Wow!

Y'all must throw some pretty cool parties! Thanks for all the suggestions for favors in yesterday's comments. Keep 'em coming!

If you're a new reader, feel free to jump in. I'm looking for election-night party ideas that are small enough to fit in a lunch bag and that I can make myself. (Yes, Denise, with what I have on hand.) If you leave a comment by 6 p.m. EDT today, you'll be entered in a random drawing to win one of the swag bags I'm giving away at the party.

I actually did have blue mardi gras beads on my shopping list, Jen, but haven't found them in quantity. I've found them online, but it's too late to get them shipped on time without spending an arm and a leg. And you know what? I don't have an extra arm or leg right now.

What I do have is a trip to North Carolina, beginning Wednesday and returning Saturday. I'll be in the Triangle area. AND I have some non-family time to myself on Thursday, when everyone will be at work or school. Party City here I come!

Here's another one I thought of – you Democrats will love it. I bought some blank 3x5 note pads and will glue on these clever new covers I made yesterday:

• The Complete Romney/Ryan Foreign Policy Plan
• The Unwavering Views of Willard Mitt Romney
• The Compassion of Willard Mitt Romney
• The Complete Romney/Ryan Plan for Restoring America
• Willard Mitt Romney's Complete Tax Returns

I love that last one the best. Heh.

In other news, the storms are converging from both the northwest and the southeast and will wreak havoc on parts of West Virginia. Fortunately not my part, but I feel badly for those in the bright-red blizzard zone.

We were originally expecting 5 to 8 inches of snow. Now the weather service is saying maybe an inch today, and little to no additional accumulation tomorrow. But it will be windy, and we're all a little skittish about wind after this summer's derecho. If you pray, please pray that our power remains on. Thank you.

Finally, to answer a just-received comment, here's the Electoral College map I'm using. I think. My husband is going to come up with some pertinent facts and we're going to add a list of swing states. I'm going to remove the verbiage that's already there. If this doesn't suit your purposes, Jen, check Google Images for Electoral College Map 2012. I'm glad my husband is as knowledgeable as he is, because he took one look at my first download and said, "Um, that's the 2008 map."

How did he remember that Texas picked up four more EC votes this election? 'Tis not for me to question, I'm just glad he helped prevent me from looking stupid!

How about a favor?

It just occurred to me that when I asked for suggestions for party favors, and offered a goodie bag to a random winner, I didn't put an end date on my request.

So let's make it Monday evening at 6 p.m. If you can think of any DIY ideas for election-night party favors that will fit in a lunch-sized bag, please let me know in a comment. Winnie came up with some great ideas, thanks so much! I picked up some supplies yesterday, but there's still quite a bit of room in the bag.

Each commenter between yesterday and Monday at 6 will be entered into a random number generator and the winner will get a goodie bag.

Get your election thinking caps on, gang. Ready? Set? GO!

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!