It's been a weekend of exhilaration and deep sadness.

The weekend began with the first night of our Republican State Convention. It was the first time that I had gone on Friday night and I was not sure what to expect. I had agreed to lobby for the slate of delegates, alternate delegates, nominating committee members and presidential elector (the person who goes to D.C. and actually votes in the electoral college).

Republican politics in the state of Iowa have been a bit contentious for awhile now, given that we no longer hold a majority in either the House or the Senate and we have a democrat in the governor's office. Many are them quite satisfied to continue with the status quo, many of us are not (myself included). Many of them are quite satisfied to compromise, not stir the pot, give them what they want because we might get something in return (HA! HA!), many of us are not! Many of them see the platform as just as bunch of guidelines, many of us see the platform as the statement of the grassroots that defines our beliefs, ideals, and political philosophy.

So, being very impressed with the hard work and dedication of Steve Scheffler and Kim Lehman, the ICA and the Iowa Right to Life, I agreed to help to pass the slate that many like-minded conservatives came up with. Mind you, these are not just "right-wing, radical, evangelical, conservative Christians", but they were a group of individuals from different backgrounds, they had supported different candidates, they are very conservative and believe in our platform, and they were highly qualified. We were able to get the entire slate passed!

On Saturday morning I lobbied for Steve and Kim for National Committeeman and National Committewoman. It made for an early morning, but I enjoyed it.

The convention was a bit unorganized. There were not enough seats for delegates in some counties and some counties didn't have any seats at all. They finally got that figured out and we were able to get into the meat of the convention. It wasn't as bad as it could have been, but it did get contentious occasionally. There was one particular rule that created a ruckus, we were told that it would. There was a near knock-down drag out over one of the at-large delegates for national convention which included what seemed to me to be a pretty personal smear against someone. I was later to find out that this person was someone who attended a private meeting with "less than honorable purposes".

So, after a long Friday night and Saturday night, I came home to what I hoped would be peace and quiet. Instead, my best friend called with a prayer request. The father of her ring bearer had died that afternoon in an ATV accident. She later called back to give me more details and we found out that hubby's first cousin was also involved in an ATV accident prior to the fatal one. He is currently in ICU and fighting for his life. His story is long and complicated and that truly complicates his current situation. Then I later found out that my pastor's son and his friend performed CPR on the man that died and that he died in my pastor's son's arms. It was a head injury, so it was pretty awful.

Sunday was spent enjoying my favorite candidate's (www.adamvandall.com) baptism! After the baptism we went over to our pastor's home for dinner to celebrate and spent most of the afternoon there. We had a wonderful time. It had been a long time since we'd spent time with Pastor and the family in a purely recreational way. It reminded me again why I love them all so!

I had a couple of hours in the afternoon, and the Adam and his girl came out to do some formal photos and just hang out. It was a beautiful evening to be out and liberty enjoyed the time!
Yesterday, my bestest buddy and I took a 3 1/2 hour trip to visit a dear friend who lost her 2nd baby in under 9 months. She was in Kentucky the first time and we were unable to do what friends do and this time, there was no stopping us!! It was a beautiful day and the trip went well. It was awesome to get to spend time with our friend, I had missed her so much! Please pray for their family as they seek God's wisdom in regards to the situation.

Today, I've slept!

Something that struck me tonight, though, that while I love summer, there are things about summer that I'm not so fond of. I really dislike summer tv. I like my shows. I like to watch repeats. They give me a sense of normalcy when summer doesn't feel normal. There are so many different things we do in the summer that we don't do the rest of the year and that throws me off sometimes. I'm not sure how to explain, but just let me say, I was glad NCIS was on this evening!!

Now, I'm off to get started on the other half of my niece's wedding stole.