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This past Saturday morning, I woke up with a severe migraine. I don’t know if I slept wrong, if I was suffering from residual stress at work, if it was a side effect of my latest bought of writer’s block or if I was going through severe caffeine withdrawal; all I knew is that I woke up and my head hurt.

I rolled over and Stephanie wasn’t in bed. She must have slipped out of the room when the children woke up and headed downstairs for her morning cup of coffee. I could hear the children arguing over the television remote in the guest room and with my mind draped in a state of morning fog; I made the mistake of uttering something to let the world know I had awaken.

Joshua came running into my room to tell me about his latest feat with his new Pokemon game for his Nintendo DS. He was only one level away from being a Pokemon Ranger and he was so proud of himself. I, on the other hand, was one decibel level from feeling my head explode and I wished that I could’ve crawled back under the covers and gone back to sleep.

Stephanie came into our room and told me that it was freezing outside and that I might want to reconsider raking the leaves. The leaves; I had completely forgotten about the leaves! A migraine, fatigue, a severe cold front and leaves all over the yard; my vacation was starting out with a bang! I rolled over, covered my head with my pillow and tried to hide from everyone and everything, but my migraine wasn’t letting me go back to sleep.

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Last month, Stephanie and I took the kids to North Carolina for a long weekend. After a long summer, we were all on the mend emotionally and physically, so it was critical for us to take the children away for a weekend of fun and frivolity. So Stephanie and I decided that our anniversary gift to each other was a family trip back to Raleigh, North Carolina to have dinner once again at the Melting Pot restaurant.

As we planned our trip, the hotel we wanted to stay at was close to full and had very few non-smoking rooms left. As we perused other hotels in the area, I went back to the original hotel and realized that for an extra four dollars per person, per day that we could upgrade our reservations to the executive level. The cost was irrelevant at the time because it was still a better deal than all of the other hotels we had been considering.

When we arrived at our hotel on Columbus Day weekend, we realized that there was a conference being held in our hotel. As it turns out, the conference was the reason we had to elevate our reservations to the executive level and I am glad that Stephanie and I chose this option.

Our floor had an executive lounge that came with many amenities that ultimately lowered the cost of our stay and gave us another place to unwind besides our hotel room. The executive lounge hosted a free breakfast each morning, free snacks and soft drinks all day long and an evening “cocktail reception.” For me, the large screen television and the couch were a great benefit. After the children went to bed, I was able to leave the room and watch television elsewhere so I didn’t keep the kids up all night. And, as luck would have it, I was in the executive lounge when I inevitably met the “Mississippi Girls.”

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I am not a career politician. I do admit to being politically active and I admit to paying attention to the political ramifications of new legislation that affects the agencies that I have worked for in my career but four years ago, I ran for State Representative in my district.

Campaigning was extremely hard work. I spent eighteen months working to build a political network, reaching out to elected officials, community leaders and meeting the people whose causes I was championing on the campaign trail. During the final ten months of the campaign, I knocked on the door of every registered voter in my district. I believe that a candidate is responsible for meeting constituents on their turf and for my campaign; that meant at their homes. The entire process was an experience that was eye opening and life changing all at the same time but most of all, it was life affirming.

My schedule as a candidate was full. I worked a full time job, attended community functions, and campaigned just about every waking hour during the week and on weekends. There were phone calls to make, letters to send, coffees to attend, fundraisers that were held and interviews that were given, but my favorite part of the entire campaign was the time I was able to spend knocking on doors. I was able to talk with people about the issues that affected their lives the most and in the process, I learned so much about the people and the problems in my community. It was grueling and time consuming work and when all of the votes on Election Day had been counted; I lost.

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