Election Day

Either way tonight goes, half of the country is going to be pissed off tomorrow morning. 
Kind of like the day after the Super Bowl, but on a much grander scale. 
Some days I'm glad I work at home and I think tomorrow will be one of them.  =-)

We voted today.  We got to the polls about quarter to five and waited in line for only a couple minutes.  They are run very efficiently.  Maryland sends out an exact copy of the ballot to every registered voter a few weeks before the election and I find it to be extremely helpful.  Caroline has informed us that the kids on the bus told her that we should vote for President Obama. 
Luckily, I don't live in a swing state, so I can vote my conscience with a clear conscience. 
I could stay up late listening to CNN agonizing over the results OR I could go to bed and get a decent night of sleep.  Either way the election will be the same.
SLEEP WINS.  

Our schedules have been really messed up with the Hurricane, Halloween and the long weekend because of the election.  There is a normal week next week and then it's Thanksgiving.  Oy vey.  Where is this year going?
Nate has been in full Destructi-Nate mode in the past couple weeks.  He is so contradictory and tantrum-y.  Ugh.  Seems like his preferred way to manage any situation that goes slightly awry from how he thinks it should is by flopping on the floor.  His preferred word is "No!", more often uttered as "No! No!  No!  No!  No!  NOOOOOOOOO!". 
Potty training continues.  He refuses diapers and will only wear pull-ups now.  Some mornings he refuses to wear anything but underwear and this lasts only and hour or two before we're changing clothes.  THIS morning, he refused to wear any clothes and was running around the house with his baseball glove yelling, "I' Jeter, Mama!  I Jeter!".  When he's naked, he does a bit better with the potty (since he gets naked to use the toilet, anyways) - but as the weather gets colder, this is less practical.  After a bit, he did decide to put on something - he wore his underwear - but on his head.  Oh, well. 

The boys and I went hiking up at Cunningham Falls again today.  Caroline got to do her first overnight with a friend, so the boys got to do something fun.  

Thurmont took it in a serious way last week during Hurricane Sandy.  Wow.  There were trees everywhere and line crews still out.  The staff at the Park did a wonderful job making sure the trails were safe and getting trees out of the way.  The landscape is significantly different than it was where we were there just a couple weeks ago.  The changes were amazing.  

Almost all the trees in the park are 100 years old.  They were planted as the area was reforested in response to the notable environmental damage done with clear cutting from the Cactoctin Furnace.  Strangely enough, even with the age of the trees, there were very few trees that had snapped limbs.  Most came up from the roots and took other trees down with them as they fell.  The course of the creek was altered, even.  Gave me more of an appreciation for the ox bow lakes we learned about in 8th grade Earth Science.  

Our Pre-Cambrian rock formations were almost covered with fallen debris.  But the freshly cut trunks provided prime ring counting opportunity.  No matter how many rings, all the trees were 10 years old to Nate and 60 years old according to Sam.  Benjamin, being the silent type, didn't relay his opinion on the matter. 

 I love that boy. 

Here are pictures from our adventures today:

 Looking for "dinosaur eggs". 

 The boys liked climbing on rocks and comparing their heights to the uprooted tree sizes. 

 When he's not Destructi-Nate-ing, he IS a pretty cute kid. 

 Our rock formations were almost covered as a result of Sandy. 

 The boys enjoyed looking a the falls. 

 Sam was being a total turd and wouldn't un-cover his face for the picture.  Go figure. 

 The Falls were very full and very loud. 

 My adorable two Middle Children!

Oh - and here is how I found Benjamin on the floor this morning.  He was surrounded by cards.  Prayer cards for Archangel Raphael, St Valentine, St Elizabeth Ann Seton and our Guardian Angel.  But do you see the Spider-Man card that got slipped in there, too?  I was amused.  Very amused.