Yes, we did.

I feel absolutely exhausted.

First the waiting and then the extreme joy of having the official announcement that Barack Obama would be the next President of the US and finally that amazing acceptance speech he gave -- it was overwhelming.

In this house we clapped, shouted, laughed, cried and toasted the victory with FRENCH champagne.

I had such a sense of history being made that I have only come close to once before in my lifetime.

I did not live through JFK or MLK. I was not old enough to have any real memory of the first moonwalk. In my life there is only one truly historical happening that I felt was of great importance for the good and that was when the Berlin wall came down.

I will admit that it is possible that Barack Obama could be a horrible President. I doubt it, but it is possible. However, he has already done some good in the world. Somewhere tonight there was a child, a black child, a Hispanic child or even a white child who is growing up in less than ideal circumstances, maybe that child thought for the first time in his or her life that it is true that he/she can grown up to be anything he/she wants to be.

That is called hope and it is something that has been in very short supply over the last 8 years.

At the same time it is not the message that any Joe Six-Pack (plumber or whatever) can be President. I think that is horrible message to send. However, if you work and study really hard and you are smart enough to get people excited about your ideas, you can become President -- no matter where you came from or the color of your skin. It takes work, but there is hope.

Even I have let my normal cynicism of all politicians and politics fade away. I like feeling hope for a change and I plan to hang onto it so long as I logically can and hopefully I will have no real need to let go of it.

Oh yes, I am sure President Obama will do things that I disagree with. It would be impossible for him not to, you can't please all the people all of the time. Yet, I think it would also be impossible for him to displease me (and most of the rest of America) as much as George Bush has.

That is another reason for my glee -- I will finally be rid of George Bush! I can't imagine anyone (with the possible exception of Sarah Palin) being as horrible a President as he has been. Unlike some whom I have seen comments from earlier this evening (saying we now live in the USSA and other such crap), I actually gave Bush a chance when he was elected. I didn't vote for him, but I gave him a long chance that lasted until he sent troops into Iraq and started pushing things like the Patriot Act.

I do realize that there are some Republicans that are very bitter right now. That is the price of Democracy - isn't it? Someone has to lose.

Kudos to you! Yes, all of you that went out and voted. This was a truly amazing election so far as turn out. I don't think they have exact numbers yet, but I saw it myself today in Albuquerque. I had already voted, but I went out around 5 pm to run some errands and it was so busy everywhere. As I talked with people I found that most of them had either just come from voting or were on the way to. I don't remember that from previous election years.

Lastly, I am left feeling a bit sad. My sisters would have been so thrilled to have Barack Obama as our President. My mother, who died when I was quite young was a huge supporter of civil rights and she would have been tremendously happy. I am sure they are watching along with Obama's grandmother, but I feel a bit sad to not have been able to share this moment with them.

Mostly though, I am happy and hopeful!