A Likely Story!

Once In A Blue Moon...

I love that saying!

And I'll get to say it ALL day today because tonite is a Blue Moon....wow, who knew?

Noticed late last night that my next post would be post #100...what to blog about...what to blog about?

Should it be political? Something dealing with puppies? Stork Crew? John Kerry? Warped Tour? Work?

Nah.

Here's what I want to share.

Every now and then, once in a blue moon, if you will, you get a great idea. And instead of allowing it to go untested, you think 'what if?' and you follow your idea to fruition.

And you learn something new. Or meet someone new. Or go in a totally different direction from where you were going and where you planned to go.

Instead of wondering 'am I going in the right direction...am I doing what I am supposed to be doing, what my parents want, what my company wants, what my co-workers want'...instead of listening to the inner negative voice that some of us have (I've worked really well at losing mine) you just go with it and see where your new idea or experience or friend or job takes you.

Tonite as you look up at that really killer blue moon, give yourself permission to do something totally out of character for yourself...just go with it and see what happens.

And then say to yourself 'it's once in a blue moon'~

Our Next President...

John F. Kerry.

I'll never forget his speech or where I was when I heard it.

This is one of those nights I'll remember for the rest of my life.

Hope is on the way.

2 Nov can't come soon enough!

Can't Stop Crying...

(cross-posted from my entry on Daily Kos under the Howard Dean thread)

Don't know what came over me, I really don't, but I started crying when he walked out and I haven't stopped yet. I didn't have this reaction when he lost in FL...why now????

Howard is the reason I became political. I wanted my country back and I was convinced he not only understood people like me, he WAS  people like me.

One of these days I'll write him a thank you note for representing all of us Deaniacs so very well...but not now...not tonite.

Just can't stop crying....

Jim Stork Live From Boston...

...from the DNC convention.... on CSPAN at 4:25 pm EDT....TODAY!

Get a good look at the next Congressman for the 22nd District in South Florida.

"Strength and wisdom are not opposing values."

Words from the Big Dog....

Delicious Addiction

I have become a political junkie.

Look, it's 1:49 am. I've had a full weekend volunteering for Team Stork. I have a full day ahead of me (today being Monday and all) but ya know what? I'm not even close to being tired. I'm more energized than I can believe...and no, I don't drink coffee.

How can I sleep when there are posts on Dkos to be read? Posts on Pandagon....Jesse and Ezra get to meet for the first time this weekend...in person...way cool! How can I possibly stop watching the MSNBC special I'm watching on the upcoming Democratic Convention? My laptop battery is dying and all I can think about is charging it so I can spend more time blog-surfing.

I can't get enough....I want more. Actually spent time this past week wondering if I could swing a leave of absence from work so I can campaign full-time? A bizarre statement in and of itself because realistically there is NO WAY IN HELL I can take a leave of absence from work since I am currently covering a coworker's desk who is on a leave of absence. Umm, hello? Earth to Kathy??

Is there a 12 Step program for politcal junkies? If so, keep it to yourself. I don't want to know.

I wonder if the Stork Team will let me watch Anderson Cooper as we phone bank tonite?

The Weekend Sans Winnie

Quinn and I just got home from a fun-filled day of not being on the Winnie, not canvassing and not driving all over Palm Beach and Broward County.

Yes, this was a Winnie-less Weekend!!

Different focus for the campaign this weekend...it was all about phone-banking.

Phone banking for volunteers. Phone banking for fundraisers. Phone banking for opinons. Phone banking for planning.

Joined the crew noonish on Saturday and we worked until 5-ish (doing the aforementioned phone-banking, of course). Then it was time for fun!

My roomie Quinn (who I hadn't seen since late last Monday night because he's basically been spending most of his waking hours and then some at work) and his buddy Courtney, Jacob and I headed over to the Tiki Hut for some liquid R&R then it was off to show Quinn what the beach looked like while the sun was still in the sky.

Did the A1A drive up to Beach Place, started at Hooters (they DO have the most awesome chili-cheese dogs!) then wound up at Howl at the Moon. HATM was fun...not as much fun as Hugh Jorgan's of course...no one sings better or has more stage presence than Jeramie....but Quinn and Courtney seemed to enjoy the music as well as the atmosphere.

Sunday was a late start for everyone.

Got in around 3...guess what???...time for more phone-banking!! Woohoo!! You wouldn't BELIEVE how many people seem to be getting in the shower just as the phone is ringing...or so we were told...

And that's basically how our day went.

This weekend was all about reality. How you need to work the phones, as well as take out the trash every night, clean the bathroom, vacuum the office and organize what needs to be done once Monday morning and a new week roll around.

One of my favorite sayings is 'God is in the details'...or something close to that. This weekend was all about details of the tiniest degree. It was about the routine. The mundane. The oh-so-very unglamorous but totally necessary things you need to do to get your candidate into office.

This weekend I got to see behind the scenes and then some....and I'm glad I did. It makes me feel more connected than ever to this absolutely awesome group and the goal we're all working our hearts out for.

I'm honored to be along for the ride.

...couldn't wait for the summer and the Warped Tour...

....getting my tix in 12 hours and 32 minutes...SWEET!

Quote For The Day...

Actions DO speak louder than words.

Team Stork Needs YOUR Help!

Got the following request from Chris Stow-Serge at Stork HQ :

Florida- Don’t let 2000 happen again! Jim Stork is a progressive Congressional candidate in one of the most competitive races in the country. He’s running against conservative Clay Shaw in Florida's 22nd District, a Democratic leaning seat that Gore won in 2000 by 5% and John Kerry is currently leading with double digits. Shaw votes with Bush 92% of the time. Stork, the former mayor of Wilton Manors and a highly successful small business owner, is running an aggressive and intelligent campaign in the center of Presidential battleground politics – Broward and Palm Beach Counties. Stork for Congress NEEDS YOU. We’re seeking full-time field coordinators. The job will consist primarily of door-to-door voter contact, as well as some community organizing, and events with the candidate. This is a great chance to get involved in an historic campaign. If the thought of a repeat of 2000 makes your head spin, e-mail a resume and cover letter to quinn@storkforcongress.com.

Quinn Raymond
Stork for Congress

c 917-650-2134
w 954-566-6441
f 954-566-4128

On a personal note, this whole campaign... from candidate to staff to volunteers...is one class act. I would work for them in a heartbeat if I could...but I can't, so I volunteer instead. Here's your chance to make history in South Florida...are you up to the challenge??

Yippee...

High Speed Internet Access TOTALLY ROCKS!!

Thanks Adelphia~

Later gator, Earthlink...

Word to the Wise

It's not a good idea to drink Fruit Punch Powerade while blogging while watching The Daily Show.

Trust me on this one.

Note to self...stay away from Fruit Punch for awhile.

A Tale of Two Weekends

More campaigning for Team Stork this past weekend. Decidedly different scenarios, venues and outcomes this weekend from last weekend.

FRIDAY A WEEK AGO -
Canvassing in Jupiter during the day on Friday afternoon after having had a root canal Friday morning...95 degree heat and matching humidity...not the smartest idea I've ever had but hanging out with Abby and Amanda is always fun and the night canvassing in Abacoa Town Center was a great way to end the day. And Amanda's first time up as a Winnie driver was flawless!

THIS PAST FRIDAY -
Worked...no root canal...no day off.

SATURDAY A WEEK AGO -
Chris's first day driving the Winnie solo. First stop was the Boynton Beach Bahamas 33rd Birthday celebration...great time! Jim was along for visibility...singing, speeches and incredibly yummy home-cooked Bahamian lunch...quite possibly the best Mac 'n' Cheese I've ever had and the BBQ chicken was beyond awesome as well.

Next stop Jupiter for more canvassing. Within minutes of reaching our destination, the top shelf in the storage closet at the back of the Winnie shifted as we turned a corner. The four 1-gallon jugs of fruit punch that were sitting on the shelf also shifted. They shifted right out the door to the floor, where they promptly split in half.

What followed was most surreal...

The sound of the shelf falling, the jugs cracking, Jason (one of the volunteers) shouting, the look of sheer panic on Chris' face as he turned around to view the torrential flood of fruit punch barrelling our way...all these scenes are permanently etched into my memory.

So we pulled over, cleaned the Winnie as best we could, and fortunately we were only blocks away from Joan's house (Team Stork Field Director) where we attacked the Winnie with lots of Oxyclean, water and paper towels. Cracks me up the guys had never heard of Oxyclean...maybe it's a chick thing???

While we thought it best to swear everyone to secrecy initially, the Great Fruit Punch Flood was too good of a story to keep under wraps.

Back on the sidewalks of Jupiter to finish canvassing then off to a Shakespeare-by-the-Sea Festival for even more canvassing. We on Team Stork just LOVE to canvass!!

The drive back to Stork HQ was uneventful (and dry) and another quick Winnie clean-up marked the end of our Saturday.

THIS PAST SATURDAY -
Breakfast at Rascal House in Boca Raton then off to the Palm Beach Fairgrounds for a Sports Fair visibility event. Had to leave shortly after arriving to attend a friends baby shower. Was a hit in my 'Stork' shirt!
No events after that thanks to the rain, so I snagged a 4 hour nap. (Wish daily naps were mandatory like they used to be when I was 5 years old.)

SUNDAY LAST WEEK -
December in July at the Dreher Park Zoo...what fun! The zoo trucked in snow....and by the time we got there it was streaked with dirt and leaves and such but it was SNOW in really hot and humid FL and it was so much fun!! I persuaded a 6 year old to let me hold his snowball...he was afraid I would throw it at him and was reluctant to part with it...but eventually he gave it to me and I felt like a kid again. Not that I grew up around snow in So Cal, but it was such a cool feeling (no pun intended) and I was probably more excited and giddy than I should have been.

The Zoo was really neat...lions and tigers and bears and PRAIRIE DOGS!!! We loved the Prairie Dogs!! Jacob couldn't stop feeding them...all of us hanging over the enclosure walls ooohing and aahhing at how cute and funny they were...we could have stayed there all day.

Next stop, Meyer Amphitheatre for the Jazz Festival. We were a bit early and stopped to eat at Baileys. Got one of the server's that Abby knew (Sam) to put Stork stickers on both sides of his server notebook...to go along with Sam's Kerry Sticker.

Eventually wound up at the Jazz Festival and within an hour the effects of the day took hold of us and we were all ready to go home and call it a day.

THIS PAST SUNDAY -
All set to go at the office at 9:30.

Jason and Paul along for the ride and Abby at the wheel. And off to the Zoo we headed. Oops...change in plans...Zoo was called off....no prairie dogs :-(....so we got an early start over to John D. MacArthur State Park for a Bluegrass Concert.

Seems PAX TV Station had rented out the entire park for their company picnic and the concert that was supposed to be in the outdoor amphitheatre was now being held in the Air Conditioned Acoustically Way Cool Nature Center. YES! There is a God!!

The Bluegrass trio (On The Edge) was practicing and we were their captive audience. These guys were really good....bluegrass music would make an awesome soundtrack for a documentary...for a campaign...that utilizes a Winnebago....wow, what a concept...but sadly the group doesn't have a CD or a cassette of their music so there goes that idea.

Since we had to get back to attend the Kerry/Edwards Fundraiser Dinner at the Westin Diplomat (as volunteers...what? you were thinking distinguished guests!) we left the Nature Center vowing to come back next month and catch more of On The Edge.

After a quick stop at my house so I could change for the event, we wound up back at HQ.

Not as much on the go this past weekend as the weekend before. Still, we were visible, we did talk about Jim and hand out literature, and we all had a good time.

The guest speaker at the Kerry/Edwards Dinner was our next Vice-President, Senator John Edwards.

John, Jacob, Steve and I were all pressed into service as 'directional' volunteers. Jacob and John blocked a hallway to allow VIP entrance only, Steve was directing people as they entered the hotel, and I directed attendees to the escalators...lots of smiling and saying hi and chatting with Ernesto, my volunteer-mate who is volunteering on his first political campaign.

After several hours, our volunteer efforts fulfilled, we a crowded into a small banquet room along with the press and distinguished guests to hear Edwards speak.

I first heard Edwards speak approximately 6 weeks ago at the same hotel during the Jefferson-Jackson dinner. His speach last night had the same effect on me....he's one powerful, charismatic speaker.

And did I mention our next VP??

So that's the wrap-up for the last two weekends.

Two weekends ago root canal, lotsa sun, Bahamian Food, Fruit Punch Flood, Shakespeare, Prairie Dogs, Snow and Jazz.

This weekend Team Breakfast, Sports, Bluegrass, lotsa rain and meeting our next VP.

I really love my weekends now that I'm on Team Stork!

The power of a Howard Dean and Jim Stork Bumpersticker

Was sitting here blogging about 1/2 hour ago when one of my neighbors rang my doorbell.

It was Kathleen down the street...met her about 4 months ago as I was loading up my truck for a Howard Dean visibility event. At the time she said she was for Kerry, I said I was for Dean, we had a nice conversation and that was about it.

Fahrenheit 9/11 was what brought Kathleen to my door. She saw it last night and decided the time had come for her to get involved. She remembered that I was a Deaniac and came asking advice on how to volunteer for Kerry/Edwards.

We had a nice visit, called Jacob from the Stork campaign (who came to the Stork campaign from the Kerry Primary campaign) who gave me the Kerry info I needed to pass along to Kathleen. Also took the opportunity to tell Kathleen about Jim Stork and even tho we don't live in his district, we can still support his cause.

The last thing Kathleen said to me as she walked out the front door was 'hopefully by this time next week I'll be actively involved in helping to get Kerry into office and rid our country of George Bush'.

Music to my ears!!

Remember Why They're There...

My company is sponsoring a drive to solicit donations for soldiers in Iraq. A very charitable thing to do, for sure. My only problem is the signage....posters placed in strategic locations on each floor exhort us to 'Remember Why They're There".

The first thing that pops into my mind is "Because George Bush Lied".

At first the signs didn't bother me all that much. But with each day that passed, the angrier I got and the urge to 'modify' the signs increased. When I walk out of my building at 5:31 every day, I wonder if this will be the day where I snap and add my personal perception of 'Why They're There' to the sign. I've even scoped out the survellance camera's....and yeah, they are right in the line of fire. So much for being anonymous.

Then it occured to me. I DON'T WANT TO BE ANONYMOUS! I am fiercely proud of my beliefs and I am willing to own them and be responsible for them. I'm also tired of being silent and keeping the status quo. Thanks to Howard Dean and blogs and the political progressives I've come to know, nothing's gonna change if you don't speak up for change.

I'm writing an email to inform HR of my views on the signs...and will include suggestions for alternative wording. Over 400 people a day walk by these signs. Maybe they won't give them a second thought.

Or maybe they will?

Nobody Says This Better Than Jimbo...

Called my long-time buddy Mark to wish him a Happy Birthday.

We've been buddies forever...ok, almost forever...Freshman year of High School he DID hate my guts 'cause I had the sheer audacity to try and break into the sacred clique of the all-male drum section of the band. But once I was in (and once I'd fixed Mark up with one of the prettiest girls in the band) we got to be friends and eventually he earned the coveted title of 'best friend'.

And as friends do, we've been thru lots of good times and bad times, thankfully more good than bad. And over the years as you get to know your best friends better and better, you fall into an easy type of relationship, very comfortable in the fact that you think you know what makes them tick and how they feel and what beliefs they hold near and dear.

So you can imagine my shock when the conversation went from me wishing him a happy birthday to Mark lambasting me for being anti-Bush. Yep, Mark is a Republican. Who knew? Not me...I don't remember Mark voting as we grew up....maybe he did, maybe he didn't but back in the day I guess politics never came up.

WELL...let me tell ya...it came up today.

Big time.

And I just couldn't respond how I would have liked to respond. Yeah, it might have had something to do with being at work (and he was in LOWE'S) and the chick I sit next to at work has parents that are personal friends of GWB and Laura and I have gotten shit in the past for being too political (and loud) at work. It might have had something to do with the fact that I was rushed and trying to do too many things while talking on the phone. And it might just have come from being amazed that yet another one of my friends was a REPUBLICAN!!!

For all the recent times I've heard Chris and Tom and Amanda and Abby and Jim make absolutely excellent points on the damage Bush has done to our country, all I could do was sit there drawing a blank. And I thought several times during the course of the day that maybe, just maybe I should have concentrated on joining the Debate Team instead of being one of the guys hanging out in the Drummer's Room.

So imagine my absolute delight at finding Jimbo's post-du-jour....

http://www.digitalcatharsis.com/blogframe.htm

Yeah, what he said goes double for me!!!

Happy Birthday, Mark!

Amanda Fein

Amanda's birthday is almost here. What she would really like for her birthday is a new cell phone...her keys seem to have disintegrated on her current cell phone.

When I told her I wouldn't be getting her a cell phone, she also mentioned she'd like to have her name come up as the first entry on Google when she Googles her name.

So...between now and her birthday, 31 July, please hit on this entry every now and then...it'd be nice to have your dreams come true on your birthday~

My iBook is Back!

I got the call today right after lunch.

Lisa from the Apple Store uttered the words I'd been waiting to hear all week " Your iBook is back...when can you come by and get it"?

THANK YOU GOD!!!

THANK YOU LISA!

THANK YOU CHRIS & AMANDA & DANNIELLE & ABBY & JIM @ STORK HQ FOR LETTING ME BLOG IN YOUR OFFICE!!!

THANK YOU WONDERFUL APPLE TECHS THAT FIXED MY BABY.

I am overcome with thanks...and gratitude...and am JUST TOO INCREDIBLY BEYOND HAPPY to have my laptop back where it belongs...in my lap!

Let the blogging begin!

On The Road With Jim Stork

Who ever knew campaigning in a Winnebago could be so much fun??

Spent the weekend campaigning with the Stork for Congress group...got to hang with Jim and the staff as they cruised from event to event in "Winnie", the Stork Campaign's customized Winnebago. Can I tell you how totally cool it is to have an AIRCONDITIONED Winnebago to work out of when you live in South Florida...in July? Let me tell ya, it is BEYOND COOL...in more ways than one!

Early Saturday morning I met up with Dannielle Sylvester, Jim's Campaign Manager and Abby Ross, Candidate Aide to Jim Stork and the Winnie at the newly-opened Stork's Bakery on Las Olas in Ft. Lauderdale. Why did the Winnie stop at the bakery?? To pick up 500 individually wrapped Stork Shaped Cookies that we'd be handing out during the parade! Right then and there I knew I was gonna like hanging out with the Stork Crew. Not cause I'm into cookies....I'm more of a Key Lime Pie person if you want to know the truth...but the originality and creativeness of the people behind the scenes really appealed to me.

First on the agenda was the "Plantation Fourth of July Parade" in Plantation. The idea was to have Jim walk in front of Winnie and have volunteers hand out Stork Cookies to the parade-goers. That worked for about 20 minutes, then the more people Jim stopped to speak with, the farther behind the Winnie we got. It was all good, tho. Jim saw lots of voters during the 3 mile parade, Field Coordinator Chris Stow-Serge carried baskets of cookies for John and Amy and myself (the volunteers) to distribute, and his younger brother Morgan (the best skateboarder in the world!) skated around Jim and the volunteers and had a great time!

On the ride north towards Jupiter, I got to chat with Chris about blogs and his proposal for me to be the unofficial 'official' Stork Blogger. Since Markos of the venerated Daily Kos picked Jim to be one of his dKos8, the Stork Campaign has gotten savvy to the ways of the blog and the impact they can have on a candidate. But of course, all of us here in blogland already knew that, didn't we??

Got to chat with Jim as well about all sorts of things...personal, business, political. He is really sharp, incredibly intelligent and way funnier than any other candidate I've ever met....and I've met a few!! In Jim, you get a down-to-earth Independant-thinking Democrat. He's a breath of fresh air and getting to know Jim and his staff made me more convinced than ever that we need to get Jim into office.

Next stop was Jupiter...no, not the planet! The town about 20 minutes north of West Palm Beach. Roger Dean stadium, home of the Jupiter Hammerheads and the Palm Beach Cardinals was the next visibility event planned. We handed out balloons and literature, had a great time at the game, met more Stork volunteers, got to tie balloons with Jacob Bean, another Stork Field Coordinator who came down from MA to help with the campaign and the fireworks at the end of the game were really cool. All in all, a fantastic night.

Sunday...Fourth of July!

Another day, another venue, another opportunity to get the word out.

Jim, Dannielle, Dannielle's boyfriend Juan and his mom Teresa (visiting from Peru) were in the Fort-Lauderdale-By-The-Sea parade handing out the ever-popular Stork Cookies from the vintage Cadilllac they rode in.

Meanwhile, the volunteers fanned out across the Sunday Jazz Brunch in the park along the Riverfront in Downtown Lauderdale. THAT WAS FUN! I was paired up with a really cool guy named Paul, who had closed the restaurant he and his partner Eric owned in Philly and moved down to the Wilton Manors area of South Florida.

After meeting back up at the office, it was off for more visibility.

We cruised thru Deerfield Beach, met some really nice Stork constituents near the Boardwalk, cruised over to the Cove, hit Florida Atlantic University (FAU) in Boca Raton where we found lots of pro-Stork people (a good thing!!) then headed off to our last visibility event of the day up in West Palm Beach for the Fourth on Flagler.

Lots of miles put on the Winnie, lots of Stork stickers handed out and more than several hundred Stork cookies found their way into the hands (and tummies) of South Florida residents and potential Stork voters.

This is what a candidate goes thru to get the word out. Being with Jim and the staff over the last several days gave me a glimpse into what running for office is like. From my bird's eye view in the Storkmobile, I wish everyone reading this could really know how good Jim is and how good he will be for District 22 in South Florida. I can't vote for Jim Stork since I don't live in his district. But I can and will do whatever it takes...blogging, volunteering, donating, to make sure he gets elected into Congress on 2 November.

Stay tuned for more Stork Stories to come.

My IBook is Sick

...and is going to the technical wizards somewhere in Texas to have it's logic board restored....they said it should be back by Friday. A WHOLE ENTIRE WEEK!!!

So I'm taking a break from blogging.

The jitters started on the way home from the Apple Store last night. It got worse. Much worse. Around 11:30 last night I wanted to blog in the WORST way...no dailykos...no museworld...no dooce....no mightyjimbo....no pandagon...did I mention no dKos?

Blogging here at work before I head out...have Monday off so that means no computer access...wonder if I can hold out until Tuesday?? I wonder if my iBook will miss me? I wonder if my iBook will miss me as much as I miss him?

Have a great weekend...hug your iBooks for me.

MWAH!!!!

I'm Free...

Three years ago this Sunday I told my husband I wanted a divorce. I spent most of the afternoon and the entire evening talking and crying and talking some more. When I married I believed it would last forever. When my marriage died, I was devastated that it hadn't.

Ending my marriage was, up until that point of my life, the toughest thing I'd ever done. Earlier in the day on that particular 4th of July I sat in the parking lot of the apt I'd just signed a year's lease on, sobbing hysterically to my 3 best friends on my cell phone...leaving messages since none of them were home...(hello!!! it was the 4th of July)...and knowing that what would transpire when I got home would change my life forever.

Long story short....I told him, he was shocked, then admitted he'd had a feeling it was coming and he was actually relieved and proud of me since he didn't think I had the guts to end it. He wasn't happy either but had no desire to get happier.

And that's how I got my freedom back. No blood, just sweat when I moved (moving in July in FL is an insane thing to do unless you HAVE to do it) and other than the day I asked for the divorce, very little tears. Amicable, civil divorce. No lawyers. He stayed in the house, kept the Tupperware and the weiner dog. I left with my clothes, books, CD's, 1 lamp, a desk, 2 bookshelves and the TV I asked for at the last minute...he was left with 3 TV's, so that was fair. In 2003 he bought me out of my share of our house and I bought my current home.

Ending my marriage was a long time coming. Took me close to 4 years to get up my nerve to do it, and now that I see the last 3 years in the rearview mirror, I'm thrilled, relieved, amazed and gratified I chose to do so.

There are all sorts of cliches I could use...'the greater the risk , the greater the reward' is one that comes to mind, but ultimately it was all about freedom. I didn't have it and I wanted it. So I did what I needed to do to be free.

How timely and all, considering it happened on Independance Day.

So on Independance Day...4th of July...aka my favorite holiday other than Hanukkah...I love to do things that remind me of my freedom and how important it is to be free. Last year I bought a bike the day before, rode for two hours, worked out at the gym, then walked for 7 miles along A1A. Yeah, theme from last year was freedom from blisters and heat-stroke!

As for this year, will be spending time as a volunteer for Team Jim Stork and his 'Fresh New Vision for South Florida' quest...he is running for the 22nd District and I'm proud to be working with his staff...they, like Jim, are the BEST!!

Getting into politics (thank you Howard Dean) has been a dose of freedom as well. Freedom from apathy. Freedom from being cynical. Things are different now...I KNOW that a single person can and DOES make a difference. And with the freedom comes hope...sometimes Pollyanna-ish....(hey, that's me...deal with it!) sometimes skeptical, but always the hope is there.

And hope, like freedom, is a very good thing to have.