6.7.16 - Voting and losing weight and political work and a MANUSCRIPT!

Actually I nearly for got today was the CA primaries because, like with previous CA primaries, my vote for the Presidential primaries doesn't even really matter at this point, since both the paries I might've voted in have already picked their nominees.

But throughout the day my friends were proudly posting their "I voted" statuses and pics of them with their "I voted" stickers and I thought I should probably at least make the attempt. I didn't get home until about 7:30p (polls close at 8p). I hurried and filled out my choices for the smaller races and at least one proposition, and quickly drove to the HS next door to drop off my ballot.

Dropping off my ballot made me realize: I really like polling place volunteers. Every time I go they are so friendly and there's this camaraderie with everyone showing up at the polls. They can't really care who you're voting for since they don't know who you're voting for, but they just seemed so please to see people voting. And a lot of the people showing up to vote seem pleased about it too. It's a nice atmosphere. And I do like the "I Voted" stickers. So that was kind of fun.

In other happy news, I'm down to 163.5, 1.6lbs below my goal weight. This is great not only because it feels great to be losing weight, but also because it's really solidified for me that I can and have come back from the fatty edge of full term pregnancy. Yeah it took awhile, but it's doable. I don't have to have my youngest child at age 10 and me still saying "it's never been the same since my pregnancies." This makes me feel less anxious and more confident about getting pregnant again.

And it's not just about the weight and body image--although those are big factors. It's also about strength and agility and ability. I'm not athlete, but there's still a huge difference between my body's normal abilities (like right now) and all the limitations I increasingly had during pregnancy. I haven't been pregnant for over a year and yet some days I still think how glad I am that I can take stairs two at a time again, tie my shoes without thinking twice about it, move heavy boxes up and down off shelves in the apartment, and so on. Pregnancy made me really appreciate the abilities of my non-pregnant body.

In other happy news, recently Dad's been paying me to help him with a local political project in his town, and I have really been enjoying it. There's something so satisfying about combing all these sources and all this information to put together one cohesive, strong, somewhat biting counterargument. Plus it's been enjoyable collaboratin with Dad on it because he's so excited about the project, and it really feels like a team effort. And not just any team, but a team that's working together particularly well and being effective. I won't know for awhile whether we'll get the outcome we want (a rejection of a certain proposal) but it seems like we're already mounting more of an opposition than proponents ever expected, so that's something.

I found this while looking for images for our project. Never used it, but still thought it was funny.

And, similarly, I've also been doing more volunteer work recently with SPL. Particularly I'm trying to lay the groundwork for an article about how our movement looks to people from other cultures--not other countries, but other American cultures than my own. I've already done some interviewing and just on a personal level I feel fascinated and intellectually stimulated learning how differently people see the same topic, and learning about points of view I've never really had exposure to. I hope the article I eventually put together will be able to express everything well.

And finally, but maybe most importantly, yesterday my thesis chair told me he thinks my manuscript looks great and only needs a few minor publications to be ready for submission to one of the forensic journals. That is so delightful! Hopefully this means my thesis--which is largely similar in content but slightly different in formatting--will also get his approval quickly and I can pass it on to my other advisors. Great progress!