Final Thoughts.

Finally, a picture of "Team Iowa 2004", or as I liked to call it, "Susies from New York taking over Des Moines." No, Judy will never live that down.

I guess you had to be there.

You know, it's been a week since I left Iowa. It seems like so long ago, but it really was just a week ago.

I upgraded my flight from Chicago to Philly. I went first-class, baby.

I, of course, slept through it.

I seem to be doing a lot of that lately. Now that it's over, my mind has stopped on overdrive and has let my body takeover. So sleep is my best friend. I feel like I've been hibernating.

Sure, I've visited my friends, I've spent time with my folks, and I've even spoken to two classes about the whole experience at my alma mater.

And I still am trying to wrap my head around this damn election.

But what I have a hard time understanding is that it was just a week ago that I've been home. It's such a strange feeling to have departed my daily life and activities for two and a half months, feels like I've just dropped out of my life, which has been suspended over by head for the past two and a half months, and I've suddenly jumped back into it.

It's a strange feeling, indeed. I feel strangely lost. And for some reason, I have no qualms explaining this to anyone that bothers to read this anymore.

Perhaps I am just headed right back to my reality. Perhaps this whole excersize was to get me to refocus my career, goals, my life. In fact, I think I might be right there. But I suppose I was a little naieve to think I made this decision and everything would be cool when it was over, I should have known I was turning my world upside down. Won't complain, though. I've loved every second of it.

In fact, I was going through my boxes that just arrived from Iowa and I'm laughing at most of the things. I chuckled pretty hard when I saw my stressball again. And my filebox. My WSFS hat from Seattle. AFSCME for Kerry/Edwards placards, a Jerry for Kerry fan with notes from the awesome teleprompter written on it.

Then I remembered. This was only eight days ago that I packed them. How is that possible?

Nine days ago, the picture of Megan, Jess, and I was taken at the Hotel Fort Des Moines bar where we once stalke.. er, "saw" Ron Livingston (best remembered as "Berger" from "Sex and the City") - and by the way, that was only two weeks ago. This picture was from election night as we sat, listening, watching, hoping. I will admit it was a better election night than 2000, and it was mostly because I got to spend it with these ladies.

In a week, I've realized just how much time Jess and Megan and I spent together. It's definitely been a period of adjustment since last week.

And plenty of sleep. Sweet sleep.

If you're still reading, you just got hit by the week-out emotions stick. That's the price you pay for reading. Apologies. You sure you don't have anything better to do?

Anyway, I decided to "Jerry Springer" this final post:

When life seems static and you are losing focus, it's okay to make decisions that are life-changing. It's okay to decide that it's time for you to think about yourself. That's how life is. It's okay to take a risk. Of course, it helps to have extremely good company while you do it. So you fight the good fight, you meet some new people, you have new experiences, you learn new things. And you re-learn old things. And at the end of the day, no matter how things turn out, you remember that you really can survive after all. And as is the nature of the beast, you win some, you lose some. But you live to fight another day. And what no one reminds you is that the next time around, you'll be better prepared, more ready, and more eager to fight than you ever were before. And with any good fight, you make some important friends at the same time.

This might make sense to only me. But you know what? It's what I learned. It's what I remember. It's what I've "taken away" from all of this. And honestly, that's what matters the most.

I suddenly feel like Doogie Howser.

So thank you for reading this. Thank you for your posts, your messages, your emails of encouragement. This blog is officially closed. You can still catch me at http://themonkeehaus.blogspot.com. I will be reformatting that blog since I've learned so much about blogging from this experience. So be patient, it might take some time.

In the meantime, keep in touch. Drop me a line, give me a ring. Hell, I've got some time on my hands now.

Oh. And before I forget:

Take care of yourselves. And each other.