What Now?

I felt kind of lost today. It seemed kind of quiet, didn't it? I suddenly remembered what was on TV and what was in my mailbox before the election and especially the recent months of campaigning leading up to it.

Now what happens? Well I hope the gas prices, which have fallen to almost reasonable levels, will stay that way. That's unlikely. Of course, we'd like the economy fixed or at least turned around and heading in the right direction. That just can't happen overnight. I'd like the conflict in Iraq to end, too, before my nephew in the Army has to get shipped off to fight.

We can't expect miracles. And I know from experience -- a lot of it -- that change doesn't always please everyone. I am hopeful, though, and that's a big step for people like me who have had to acknowledge, accept, embrace a mountain of changes in recent times. We just need patience, right? And we're loaded with that.

In the meantime, I can refocus on my own little non-political life. I've got a boy with an incredibly tough class load, another boy who needs to stop being a load, a little boy anxious about his first quarter grades (real letter grades this time), and my big boy facing knee surgery in a couple weeks.

There's plenty going on. Then there's me, just floating in my Democratic cloud, counting down the days to my annual Wild Women's Weekend. This year is our 10th one so six of us Northern girls are flying down together to take Southern Texas by storm next week! Checked the long-range forecast today -- should be sunny and in the 80s.

So I'll just keep thinking about that while the Austin clan finds our own ways to make our own little changes in our lives. If a new president can turn things around for the nation, we can certainly do our part at home, right? Yes, we can!