THIS ELECTION DAY

At this particular moment in my life I am thrilled to not be working as a reporter. Election day is one of the busiest days for a reporter. At least it was that way for me. You wake up early to vote (if you haven't done an absentee ballot), visit the local polling places in your community for photos and quotes and work on other stories while waiting for the polls to close. Then the polls close and you wait for the votes to be counted. At about midnight you stumble back to the office to write up the rest of your story so you can meet deadline the next day. You get home and attempt to sleep and then get up early to go put a paper together so it's ready for the press.

This is the day reporters live for. They thrive on breaking news and election coverage, especially if they have the "scoop" on someone who is running for office. They live for deadlines and love being under pressure. At least 2/3 of the reporters I know feel this way.

This year, there were no columns about voting issues. There was no in depth interview with a town manager in hopes of understanding a ballot issue. There were no two sides of a story that had to be written. No calls were returned because no calls were made and it's wonderful!

While I miss writing for a newspaper and mingling with the people in the communities in which I once worked, I am trilled to be at home today. Instead of being the one gathering the information, I will simply absorb it as it's broadcast on the local news channel this evening or maybe tomorrow morning. I'm at home and not feeling stressed. I'm at home with Ryan and I'm not attempting to be reporter and not throw up at the same time (last year morning sickness was well underway on election day). I get to play with Ryan and Ben all day long. I get to be mommy. I love being mommy. My stressful days include a teething baby boy who can be consoled by playing choo-choo train and by being given raspberries on his tummy. My deadlines are flexible, making sure he's fed on time, that he naps and plays and has lots of cuddles.

While I enjoy my current job on this election day, I do sit here wondering who will be elected this year. A big part of me is pleading that Baldacci is ousted and that TABOR (Taxpayer Bill of Rights, an initive to limit spending) is passed. Adam went to work this morning fearful that Baldacci will win and even though TABOR will pass, Baldacci will rewrite the entire thing this year with the legislature. We'll see about that. I still have hopes that Woodcock will win and that our super high taxes will be lowered and horrible economy will get a boost.

But I won't be waiting around at the end of the evening at a polling station in Kennebunk. Instead I will be putting little Ryan to sleep and snuggling up with Adam. Sounds so much better than getting home at 2 a.m.