I first met Lea at our mutual friend Fran’s annual ornament exchange party, one of those parties where you steal other people’s ornaments, ornaments other people really wanted.

My first vague memory of Lea is that she played that game. While I have no specific memory of her gnawing any arms off for the ornament of her dreams (sorry to disappoint some of my readers on the left), her spirit was magnetic. She’d always have the perfect quip to capture the ridiculousness of the game, as she enthusiastically snatched the object of her affection from its previous owner. It was impossible to not love Lea, she is irresistible.

Lea’s a Republican.

If you can’t tell, Lea has joie de vivre. (Lea, is anything in French a compliment to a conservative?)

In my freshman ornament exchange year (a good decade ago), I swiped a Santa with moveable arms and legs from my friend Michelle, apologizing mid-snatch. I went out the next day and bought another one just like it to mend Michelle’s broken heart.

I’m a Democrat.

PLEASE NOTE: Pictured above is one of my own unapologetically stolen ornaments, to quell press rumor and the resulting headline:

“Lea & Liz blog begins on uncivil note: Democrat calls Republicans thieves.”

(Please also note that anything you have perceived as dust on the chandelier pictured is most certainly dust on your computer screen. Don’t you keep house?)

Since Fran’s ornament exchange party in days of yore, when I paid much more attention to the 7 layer dip & spiked Christmas punch than to anyone’s political persuasion, things have gotten just a wee bit dicey between the politically diverse. But not ones to let a little fussiness deter us (some 5 kids between the 2 of us last time we counted), Lea and I are going to defy the trend and talk politics, talk values, talk religion, talk election, talk – well – everything . . . and we’re going to be doing it right here in front of you.

Entertaining? Sheesh, yes! Mud wrestling has NOTHING on us!

You’ll be running for the spiked punch before you know it. (Save some for the two of us.)

- Liz (the night owl, hereafter “Late shift Liz”)