I keep checking the ballot return statistics page and a quarter of registered voters in Washington have returned their ballots.

I just checked the ballot tracker, and my ballot has been counted!

My mom told me that some ridiculous number like 40% had voted in her county - more than the usual turnout total! I don't know where she got that, though.

Teppy, I hope he's feeling better and the lung gets fixed. YIKES.

My youngest cheated on a math test. SIGH. We've been fighting this whole semester to try to catch up and then this. UGH.

I went and stood in line for early voting today. Realizing the wait on the 3rd day of early voting was about what I'd normally have expected on actual election day went a long way toward dispelling any annoyance I might otherwise have felt.

I didn't have the opportunity to vote Democrat down-ballot though. Our ballot machines require you to register a vote for unopposed candidates, who of course were all Republicans. And the only person opposing Tom Cotton in his senatorial race is a Libertarian, but I'd vote for Prince Mongo over him.

Lung~ma to Tim. Extra ~ma to all buffistas (and to esse! Hi there).

I'm back to school, so I'm skimming very much. Apologies.

When you can process and count mail-in/absentee ballots varies wildly by state. There are some states that do count early.

Florida counts them as received and reports results right after polls close in the panhandle. 25% of the state's registered voters have voted already. I just don't know with my state as there are too many regional variations. My county has 32% already voted, of those 54% registered Dem, 24% Rep, and 21% Independent. A lot of the youth register Independent. I'm going to stop looking at statistics. I swear. I'll save that stress for election day.

If I could listen to President Obama speak every day between now and the election it would help a whole lot. Watching the replays on the morning news of his Philly address last night and it just gets better on replay.

Oh, my goodness, lung ~ma to Tim. I hope he's feeling better/reinflated this morning.

and then he made a vague circular gesture over his sternum

Vague hand gestures are nobody's friend either...

I hope your Saturday turns out as you wish, askye. You could use a solid day of relaxation.

That sucks to have to deal with, Cash. I hope resolution is swift and not too fraught.

Love hearing all the good voting news. I'm honestly mostly just terrified, because nothing is right or as one expects in this timeline, but it is giving me hope. I should probably crush that down, though.

Oatmeal for breakfast! Someone upthread, or possibly on FB, inspired me, I think. Yeah, cooking even just the 5-minute old fashioned rolled oats yields a much tastier product than instant packets. Who knew?

I finally got DH to try my oatmeal creations and he was appropriately impressed. The addition of the pumpkin pie spice was a winner for sure. He is serious, in theory, about dieting finally, so I am in charge of what he eats. I know everything is proportional or something, but the rate he loses weight with the slightest effort is frustrating to the normal sized person. I've given up with the idea of him having hernia surgery this year, but it should happen next year. (surgeon refuses until he is under a certain weight which is still more than 50 pounds away)

I finally got DH to try my oatmeal creations and he was appropriately impressed.

I asked DP what he wanted in his, and he said, "Nothing." I was confused and said, "Like, nothing nothing? No milk, or honey, or anything like that?" He meant nothing; that's how he eats his oatmeal. Weird. He ate the whole bowl, though, so, hey, you do you, buddy.