Do you smell that?

...It's perfume in the Oval Office...AND IT'S NOT COMING FROM AN INTERN!

So, as I've said before, bawling while working out is really difficult! It's hard to breathe, let alone see! So, last Friday morning when I arrived at the gym, I glanced up to see what program was on TV and read the closed captioning stating McCain's choice for a running mate. My jaw hit the floor, a lump formed in my throat, and I did everything in my power from doing a very public, very expressive happy dance right then and there. I did talk to the guy next to me who was very aware of my dumbstruck appearance...he was impressed that she is a sportswoman. I never saw it coming! Who knew?

I will say this...I was going to vote for McCain regardless of his running mate. Asked by a few people I know who are Democrats, or just wooed by Obama, why on earth I would vote for another Republican, I stated that if this were a job (hello, it's a big job), and these guys were being interviewed and hired, McCain's resume outweighs the competition. Plain and simple. In addition to his credentials, he's not a typical Republican, he's not a cookie cut, crowd following, government pleasing politician. He's a maverick. He thinks outside the box and refuses to be lumped into the ideals of the last 8 years. Yes, he has supported some of what Bush has done over his terms of office, but how the media and Obama's camp have continued to drill home the idea that McCain is more of the same, is so ignorant. This isn't a popularity contest...this is real life and our country's future. Obviously he is younger than McCain...a vast majority of people are...but age is what got Clinton into the Oval Office, and the only smell from that Oval Office was fishy...

For any of you who have read here long or know me at all, I don't like to be compared to others and I really, really, really, really, really feel passionate about my uniqueness and independence, though I love, love, love team. I feel strongly about things, I enjoy going against the grain, don't mind ruffling feathers, and have no qualms in sharing my guts, regardless of opinions of me...I know that is why I will whole-heartedly support John McCain and Sarah Palin.

My sisters and I used to play a game while looking at prom dress magazines. As we'd open a page spread, no matter how disgusting, gaudy, ugly, cheesy, sleazy, whatever the choices of dresses, no matter what, we had to choose one. And, if you are a product of the 80's you know more about this than you'd care to admit. Along the same lines, months back when each party was choosing their candidate and things were ugly between Hillary and Barack, I told a couple friends that if I were a Democrat and if I had to choose between either of the two, I would pick Hillary just for shits and giggles and the fact that she is a woman and it would be fantastic to give a woman a whirl at the job. (Does anyone realize that England has been a powerful force in the earth for hundreds of years with a woman in charge now and then? Fascinating, huh? How on earth have they survived, especially since some of them were wives and moms?! #$%^&)

Thankfully I did not have to actually choose Hillary since she is not a woman for whom I could honestly or faithfully rally. I admire her tenacity on a personal level. I respect her for being a mother and faithful wife. I am not so sure I could have stood by my husband during the most idiotic and humiliating public/personal choice of his life. I respect her for that. I whole heartedly agree with her that Obama would not bring as much experience as she would have...I do believe it takes a family of loving people to raise a child, though I don't care about a whole village piping in their two cents worth. As far as warmth, as far as Hillary representing the true core of a woman, or the general population of wives and moms...well, she just didn't do it for me.

And then came Sarah...Sarah. Already a household name here at our house. Emily has named her last 3 fish "Sarah". Her Barbie's name is "Sarah", and pretty much any time she makes up a bedtime story, her character is "Sarah". Why? Maybe she's prophetic...anyway...

And then came Sarah...a real woman, a real live person, not from Washington, someone with whom others can relate, who is morally grounded, in the thick of the energy battle, a governor, former mayor, PTO mom, wife, soon to be grandma. And, she's warm, but my favorite part...she's SPICY! I love spice.

I, for one, realize that a Vice President does not share the exact responsibilities of the President. But, if anything were to happen to either candidate, I have confidence that Sarah Palin would fill the role with flying colors.

My job as a child of God is to pray for His will to be done, on earth as it is in Heaven. My job is not to put all my faith in another person. Neither candidate is the Messiah. He already came. His name is Jesus. All I know is that for the next 61 days, I am going to pay attention. I'm going to seek the Lord, be a wife, mom, and friend, work on Noah's book, I'm going to live life as usual, one day at a time. The election does not change my pursuit of intimacy with the Lord, nor is my faith rocked regardless of who is elected. For those freaked out that this is the end of the world because of a certain elected official, God is the ONLY one in charge of that, so stop living in fear. But I will make an educated and prayerful vote, and I will vote for the candidates who value life and change and God's moral code, not political correctness. God's never been that...