Could today be historic?

I froze my balls off this morning. That is, if I had them.

This morning was quite a day here in the Land O' Lincoln, one of our own (though technically, not) made his announcement of his intent to run for President in '08. I, along with an estimated 15,000 other people, stood in the bitter cold in the shadow of the Old State Capitol (us, unlike Barack as he kept saying) to hear Barack Obama make his announcement.

My first real political thing…and hey! if he does win, I'm part of history, right?

As you can see, I was behind A LOT of people. I could see nothing. Luckily the sound system was working.

My husband, on the other hand, was somewhere in the sun and within 20 ft of the podium. I ask, why couldn't he fake a media pass for me? This was the most I saw of Obama. Luckily that girl in pink moved at just the right moment to get the campaign sign to point directly to Obama's head. Oh, and I must note that my camera is zoomed in at its full capacity. And you can still barely tell who it is!

The morning, though I was near frostbite in my fingers and toes, I believe, was good for a couple chuckles.

• The asian news crew walking down the block long line (who knows how long it went around the corner because I cut) waving their hands in the universal symbol for 'Lez make some noize!'
• The extremely tall black man that was dressed like an eskimo explaining his children's maniac behavior towards said news crew and their camera by saying, 'They don't get out much.' Totally deadpan too.
  
• The frenetic rumors going around that Oprah wasn't coming down to support Obama because he had promised to announce his candidacy on her show
• Me saying that Oprah was in fact there, and actually mingling within the people, and getting a laugh from my neighboring sardines
• The feverish reports that not only was Oprah in town but she hit the town last night with Brad Pitt at some place called the Alamo (I'm still new to the area so I have no idea what this place is, but it sounds like a college bar)
• The utter disappointment that Matt Damon nor George Clooney would be in attendance
• The short, stocky, older, white man standing next to me, exclaiming 'Amen!' when Obama would make a point in reference to the civil war, civil rights or Martin Luther King, Jr as if he were a brother of soul (now please don't get me wrong, he may have been religious, and I in no way am against any of these things…but it was funny)
• The old women next to me who was probably 70, trying to start a chant
• And last, but not least… BARACK THE VOTE!