So much going on

[Lazy Bastard]

Interesting. You should read up on courtship, with emphasis on whichever set of traditions you think will be closest to theirs. It's never a bad idea to do your homework.

My conundrum is that I don't think either party would have a thing to do with me, and yet I have no interest in running as an Independent (slim chance of success).

I'm definitely more Conservative than Liberal, but I'm not religious (I'm not a 'strong atheist', but I don't see any specific reason to believe any of the religions), and I do believe in self-enforced morality as opposed to legally enforced (of course, if something's doing harm to others, it should be illegal). I'm pro-military, pro-business, pro-morality, pro-weapon, anti-"Affirmative Action" (in my opinion, that just enforces racism), anti-extended welfare (welfare should exist, but in a very limited form, for a short period of time while new employment is secured), etc, but I'm also not anti-gay (I mean, as a heterosexual male, the idea certainly isn't appealing, but I don't mind if someone is gay), I believe early stage abortion is acceptable (I understand the religious argument against it, but I don't believe in it)...the list goes on. Either party would throw me out the door

That said, I personally believe in a very conservative moral and ethical set of principles, and I hold myself and close friends and family to an extremely high standard in that regard. If the discussion doesn't come up, Christian friends of mine usually assume that I'm also a religious man.

If Republicans could stomach my non-religiousness, I suppose that would be the best route for me to go. I don't hate religion by any measure, although I'm usually a little confused by its prevalence, and I definitely see the good it does in most communities (yes, one could point to religious wars, but most of those were simply misuse of religion for an underlying purpose), and some of my best friends are Christian, so there wouldn't be a problem with getting along, on my end. We shall see.

[BigBossman]

I finally pulled it off & asked her. She didn't reject me. Instead she told me that her family believes in courtship as opposed to dating. It is a more old fashioned, strict form of dating. From what I found out, that means that its a type of supervised dating. She said that she would run that by her dad. Her dad has to approve before we can start "courting". I don't know if I need to approach her dad or if I need to wait.

I have a lot of respect for her & her family. They are a strong conservative-Christian family. They're also involved with the Pete Riehm for Congress campaign with me. Her dad ran for a state legislature seat in Southern Mobile County (House District 105). He ran under the Constitution Party against a Republican & almost won. He lost by a slim margin (something like 100 votes). I would love it if I'm "approved". If I'm not, I'd be willing to respect their wishes.

[Lazy Bastard]

Cool. Glad to see you're still around.

Everyone gets busy with real life from time to time. Whenever you have some free time, we'll be right here.

Tough break on the ex-girlfriend, but at least there's a prospective interest in the wings. Good luck, man.

I've been getting interested in politics as well, even mentioning to my wife the possibility of my running for an office soon...funny you should say that.

[BigBossman]

I know I've been away for a few days. I've been incredibly busy & have been going through some things.

I've got myself involved in one of my other major interets, politics. In Southern Alabama, Pete Riehm is running for Congress. We are looking to get Congress Jo Bonner unseated because of his dismal voting record. I've volunteered to be part of his camapign staff. I've been doing a good bit of data entry & coming up in a couple of days, I'll be helping out at a local pecan festival. Tonight I'm going to a speaking engagement also. I've been helping to set up signs & volunteered to be a sign distributor. I've been doing this in addition to my main job.

In addition, I signed up for the Mobile County Citizen's Academy which allows people in Mobile County to find out what goes on behind the scenes in each area of the county. They only meet once a month. I've been seriously considering the possibility of running for an office in future upcoming elections. The only catch is, I don't know as much about certain areas, so this is my way of trying learn & soak up what's going on.

All that stuff has been keeping me & my mind busy. I'm trying to "get myself back on the horse" since my girlfriend broke up with me. There's another woman that has been on my mind so much that I haven't been able to sleep at night. I think I've just been nervous about talking to her. The only time I see her is at church. In a way she's like me considering that she also like politics & seems to share my passion. She seems to be kind of old fashioned, which is okay with me. I don't think she watches TV or even has the internet. I tried seeing if she was on Facebook, but didn't find anything. When I first saw her, my first thought was she had to be 19 or 20 (which is too young for me), but after doing a couple of searches, I found out that she's 28 years old, which puts her within my age range.

At all costs, I'm prepared to ask her out to dinner after church this Sunday. I guess the butterflies will continue to swirl around in my stomach until then. I'm more comfortable talking to a group of people, but when it comes to talking 1-on-1 with someone I barely know, its very nerve racking. I'll keep everyone posted on how things turn out.