Welcome Nephew & Presidential Politics

Welcome Josiah Robert D.!

Between yesterday afternoon when I video-skyped (have I invented a word?) with my sister Susan (a shrieking, goofy experience when you give four children and two dogs the opportunity to video-conference call) and tonight when we chatted again, she delivered a healthy, quiet, curious baby boy. Who may or may not be named Josiah. He might be Ethan Robert D. instead. Either way, Robert is my middle name, both his grandfathers' names and his oldest cousin's name. I guess it runs officially runs in the family?

You'd never know from either call that she had delivered a baby in between. She was confident, exuberant, glowingly optimistic, excited and mellow all at once. Susan - I'm proud of you! I think Ethan or Josiah will be a great choice, considering when I wrestled the news out of my parents earlier today, they were under the impression the baby's name would be either Josiah, Ezekiel or Ethria. What can I say, they played the role of nervously excited grandparents for the eighth time and, appropriately, the experience of receiving such joyous news hasn't worn off.

So my nephew (I now have three to go with four nieces) checked in at 6' 6" (that's six pounds, six ounces, not 6-foot-6), 20 1/2 inches with adorable brown hair and a had hardly said a peep. Sounds like his uncle Steve. Everything went so smoothly that before you know it, Susan and I were discussing politics.

With the Texas primary still to be contested, a quick exit poll of the Pastorino-Johnston clans indicates that the presidency is still too close to be called.

Ethan/Josiah's parents are Christian ministers, so it's no surprise they voted for Gov. Mike Huckabee in Washington state. It's been well-documented that the 'Hat Racks voted for Sen. Barack Obama in Utah. Both 'Hat Rack parents split their votes. Gov. Bill Richardson picked up one California vote while Sen. John McCain picked up the other. McCain earned one Arizona vote, where the other vote inexplicably went to Gov. Mitt Romney. Votes from two eligble voters in Illinois have not been recorded yet. The final two eligible votes will be cast next month in Texas. So the voting so far:

Huckabee 2
Obama 2
McCain 2
Richardson 1
Romney 1

More results as they become available.