End of a long, long day

Did anyone catch in my last post when I said I "got" to talk to the press Friday night? As if I "got" to do a good thing? I feel differently now.

I keep redrafting this blog b/c I need to vent about, but don't think the blog is the place to do that given its accessibility to unknown hands (another thing that a friend of mine dealt with today!). In any event, today has been a whirldwind of press making a mountain out of a molehill, despite my attempts (and the attempts of my well-versed colleagues) to prevent just that by taking the time to give them more info last Friday than we otherwise might normally do. My phone has literally rung 81 times. I've tried my best to avoid the phone calls, only to pick up when I shouldn't have and - in large part due to my inexperience with the press - allowed myself to be taken advantage of and said more than I needed to say. Not anyone's fault - only myself to blame. They were doing their job, and doing well, at that.

Though I can't explain more, the topic of interest could not be more benign or un-interesting. I could explain more if we were talking face to face but none of you, I trust, would be remotely interested in this!!!! I am just kicking myself. No harm done really - I just got some "air" time on local tv stations in Lubbock, Texas....which I am finding ironic, because one of the 7 people that I learned had a blog before I started this blog I had recently gotten in touch with merely b/c I had found out that she moved to Texas (not Lubbock, but still Texas). Now, I am happy I got in touch with her. But I am not so happy with Texas right this moment, and somehow I find the connection amusingly ironic:). I didn't say anything that was bad or harmful or inaccurate, just probably didn't sound as eloquent in these sound clips as I would hope to sound, especially when I should not have said anything.

My colleagues have told me to stop beating myself up over it. And they are right, I should. And I am glad I learned the lessons I did learn today with the only result that I am beating myself up rather than someone else doing the beating (did I mention I love this job???). But man, it hasn't been fun.

And the 81 calls wasted enough of my time that I did not get out of here early enough to make it to Capoeira.

But, luckily enough, there is always tomorrow...

And tomorrow I wake up with a total new found respect for the White House press secretary, even if I have little respect for others in the White House.