So, uh, Christmas was a little more sick and dramatic than I was planning. Since Christmas is my favorite time of year and I am feeling a little sad about it being kind of a bust, I am just going to move on and start planning for next year.

Let me just mention, by way of a little bit of advice, that if your baby throws up for hours and hours, she is probably sick. And even when she stops throwing up you might not want to expose others to whatever it was that made her sick, even if it is Christmas Day. Because if you do, every. single. person. who comes into contact with her may end up throwing up for hours and hours, which would really be a downer at Christmas.

So, moving right along…what else is happening…oh yeah - the Iowa caucus is tomorrow! Four years ago I was doing field for the Dean campaign in Henry and Washington Counties. I was living and working in a tiny room in the home of a supporter in Mt. Pleasant, Iowa and made more phone calls in a four week period than I ever thought possible. I attended a caucus in a little town whose name I have since blocked out, and I knew before that caucus was over that the outcome statewide was not going to be what I had worked and hoped for. I got ragingly drunk that night, then packed up and went to the U.P. of Michigan to continue working for Dean. Good times.

It is a little mind boggling to think about how much my life has changed in four years. But even with all the changes I am still riveted by what is happening tomorrow. I am afraid to hope for too much, the last campaign taught me that, but I am pulling for Barack Obama. When I ran screaming from left Iowa, I lost contact with all the folks I worked with while I was there, so I can’t even check in with them to see what they think is going to happen. I just hope my favorite precinct captain, Mary Ellen, is an Obama supporter. If she is, we have nothing to worry about.

Fired up? Ready to go!