Cottage Meeting

Yesterday morning, David and I hosted a cottage meeting at our house.  I'm not very happy with myself for forgetting to take pictures, but there's nothing I can do about it now.   Wait - maybe I can illustrate it!

Let me back up a little and give you some history:  I already mentioned a month or two ago that my dad is running for County Commissioner.  That's been exciting and stressful and consuming for me.   And I'm just watching from the sidelines.  My parents and my sister Katie (who is helping Dad manage his campaign) are the ones who are truly consumed by it.  I had no idea how much goes into these things!  The time, expense, and intensity are exorbitant!  They are all doing a great job and I think Dad's campaign is going very well.  I wish I could help more, but my life is pretty focused on the baby right now, so I just listen to what's going on and offer encouragement when I can.

A week or two ago, neighborhood caucuses were held - where each precinct in the area chooses their delegates to attend the county convention in April.  Again, I couldn't attend.  Even if I was chosen as a delegate, I couldn't go to the convention with a newborn.  David went, however.  There were about 90 people from our precinct in attendance and David was chosen to be one of the five delegates.  Hooray for David!  For those of you that don't know David very well, he's a bit politically inclined.  Or at least politically opinionated. He's taking his responsibility very seriously - keeping all his mailers and emails in a folder, writing notes and charts for himself comparing candidates, attending meetings, etc.  I'm proud of him.

Ever since the delegates were chosen, things have really been heating up on the campaign trail.  If Dad can get 60% of the 900+ delegates' votes at the convention, he will automatically be the republican candidate this fall.  If not, there will have to be a primary election.  Of course, we'd all like to skip the primary, so we're putting all we can into winning at the convention.  We're not sure if it will happen - dad's opponent is pretty aggressive (not to mention a professional campaigner - literally - that's what her job is).  Anyway - it seems like every available minute (for dad, and also for Katie) is being spent making phone calls, attending meetings, sending out mailers, responding to e-mails, etc.  The goal is to speak to all 900+ delegates in person by convention time. 

A pegasus unicorn and a rainbow.  Not actually part of this story, but I'm trying to keep you engaged with my exciting illustrations!  hee hee.  Maybe I'll just say, "It's magical working on a campaign!"

Dad has been holding meet-and-greets at local restaurants and libraries.  He's also been meeting at people's houses in what are called "cottage meetings."  These are more informal, casual meetings (like fireside chats) held in people's homes.  They are usually attended by the delegates that live nearby.  They're a great opportunity for people to ask questions and have more one-on-one interaction with the candidates.  David and I decided to host one at our house this past weekend (Saturday morning at 9:00).

I invited two other men who are running for different positions to come present their information along with my dad, thinking that having a few candidates would help draw in more of a crowd.  Then, I made about 20 phone calls to nearby delegates inviting them to our cottage meeting.  I also posted information about it on a special facebook page for delegates only.  I was pretty nervous about the possible turnout.  With only a day or two to go, I had three RSVPs.  I didn't want to waste the candidates' time.  I was stressed out!  The kids helped me clean up the house as good as we could (and hide the things we couldn't get to) and set up a table with fresh fruit, juice, and doughnuts. 

What a delicious spread!

In the end, I think our meeting turned out very well!  We had about 23 people here, including the candidates and their spouses, etc.  I think there were 14 or 16 delegates.  Way better than I expected.  We actually ran out of chairs.  The delegates came prepared with some wonderful questions and the candidates did a great job answering them.   I wore real clothes (as opposed to PJs) and makeup for the first time in a long time!  The baby slept quietly in my arms the whole time and the older kids played quietly downstairs.  They came up after the meeting was over and polished off the refreshments.  It was really fun for all of us.  I was glad to have had the opportunity to do this for my dad and also to be involved in the political process a little bit.

My dad standing in front of my fireplace, speaking to the delegates.  I'll let you decide which ones are my mom, David, and Katie.

Me, wearing make up, holding Quinton.  Boy!  I need a haircut!