President Barack Obama!

We have a new President of the United States. Barack Obama!!!

Our election night story: We got Ellie in bed by around 7:30pm and Jerry came to the house at around 8pm, just as some very early numbers were coming in. We left Nana and Papa to their own election returns party and we headed out to a bar where Jerry thought he might know some people.

The spot was a little dive-y neighborhood bar on Irving Park. It wasn't too packed and it wasn't too loud and they had three big-screen TVs hanging high up by the ceiling and a buffet of homemade food along one wall. Most people were standing in front of the TVs, so we could still find seats at the bar. One very cool, very hardworking bartender handled the whole crowd all night--she was great.

The numbers hadn't changed much between home and the bar, so we hung out and drank beer and wondered what damage Bush can still do in his last couple of months. Then we recounted all the damage he has done up until now. Sounds depressing, but it didn't dampen our spirits because the whole time Obama's numbers were going up and up and up.

He sat at 207 electoral votes for awhile, so we got up from the bar and moved to stand in front of the TV showing CNN. It seems like we were only standing there for a short time, chatting about percentages and the various senate races, when the clock ticked over to 10pm. That's 8pm Pacific Standard Time. The moment the polls closed on the west coast (read: California), all those electoral votes came pouring in for Obama. He won. CNN projected it right away across the whole screen. Barack Obama will be our next president of the United States.

Everyone in the bar went crazy. Around 30 seconds later, McCain walked out to give his concession speech. The crowd in the bar hushed each other, and we all sat and listened to his speech. We cheered when he gave his props to Obama and we didn't jeer. Much.

When he was done, we all hooted and hollered it up again. One woman at the bar raised her hands high above her head and yelled, "It is morning in America!"

Another woman handed me a glass and asked, "Would you like some champagne?" I took it and she said, "We just wanted to share the wealth, you know, like socialists."

Sometime after that, Obama came out to give his victory speech. The crowd at Grant Park looked amazing, but I was so glad I wasn't there. What a crush of people. The much smaller crowd in the bar was so...happy. Some people were crying, and the champagne woman was bawling. Loudly. The rest of us clapped and cheered at the TV screen. I did a lot of happy dances.

Obama gave an amazing and inspirational speech, of course. I think everyone in that bar was ready to walk out the door and personally repair the entire American infrastructure.

When his speech was over, we all cheered and hugged. I texted pretty much everyone in my cell phonebook. I decided to get another drink, but I didn't want another beer. So Greg and I sat at the bar and asked the bartender if she could create a shot called The Barack Obama. She decided to combine a Coffee Liquor and Tequila and she did the shot with me. To Obama!

We left soon after that and headed back home. What a fun night. We were with a perfect size crowd in a fun setting and I really felt like we were all standing smack in the middle of history.