Back to normal...sort of

Update (1:10AM)

Things have gone rather smoothly tonight! We found a few errors here and there, but the fixes were pretty quick and easy. I haven't taken any pictures because we've literally been working for most of the night. I definitely didn't get the stressful, frustrating, or exhilirating night that I was promised. And I thank God for that, because I really don't require that kind of drama at this point. Just some sleep.

Key races of interest:
Maryland Senate - Michael Steele (R) defeated by Ben Cardin (D) Very disappointing for me.

Tennessee Senate - Bob Corker (R) wins over Harold Ford, Jr. (D)

Virginia Senate - Too close to call at this point. Only 1 or 2 thousand votes separate the candidates.

Michigan Ballot Measure: The Restrict Affirmative Action measure has passed with a landslide.

Other Ballot Measure: Ban Same-Sex Marriage measure has passed in most states (so far Arizona is the only one that rejected this ban)

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I'm feeling much better now that the strep throat appears to have vacated the premises. Thanks for all of the well wishes!! There was a cloud of gloom and despair hanging over my head at the mere thought of one of my babies catching strep. I thought that my fears were realized when Olan became feverish on Friday/Saturday. It only lasted a day, and just as he got better Cassie began getting sick on Sunday! At this point, they both appear to be back to normal. Now, if we can just keep Chris healthy, all is well in the Gill household.

But things haven't gotten back to normal completely yet. I have spent the past week working some amazingly crazy hours. We've worked very hard getting cnn.com all prepped for the Midterm Elections coverage. I left work at midnight, and 2:30am on this past Friday and Sunday evenings. Yesterday was a pretty long day as well, but today will be the kicker. I have to be at work between 2-3pm and won't leave until 2am at the earliest! Gotta wait for that last poll closing up in Alaska before we can be sure that everything went off without a hitch. :-)

I'm not sure what this day will entail in its entirety, but I've heard from other developers who worked on 2004 CNN Elections coverage that it will be stressful, frustrating, tiring, and exhilirating...in that exact order. In fact, I hear that once it's all over and all precincts have turned in their results, it's the most exhilirating night for the CNN.com IT team! I'm taking my camera to work with me today to try and get a few pics. I may get it thrown at me at some point in the evening/morning but at least I'll be expecting it. :-)

Our bosses gave us the rest of the week off after tonight, so I'll be sleeping for the rest of the week. But of course that means that I'll have more time to blog over the next few days, and blog I WILL!

Please view http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2006/ throughout today and tomorrow for the most up-to-date elections coverage!