One of the things that I used to have on my 'things to do before I die' list was to work on a political campaign.
In 2002 on a whim I whipped into Bob Riley's headquarters and said I wanted to help out.
So twice a week for several months I answered phones, stuffed envelopes, and handed out literature to people that came in.
It was a pretty easy gig.
Of course there was no pay.
No pay but several perks.
We got to go the Inaugural Ball in Montgomery.
I got to go hear George W Bush and Condoleezza Rice speak in Birmingham.
I went to a lot of super cheesy rallies.
And served a lot of free hotdogs.
The best thing we got to do was go to the Governor's Mansion for a big fundraiser.
They were raising money to redecorate the mansion.
The plan was to have the first fundraiser and let people see how much it needed it and give people a chance to vote on a new design.
Then when it was done they would have another big party to see how it turned out.
So my cousin Laura Lee and I headed down to Montgomery for it.
It was actually pretty funny.
We wore our jeans down there and then stopped at the mall to change clothes.
We looked pretty funny carrying these big ole dresses through the mall with bags with our curling irons and make up hanging out.
We were spraying out hair and primping in the dressing room at the department store when the saleslady asked us what we were doing.
She was surprisingly unsympathetic to our 'no place to change' plight.
In the end it was a really fun night.
Unfortunately we got left off the guest list for the second party.
I checked the papers. The design I voted on wasn't chosen.
Man! Doubly denied.
Oh well, at least I got to mark something off my list.