We have exceeded our goals, acquired new friends and donors and accelerated the mission to build simple, decent homes. We know that setting and achieving goals is important and adds to our integrity and the mission.

Our goals for this nation must be nothing less than to double the size of our economy and bring prosperity and jobs, ownership and equality of opportunity to all Americans, especially those living in our nation's pockets of poverty.

One of our goals is to add more cities west of the Mississippi. I've talked to two or three people who have never been to Las Vegas, and they're on this flight.

I'm not saying I was trying to get out from his shadow, because we're good friends and we've played on every team together, but everybody thinks I played better after he was gone. I think the team just jelled. And people forget, I hurt my wrist sliding early in Spring Training and I was out four weeks and around the time I got healthy, he got promoted.

There is a kind of victory in good work, no matter how humble.

Clearly, we are going to start reaching out all over the country for money now, ... one of my absolute heroes.