"You can sleep when you get home"

Was the advice offered by Ron Kirk to the rest of the Texas delegation during one of our weekly pre-convention conference calls. I followed his advice. I don't think that I went to sleep prior to 2 AM on any night and still made it down for breakfast each morning at 7am or so. On the last day, I did fall asleep on the bus from the convention center to Invesco Field. I really needed that power nap! The last night of convention we didn't get back to the hotel until after 2am. I still needed to pack and take a quick shower. It was probably 3:20 am when the head hit the pillow and 4:40 am when the wake up call came in so that I could catch a 5am shuttle to the airport. Upon landing at DFW, I caught a cab and went into work. Surprisingly, I made it until 5. It still must be all of that adrenaline. O BAM A OBAMA!

The 300 Pin

Certain Clinton Delegates wore a small green pin with a pen through "300". This was a special pin given to those of us who chose to sign a petition requesting that Hillary's name be placed into nomination. The minimum required signatures was 300. Each pin was numbered in order of the received petition. We had around 400 or so signatures. Wearing the pin was almost like a secret handshake. Each of us knew what it meant, however, probably a lot of other folks didn't know what it means. I'm sure that this petition had something to do with the Clinton and Obama camps coming together and allowing having her name placed in nomination. I heard that someone has already been offered $35 for their pin. I'm hanging onto mine.

DMN video

I am in the background holding my video camera during the Ron Kirk interview. My friends, Darlene Ewing and co SD8 delegate Dr. Parnell are interviewed. Also, I am the one holding the sign for the closeup. My friends Kathy and Julie are waiving flags also.

http://www.dallasnews.com/video/dallasnews/hp/index.html?nvid=277241&shu=1

The Party Doesn't stop at Invesco

After star gazing, Kathy, Julie and I made our way to the buses (we took at least one lap around the stadium.) to find our way to the Texas party hosted by AT&T. We waited and waited for a bus with hundreds of other people. We finally got on one and had a nice conversation with a couple from South Carolina. After being on the bus for at least half an hour, I figured we should have been at our stop. I looked out of the window and we were still near Invesco? What? Was it security detours? Who knows.

They pulled out all of the stops for the party. It was on the 39th floor of an office tower and had a gorgeous view. I was drinking champagne. Once again, the food at the Texas party was dissappointing. However, they had a 8 or 10 piece band and they were great! And they played the 70s and 80s music that I loved to dance to. We were yelling O BAM A from the dance floor. The energy was great. We stayed until the end of the party which was at 1:30 am. State Senator Leticia Van Puete, co-chair of the convention, was the hostess and was so nice! She gave all of us hugs and said that this party was a thank you for all of our hard work. We also got goody bags from AT&T.

Invesco Field

It felt like being at the Super Bowl. Except that the results will determine the fate of the country as opposed to who will get the bigger commercial endorsements. Barack has the better plan and more enthusiastic fans. Let's see if that will translate into victory.

We arrived at Invesco around 2:30 or so. After clearing security, we tried to get the best possible seats. The Texas Delegation had a good location, much better than our spot at the Pepsi Center. However, it was like a narrow triangle, if you got there early, you would have a much better chance of getting up close. We were not so lucky. My friend Alice got a great seat.

It was hot out on the field when we arrived. I wore my hiking hat until the sun went down. Shawn Johnson said the Pledge of Allegiance. Was Nastia not available or is she a Republican? Maybe she was afraid since she lives in Collin County.

The energy and excitement out there was unbelievable. I was thrilled to hear Sheryl Crow, one of my favorite entertainers. Stevie Wonder also performed. I kept thinking the boss would show but that didn't happen. It felt like a Super Bowl show!

It was great to see Al Gore. Still thinking What if. Also liked the 10 ordinary people explaining why they are for Barack.

Needless to say - Barack gave a great speech. It is about you and not about me truly resonates. I can't remember how many times that I got up to cheer but it was a lot. O BAM A. Still saying it. I thought that Oprah might introduce him, but that didn't happen. They were right, it was Obama's night and that would have distracted from it. Also, Hillary and Bill were not there. That would have also taken away from Barack.

After the speech, Julie, Kathy and I stood behind the CNN set up to get into the camera shot. Julie's husband saw us but mine did not. I will need to find that feed. We got Donna Brazille to say hello to us. And we got Anderson Cooper to turn around too.

We went to the other news outlets. Kathy is great at talking to celebrities. We had our pictures taken with Charlie Rose. Kathy arranged this of course. Charlie seemed tired but Kathy flattered him so much that he was willing to have his picture taken. Even though we were sleep deprived, we kept going. The adrenaline was incredible. A historical night.

Janice Schwarz at National Convention 2008 - a set on Flickr

Janice Schwarz at National Convention 2008 - a set on Flickr

I had the time of my life!

I will finish up over the long weekend. Have to go to bed now. A lot more to come.