May the Best Man Win (And his name is George W. Bush!)

Sorry for the delay in posting a blog this morning. I know some of you were anxiously awaiting some commentary from last night's events (Jessica!). :) So here goes!

I have to say that last night was probably one of the most amazing and incredible nights. It is definitely something that I will remember for the rest of my life regardless of how this election turns out (although I of course would prefer four more years!). It was just very surreal because I was sitting/standing literally 30 feet from the President of the United States. It was a really cool feeling, and it was so much fun to see the crowd so excited and the signs and posters and people dressed up. It was a lot of fun and definitely something I would have to do again given the chance.

So here's the story. First of all, I ended up foregoing my dance class altogether in favor of getting in line earlier. I had no idea how good it is that we did that!!! After fighting a bit of traffic back towards Dallas, running up to Bobby's parents' door to grab the tickets, and finding parking at the edge of campus and then walking quite a distance, we finally saw the line. And it kept going, and going, and going! It was craziness. We got there a few minutes before 7 pm and the event wasn't supposed to even start until 10. It was crazy stuff. We finally found the end of the line and proceeded to wait almost an hour before even moving at all. Then slowly over the next hour we made it up to the front of the line, through security (it was pretty hard core - really scanning every zipper and fragment of my purse, metal detectors and scanning guns), we made it in and managed to grab an awesome seat to the back right of the stage and right on the aisle with the box for the tunnel in front of us so no one was standing directly in front of us to block our view. :)

However, I must say I did learn a few things in all of this: 1) I made an EXCELLENT choice in wearing sneakers to this event because standing on my feet for two hours on cold concrete and trying to manage through puddles was more than my feet could have handled in anything other than sneakers. And the girls in front of us made the mistake of wearing high heels (man I don't miss the SMU sorority snobbies!) and informed me that I was smart to wear sneakers! and 2) Don't ever let me husband convince me again that we will "grab something to eat on the way" or then "we'll grab something when we get there." Of course he had eaten a Chipotle on his way home from work since he got off an hour before me, but I had not wanted to eat that and then be standing in crowds all night (I have an irritable stomach sometimes!) and for the sake of time, had agreed to forgo my bowl of cereal in hopes of grabbing something later. So by the time we actually got to our seats it was nearly 9:15 and I hadn't eaten anything since my slice of pizza for lunch. Luckily (I guess that's the right word), the concession stand was open at least so since he was already in trouble for not letting me eat before we stood in line for two+ hours, Austin went and grabbed at least something to drink and a hot dog and some nachos. I hate nacho cheese like that but I was hungry and so I ate a bit of that and I actually ate most of the hot dog which I also despise. Austin likes hot dogs and said this one sucked but I didn't want to pass out trying to stand and watch the President so I took one for the team. :)

Anyways, back to the events of the evening: we got to watch various speakers from Rick Perry to local city council people to Kay Bailey Hutchison and Pete Sessions. Chuck Norris was there acting as the emcee of the evening which I found entertaining. And then the main event: after doing the wave with the crowd, playing various goofy music, and waving around my flags for awhile, it was finally time. Toby Keith came out and played a few songs and introduced the first family (George & Laura and I believe the twins were there too although I never saw them come out onto the stage or anything). I can't describe what a cool feeling it was to see and hear the President speak like that on the eve of his election - the last time he will ever run for office. Wild stuff! It made me sad that I didn't get to cast my vote for him as I wanted to because of the absentee ballot screw-up, but don't worry - I'll be the first to be calling tomorrow morning if things don't turn out in Florida the way they should!

Other than that, the evening ended with confetti and balloons and music, and Austin & I snuck our way onto the stage after the President was gone and people were leaving. I got to say hi to Pete Sessions (I taught his son, Alex, first grade a few years ago so I wanted to say hi and wish him luck). It was funny because they had a bunch of interns for the various people on the stage that were there, and people kept thinking I was part of the group. They asked me to take a picture for them, and another lady came up to me and asked me if I wanted her to take it so I could be in the picture with them. Too funny!

We didn't get home until almost 1 am, but it was worth it! We took lots of pictures which I will post on Snapfish tonight hopefully. Other than that, it was just a great experience, and I'm so glad that we got to go!

Tonight, Austin & I are going to the Melting Pot to celebrate our one monthiversary being married! I can't wait! :)