One Fine Day

Did you ever have such a good day that when you finally get home from work at 9 p.m. you aren't tired and pissed off, but instead energized enough to paint, read, take a bath, post a blog while drinking wine and sitting around the house naked? Well, if not, you are missing out.

Okay, why was it a good day? I started off my day by organizing my thoughts, planning my week, bullshitting at work, and preparing for a 1:30 p.m. interview, which required I leave the office at noon (yeah, that's how far away Bismarck is from where I live). I started to get worried at quarter to 12 when my interview hadn't called to confirm. If I was driving 100 miles, I was not going to be ignored. So, I called and left a voicemail with my cell phone number, just in case. Then, I started driving and my mom called. She told me that one of her students was applying to Harvard Medical School and was visiting Boston - in one sentence she made me feel horrible for being nowhere near clever enough to even apply to Harvard and feel sad for not being in Boston. So, I called Pete, but by the time I called I had already gotten passed the bounds of civilization and after three calls that kept getting lost, I gave up. That's when I realized: Bismarck is in another time zone. I had made the appointment for 1:30, which I thought was in Mountain Time, but he probably thought was Central Time. So, I called again, and said, unless I had a magic carpet, I'd be about an hour late to the appointment, if it was in fact at 1:30 Central Time. I am literally to Mandan and haven't heard from him, so I have no idea if the interview I've driven 85 miles for will even be there.

Fortunately, I arrive at the military camp that is the North Dakota National Guard and go to the wrong door of the right building. Then, as I'm heading to the right door, I realize I probably should bring my tape recorder; talking to the new Director of Homeland Security is no small trifle for the press. Then, I make it in, and immediately everybody is like, "ha ha, you Mountain Time hick, you're here an hour late." But thankfully, the guy was available to meet with me. Whew.

So I start the interview and he starts prattling on right away, and I'm like, it'll be a lot easier if I record this and he's okay with that. Then, oh of course, my batteries die.

As if this guy doesn't think I'm like Bridget Jones already, he now knows I'm incompetent. I have spare batteries but I do manage to lose the back to my tape recorder.

(By the way, at this point, my day isn't even half over.)

So, then, the interview goes magnificently. At the end of the interview (thank you, Cindy, for teaching me this little trick), I ask him if there's anything I've missed out that he'd like to highlight, and he not only says that he really can't think of anything, but that I'm more thorough than most interviewers he's dealt with. Then, the best part: he took me on a tour of an emergency operations center (EOC as they call it in the biz). I finally understood some of what FEMA and the like do on a daily basis. It sort of clicked and while I can't say I'm completely convinced of the whole deal, it seemed like less of a waste of energy and tax dollars.

I'm riding on such a high that even when Cindy and Pete call to try to convince me it's 5 p.m. and I'm late to my next meeting, I will not back down and I know it is only 4 p.m., which means I actually have time to eat and find out what the hell will be happening at my 5 p.m. meeting.

I get back and learn from my boss that I actually have some grasp of what are the big issues for the meeting. I attend said meeting. I come back and probably waste a little bit of time. Then, I get rattling on and end up writing a 27-inch story on one point. So, I start writing a second full story on the other point. My boss says (thankfully) I can save that one for tomorrow. I have him look over the story I wrote over the last hour and a half (which really with my slacking should have only been an hour), and he said it's exactly what it should be, and it was just fine.

I am freaking awesome.

(This will be the longest post ever created...welcome to me being manic.)

So, we're doing this progress edition at work, which really is a bunch of feature stories compiled into one issue. Because it's such an undertaking we have deadlines each week from the 13th of January to the middle of March.

Fun!

Last thing, my Christmas.

Not that my Xmas compares to Shayna's. My god, I was jealous I couldn't spend my holiday with her and Eric in Appalachia (sp?). Anyway, I threw myself a Hawaiian holiday party. I wore a floral dress (and turned the heat up in my house). I wore a lei. I drank Mai Tais. In reality, it was warm enough that I was able to make it out and play a nice game of catch with Pete. While I did put on jeans and a long-sleeved shirt, I did not take off my dress.

Then, I came home and made ham, fried rice, a whole artichoke, and more Mai Tais. Thankfully, I did have Peter to join me so I was not so so lonesome.

The dreaded day after Xmas, I had the day off, so I went to Bismarck to blow some money. Two weeks later, I don't remember what I bought, but I remember having a lovely day.

And that wraps up the longest post ever. Hopefully, at some points, I was funny.