Weekend Update

With apologies to Saturday Night Live, I decided to title this installment "Weekend Update" - so far, it's been a good weekend.

Last night I spent the evening at home with my youngest and finished our taxes! Well..our federal taxes, but that's the big job. I'd worked on them on two previous occasions and had finished 1/2 to 3/4 of them but it still took me a few hours last night. Tonight I'm going to do the State taxes and then I also have to do Son #3's taxes - they should be easy enough - Anyway, it's a great relief to have them done! There's a commercial out now where a couple of guys are talking "across the hedge" about whether they've finished their taxes and they both have what's supposed to represent a monkey on their back - the weight of not having finished taxes yet! That's about how I was beginning to feel, especially in the midst of this campaign - By the way, I'm getting a few hundred dollars refund - which is great - but I'm wondering if I might not have to pay something to the State. Hope not! We'll find out tonight!

Yesterday was a very, very busy day. I had several meetings and ran several errands but also managed to get some office work done. Not as much as I would have liked, but some. I'm definitely behind on my research and writing and other paperwork but I'm actually getting through it at a steady pace. Last Monday evening's effort before my meeting was a great help - I got a lot done then toward organizing, prioritizing and actually finishing a good bit of it.

I'm home this evening too which is wonderful! I've been gone all day - a pancake breakfast, three hot dog sales, a spaghetti dinner and an oyster fry - and three other events were covered for me by others. My youngest went to the breakfast with me, as did a member of my staff, and then I took my boy to a friend's house for the day and went alone to the other five activities I attended.

One of the hot dog sales was in the little community outside Bridgeport where I grew up and where many of my Dad's family live. The community building is right beside the little Methodist Church, and in the cemetery there my parents, grandparents and other family members are buried. I sat beside my parents' marker for a while and talked to them. (I didn't pray to them, of course - but I did talk!) I'm missing them especially right now. I wish my Mom were here to comfort me and I wish my Dad were here to tell me what he thinks I should do. To my surprise, I cried like a baby - I sobbed. Everyone who knows me will tell you, I cry once every 10 years or so. Don't have a problem with crying - not worried about it not being manly or any garbage like that - it's just that I don't do it usually. It was painful but good. I teared up again when I went down the road and stopped (for the 2nd time) at the spaghetti dinner and told a lifelong friend of mine who was there about it - her parents and mine were good friends and both of hers are gone too. My Mom would be 73 and my Dad 78 if they were still here. They should be...but I'll see them again. My Mom never got to see any of her grandchildren. My Dad did, except my youngest - and he knew we were expecting and requested a boy. I'm glad God granted him that wish.

I know my parents would be proud of me. My Dad would be busting with pride over this campaign - he'd be working for me like mad.

I went to a meeting on Thursday, and another one on Friday, where people told me that they had known my parents. They said nice things about them and that was very special to me. One woman yesterday, who had known me when I was small, told the whole group how smart I was when I was little and how she used to quiz me on spelling words and how I always got them right. She said "We knew he would do great things." It was really humbling. I'm glad she didn't tell any embarrasing stories of some of the stupid stuff I did when I was a kid - that would have been humbling in a different way :)

There are a couple of things tomorrow but I'm going to try to take it easy. My youngest is on Spring Break and #3 son's shift started 7 am Friday and isn't over till 10pm tomorrow night, so my 10 year old and I will go to church, go to one dinner, and come home. We're doing a study together on Haiti and we need to take an hour or so out tomorrow evening for that, especially since Mom's there right now!

Many people have told me they've seen the commercials and how much they liked them - the response has been thrilling. And - I got a tremendous, good surprise yesterday - the Fraternal Order of Police has endorsed my candidacy! I did not seek this - in fact, I'm not permitted to seek endorsements - but it's just a fantastic development.

Well, this post has gotten than I thought it would be. To close - and without being able to give more details right now - there have been a lot of "God-sightings" this week. More on that later.