I've had this account for 2 years now and have literally never posted to it. I've never had anything to say that I felt compelled to share in this way. Today, though, I have a few things on my mind that I need to unload.

It's taking me some time to absorb the results of the election. I had been so afraid of the possibility of another four years of Republican leadership that I'd not thought past election day. Now we're here and it has occurred to me that my children will not remember an America in which it was hard to imagine a president who was not white. They will most likely not remember the Iraq war because it will finally end. They may not remember a time when health coverage was out of reach for many Americans. I really do have hope that this country will become a better place in the coming years. After eight years of W. hope feels unfamiliar and even uncomfortably vulnerable.

I know that Obama is not a miracle cure for everything that ails this country. I know that there's a lot of work ahead of the nation as a whole to regain our equilibrium and our standing in the world. But now there's at least a chance that these things can happen.

As someone who is not in line to be First Lady, I can say without apology that this is the first time in my adult life that I feel truly proud of my country.

Blogging is probably not my thing. Nonetheless, here I am.