Fired up! Ready to go!

Yes, there's a lot of enthusiasm around the Middle of Nowhere this morning. Last night's convention speeches inspired me anew (not that I needed much inspiration, right?) and strengthened my resolve to re-elect President Obama. We'll be counting the votes in 60 days. That's not much time to turn West Virginia blue, but I'll be doing my best.

Which, admittedly, will be very difficult since 40 percent of the Democratic primary votes went to a convicted felon and serial candidate who managed to make his way onto the ballot. From prison!

Probably the starkest contrast between the two conventions was the lack of diversity in Tampa and the abundance of it in Charlotte. You didn't have to watch the GOP convention (I didn't) to notice from clips that there were more people of color on stage than in the audience. And that may be why West Virginians register as Democrats but vote Republican.

Just sayin'.

My husband and I are headed out this weekend to an AA retreat we've been attending for more than a dozen years. It's our version of a family reunion. We didn't make it two years ago – on our way there we got a call that my dad had collapsed. We did a U-turn and sped to the hospital, too late.

Last year on the way home from the event my daughter called to announce she and her husband were divorcing. It's not that I hadn't seen it coming, but still … a bit of a shock.

I'm hoping for a tragedy-free time this year.

I finished knitting Jujuba last night, then joined the front and back center seams with a decorative i-cord bind-off (which looks great, by the way) and started seaming the sides/sleeves. I tried it on this morning over my sleep shirt and even with, ahem, no foundation it looked pretty good. It's a great length, the sleeves are perfect, the drape of the fabric is not clingy at all – I'm so pleased! It needs some kind of finishing touch at the lower edge and neckline and it'll be done, done, done. Film at eleven.

And now, I need to take a walk, pack my bags and head to Kentucky. Will probably just be photo-blogging this weekend. I figure we all need a break from politics before the real work begins. You can thank me in the comments. Heh.

P.S. And thank you for your comments, and for indulging my excitement as I lean to the left.