VOTE (revisited)

I wrote this four years ago before the last Presidential Election.  I reread it today and decided I still feel the same way...probably even stronger now that my kids are getting old enough to kind of understand what's going on and who's doing what.  I'm hoping it stood the test of time!

VOTE

So did you all get the email that’s been passed around about Women’s Suffrage movement and what they went through to get to vote?  Or read up on what black Americans went through, including murder, when they tried to exercise their right to vote as late as 1965 (and probably later in some places)?  Frightening.  Truly.

I think what’s more frightening to me is that so many people, especially women, DON’T VOTE!!  I don’t get it.  I am apathetic about sooooo many things, but not voting.  From town council to the White House, I pine over who I’m going to try to help get in or sometimes, help NOT to get in.  I read and re-read my sample ballots and after I get my head to stop spinning after reading the constitutional amendments or the questions,  I read the “translation for idiots” at the bottom to make sure I know what they’re asking me!

My very first voting experience was the Presidential Election 1984 when Reagan was running for his second term against Mondale.  I was so excited I wanted my mom to take my picture going in and coming out of the booth.  She refused.  Killjoy!  S’okay, I remember like it was yesterday…truly one of my proudest moments. 

I don’t talk heavy politics with people.  I think it is an incredibly personal topic.   I have cocktail party political conversations with people.  You know, enough to let a person know which direction I lean without taking the chance of saying too much and offending someone who totally disagrees with my leaning.  (I kinda sound like a politician, don’t I?)  If someone does bring up politics in my house I welcome what they have to say as long as there’s no fist banging or extended soapbox standing and, most importantly, that they are voters.  My husband and I have a rule in our world; we’ll listen to your complaints (may even share a few) and counter or commiserate, whichever the case may be, as long as you VOTED!  Before we let you get too far, we stop you, ask if you’re a voter and if you say “no”, we don’t let you talk.  Isn’t that rude?  I mean really.  It’s my rule and I think it’s rude!  But there it is.  More people voted in the American Idol contest last year (myself included) than for the last Presidential election (like 80% more).  I totally understand though.  I mean, come on, I don’t have time to fill out less than 10 lines on a postage paid Voter Registration postcard that I can drop in any mailbox!  I do, however, have time to dial my phone 4,000 times until the busy signal at AI is replaced with a computer voice thanking me for my vote and disconnecting me.

Look, I don’t care who you vote for (well, not really, but hey, this is America, right?) just get out and VOTE!!  Do it for our kids’ futures.  Do it for OUR futures as senior citizens.  Do it to start changing things you want changed.  Just DO IT!!  Don’t think your vote doesn’t matter.  Don’t pull the electoral vote card out and say your one vote doesn’t matter.  It does it does it does.

That’s it.  I have to get down.  The air’s way too thin up here at the top of my soapbox!!

~Eileen Bishop (written 9/14/08 for October 2008 MOMS Club Newsletter and published in the November 2008 South Jersey MOM Magazine as a Letter to the Editor)

Who's a Maniac? I'm a Maniac!

So school's been out for about five or six weeks now.  It's actually gone by pretty quickly as we've been busy little bees!  Between the kids' swim practices and meets, my workouts and training for the Rugged Maniac 5K, vacations to Disney and day trips hither and yon, there hasn't been much down time; and when there is, it's usually spent vegetating on the couch or in front of the computer too tired (read lazy) to write.  But it's a rainy day here in the Garden State and the kids are watching The Spy Next Door, so I'm stealing a couple of minutes for myself (because Facebook and Bubble Witch Saga and Words with Friends totally doesn't count!!)

Last weekend I ran with many of the girls from Team Alpha and completed the Rugged Maniac 5K race in Englishtown, NJ.  I am very proud of myself and although I finished one minute and 15 seconds after my goal of one hour, at least I finished!  I have bruises and scrapes for battle scars and photos to document (to prove) my participation.  I wouldn't describe it as fun but I did have a good time.  Even when I was by myself on the course (well, not by myself but not with my fellow Alpha girls), I was feeling pretty full of myself.  Even when the cretin beside me decided to combat crawl through the muddy water under the barbed wire while simultaneously kicking his feet splashing said water in my face, I was happy to be a part of the event.

I definitely think, when you do something like this, whether it's a 5K, a marathon, or a triathlon, however big or small the competition, when you finish you feel part of something.  This is only my second competition ever, so the novelty may wear off, but for now, I'm enjoying the ride.  Even got me a Rugged Maniac sticker for my car! That's right! I'm rugged!  Just don't make me change a tire on Route 295, thank you!

Looking at my dirty bib or feeling guilty when I miss a workout or a training run, I realize how far I've come in the past year or so.  When I say I never competed in anything athletic before, I mean NEVER.  I did play softball for an office team when I was 21 but that was just to hang out afterward at the bar! 

I don't think I look that much different...my clothes fit a bit better but I expected to look like a fashion model by now...and don't, if you were wondering!  But I do feel better.  I feel great, actually.  Not only do I breathe better and run farther and lift more and push more, I'm not beating myself up about talking and not acting.  At least not on this point.  There are still plenty of things I plan on doing....and plan and plan and plan...but that's another story!  No, with regard to fitness and health, I really think I've done myself and my family a real justice.  I went from the couch to the track and never looked back.  I almost cried more than a few times and was embarrassed at my lack of ability or stamina, but thanks to a wonderful trainer and a fabulous team of girls, it never ever stopped me from going or made me consider quitting.  I started with two days a week, moved to that plus the gym a couple of times a week, to that plus running the streets or trails on the other days.  I went from wheezing at the 50 meter mark to running 5K's once every couple of weeks trying go farther and faster.  

I have friends who want to work out with my group and my trainer but are too afraid they won't keep up.  These are women (mostly) who are in far better shape than I was when I started but I completely understand where they're coming from.  At my first session, I very seriously told my friend that if anything were to happen, I'm not allergic to any medications and I'm an organ donor!  It was a Sunday morning and I couldn't walk normally until Thursday.  It was TOUGH!  But I went on that next Saturday and woke up a few more dormant muscles and whimpered through the next week and the next until finally, when I'd wake up without pain, I'd think I must not have pushed myself enough at the workout!  

So what I'm saying, other than how great I think I am apparently, is that it wasn't hard to do once I started.  I can't quit now because I feel like exercise now defines part of who I am.  Even when I'm a slug for a couple of days in a row, I still feel like part of the club.  I may not pay as high a dues as many of my fellow members (and they know who they are; the ones that don't miss a day, no matter what, to do some sort of workout), but that's okay.  Maybe someday I will.  Maybe when school starts up again in the Fall.  Maybe. Maybe not.  For right now, though, I'm cool with my three to five days a week (usually), working and laughing with my Alpha girls, and planning my next accomplishment!

~Eileen Cassidy Bishop

Batter Up!

Congratulate me (or pity me, I haven't decided) --- I have officially made the transition from Unisex T-Ball to Boys Minor League Baseball and Girls Softball T-Ball!  Wow.  It's very different, isn't it?  Wow.  Who knew?  Well, anyone with a kid in Little League, I guess!  I'm embarrassed at my naivete!  The politics and melodrama is staggering!!  I don't see it much (yet) in the Softball League but Little League?! Oh my!

See, I always thought of politics at the government and corporate office level (sometimes they intertwine, don't they...but that's another lesson for another day!)  I knew, too, that there were those parents who took the sport way too seriously.  My friends or family would complain about the coach or the other players or the other players' parents and I'd think, "Really? You're getting this upset over Little League?!"  But now I see all too clearly!  I have found myself complaining about the coach and some of the rules; sniping at some of the other parents and even at some of the players (behind their backs, of course, to actually snipe at them would be rude...ahem.)  I've lamented about Leo only playing half the game while others his age play the whole game (yeah, so they're better, what about it?!)  I've sounded like Vince Lombardi in the locker room before the big game giving Leo a pep talk about bending his knees in his batter's stance, staying in ready position in the field, no dancing in right field, no blowing bubbles that impede his ability to see past said bubble, to keep his glove on his hand not on his head, etc.  You know, the stuff the MLB moms stress about with their boys (I wonder if we could get Mrs. Jeter or Halliday to confirm).  Gene's and my pillow talk is usually a recap of the game or practice.  I know, steamy, right?!

The parents complain about the coaches, the coaches complain about the League higher-ups, the League higher-ups complain about the coaches AND the parents and everyone is sweet and lovely and chatty when face to face at the fields.  Peyton Place, I'm telling you!  Whoever out there thinks men are not as bad if not WORSE than women when it comes to gossip and hurt feelings is saaaaadly mistaken!  Whoa Nellie!

Yes, it's a whole new world for this girl.  I will say I've met some of the nicest people (and of course not-so nice)!  People I would most likely never have met otherwise.  I've gotten to sit out in the fresh air and enjoy watching an evening of baseball (well, of boys running around on a diamond-shaped field, anyway) or watching an evening or morning of practice while simultaneously sharing in adult conversation.  You can always tell a parent that's got a kid in a sport; they can have a complete conversation without making eye contact with you once!  I think I'll actually miss it when it's over.  We're in the play-offs stage at the moment; double elimination...very exciting!  By this time next week I'll be missing those parents (no, not all of them) and the conversation, and watching Leo get more and more into the sport (he actually got a killer hit last night).  I'm not too worried though.....

Swim Team meets start next week.

~Eileen Cassidy Bishop