Witnessing history

Today in my cubicle, I sat and watched history unfold as Barack Obama was sworn in as our 44th President, and our very first African-American President.

I cried.

I didn't bawl or anything like that, but I started to get a little choked up and teary-eyed when our new First Lady, Michelle Obama, was introduced. And while I watched and listened to Barack Obama vow to serve and honor our country to the very best of his ability, a few tears did escape. Tears of total amazement and joy... I honestly couldn't believe what I had just seen. It might seriously have been the best thing I've ever seen in my whole life. I was definitely excited and looking forward to today's inauguration, but my emotions kind of surprised me... I didn't expect to be moved to tears, that's for sure! Did anyone else get a little choked up?

It was an encouraging and awesome moment in an otherwise miserable day. I had a horrible day at work (soooo don't feel like talking about it right now; will post details probably tomorrow), and I felt kinda physically "off" all day too... I had a headache for most of the day, which at first I attributed to work stress, but then after lunch I started feeling a little nauseous too. I did have a PB&J sandwich for lunch today; however, I am not as concerned about the peanut butter crisis as some people because I use a generic-brand peanut butter (Wegmans Crunchy Natural), and I've already confirmed with both a customer service rep and their website that their brand of peanut butter is safe to eat. So I don't think it's that. I'm hoping it's not that GI virus that was apparently pleasantly distributed around the retirement center that I helped paint yesterday. I had also briefly wondered if it was my preworkout bar- I'd had a ThinkGreen Cranberry Apple bar, and I vaguely remembered that the last time I'd had one, I'd had a few side effects (NOTE TO SELF: Sometimes, items are "discontinued" for a reason, and you don't always necessarily need to stock up on these products simply because they're on sale!), but I had started feeling a little nauseous right after lunch, hours before I ate the bar (although I didn't feel all that great during my entire workout and certainly don't think the bar was any help). Or maybe it was just nothing. I snacked on a few crackers when I got home and that seemed to help a lot. Who knows. Today's sandwich marked the very last of a jar of peanut butter, so I guess we'll see how I feel tomorrow, because I'm planning on busting open a new jar for tomorrow's lunch. I'm not concerned about it really, because Wegmans is a really reputable company/store, and I think that if they were truly concerned that there was even a remote possibility there was a problem with a product, they would pull it from the shelves as a voluntary recall. So I'm really not stressing about that too much! Is anyone else not really sweating the peanut butter crisis too much or not really affected by it? Thank God for that too... I literally eat PB&J every single day. I never bring anything else. It's easy to make, and probably the cheapest meal out there- PB and jelly last a while! MUCH cheaper than lunchmeat or buying lunch. Plus it's super-satisfying, healthy, and gets me through the afternoon. And even though I eat it every single day, I never, ever get sick of it. And it's so nice not to have to think and plan what to bring for lunch, since I already know every day, LOL. So let's hope the salmonella scare doesn't extend to Wegmans brand peanut butter, because if so, I am officially up a creek. Well, not really. I'll just suck it up and buy a different brand until it tides over. Anyway, that's enough salmonella talk for one night.

So I did finish One Small Thing last night, at about 11:30! It was good, I guess.... I mean, I was really into it and I couldn't put it down, clearly, but not only did I dislike the main character throughout the entire duration of the book, but I really didn't like- or believe- the ending. I won't give anything away because I hate when people do that, but let's just say that it all concluded and was wrapped up a little too swiftly and neatly. The book lacked plot development and character development as well. So I really can't figure out why I couldn't put it down! Maybe it was because the plot concept had so much promise, and started off really well. Maybe because I liked the supporting characters a lot, although some of them were seriously underdeveloped. But yeah... so I didn't like the way the book wrapped up, and I thought the main character was a really selfish biotch! So I can't really pinpoint what I liked about it! Strange, huh? It's really weird... I didn't not like it, but it didn't sit well with me... kind of like whatever's going on with my tummy! Very, very strange. Has that ever happened to anyone else? You liked a book or a movie, but you're not really sure what exactly you liked about it? Hahaha.

I have very high hopes for my new book, though!

It's called Just Between Us, by Cathy Kelly. It's a fiction novel that focuses on the lives of three sisters and their mother, who is getting ready to celebrate her fortieth wedding anniversary with their father. I bought this last year at a book sale for $1, and it's an autographed copy! Can't beat that! As I've mentioned on this blog before, Cathy Kelly is one of my favorite authors, so I'm sure this book will be nothing short of awesome. I'm already into the first chapter a little bit and so far, it's living up to my expectations! I probably won't get to do too much reading tonight, because I really want to write in my journal and get out all the emotions of the day- the good, the bad, and the in-between!

And on that note, I hope you all had a wonderful Inauguration Day and were able in some way to witness the monumental moments of the day, and that you were just as moved as I was and the hope that change is always possible- we saw it today, and I think we're going to be seeing it for a while to come. :-)