I have never shied away from the fact that the littlest things can make me teary. Call it sentamentality, call it emotional, wearing my heart on my sleeve, whatever. When overcome by strong emotions, I have to have some escape hatch and my tear ducts seem to be the path of least resistance. Fine. I honestly don't have a problem with it. Most days anyway. Yeah, it gets a little irratating when Jason and Andrea tease me about my eyes watering during the National Anthem, or when there's a particularly poignant Hallmark ad. But overall, it doesn't bother me and is actually a nice reminder that I'm not Vulcan. Tuesday I had one of those moments, but I actually was able to keep it contained.

Tuesday I went above and beyond my civic duty. I volunteered to serve as an election judge for one of the precincts in my town. I remember serving as a poll watcher back in my big political days in Iowa and thinking it would be cool to be the person helping people vote. This year I offered myself and they took me up on it. It was a very long day- I had to be at the polling place at 6:00 a.m. to set up and had to remain there following the close of polling at 8:00 p.m. to help get things torn down and doing some basic tabulation. I've been pretty exhausted since then, but in the name of democracy that is my sacrifice. Not even close to what service people endure, I understand, but still more than the average joe.

I felt so honored to be a part of something so big. As I watched the people stand in line to get their ballots, I was reminded of what I love about being an American. Yes, a little schmaltzy, but this isn't jingoism or false patriotism. Despite the occasional setbacks, I truly value the freedoms we have living in this country and want to do what I can to help keep them strong. Watching all those people come to voice their choice, coming to register and vote for the first time, caring enough about the process to participate, made me proud to be an American. At one point when the polls were their busiest I had to fight off tears because it was so overwhelming to me.This, THIS, is what it's all about.

And the precinct I was working in did amazingly well. We had over 250 new voters register and almost reached the 80% turnout goal (we had 78%), which was incredibly exciting.

The best part was that Andrea was still up when I got home. When I first pulled up in the drive and saw her bedroom light on, truthfully I was irritated. I thought (mistakenly) that Jason was letting her stay up to say good night to me. But that wasn't it at all. Jason was letter her stay up because SHE WANTED TO SEE THE RESULTS!!! I suppose I shouldn't be surprised that she has taken an interest in politics. She is my daughter, right? I guess it went without saying. But the fact that she wanted to know, even when I wasn't there, meant that it was something that she was excited about and not something I was forcing on her. And she was so excited when I walked in the door. "Mom! He might win!"

The icing came shortly after I got home, which was a little after ten. Right after I took off my shoes, they announced that Obama had clinched it. We cheered, we high fived, we hugged, we cried. It was a wonderful experience, and I'm so proud to be able to share that moment with my family.

That's not to say that everything went swimmingly. We still have an undecided senate race here in Minnesota, Michele Bachmann (amazingly) got re-elected, and Proposition 8 in California passed. My sympathies to Sandy. But can I just say, what the hell happened to constitutional amendments needing 2/3 vote to pass? Is that just the national one? Why aren't the states set that way to?

Whatever. That's how democracy works, after all. We win a few, we lose a few. But in the end we all have a voice and a vote. Yay America!