Post by Wyldcomfort on May 15, 2007 6:08:40 GMT -5
Once again I am completely exhausted. I really don't know how the Legislators and their staff can do this day after day. Our elected public officials are worth their weight in gold. I had a wonderful visit with Senator Devlin after the meeting. He is a very nice man and will be a wonderful asset to our group. He is well versed and has years of children safety issues under his belt. He did an incredible job presenting the bill to the House. Senator Metsger graciously came over to show his support for the bill and also gave an excellent speech in support of the bill and our efforts. We made a wonderful showing today - I was proud of my team. It would take me all night to list them but maybe after some sleep I will give it a shot. Kyleen, from Parks, was outstanding. It must have been the first hearing where there was NO opposition. We finished the hearing and they closed without voting on it because there was a concern from a rental agency. We have that all cleared up and they will meet for a vote sometime next week. I also spoke in depth with Jeff from the Oregonian. His intent is to protect children and bring awareness to this issue. I was too harsh and reactive yesterday when I said to canc. your paper, etc. and I am sorry for overreacting and not following the very basic rule that I have instilled in my children: There are always two sides to an issue and in most cases both sides tend to be radical - it is in the middle ground that you will find the truth and answer... The Oregonian is one extreme and we could be considered the other. Jeff is doing what he feels is right and so are we. He has no malice and his concern seems genuine. We can agree to disagree with a common goal of protecting our children. He likes SB101 and I expressed our goal needed to be seeing its success regardless of our different points of view. I was wrong and I am sorry - I am guilty of jumping to conclusions and I wasn't fair in I disagreeessment of him. I will get roasted a bit on Wednesday but all is fair and it is no reason to be vindictive or childish. I really enjoyed the conversation I had with him and hopefully we will be able to work together in the future. Sorry I got a bit emotional - the last few days have been weighing very heavy on me. I actually lost it on the front steps of the capitol today with poor Jim Myron. Everything seems so huge and so important. I have spent far to many nights reading about these kids and how they died. It didn't help they had homeless kids on the steps of the capitol and inside were more kids in need of health insurance. Triple whammy. This has been a fast moving train and I guess it all caught up with me. Thanks to Jim, Ed, Barrett, Hazel and about twenty other kind folks for your support. Thanks also to Randy for the chocolate. My day started out with sending my Jenny off for a week to outdoor school and ended with hitting a bird with the car on the way home. I went back to get it to bring it home and it died in my hand. Somehow I think there was a lesson in this day. For all that came from far away, thank you from all of us. We are an amazing group and today was only a small indication of the incredible caliber of each of our team members. I will update you as soon as I hear anything. Thanks for keeping me going - Lindy