Dear Reader,

My name is Kori, a New Hampshire transplant working in Des Moines, and today is the official 2-week anniversary of when I rolled into the campaign parking lot, excited to begin a new chapter of life, with tired eyes and a hopeful heart. Oh, and a bunch of spilled Pringles in the passenger's seat, but that's besides the point.

Now it's two days before Thanksgiving, the first I haven't spent with family or close friends (who is it that once said friends were the family we choose?), but instead of bemoaning that fact, I'm happy to be with others in the same situation. As it's the season for giving thanks, I must admit, here, that I am most thankful for having arrived at a friendly and motivating environment. We're all in the same boat here, swept up in the momentum of a campaign, away from friends and family, and getting through the days with only coffee and one another to keep us going.

The past two weeks have been a mixture of incredible energy and unnerving calm. It's a funny phenomenon on campaigns, how at one moment your to-do list look more like a novel, and two days later you're having to come to the conclusion that no, you don't in fact have something due within the next three hours. Time goes much faster. I'm actually convinced that Iowa moves to another dimension every four years before the Caucus where time passes twice as fast. It's a good thing though, because after all of this is over, I'll emerge a month and a half younger. Maybe that'll get rid of some of the premature wrinkles I'm developing. It's been stressful… an 80-hour work week will wreak havoc on any kind of normal pattern of life you were leading beforehand (be warned). That said, once you decide to commit to a campaign, you can't imagine life any other way. Its hard for me to imagine just a few months ago, a Tuesday would slowly roll around, and I'd go through options for the day. I'd get off of work with enough time to read a good book, go swing dancing with friends, or just sit in my backyard watching and naming the birds going in and out of the feeder (not in the "white-eared hummingbird" sense; my regulars were named Maximillian, Suzanne, and Fido). These days, my exercise consists of running to the printer, and dinner might be a trip to the gas station across the road. I get home at 10, take two hours to prepare for the next day, and wake up at 7. It's not as glamorous as it sounds. But there's something about this lifestyle that I vastly prefer to the lazy afternoons. Now, I feel that I am living a purposeful life. Supporting Governor Richardson gives me a sense of deeper satisfaction than I achieved during my "normal life." Working for Governor Richardson's campaign adds integrity to my own life. And as I've said before, we're all in this together. Staff, surrogates, our AMAZING volunteers (we really couldn't do it without you), and all of our supporters (without whom we literally wouldn't be here)... we all share pieces of a common dream. All the stress, all the early mornings and late night meetings--it's all worth it when we all combine our efforts and approach this as a team. Bill Richardson is a great guy, genuinely, and while I'm not going to say it's a pleasure working on his campaign at all times, it's more than worth it.
So this Thanksgiving, I'm going to say thanks for the great community that I've just entered into, for the fact that even after reading all the materials we have on his biography, I still admire Bill Richardson, and for all my friends from home (whom I've sorely neglected) still putting up with me not calling them back.

Oh, and another thanks to Taco Bell. I couldn't do dinner without you.

Rock on, Iowa.