Oyama Mama Lawn Sign Drama

It has been just over a week since the election, and I am still quite happy about it. This seems to be a common phenomenon within the Obama-nation. I had the opportunity to travel with my family to Seattle for the long weekend, and you could just sense the joy as we traveled to another blue state. My "Japanese Americans for Obama" button sparked joyful comments by random, happy strangers. One person suggested we start the process of passing a constitutional amendment to allow Obama to serve three terms.

Unfortunately, my joy is not shared by everyone. A couple of my neighbors, in particular, seem tired of the Obama afterglow, so much so that they have told me -- not asked me, but told me -- that I should take down my lawn signs. "You really can take the signs down now. We know he won. You can take the signs down." Both neighbors made their suggestions separately, on two different days -- one on the day after election day (when I was putting out my second and third Obama signs that I had just gotten in Ohio), and the other just today, as I was taking out the trash and attempting to do some yard work. They made their suggestions to me in a nice, polite manner, of course, but I could not help thinking: would I have done the same to them, had the tables been turned? After pondering this question over several Dilletante chocolates, I have come to the conclusion that no, I would not have felt entitled to tell them what they should do with their McCain Palin lawn signs, even if they did make me feel like puking (had the Republicans won). McCain was on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno last night, commenting that "America does not want a sore loser." Apparently, my McCain-supporting neighbors did not get that message.

I think I am going to leave my original sign out on my lawn until the inauguration. It has been up since the primaries, and I think it is fitting that I keep it displayed until he takes the oath of office on January 20th, 2009.

Hey, maybe I'll make a countdown lawn sign:

ONLY 67 DAYS UNTIL OBAMA PRESIDENTIAL INAUGURATION

A new normal

I had to take a break from this blog in order to start a new one, Oyama for Obama -- oyamaforobama.blogspot.com -- where you can go to read more about how I ended up in Ohio!

My life has returned to normal, for the most part. I have stopped obsessing about the election and all things Obama and Palin. Okay, I did make a beeline towards a television monitor in the airport yesterday when I saw Sarah Palin trying to say something. And I have discovered the joy of the Anderson Cooper 360 video podcast, so I can get a daily politics fix when it is convenient for me and my family's schedule. This is quite different from my pre-election schedule, which resulted in my family's needs being pushed aside as I sat in front of the television, motionless except for my fingers pushing the "favorites" button on the remote so I could scroll between CNN, MSNBC, Fox and the major networks, occasionally setting it down and typing furiously into my laptop.

The day I returned from Ohio, I rushed to the market and bought some dinner fixin's, determined to make a home-cooked meal for my neglected family. I would announce my homecoming with a culinary gift. Or so I thought. My son stopped by as I sat in the kitchen, catching up on email, and asked, "What are we having for dinner?"
"Chicken and rice and vegetables."
"Oh," he says, clearly deflated.
"Well, do you want something else? What have you been eating while I've been gone?"
"Ramen, instant yakisoba, cheesesteaks ..."
"See? That's what I thought! Wouldn't you like to have a home cooked meal tonight?"
"Not really. Can we have some ramen?"

Sigh. I appreciated that he said the word with the Japanese pronunciation, rather than the American English version that suggested we were eating uncooked male homo sapiens. Why fight it? "Okay," I say, "you can have ramen." I find the bag of groceries I had bought five days earlier, which still contained a few unused packages of ramen and start boiling water. My husband was at a meeting, so I would worry about what to feed him later. Suddenly, my daughter shouted from the other room -- "Mom?!!! Don't I have a basketball evaluation tonight?" Oops. I had completely forgotten about that. I directed my son on how to finish making the ramen himself, and took my daughter to the gym, just in time for the evaluation.

The other moms at the gym asked me about my trip, and I told them about visiting with my relatives in Michigan, the Ohio voter protection project, the inordinately high numbers of provisional ballots at the polling place I worked at the day before, the excitement of being in Ohio when it was called for Obama, and the elation my friend Debbie felt when an apparent McCain supporter at the airport the day after election day told her she was "disgusting" for coming out to Ohio to do voter protection work -- although startled at first, once the woman's remarks sunk in, Debbie was happy to take the blame for McCain losing the election. The other moms all expressed gratitude, often recounting their own contribution to Obama's campaign, whether it be phone banking or volunteering in Nevada. There was a collective feeling of accomplishment, with each of us contributing in different ways.

Seeing Barack and Michelle Obama walk across that stage with their daughters at Grant Park the night before was the first hint of our reward. The efforts of a nation, the dreams of generations, all pinned on our new president-elect. Today is a new day. Hope has replaced cynicism. As I settle back into my normal life, I am looking forward to a new normal, where we are not afraid to hope for better, and want to be a part of this transformation. Change is good.

Let the countdown to inauguration day begin!