I'm still reeling from the Gala last night. Our to-do list is overflowing with fundraiser-related tasks. It takes so much paperwork to document a political event, especially with so many forms of donations involved! My body aches all over, probably from shoveling snow twice yesterday combined with doing 2 major grocery shopping trips yesterday (our car is parked at the bottom of the unplowed driveway so it took several very heavy snow hikes to get it all to the house). Plus I was holding a ton of stress in my body before the event and then once I got there, I barely sat down and I danced with abandon. So I'm feeling pretty spent.
Firstly, a lifetime worth of shout out to Jenny Harding for being an amazing event coordinator and managing the host committee's great work on the silent auction. She did a lot of the initial paperwork collecting for us in the midst of everything else. Her work was invaluable. I don't know what we would have done without her.
Secondly, a huge shout out to James and Lisa Y. for staying the weekend with us and helping us in so many ways. Sometimes a small herd of kids is easier to manage than a single one bc they entertain each other. So mini-shout outs to their adorable kids for keeping our kids from demanding too much from us while we were getting prepared for all this. James and Lisa are very calming house guests. We love it when they're here! They also helped with dishes, clearing ice from the driveway, chauffeuring, and generally every little thing that needed doing. (Lisa even loaned me her "spanks" so I could squeeze into my too-tight dress! I was on track to lose enough weight to wear it comfortably but then I got snowed in on the couch with baked goods for a week.) It was like having a second wife and a second husband. Plus second kids. Hmm... maybe we're falling apart when we need a whole second family in order to keep ours functioning!
About the Fundraiser: Where to begin? Jeremiah will no doubt post a professional commentary on the event on his website's blog. As Treasurer (and wife)(and being who I am), I'm full of numbers and forms and anxiety and joy about the campaign. Jeremiah says that now that we've had a fundraiser, the campaign has really begun. Man, is that exhausting! Of course, that's again why Jeremiah is better for all this than me- he sees everything as a step in the right direction, with a mind towards the bigger picture. I'm the one that always gets bogged down with details and thinking of the implications of every little thing. I had two naps today!!!!! and since the Gala all my dreams have been replaying the event and seeing each part from different angles with different meanings. Very stressful. And unnecessary. I wish my conscious brain would get it through to my subconscious that I'm not the one campaigning and that I need to not worry about Jeremiah! It's just so hard for me to disconnect myself from something that Jeremiah's going through. My urge to help and protect him is so much a part of me.
About the Gala: This was part MOMS Club Prom and part Jessica & Jeremiah's Second Wedding Reception. A small sliver of attendees were community members that I hadn't met and 2 other political candidates. So it was mostly my friends, from the MOMS Club in the area (most of whom were on the Host Committee for the event) and from my work and our college. A great fun party for me! I hit up the glasses of wine at the beginning and took a small sample of the food. I was too busy talking and dancing to take advantage of all the free drinks and fancy food! Plus, at 3 hours long, the night was over before I had a chance to do all the talking, drinking, eating, and dancing that I really wanted to do. I guess it's a good time when you're sorry you have to leave.
Highlights of the night:
#1 left the kids with a babysitter (my darling sister Molly, watching our kids and the Y. kids)
#2 held our friends' baby several times during the night and he fell asleep in my arms (thus proving the best baby is someone else's baby)
#3 Lisa fed me a chocolate covered strawberry since my arms were full of sleeping baby and that was awesome
#4 my other two sisters came with dates and they were beautiful and elegant and I loved seeing them as adults
#5 dancing with Jeremiah
#6 dancing to 80s music with my friends, and my forever request "I've Had the Time of Life"
#7 seeing all my friends all dressed up and happy
#8 seeing Jeremiah give a speech to a supportive room and knowing that they appreciate his candid charm like I do
#9 suffering a wardrobe malfunction, but at the exact funniest moment! And the best part is, I'm not sure that anyone else saw it, and if anyone did, it was probably one of my friends anyhow.
#10 I won some awesome things at the Silent Auction and I ended up paying less than it's worth. Best case scenario: the campaign gets other people's money for these items and they pay a lot of money. Next best case: the campaign gets MY money for some awesome items that I wanted and I spend less than it would be for me to buy them regularly. (and what also happened is that other people won the other items and they got awesome things and the campaign got their money (some big, some little), which is what was intended)
Another thing is that I was so excited about seeing my friends and that the big night was finally here and then I had a few glasses of wine and next thing I knew, I was dancing with no shoes on (which admittedly was the plan from the morning when I knew for sure that I had no suitable shoes for the evening).
I'm very paranoid that I was acting inappropriate for the occasion. It was exactly the sort of fun I had at my proms and my wedding reception. It is not how I envision "the wife of a politician" should act at a political event. Not that I was crazy drunk or anything, but that I didn't schmooze with people I didn't know and I didn't stand by the door to say goodnight to everyone. I was dancing like I do, not in a reserved way. I forgot to introduce myself and then thank the wait staff. And I wasn't paying any attention to what I "should" be doing at any moment. It was super fun!
But I shouldn't do it again. This time the crowd was mostly close friends. Next time I won't be so lucky. Of course, future fundraisers won't be a Gala. The next one in March is a lawyer breakfast in Annapolis and I won't even be there. But still I worry about if my actions would hurt Jeremiah's campaign in some way. Plus I worry if I made an ass of myself. In my recollection, everything went swimmingly. But then, I also think it's funny that I had a wardrobe malfunction on the dance floor. So I'm not a great one to ask!
It all went great. You did great, given the group, and represented your man in a way that makes him approachable. Who doesn't want to know the guy with the hot and hip wife?!
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