Here she comes

So Sandy (I'm assuming Sandy is a girl name, although I worked for a man named Sandy for many years once upon a time), a tropical storm of which I knew nothing until Thursday, is scheduled to drop a lot of precipitation over the northeast next week. We will get an outer band of it, beginning this weekend. Probably. One never knows with the weather.

If temperatures remain moderate, we will get rain and more rain. But it could be snowing by Halloween.

At least today will be temperate. My husband and I are headed to the state capitol for the Jefferson-Jackson Dinner, the Democratic party's annual fund-raising event. We've never been to one before, but since our county Democratic Executive Committee picked me as their Democrat of the Year, well, we're excited to be going. More hobnobbing with politicians! Who doesn't want to do that 10 days before a major election?

President Obama spoke at the West Virginia J-J Dinner when he was still a Senator. Our friends who went predicted he would one day live in the White House. I don't think any of them thought it would be so soon, though. 

We're going to do a little party shopping on our way to Charleston. Yes, we're having an Election Night party and yes, I'm going to do it up right, with favors and Electoral College maps and food, oh my.

We're going to repeat a previous tradition of giving out M&Ms in pill bottles (my husband is a retired physician). In 2008 we created a new drug called Dematlast, which was supposed to relieve election-induced anxiety disorder. (Last election – actually convention – party posts are here and here.) This year we're dispensing Obamacillin.

We're also giving away little sponges which will be labeled as Fox News bricks – something to throw at the television that won't break the screen. I'm sure I would already have thrown more than a few of those if I watched Fox News. Which I don't. It seems like men watch it more than women, even Democratic men. They all say it's the mob-mentality strategy of keeping your friends close and your enemies closer. I wonder, though. Fox News anchors are mostly blonde and pretty. It's election season: You decide! Heh.

If you have any ideas for funny, inexpensive, election-themed party favors, please speak up in the comments. They're going to be presented in brown paper lunch bags, sealed with an Obama sunrise sticker, so they can't be too big. Printables are great, but I'm running out of ideas. Everyone who leaves a suggestion will get their name tossed in the random-number generator hat, and I'll send one winner their very own goodie bag. It'll be like you were here with all of us on Election Night! Or not, since you won't get to eat the food.

Ready? GO!