What an event! I had been excited for weeks at the opportunity to see Ann Coulter speak in person. As I walked towards the front doors, I saw men in tuxedos, women in lovely gowns, some carrying books for signing; you could just feel the electricity in the air. My stride quickly morphed from a mad rush to a confident gait of someone who had just hit the lottery! I was here!

I followed the signs in the lobby up the escalators and to the lobby area outside of the ballroom where hundreds of people had already started to gather. There were tables for registration so each guest could find out which table they had been assigned to. There was a table selling Ann’s latest Best Seller, “Godless.” I man I know from the Cobb County GOP recognized me and walked up to greet me. He greeted me with a hug and quickly asked me if I had a ticket for the private reception. “I’m not sure,” I replied, and I quickly presented my ticket.

“You sure do,” he said, and he gave me directions to the private party room. I could hardly believe it. My heart was racing and my stride quickly returned back to a mad rush as I charged to meet Ann. When I arrived to my destination, I was standing in a long line of people winding down a very narrow corridor. We were all smiling and waiting with anticipation to make it to the door. When I finally reached the door a woman stood in the doorway checking the names on her list. In the excitement, I had not registered yet, so I was not wearing a name tag, but was able to show my ticket and talk my way through the door. “WHEW!”

The event was hosted by the Christian Coalition of Georgia and WGKA (a local radio station owned by Salem Communications Corporation). As I entered the room I ran into my State Senator John Wiles, whom I know well from my time as a campaign manager back in 2004. I also met up with Congressmen Tom Price and Phil Gingrey, both of whom I have met before also. They were all very kind and warm in their greeting, but I was there for the main event. I made my way through the crowd towards the front of the room.

Now picture a room filled with rich, sober, Christians in their business cocktail best attire. Everyone was quiet, reserved, and quite stiff, to be frank. Then I showed up. I spotted Ann standing by herself, waiting for the next person in line for a photo-op with her. Just as I spotted her, we locked eyes. I threw my arm up in the air and waved wildly as the other hand gave her thumbs up and I called out “Hey ANN! GREAT TO SEE YOU!” To my surprise, Ann’s face lit up and she waved back with just as much enthusiasm. I am no Ann Coulter, but we crazy women recognize one of our own when we see them.

A friend handed me a form to fill out so I could get my chance to have my picture taken with Ann. I quickly filled out the form, and within 60 seconds, they called me up for my turn. As I walked towards Ann, we both just got giddy. It was amazing. She looked at my dress and said, “Oh my gosh. You are so cute!.” I said, “Oh Thanks! But you look GREAT!” We both turned out bodies towards the camera but kept looking at each other and chatting. She asked me what I do. I answered and then continued to chat. When I told her I was a FREEPer, she threw her arms out arms and exclaimed, “I LOVE FREEPERS! Oh, so you are a HARD CORE conservative. One of my OWN!” We hugged, then posed for the shot and immediately started talking again.

I told her my nickname, “eeevil conservative, with 3 e’s” I added. “Oh that’s easy to remember. I’m looking you up.” By that point we were getting some looks, there were others waiting for their time with Ann. I grabbed her hand and said, “I’m sorry, I need to let you get back to your pictures, you have lots of people here waiting.” With that I walked back over to a friend of mine who had a shocked look on his face. “Do…do…do you know her, have you two met before?” “No,” I replied with a HUGE grin on my face. He just looked at my like “How do you DO THAT!” I just continued smiling and said, “We know one of our own when we see them.”

A few minutes later, Ann opened a gift from one of the other guests. She showed such genuine appreciation and held it up for us all to see. “What a great gift,” she said, thank her adoring fan. As she reached to put the gift back into the package, I called to her, “Hey Ann, let me get a picture of you with it.” She pulled the gift back out and struck a pose for me saying, “I expect to see this all over Free Republic.” “You got it.” I answered, and I snapped the shot.

I then walked over to the beverage table and got myself a glass of ice. I set the glass down and as I reached for a small bottle of Sprite, someone else was reaching for my glass of ice. It was Mike Gallagher. “Hey Mike,” I said. He has the best smile. He smiled back said, “Hi there, I’m sorry was that your glass?” “No problem,” I laughed, “they have plenty more.” And I made myself another glass of ice. I congratulated him on his new spot on WGKA and we chatted for a bit, he took a picture with me, and then we all headed back to the ballroom.

This time, when I got back to the lobby I went to the registration table to get my name tag and find out which table I was assigned to. My name tag showed me assigned to table 13. Not bad for over 80 tables. I walked into the ballroom and a gentleman pointed to the stage and said, your table is up front, right in the center. He wasn’t kidding. My table was right behind Ann’s table. In fact, I sat literally back-to-back with Ann. I could NOT believe it. Talk about feeling quite charmed! There is so much more to share about the speakers, Mike Gallagher and Ann’s turn at the poduim. In order to be friendly to those of us who’s eyes get buggy and blurry after reading too much on a computer monitor, I will finish the “rest of the story” in another post, later.