Tonight's the night of truth. Do I stay in Seattle or emigrate to Canada. A coworker thought she'd try Africa if tonight doesn't work out. Kenya might take us.

The map barely changed colors betweeo 4 and 5, but then I drove home and like 10 new states declared. Nothing surprising, but couldn't they have given me hope in my last few minutes of work.

My cousin IM'd me at 4:30ish all worried that McCain was ahead. It's his first election and he was raised outside the country, so I had to explain how it could still be all right. Funny how I can explain it to others, but I can't get a handle on it myself. Probably not healthy to watch the returns all night long. If we lost, I'd sleep better not knowing until tomorrow morning.

I've got the nice little cheat sheet open so I can pay attention to the states that matter. For once I'm hoping that everything is decided before the polls even close in Washington.

Random: I know it's not going to stay this way, but Alabama is reporting 92% for Obama right now (with 0% of the precincts). I wonder where that is.

I hate waiting. The cheat sheet says that if Obama takes Indiana, the race is over. But that one's too close to tell still.

I got packages in the mail. That makes me happy (even though I had to pay for them). They are the offical beginning of my Christmas shopping. Unfortunately, now I don't want to give them away. I went online to buy more, but I'm trying to stop myself. Bad Myself!

Why don't I have any interesting emails to tide me over while I wait? I'm supposed to be going to dance class tonight, but my friend I go with is sick and I don't know if I have the energy to go without her when I can sit in front of the computer and fret all night long. 45 minutes until I have to decide. Am instead reading about the "Races to Watch." Washington's got two, but I only got to vote in one. I have a feeling both are going to go for the Republican. Oh well, we already have the highest minimum wage in the U.S., Idiot won't be able to bring it down too much. At least the other guy caught the Green River Killer, I guess he'll keep me from being killed in my bed.

95 Electoral votes to go. You know, I'm all about getting rid of the Electoral College and all that, but it certainly does make it easier to figure out who the winner is. 270 and you've got it.

Wait a minute. Obama got Pennsylvia and Ohio. According to my cheat sheet, he could lose Indiana, Florida, Georgia (which he did) and Virginia, but still win with Ohio and Pennsylvania. Does that mean it's over?

I really hope people aren't disappointed with Obama if (when?) he wins. It's not like the president has that much power really, except maybe to do bad things. I feel like it's much easier to screw things up than to fix them. That's why we've had so many more bad presidents than good.

200 and counting.

Looks like the Senate might break 60. I'm not so sure that's a good thing, but it'll be different. I doubt it will last long anyhow. Is there a filibuster-proof number for the House?

Apparenly Indecision '08 is going live at 7. I think I'm going to have to miss dance class. Their blog called it when Ohio was called. See how smart I am. Still watching though. Looks like Chicago's going to be a nice party. Wouldn't that be fun. Washington is so removed from national politics I feel like. The best we did was when Locke spoke at the Democratic National Convention. I wonder what it's like to feel like a central part for the campaign. Maybe we should go swing so we get a visit every now and then.

Okay...apparently you can't stream Indecision '08. Hmm, there's gotta be a way. Found it, kinda...

Eh, getting tired of the whole thing. Probably should have gone to dance class.

West Coast closing in 6 minutes. If they call 'em right away, Obama officially wins (well, I suppose they have to finish the count). I wonder how long the Governor's race will take this time?

They say the Republicans have lost all their seats in the Northeast. That's kinda weird. Maybe we can have a third party emerge and make the Republican's obsolete. That'd be nice.

Apparently they've finally called it for Obama. Seemed to have missed the announcement, but people are cheering and crying. Finally. Not that I didn't call it at Ohio. Good thing his name lends itself to chanting so well. McCain wouldn't have worked. Can I breathe now?

Dude, MSNBC is so biased. Not a problem for me, but it's a bit shocking. They're tearing up.

Ha. Florida and Virginia finally joined the ranks. For states that were supposed to be so integral, turned out that they weren't. Other battlegrounds beat them out. Guess you gotta be on your toes.

I kinda liked McCain's speech. The audience was dumb, but McCain handled them well, even seemed slightly annoyed by their booing. Got a little tedious at the end. But it was pretty gracious over all. I'm just glad Palin didn't get to speak. The McCain crowd seems to have anticipated the chanting problem and come up with their own (can't understand those).

Why is Jesse Jackson hanging out in the crowd? Couldn't he be backstage?

I haven't seen Bush's face in awhile. Do you think the Republicans are keeping him out of the spotlight so everyone can disavow their relationship?

Maybe it's my curse to be cynical, but how is Obama going to do all the great and wonderful things he talked about when currently 47% of the population voted against him. I really hope he can do all the things he said. The historian lady was saying she envies the young people for whom this is their first foray into politics. I wish that was me. I never learned how to trust politicians or the political process, and I'm afraid it may be too late for me.

Okay. Life goes on. Maybe a little more hopefully. It least less guiltily than the last eight years. I can show my face outside the country again.

Good night.