Cast of Characters:
Me47- WDW once in 1975,and again in the mid-80's(wow things have changed!! Disneyland in 1996.
DH47-never been to WDW. Disneyland in 1996
DD17-never been to WDW. Disneyland in 1996 on her 9th birthday DS7-never been to WDW. Fast becoming a Disney fanatic.
Election Day has arrived. Lots to do today. DH and I had already voted earlier. Arkansas has very easy early voting. For two weeks before the election you can go vote at the courthouse Monday -Saturday. I had last minute party details to take care of, and final pre-party cleaning to do. DH had to be in court all afternoon prosecuting traffic tickets and DWI"s. The court he is running for Judge of is the District Court. Here in Arkansas that means it is the court where all traffic tickets, misdemeanor offenses (minor offenses with the possibility of one year or less jail time), DWI's are prosecuted. In addition, Small Claims Court is in this Court as well as other matters with less than $5000.00 in controversy. So, it is the court most people are familiar with, if they have occasion to go to court.
I didn't realize how nervous I would be. What was DH thinking? I knew he'd run a good campaign. He ran for the office, not against his opponent, but we were crazy, only having lived here eleven years, thinking he would be elected against a home-grown, home-town attorney. Were we insane? All of the campaign contributors, our friends, and all the local attorneys, Judges, law enforcement officers, court clerks, etc. were invited to the watch party. I hd no idea how many people might show up. We told people that since the polls closed at 7:30, but most everyone voted earlier, that we thought folks should come between 6:30 and 7:00. DH would have to go to the Courthouse around 8:00 or so to get the official results (although our county is small and rural, we do have electronic voting machines, so counting is pretty instantaneous). We did, however, have people at every polling place. The results of each polling place are posted within minutes (supposedly) of the polls closing.
Around 7:00, a rush of people arrived (I had been worried the party might not be well attended), and the party had begun. DH's mom (she now lives in town here near us) and both of his sisters (3 hour drive) came for election night. I was still worried about whether it would be a celebration. Around 7:35 or so, the absentee and early voting results were reported. The first numbers we heard were : DH - 699, his Opponent- 159. Wow!! Everyone started celebrating those great numbers!! The party had really started! I looked around and couldn't really count how many folks were here. The numbers from all the precincts started coming in and although they weren't as huge as the first numbers, it was clear that DH was really on a roll. He and his campaign manager decided it was time for the trip to the courthouse. By the time they got there, the County Clerk was about to put up the final results....DH had won with 72% of the vote!!
The party was in full swing when they got back. We had the obligatory champagne toast. There must have been 80 plus people here! The fun had just begun! Our preacher was in attendance, we Presbyterians are pretty tolerant of the occasional intake of "adult" beverages. Pastor Steve had told DH at church a few weeks ago that, if he won the election, he would be thrown into our pool at the election night party. Normally, that would be a pretty empty threat. DH is a pretty big guy, and it would take a pretty coordinated effort to accomplish that goal. But, Pastor Steve is a Second Degree Black Belt, and I'm sure he could handle that task. So, not long after the toast, Pastor Steve told him it was time. He had DH by some sort of hold, let him take off his watch and dress shoes, and by golly, DH was in the pool!! Only one more person ended up in the pool, thank goodness.
By 11 or 11:30, things started thinning out. It was a school night! But a few of the diehard partiers and campaign committee people stayed until after 1:00 am. DH's old college roommate and another friend stayed until 3:00!! I had put on the coffee around midnight, so it had calmed down quite a bit by then. DH and I picked up a little outside and were in bed by 4:00. Right before we drifted off to sleep I asked him, "Now that you've been elected Judge, what are you going to do next?" To which he appropriately responded, "I'm going to Disneyworld!"
Me47- WDW once in 1975,and again in the mid-80's(wow things have changed!! Disneyland in 1996.
DH47-never been to WDW. Disneyland in 1996
DD17-never been to WDW. Disneyland in 1996 on her 9th birthday DS7-never been to WDW. Fast becoming a Disney fanatic.
Election Day has arrived. Lots to do today. DH and I had already voted earlier. Arkansas has very easy early voting. For two weeks before the election you can go vote at the courthouse Monday -Saturday. I had last minute party details to take care of, and final pre-party cleaning to do. DH had to be in court all afternoon prosecuting traffic tickets and DWI"s. The court he is running for Judge of is the District Court. Here in Arkansas that means it is the court where all traffic tickets, misdemeanor offenses (minor offenses with the possibility of one year or less jail time), DWI's are prosecuted. In addition, Small Claims Court is in this Court as well as other matters with less than $5000.00 in controversy. So, it is the court most people are familiar with, if they have occasion to go to court.
I didn't realize how nervous I would be. What was DH thinking? I knew he'd run a good campaign. He ran for the office, not against his opponent, but we were crazy, only having lived here eleven years, thinking he would be elected against a home-grown, home-town attorney. Were we insane? All of the campaign contributors, our friends, and all the local attorneys, Judges, law enforcement officers, court clerks, etc. were invited to the watch party. I hd no idea how many people might show up. We told people that since the polls closed at 7:30, but most everyone voted earlier, that we thought folks should come between 6:30 and 7:00. DH would have to go to the Courthouse around 8:00 or so to get the official results (although our county is small and rural, we do have electronic voting machines, so counting is pretty instantaneous). We did, however, have people at every polling place. The results of each polling place are posted within minutes (supposedly) of the polls closing.
Around 7:00, a rush of people arrived (I had been worried the party might not be well attended), and the party had begun. DH's mom (she now lives in town here near us) and both of his sisters (3 hour drive) came for election night. I was still worried about whether it would be a celebration. Around 7:35 or so, the absentee and early voting results were reported. The first numbers we heard were : DH - 699, his Opponent- 159. Wow!! Everyone started celebrating those great numbers!! The party had really started! I looked around and couldn't really count how many folks were here. The numbers from all the precincts started coming in and although they weren't as huge as the first numbers, it was clear that DH was really on a roll. He and his campaign manager decided it was time for the trip to the courthouse. By the time they got there, the County Clerk was about to put up the final results....DH had won with 72% of the vote!!
The party was in full swing when they got back. We had the obligatory champagne toast. There must have been 80 plus people here! The fun had just begun! Our preacher was in attendance, we Presbyterians are pretty tolerant of the occasional intake of "adult" beverages. Pastor Steve had told DH at church a few weeks ago that, if he won the election, he would be thrown into our pool at the election night party. Normally, that would be a pretty empty threat. DH is a pretty big guy, and it would take a pretty coordinated effort to accomplish that goal. But, Pastor Steve is a Second Degree Black Belt, and I'm sure he could handle that task. So, not long after the toast, Pastor Steve told him it was time. He had DH by some sort of hold, let him take off his watch and dress shoes, and by golly, DH was in the pool!! Only one more person ended up in the pool, thank goodness.
By 11 or 11:30, things started thinning out. It was a school night! But a few of the diehard partiers and campaign committee people stayed until after 1:00 am. DH's old college roommate and another friend stayed until 3:00!! I had put on the coffee around midnight, so it had calmed down quite a bit by then. DH and I picked up a little outside and were in bed by 4:00. Right before we drifted off to sleep I asked him, "Now that you've been elected Judge, what are you going to do next?" To which he appropriately responded, "I'm going to Disneyworld!"
