enough to leave without any push back as she was also aware of the one person per party poll watcher rule.

We opened the polls at exactly 7:00 a.m. and began marking off names as fast as our fingers would allow. There was a rush of people when the doors opened and soon the line was backed up to get in, to get a ballot and to use a privacy booth. Our inspector had only ordered six privacy booths as he didn't think there would be many people to vote. I finally got so tired of seeing people waiting on a booth and a ballot that I stood up and announced that if they didn't need a privacy booth they were welcome to grab a folding chair from the wall and pull it up to any of the tables, and many people did just that. Finally, about 10:00 a.m. the lines started slowing down and we had a steady stream of people for the remainder of the day, but also a few lulls when there was no one or only one or two people coming in. By the end of the day, things had slowed down considerably and the last hour was very slow with maybe only 20 people coming in. If I never work another election, I will at least know it's better to come in the evening to vote.

We ordered lunch from Steak-Out and it arrived around 11:30 or so. I was finally able to take a break and eat around 1:00 p.m. For dinner, Jackie was kind enough to stop at Subway and get me a sandwich before she headed home for the evening.

Here are some things that happened throughout the day:

I ran into a situation that I never in my life thought about encountering. A young man came in to vote and per the Alabama voter's web site, our precinct was the one in which he was slated to cast his vote; however, he was not listed on our voters' lists. After several attempts to the Board of Registrars office, I was finally able to get through to someone to find out why the young man was not on our voter's list. As it turns out, the young man had recently been convicted of a crime and I was then instructed to call the supervisor of the Board of Registrar's office but I was never able to get through to her. I informed the young man of the situation and asked him if his recent conviction was a felony - his reply was yes. I then told him that persons with a felony record are no longer allowed to cast a vote. He seemed okay with the answer and left without a fight. I will never forget that guy's name or how sad it made me to tell him that he could not vote as a result of his actions.

The poll watchers are not supposed to interact with the voting public; yet, we had one watcher who sat by the voting machine and each time a ballot was marked incorrectly and the machine spit it back out, the poll watcher would stand up and start instructing the voter on what he or she needed to do. I'm here to tell you that I had to bring this to the attention of the inspector on more than one occasion and quite frankly he didn't seem to care. Clearly, he is not as much of a stickler for the rules as I am. After this happened about five or six times, it's a miracle I didn't get up and go off on the inspector. Instead, I just kept reminding him that the watcher needed to sit in silence and leave the voters alone.

The inspector was nowhere to be found any time he was needed. We also us iPads to look up voter information and he doesn't know how to use it, even though he has been to class on the iPad on more than one occasion. Also, any time a phone call needed to be made to the courthouse, he was hesitant to call and either I or someone else ended up doing the calling.

You would not believe how many people show up on voting day wanting to register to vote - the deadline was October 26. You would also not believe the number of people who came in and asked, "I'm not registered, but I want to vote." You would also not believe the number of people who think they can just pop in to any precinct and cast their vote.

We had a lot of people show up at our precinct who vote at another precinct. The district lines were redrawn since the last election so most of the people had voted at our precinct in the past but clearly didn't pay attention to their new voter registration card when they received it in the mail and so they came to our precinct and we had to send them somewhere else. Most of these people voted at precincts close by so it wasn't too big of a deal. We did have to send a handful of folks across town or across the county. One lady who actually works where I do looked up online where she was supposed to vote, but came to our precinct because she just knew that's where she was supposed to vote. When we looked it up, it told us the same place that Google had told her. Why she came to our precinct I have yet to figure out.

Not long after we opened, an older gentleman in a suit and a red hat brought us a bag of hard cinnamon candy. It was super nice of him and was a big help to me because by the time he rolled in around 7:30 a.m., my throat was dry and I was tired of asking people how they were doing and that candy hit the spot and kept me going.

We had a lot of people thank us for being there to work and one man even made an announcement with his booming voice and we received some applause afterwards. That was kind of cool.
I got to see my friend Adam, age 19, vote for the first time in his life. I was at the hospital the day he was born, at his baptism and now watched him cast his first lot in the political arena. He was a late registered voter and on our supplemental list. I was so proud! Way to go Adam! There was another young girl, either 18 or 19, who came in to vote for the first time with her mom. Her mom wanted to take a photo, but there are no photos allowed in the precinct, which was sad for her, but at the same time she was very proud of and excited for her daughter which was nice to see

Towards the end of the day, a man and his daughter came in with a friend. The friend voted in our precinct and the man had given the friend a ride. The daughter tore into the bag of Hershey's I brought and soon was opening the cookies I baked and eating those as well. Then the dad followed suit. One of the other workers headed over and started straightening things up and putting things away so that they wouldn't take anything else. I ended up throwing the rest of the cookies away because, not to be judgmental but, the people didn't look very clean.

There are a lot of stinky and unclean looking people in my precinct. I held my breath on more than one occasion.

I'm sure there are many, many other stories I could tell you about - just ask me the next time I see you. It seems like I remember something new every single day. I think by the end of the day I was kind of in a daze from having been up so long and working non-stop. My hand was cramping from writing so many names and the next day my arm was sore - not even kidding.

At the end of the night, after the polls have closed and the last persons inside the precinct have voted, we open up the machine and take out the ballots and also print tape from the voting machines which provide the results from the precinct. Those ballots that have write-ins go into a separate bin than all the other ballots. The person manning the machine (I could go on for quite a while about this man) took out all the ballots and just threw them in a pile together - in other words, he did not keep the write-ins separate. Now, we have to write in each of the write in votes and turn those in to the probate judge's office. If someone votes for Mickey Mouse, or Elvis, or any other character or dead person, then we still have to count those - they go in one category as "Fictitious". The inspector and every other person there argued with me that we did not have to count those - "just throw them out" is what they said they were told at training. Now, people, if there is one thing I can say about myself it's that in a lecture, I pay attention, take good notes, ask appropriate questions and always come away with more knowledge than when I arrived. I know for a fact that we had to count those votes. I pulled out my notes from class and argued with every one of those people. I finally got out my phone to call the office and the inspector relented and called himself only to find out that I was right. So, we then had to unbox the ballots and separate the write-ins from the others. I still do not think I received all the write-ins because I heard Nick Saban and also Bacon got a vote and I did not see either one of those ballots; but, I did the best I could with what I was given and silently gloated to myself that I was right.

We left the precinct around 8:30 and I was home a few minutes later. The Tide was at my parent's house thanks to my brother's willingness to take care of her while I worked the polls. So, when I got home and changed into some PJs, I crashed on the couch and was out a few minutes after 9:00. I woke up at 12:30 just as the president was going to make a speech. I quickly turned that off and crawled into bed.
It was an exhausting day, y'all, I am not even kidding; but, I loved every minute of it. It was so exciting to see people exercising their right to vote. Our precinct voted 1378 people in the 12 hours we were open. That's an average of 114.8 people per hour! I do plan to bring some of my issues to the attention of the judge's office because I feel like the inspector should be more aware of what is going on and at least know the rules. Other than my few frustrations, it was such an enjoyable day and I cannot wait to do it again in 2014 when we have another round of elections.

Get Out And Vote!

As if you didn't already know, Tuesday, November 6 is the day we Americans go to the polls to decide on our elected leaders for the next two-four years (depending on the office). I have always loved and had a passion for voting. I think it is one of the best privileges and rights we have as Americans.

I don't know about the rest of you, but never in my voting lifetime have I felt that voting is as important as it is this year. I have had a lot of anxiety and concern over what the outcome of this election will be and how our decisions as voters will shape the face of our nation for the next few years. My prayer is that the decisions we make on November 6 will be decisions that will restore our nation to the God fearing country it once was.

Whoever your candidate and whatever your party, please get out and vote on Tuesday! Polls will be open in Alabama from 7:00 a.m. until 7:00 p.m., and if you work long shifts, please note that your employer cannot prevent you from voting. You have the right to leave work at an appropriate time to in order to make it to the polls before they close. If you are in line at 7:00 p.m.,  you will not be denied your right to vote.

I'll be working at Precinct 3 in Madison County and am excited and nervous about the day. It's sure to be quite an interesting experience and you can bet I will be blogging about it soon.

Get out and vote - be responsible - be the voice of your nation - take your country back!

For those of you in Madison County, AL, click here for a sample ballot. If you are looking for more information regarding the 11 amendments to Alabama's constitution that will be on the ballot, please click here.

Working at the Polls - September 18, 2012

So, I had my first experience working at the precinct. Since it was a special election to vote on an amendment to the Alabama constitution, I did not expect a high voter turnout and I was correct in my assessment. The total number of voters for the day was 330.  At 11:00 a.m. the count was 108. Although it was a slow day, it was a steady day as there was almost always one person voting. It seems like when one person left, another one would arrive.

I woke up at 5:00 a.m. which really wasn’t that much earlier than my normal wake-up time, although I did not have the privilege of hitting snooze. I took a shower, grabbed my things and headed out the door within the hour, arriving at the precinct at 6:00 a.m. I had baked some pumpkin muffins the night before and brought those in for everyone. The inspector for our place brought in some sausage biscuits and others brought snacks as well. We got everything set up and signed and got ourselves sworn in and then opened the polls at precisely 7:00 a.m.  We had one lady waiting on us to open the doors.

Overall the day went really well. The people that I worked with were all in their 70s and 80s and were nice, at times a little annoying but overall nice. My biggest peeve I think was that when they were in the middle of a conversation and a voter walked in they would just keep on talking. I was the only person to say hello to the voter coming in the door. Unless, of course, they knew the person and then they would talk so loud and wouldn’t quit talking which would make it frustrating for the next person to come in because they would be ready to vote but couldn’t get up to the table for all the fellowshipping taking place. 

I had been told by the inspector that we would be ordering Steak-Out for lunch which I was looking forward to since I really like Steak-Out. Then when it came time to order, the inspector suggested Mullins – a place I’m pretty sure he eats at every day. His wife passed away earlier this year and I guess it’s as close to home cooked as it gets for when, which is just terrible. I said I was going to order from Steak-Out because I am not the biggest fan of Mullins. It’s one of those greasy joints I have to be in the mood for. So, in the end everyone ended up ordering Steak-Out. 

My precinct is at Jackson Way Baptist Church and they have a day care there and a kitchen staff which I assume cooks for the daycare. At any rate, one of the kitchen workers, Ruby, brought us some ice cream cake for dessert; it was quite yummy. 

The afternoon seemed to go by a bit faster as there were more voters coming in, especially when people started to get off work. We didn’t have too many crazy situations for which I was thankful. We did have one guy vote who we were all pretty sure was drunk – yes, drunk Americans can vote as long as they have proper ID! We had three ballots that had to be spoiled, or thrown out, because people messed up on their voting. We had a few people on the inactive voters list and had to ask them to update their information – all of whom said they had voted within the past year. That inactive voters list is kind of convoluted.

When the polls closed at 7:00 p.m. we took down the signs and started putting everything together. In general, it should have been an easy process but at times it was so frustrating I thought I might lose my patience. All of the people I worked with have worked an election before and it should have been simple for them. To say I had to take over more than once is an understatement. We finally got everything sealed up and in the trunk of the inspector’s car and off to the courthouse. 

Here are some observations from my day:

• An ID is required to vote in Alabama and while the majority of people come with ID in hand, you would be amazed at how many people walk up and then pull out their ID – which always takes a LONG time.
• It is annoying when people point to their name on the voter registration page – patience please! The lady working the pages is older and the pages kind of stick together.
• A lot of people have no idea where to put there ballot once they walk up to the machine
• Some people don’t know how to draw a line on their ballot to vote.
• A lot of people have complained about the fact that we are having a special election– spending too much money – and that the amendment vote should have been on the ballot in November.
• I became increasingly frustrated at my co-workers who would, instead of making a simple phone call to the board of registrars, would instead hash out a situation for about five minutes – loudly!
• Some of the workers left to go let their dogs out or check on the house or pick up the paper, all of which are not allowed. I’m 100% sure you are supposed to stay at your polling location throughout the entire time the polls are open.

As mentioned, it was a good day and it provided a nice break from the norm. I’m really looking forward to working in November because I have no doubt there will be a big turnout and that should provide for lots of interesting blogging material.

Special Amendment Vote

Hey Alabama - Don't forget to vote in today's special amendment election!

The Mouse Has Met the Maker

I’ve had a lot going on the past few days and have lots to tell you about. It just amazes me how quickly things pick up when September rolls around. It seems like it was just yesterday that Jackie and I were buying concert tickets for the month of September and talking about how awesome it was going to be and now… here we are!

I wanted to update you on some things that I mentioned last week. First –the mouse. As you may recall, I saw a mouse scurry down the aisle at work last Thursday. Friday morning when I came in someone had placed a plastic bag under my filing cabinet and tried to convince me they had caught the mouse but had left it in that bag under my filing cabinet. I didn’t buy it. As it turns out, they did catch the mouse, but the mouse met its demise and was disposed of before I arrived. Apparently the lady who sits on the other side of the wall from me keeps food in her drawers and that mouse was over there eating a chocolate bar when he was found. I wouldn’t be surprised if another one showed up some time soon, but here’s to hoping not.

I also mentioned last week that I had election training. It actually was a lot more interesting than I had anticipated. My dad had complained to me the week before that it took about two hours and lots of people had questions and he didn’t think they were ever going to get out of there. My group must have been more attentive because our session only lasted about an hour and a half and there were only about five questions from the group. The information they reviewed was interesting and including scenarios I had never even considered. This training was for the September 18 vote for the special amendment to the constitution and I will have another training session in October for the November election.

In other news, a few times this summer there has been fresh dog poop out by my car. Clearly someone has been walking their dog and letting it poop in my yard without cleaning it up. To say this perturbs me is quite an understatement. It happened again last Friday and of course when I walk out to my car in the morning I am ready to leave and don’t have time to scoop poop. If I ever catch the culprit, you can rest assured I’ll be giving that owner a piece of my mind.

Ramblin'

I'm going to ramble today, because I know that you love it when I just type things as they come to me...or something like that.

On Wednesday, for the first time ever, I decided to play all of the songs on my iPod in a shuffle mode. This was strange for me because I am so structured in what I listen to and can sing along to albums like nobody's business. The thought of shuffling it all up was kind of a foreign concept to me - it's like a mixed tape, you never know what to expect next, and I guess I like knowing what's coming up next. Wednesday, however, I couldn't decide what I wanted to listen to and decided to go to all songs and just hit shuffle. As of the moment I am writing this, I am on song 65 of 913 - obviously, I have a while to go to listen to all the songs. One thing this little experiment has confirmed (and I guess I really already knew) - I have a lot of Pearl Jam and a lot of jazz on my iPod. Shuffling the songs has been quite interesting and I have enjoyed the odd mix that has come about. I should have tried this a long time ago.

Also on Wednesday... I went to bed around 9:30 - I was tired and about to fall asleep on the couch so I just went on to bed. About 11:30 I woke up because I was hot and felt like the air was stifling. In a daze, I looked around and after 30 seconds or so I realized that the power was out - no wonder I was hot. I have no idea how long the power had been out. I venture to say around an hour or so because I got up and turned on my phone to see what time it was and also to set the alarm on the phone in case the power never came back on during the night. It was 11:30ish when I powered up the phone and I checked the Twitter feed to see if Huntsville Utilities was on the case - as it turns out they were. I went back to bed and fell asleep and the next thing I remember is being cold because the power had come back on and the AC was blowing full blast as was the ceiling fan. Again, I have no idea what time this occurred, but I think the power kicked on some time around midnight based on how accurate my unset clock was to the actual time. It probably goes without saying that Wednesday night was not the best night of sleep I have ever received.

As a result of the lackluster sleep Wednesday night, I rolled in to work on Thursday feeling quite tired. After our morning meeting, I went to the cafeteria to get a coffee and afterwards as I was walking down the aisle to my desk, a mouse ran out in front of me. Yes, I screamed at the top of my lungs and quite frankly, it's a wonder I didn't let out some inappropriate curse word. At that point, I was quite awake and so was everyone else I would assume. Everyone got a big laugh out of my screaming and thankfully another person saw the mouse out of the corner of his eye - otherwise I might think I was a wee bit crazy. Someone called facilities and they sent a man over who laid out some of those sticky strips which probably won't catch the little critter.

Thursday night I have election training. I won't have a chance to write about it until next week because this post is going up Friday and I'll be scheduling it to post before I leave for my training. I'm sure I have mentioned on here before that my dad is the inspector at his polling location and I will now be a worker at my polling location. My first stint as a poll worker will be on September 18 when we have a special voting day for an amendment to the Alabama constitution. Why they are setting aside a whole day of voting for this one thing I will never know - these are your tax dollars at work, people. I expect to see very few people come through the polling place that day; especially considering during the recent mayoral election I voted an hour and a half before closing and less than 500 people had voted. I suspect there will be even less people than that on the day of this special election because in all honesty, I don't even think that many people know about it. At any rate, it will be my first taste of working an election, unless you count that dreadful experience from Greene County when I was in college and was supposed to watch a poll for the Republican party. That, dear friends, is a story for another time. I think I am still scarred from that experience. I will also be working the November 6 presidential election which is sure to see a lot more voters than this special election coming up in a couple of weeks. Needless to say, I'll be filling you in on all the details of both election working experiences.

This Sunday, September 9, is Friend's Day at the Hampton Cove Church of Christ which is where my parents' attend and my dad is the preacher. Y'all should come on out and visit that day. I'll be there along with my infamous coleslaw that everyone seems to love. Classes start at 9:00 a.m. and worship is at 10:00 a.m. The address is 409 Old Big Cove Road, Brownsboro, AL 35741. I would link to the web site, but y'all, it is so outdated and sad. I'm trying to get that resolved for them. Hope to see you there!

I Was Number Three

Yesterday was primary voting day here in Alabama –so exciting! I arrived at my polling location a few minutes before the polls opened at 7:00 a.m. I was probably the fourth or fifth person in line, but I was the third person to turn in my ballot; probably because I was the youngest person there and didn’t have to take 45 minutes to read everything on the ballot – including the 1,000 delegates listed.

It was a little chaotic when 7:00 a.m. rolled around. There was a new inspector at our poll and he looked as though he didn’t have a clue as to what was going on around him. He had a gaggle of old women working for him and they seemed like they didn’t know what to do either even though I know some of them have been working at this polling location for a good long while.

I had to point out my name to the lady checking identification and then the lady printing our name on the form couldn’t even see the name printed on the driver’s license; another lady had to read it out to her. Then she had to go retrieve her glasses so she could see. Finally I was handed a ballot and filled it out quickly since I already knew for whom I would cast my lot.

After work, I stopped back by the voting location because I wanted to give my name and information to the poll inspector and let him know I was interested in working future elections. My dad is the inspector at his poll and I am familiar with the process and would like to be a worker, plus extra money is never a bad thing. When I went in to talk to him, he once again looked like he didn’t have a clue as to what was going on around him. My dad’s precinct runs like a well-oiled machine; my precinct, not so much. Maybe one day I will get the call and eventually arrange a coup and take over as inspector. I have no doubt I would do a good job.

After my evening stop by the polling location, I headed home for the day. I had grand plans of returning to the gym, but spent most of the day sniffling and sneezing and decided to wait until Thursday to make my triumphant return to the bike. Hopefully I won’t gain 10 pounds in the next couple of days. The remainder of the evening was spent watching results come in. Most all of the folks I voted for won so it was a good night in my book. I guess the next election, if you don’t have a run-off in your precinct will be for city elections and you already know who gets my vote for mayor – the lovely Loretta!

It’s Voting Day in Alabama!

For those of us who live in Alabama, it’s voting day! If you know me at all, then you probably know that I am a lover of voting! I think it is one of the greatest priveleges we have as Americans. I remember filling out my voter registration form the week of my 18th birthday. I think I mailed it in the day before I turned 18.

I’m proud to day that I’ve never missed a day of voting; even when I was in college, I voted via absentee every time there was a chance to vote. I would always request from Judge Riddick, our probate judge at the time and a dear friend of mine, to send me the “I Voted” sticker. I don’t know if it was him or he told his assistant or whatever to do it, or maybe they include it in all absentee ballots, but I would always receive about three “I Voted” stickers in my package from the courthouse. I like to think they were sent to me special so if you know otherwise, don’t spoil it for me.

Someone at work on Monday said, “I’m not going to waste my time to go vote tomorrow.” I’m pretty sure my blood pressure sky rocketed at that moment. I just had to walk away without saying anything. I don’t know why anyone would skip out on an opportunity to vote. If you do, maybe you can tell us why in the comments.

I plan to be at my polling location bright and early when the doors open at 7:00 a.m. because to me it doesn’t get more American than being able to cast my vote. So, get out and vote Alabamians! If you happen to need me on Tuesday night, I’ll be by my television watching the results come in, probably with a pen and paper by my side.

It's All About Me

I went to the dentist this morning. Apparently I’m on a monthly rotation instead of every six months. Today was just my annual cleaning – no cavities, no crowns, and no root canals! Woot! The hygienist that cleans my teeth is a talker and it really annoys me. I often want to ask if they have a hygienist that is less sociable. “I can’t talk to you when you have your fingers in my mouth so please don’t ask me questions,” is what I want to say to her before we get started; but, I never do. Instead I just keep my mouth shut and roll with the incessant babble.

On to a totally different subject… we are soon to be in the throes of putting together a new pictorial church directory. I’m pretty excited about this because it’s been a long while since we’ve had one made and since we moved to our new location we’ve had a lot of folks place membership and it’s hard to keep them all straight.

This time our pictorial directory will have one page per family and each page will have a bio about that family. This way, we can learn a little more about the family and when a new family places membership, we can just add their page to the directory. Or, if someone leaves, I guess we can rip their page out. You get the idea.

So, yesterday I wrote a bio for myself and laughed the whole time I was writing it. Being the quirky person I am, I wanted my bio to be a little funny and give folks a chuckle. I emailed it out to some friends and they all gave their stamp of approval. Then I got home and looked at the instructions and realized I had too many words in my bio (imagine that!). So, I had to cut it down, which really makes me sad because I loved the original version.

I wanted to share with you all the original and newer condensed version here on the blog so that at least a few people could maybe get a laugh out of it. There are two condensed versions here on the blog. The first is 213 words long and the page will just have a photo of me. The second is 132 words long and in addition to the photo of me, I’ll also include the photo that was on my Christmas card this past year. Let me know which one you think I should go with! Thanks, ya’ll!

The Original Bio (377 Words - Too Long, But My Favorite)

Natasha Parker has been a member of the Memorial Parkway/Chase Park congregation since she was six years old. She is the daughter of former members Steve and Debbie Parker who now work with the Hampton Cove congregation.
Natasha attended the University of Alabama where she was a member of Kappa Alpha Theta and elected as a senator for Student Government Association, representing the College of Arts and Sciences. After two and a half years in Tuscaloosa, she transferred to UAH where she obtained a B.S.B.A. with a concentration in finance and a minor in political science.
A fifth generation Huntsvillian, Natasha works as a program manager for a local defense contractor. Prior to establishing her career in Huntsville, she worked as a Sports Information Intern at Niagara University in Niagara Falls, New York and as the Assistant Sports Information Director at East Carolina University in Greenville, North Carolina. In 2003, when she tired of rubbing her last two pennies together and eating Ramen noodles morning, noon and night, she packed up her belongings, left the career she loved and moved back to Huntsville where she decided to put her degree to good use.
In addition to her “real” job, Natasha is also a freelance writer and her work can be found locally in The Huntsville Times during high school football season.
In 2005, Natasha bought her great-grandmother’s house in the Five Points area of Huntsville and, along with her father and grandfather, completely renovated the house taking it down to the studs and building it back up. She has lived in the house since January 2006 and has loved every minute of it, even the unconventional ones.
Natasha’s most loyal companion is her dog, The Tide, who was adopted from the Pitt County Animal Shelter in North Carolina in 2002. The Tide was born with hip dysplasia and has had the joints in both of her hips replaced.
Aside from spending time with The Tide, Natasha enjoys cooking, working in yard, reading, watching movies, listening to music, going to the theater, spending time with family and friends, cycling, watching sports, and searching for a husband.
A self-described old soul, Natasha is a lover of Frank Sinatra and can always be found wearing an apron in the kitchen.

The Condensed Version #1 (213 Words – No Additional Picture)

Natasha Parker has been a member of the Memorial Parkway/Chase Park congregation since she was six years old. She is the daughter of former members Steve and Debbie Parker who now work with the Hampton Cove congregation.
A fifth generation Huntsvillian, Natasha works as a program manager for a local defense contractor. Prior to establishing her career in Huntsville, she worked in the sports information field at Niagara University in Niagara Falls, NY and East Carolina University in Greenville, NC. In addition to her “real” job, Natasha is also a sports writer for The Huntsville Times.
In 2005, Natasha bought her great-grandmother’s house in the Five Points area of Huntsville and, along with her father and grandfather, completely renovated the house taking it down to the studs and building it back up. She has lived in the house since January 2006.
Natasha’s most loyal companion is her dog, The Tide, who was adopted from the Pitt County Animal Shelter in North Carolina in 2002.
Aside from spending time with The Tide, Natasha enjoys cooking, working in yard, reading, movies, music, theater, spending time with family and friends, cycling, and watching sports.
A self-described old soul, Natasha is a lover of Frank Sinatra and can always be found wearing an apron in the kitchen.

The Condensed Version #2 (132 Words – Includes Christmas Photo from 2010)

Natasha Parker has been a member of the Memorial Parkway/Chase Park congregation since she was six years old. She is the daughter of former members Steve and Debbie Parker who now work with the Hampton Cove congregation.
A fifth generation Huntsvillian, Natasha works as a program manager for a local defense contractor. In addition to her “real” job, Natasha is also a sports writer for The Huntsville Times.
Natasha has lived in her great-grandmother’s house in the Five Points area of Huntsville with her dog, The Tide, since January 2006.
Natasha enjoys cooking, working in yard, reading, movies, music, theater, spending time with family and friends, cycling, and watching sports.
A self-described old soul, Natasha is a lover of Frank Sinatra and can always be found wearing an apron in the kitchen.

Don't forget to vote for #1 or #2 - leave your answer in the comments! Thanks for your help.

The Votes Are In

So, the votes are in for the Name the Heifer Poll and the winner, with eight votes is Trudy. Ginnie came in a close second with six votes, followed by Something Else – these names are terrible with three votes and Cinderella with two. I will be sure and let Amy know what the name of her heifer, soon to be cow is. Hopefully she will soon send a picture of the bull and we can do it all over again. Thanks for voting everyone!

I don’t know about you all, but I don’t really have any big plans for the weekend. My jaw is still bruised and I’ve generally avoided chewing on the right side of my mouth which is getting quite annoying. The few times I have tried to chew over there have not been pleasant and have been quite painful. I’m hoping this clears up in a couple of days otherwise it looks like it might be a root canal after all and I am not looking forward to that in the least.

I want to give a shout out to my dear friend Caroline who gave birth to her second son yesterday in South Africa. She named him Blake Darrow Collie. Darrow is Caroline’s maiden name and I think it is an excellent choice for her son’s middle name (not that she asked me or anything).

I’m not in much of a writing mood today so I’m going to close it out here. I hope everyone has a fantastic weekend!

Get Out There and Vote!

Don’t forget to go to the polls and vote today. In Alabama, polls are open from 7:00 a.m. until 7:00 p.m. So, get out to your polling place and cast your ballot! If you live in Alabama and don’t know where you are registered to vote, go HERE and find out.