Well that, and she has a point, I do need that

As Cheryl and I finished our usual goodbye this morning before I headed out to work, "Usual" meaning a big fat kiss and long hug, she said to me that we need to get serious about a fitness program so we can both be here for each other for a long, long time. (Come to think of it, she may have said she wanted me to be here a long, long time, so we know who she was mostly referring to.)

She then specifically referenced a male friend of ours who has gotten himself into great shape over the past year or so, saying how great he looks and if he can do it, so can we, and now we know that by "we" she meant me.

Now most husbands might feel threatened by her reference to how buff this male friend of ours has become, and might wonder if she might be thinking of him, and not me, in physical terms and might get a little freaked out and might be overwrought with DOUBT AND ANGUISH AND RAGING PARANOIA. BUT NOT ME, NOOOSIREEBOB, NOT ME!

I'm totally secure in our relationship and am confident enough that things are fine and that I am meeting all her physical and emotional needs.

Well that and the guy she mentioned is gay, so maybe that was a factor.

Well, that and all the parties. They were good too.

So, yeah, Bill Clinton's speech was my favorite part of the actual convention itself, but in thinking about it today, and sorting through all the facebook posts people had sent, the memory that brought me the biggest smile was of the very first day when we happened on the MSNBC outdoor studio and watched them do a show.

It wasn't so much seeing the show or Cheryl and me making fools of ourselves to get on TV behind Chris Matthews (well, I made a fool of MYself, Cheryl not so much), it was more that the excitement building toward the whole week was still so palpable.

I'd taken such an I'll-believe-it-when-I-see-it approach to the whole week and now, here we actually were, together, enjoying the goofiness and electricity of it all. It seems silly, but of all the experiences I'd want to go back to, that is at the top of the list. Not seeing the various media and political celebrities a few feet away or being there for so many of the amazing speeches.

Though keep in mind I wasn't in the building the final night when the person I would most like to have been in a room with was speaking. I refer of course, to Scarlett Johanson. Sigh.

Oh, right. It was Bill Clinton's speech.

As we were eating breakfast at a Charlotte Pancake House before starting our 10-hour ride home, Cheryl asked me what my favorite part of the convention was. I had to tell her to wait to ask again when I had finished processing the news delivered moments earlier that a certain person had just incurred a $1900 car repair bill that we had committed to paying on their behalf. She had not stopped and pulled over when her car started to overheat a few weeks earlier and voila - 1900 of our dollars that I would rather have used for 2 round-trip tickets to Ireland later, she's back on the road.

Cheryl kept trying to make me feel better by explaining all the reasons it might have happened or why I shouldn't be upset, all of which were legitimate reasons, but I eventually told her that she'd be better off commiserating with me and feeling my pain than to try to defend what happened. I told her that I was most affected by the fact that I had not been apologized to or thanked for covering it than I was upset by the original mistake. And that is both petty of me and true, so I admit it here as more of a poor reflection on me than any blame toward the person involved.

Hurt feelings aside, the biggest reason I can understand why it happened is that as a teenager, I once ran my VW bug out of oil on rte. 100 on the way home, seizing up the engine, and Cheryl had done something similar at that age. I have a feeling Mom and Dad paid for my repairs, though I don't know for sure. And if they did, I wonder if I ever thanked them or apologized. I have a feeling if I had to pay for it, I'd remember it pretty well.

So...thanks Mom and Dad. I'm SO sorry! You rock and I love you and all you did...are doing for me.

No, no, thank YOU!

So many things I want to post to the blog today, but feel like I shouldn't until I do a final entry on the convention.

But I've made the executive decision to hold off on that entry so I can post a few other things, the first of which is to thank everyone for the enthusiastic and supportive comments on facebook and twitter and this blog about all the photos and comments Cheryl and I posted. I really tried to imagine myself back home reading someone else's posts and wanting to experience it as best I could through their experience. My fear was that the posts were coming across as self-promotional or hey-look-at-me type stuff, but since all the replies were so positive, we kept going. And even just today, I've had a number of additional thanks for all the posts.

So, really, thank all of you. It was such an amazing week and I know it sounds funny to put it this way, but it was all the more fun, knowing all of you were enjoying it with us!

President Obama nails it:

"Now, our friends at the Republican convention were more than happy to talk about everything they think is wrong with America, but they didn’t have much to say about how they’d make it right. They want your vote, but they don’t want you to know their plan. And that’s because all they have to offer is the same prescription they’ve had for the last thirty years:

“Have a surplus? Try a tax cut.”

“Deficit too high? Try another.”

“Feel a cold coming on? Take two tax cuts, roll back some regulations, and call us in the morning!' "

Great tweets:

 

"Ask Osama bin Laden if he's better off than he was four years ago." FACT CHECK: You'll get no response.

 

"It's like John Kerry's been sitting on a big can of whoop-ass for 8 years."

 

‎"John Kerry on a mission to turn Mitt Romney intro the GOP caricature of John Kerry."

 

Daily Kos: "Mitt Romney actually is what Republicans pretended John Kerry was. "

‎

"Never thought I'd see the foo fighters open for Jim Clyburn."

‎

"Scarlett Johansson was born a poor white incredibly hot child."

Great lines from the convention tonight:

"Sure, Mitt Romney loves our lakes and trees. He loves our cars so much, they even have their own elevator. But in Romney's world, the cars get the elevator, and the workers get the shaft. You know what I'm saying!." - Jennifer Grandholm, Michigan Govenor

"You know, if private equity Mitt Romney met Governor Mitt Romney he'd do what he says he likes to do: He'd fire him. And outsource his job." - Brian Schweitcer, Montana Governor

"Clinton arithmetic" makes an appearance in Schweitzer's speech—his explanation for how be balanced the budget in Montana.

John Kerry:

"They forget that we are exceptional not because we say we are, but because we do exceptional things."
"Despite what you heard in Tampa, an exceptional country does care about the rise of the oceans and the health of the planet."
"The only thing exceptional about today's Republicans is that almost without exception, they have opposed everything that made America an exceptional nation in the first place."
"No nominee for president should ever fail in the midst of a war to pay tribute to our troops overseas in his acceptance speech."
"He's even blurted out the preposterous notion that Russia is our number one poltical foe. Folks, Sarah Palin talked about how she could see Russia from Alaska. Mitt Romney talks like he's only seen Russia in Rocky IV!"
"Mr. Romney, here's some advice: before you debate President Obama on foreign policy, you'd better finish the debate with yourself."
 Mocks Romney for "tripping all over himself" in London. Calls his trip overseas "a blooper reel."
"The most inexperienced foreign policy twosome to run for president and vice president in decades,"  "You know, it's unfair to accuse Mitt Romney of not having a position on Afghanistan. He's had every position!"
"Mr. Romney, here's some advice: before you debate President Obama on foreign policy, you'd better finish the debate with yourself."
"Ask Osama bin Laden if he's better off now than he was four years ago." Ka-pow!

Just saying the same thing everyone is thinking: Where was this John Kerry 8 years ago?

Joe Biden: "We have no intention of downsizing the American dream."