Domestic Diva

Did you know cooking/baking is one of my favorite things to do? These days I don't bake enough but I did bake cakes from scratch when I was about 10, 11 years old though and still love to make stuff.

While I'm at it, let me let you know that I can sew, too! By hand AND with a sewing machine. Bet you didn't know that quite the domestic diva I am! :-)

Truth be told, I haven't done much sewing in a million years but if I got a pattern and a machine, I'd be downright dangerous because I really do love it. In 7th grade, I loved it all so much - cooking, baking, sewing - that I won the Home Ec award on Awards Night at my middle school. I was good!

All of this though just to say that tonight, on this very UNUSUALLY COLDDDDDD Miami night, my DELICIOUS beef stew made completely from scratch is what shall keep us nice and warm. :-)

Sure do hope you stay warm yourself wherever you are too because if you're in the U.S., chilly is the least it is everywhere! Warm hugs and thoughts to all!

"Fired Up" In Chilly Miami!

Wow! Wow! Wow! I got word this morning that someone I know, who has NOT voted in some 20+ years, REGISTERED yesterday to vote in this year's presidential election because of what Barack Obama has brought to the table. HOW EXCITING is that! I am SO thrilled for this person and for Barack and for all his supporters (myself included)! These news are worthy of an e-mail right to him.

As to why I entitled this post "Fired Up" In Chilly Miami, #1) because it is quite chilly in Miami today ... yesterday it was 81 degrees, today the hi will be 58, the lo 36 ... and, #2) because there's a great story about being "Fired Up" in the Barack Obama campaign. This I heard on The Gayle King Show on XM Radio from Gayle King a few weeks back after Oprah campaigned for him that one weekend. Gayle says they were all feeling a bit tired between stops but then Barack told them a story and the story goes something like this:

Some time ago he asked some representative what it would take to get her endorsement and she told him for him to come to her town. So he promised he would, not knowing that her town was a very small one.

So they go out there on this super cold day and there was a misunderstanding about the date in the town and only about 12 people showed up but one of those 12 people was a lady who apparently didn't care about the miserable weather and the crappy turnout. She shows up and goes up to Barack and, all smiles, just says to him:

"Fired up!"

And then the other people - all 11 or whatever - of them just repeated it right after her,

"Fired up!"

And she continued,

"Ready to go."

And again the others repeated right after her,

"Ready to go."

So they chanted it along until everyone (him, his campaign staff, et cetera) was "FIRED UP. READY TO GO!"

So this is now the campaign's slogan and whenever the campaign makes its stops and Obama goes to speak, his staff members all gather and rally Obama by chanting "FIRED UP. READY TO GO! FIRED UP. READY TO GO! FIRED UP. READY TO GO!" Man, you betcha! This campaign is SO cool! This man is gonna make POLITICS what it was meant to be. Watch him!

Anyway, I found an article about the story online actually ... here's most of it below: The State 12/14/2007 She ‘fired up’ Obama visit

She ‘fired up’ Obama visit
Greenwood woman gave candidate his slogan and his favorite anecdote
By ROBIN ABCARIAN - Los Angeles Times

GREENWOOD — It’s not unusual for average folks to find themselves mentioned by presidential hopefuls on the hustings. But few have found themselves quite so celebrated as Edith Childs, the star of one of U.S. Sen. Barack Obama’s favorite campaign anecdotes.

Childs, a county councilwoman here, is famous for her hats and her cheerleader-style chants at political gatherings. She learned how to rally a crowd years ago when she was active with the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

Back in June, she unwittingly provided the Illinois senator with his now-signature slogan, “Fired up! ... Ready to go!” When Obama recounts the story, it becomes a lighthearted morality tale about how one voice can change a room (and, by extension, the world).

The candidate’s and councilwoman’s paths crossed for the first time when Obama visited Greenwood, population 29,000, as a favor to a local politician whose endorsement he was pursuing.

Although most candidates have ignored Greenwood, Obama pledged to visit after meeting state Rep. Anne Parks, D-Greenwood, last spring in Columbia.

In a moment of exuberance (“maybe I’d had a glass of wine,” Obama usually says), he asked Parks what it would take to get her endorsement. She didn’t hesitate: “Come to Greenwood.”

He did.

After a 90-minute drive, Obama arrived in Greenwood, where he encountered a small crowd, as he tells the story, “and they’re kinda miserable, too,” he says. “But that’s OK. I got a job to do.”
Suddenly, “a little woman, about 5-3, 65 years old, in a big church hat, with big glasses, she’s smiling right at me. She says ‘Fired up!’ I jumped, but everyone acted like this was normal. They all said, ‘Fired up!’ We hear the same voice saying, ‘Ready to go!’ And the people, they all say, ‘Ready to go!”’

Soon, though, his confusion gave way to enthusiasm. “After about a minute or two, I’m feeling kinda fired up,” Obama says. “I’m feeling like I’m ready to go.”

On the stump, he concludes the story by inviting his audience to chant along with him in a boisterous call and response.

Before long, Childs’ slogan was appearing on signs and T-shirts worn by Obama supporters in Iowa and New Hampshire.

“I just thought we needed to do something really different for him, (because) it’s not normal for candidates to come to Greenwood,” Childs said during an interview in a restaurant on Main Street, downstairs from Obama’s local headquarters. No other presidential candidates have offices in Greenwood.

I'd say that's because no other presidential candidate is quite like Barack Obama. Go, baby, go!