Blue toes

I'm sure you are wondering what in the world I am talking about.  I mean who wouldn't with a title like that.  You must be thinking, "Blue toes?  Really, Gabbie, we don't want to hear about your new nail polish color."  And as much as I'd love to tell you about my new nail polish, I won't.  At least not this morning.  

I like to think that everything in my life is worthy of a really cheesy sitcom.  Of course I think this- after all I have a blog.  I like to say that all the world is a stage and I'm just God's comic relief.  Today was no exception.  

This morning I was awoken (at an ungodly hour) by my computer (who finally loaded the video I was trying to watch before bed) who was playing mens voices... in my room. (Yes, I said "who."  My laptop has a name.)  I harrumphed, opened the computer, closed the computer, shoved my computer back under the bed (the safest place for it in the event of the invading child apocalypse) and then proceeded to pull several warm blankets back over me, grumbling something about the evilness of Aloysius and never naming my computer after a teddy bear from a book ever again.  

Two hours later I was awoken by a couple smalls who were thrown off by the time change and could not figure out why everyone wasn't already awake.  Then I tried to go back to sleep.  That didn't work.  I look at my clock and sighed.  6.20 am.  Well, I told myself with a sigh as I sat up in bed, throwing off the covers, Might as well go vote.  Immediately I plunged after my blankets and wrapped myself in them until I managed to get dressed; it was cold this morning- even the Texans agreed with me.  

Approximately fifteen minutes later I got to the polling location, a local elementary school, and sighed.  This was SOOOO the wrong morning to wear flip flops but thank God I didn't wear a skirt as I was originally planning to do.  At 6.45 in the morning the line to exercise our constitutional rights was wrapped three quarters around the building and extended halfway to the street.  It was 54 degrees outside.  "Well hooray for voting" I mumbled to myself as I buttoned the buttons on the sweater I was thanking my Guardian Angel for leaving in my car and sending prayers to my Mother for giving it to me before I moved here.  There was no sun.  There was lots of wind.  There was no coffee.  I decided I was not going to have a good morning.  

The line was eerily quiet, almost as if all the Williamson County Citizens were waiting to enter a funeral to pay their respects to an unfamiliar but greatly endeared civic leader, an analogy that struck me as amusing considering the dire predicaments of just about everyone in my Facebook feed.  Scratch that.  The line was eerily quiet, with the one small exception of anyone who was within ear shot of me.  Like I said, I was cold.  And we all know that I currently lack a filter... particularly before coffee and especially when I'm in great discomfort.  So I started whining.  I'd like to say there was a reason for it.  There really wasn't.  

I found a kindred spirit in the middle aged gentleman who stood behind me in line.  I named him Bob in my head.  I politely informed him that the more I lived in Texas the more I understood why people moved to California.  He laughed.  I looked at the line as it stretched out farther to the street and commented that it shouldn't be so complicated to exercise our representation rights but perhaps this was the country's way of weeding out the really stupid people, like Darwinism.  He laughed again.  I considered how cold I was and reassessed the cold turn of the weather and dwelled upon my bed.  Two more people in line laughed.  I noted all the signs directing those unfamiliar with the area where to vote and noted that there were still people who were asking for directions- I could see them clearly from where I stood in the cold.  They laughed louder.  I pointed out the great American spirit of a woman who was waving a sign just outside of the 100 feet required.  That was commitment.  No one laughed at that one.  I suggested that the weather was God turning a cold shoulder on Texas as well.  Everyone laughed again.  I looked down at my toes that were steadily turning blue and sighed. 

The sun started to shine down upon us just in time for the line to move and for me to be stuck behind the shadow of a building.  Still I had about two minutes of blissful sunshine.  A couple people gave me odd looks as I entered the building but I decided that maybe I should spend more time on my appearance before I went out in public.  Later I looked in a mirror and decided that I truly have awesome hair.  

Then I voted.  Then I went home, handed off my shiny new sticker to the first child I saw and continued exercising my other rights- like the right of free will.  And then we prayed.  We all prayed.  We'll be praying all day.  I can't wait for tonight.  We'll be praying then too... but my toes won't be unnaturally blue... and there will be alcohol.  Amen.