Now it can be told, or The Most Coolest Thing I Have Ever Done

Earlier in the week I alluded to a Very Exciting Event for which I was preparing.

Last Friday night we got home from Jamaica, scarfed some burgers, and then I made the mistake of checking my e-mail. Amidst the sale offers from FootSmart and Overstock.com was an e-mail from an old friend from our days in Howard Dean's campaign. He is now working with the Edwards campaign and wanted to know if I knew anyone who would be willing to host a house party/fundraiser on very short notice, because Elizabeth Edwards was doing a book signing nearby. I don't live in one of the preferred towns, but I said that in a pinch I'd be willing to host it here. Next thing I know I'm getting a message from the Edwards campaign thanking me profusely for offering to host the party.

Would YOU turn down the opportunity to have the possible next First Lady of the United States visit YOUR home?

I thought not. Neither could I.

I am an indifferent housekeeper at best. Mr. Brilliant and I both tend towards packrattery, and though we have made great strides at decluttering since the Great April Flood Adventure, we still have a long way to go. So since arriving home last Friday evening, I have been spending every spare minute trying to get this house in at least halfway reasonable shape for hosting up to 50-75 people and buying food and refreshments for that many people.

Thanks to the intrepid youngsters representing the Edwards campaign, who took charge of where to set up the VIP reception vs. the main get-together and kept people from blocking our neighbors' driveways, and to our friends George and Ruriko for their indispensable help in setting up the food while I was freaking out about where to put what, and especially thanks to Mr. Brilliant for agreeing to this insanity, we hosted what I hope is a very successful event for the Edwards campaign.

Now, our house is a work in progress; emphasis on "work" and very little "progress." It takes either some guts or a great deal of insanity to bring 50 people you don't know into a house where you are still putting cabinet doors on your kitchen, where your bathroom door is peeling from a long-ago flood from before you even owned the house, and where your basement family room SCREAMS "1976!" Frankly, I was less intimidated by the thought of having ELIZABETH EDWARDS IN MY HOUSE !!!!! than I was at having a bunch of Bergen County Democrats.

But the thing went off without a hitch, hopefully the campaign made some good money out of it, we have tons of cookies and cheese left over, and I am exhausted.

But Mrs. Edwards is just as amazing as you'd think. Indistinguishable from any of dozens of Bergen County suburban matrons, this woman is undergoing chemotherapy, doing a book tour, and campaigning. She'd been doing appearances and talking nonstop since early this morning, and headed to her book signing after leaving here. Whatever reservations you may have about her husband, just think about who he married. Then decide if he has the judgment required to be president.

I think he does.

Photos coming soon.