A difficult day

I was officially laid off today. It's new territory for me, as I've never really been sure of what it felt like to be laid off. But, today, it happened.

It came as somewhat of a surprise because I am the longest tenured reporter. However, the papers the company is keeping have had a lot of turnover this past year and the managers said they wanted to keep SOME consistency there.

Anyway, so this is what getting laid off feels like? Weird. I guess I was due. Lots of my journalism brethren have been feeling the pinch for a lot longer than I.

Anyway. The good news? I'm officially on board as a PR practitioner for Real News PR, a journalists only PR agency here in Dallas. And, whatever. I mean, journalism as we know it? It's nearly over. I'll keep writing, but no one will have the luxury of being a purist anymore. From now on, it's every man for himself.

Praying for politicians

A couple of weeks ago, husband Brandon and I had a fairly interesting conversation about prayer. Specifically prayer for leaders. You know how when you're in church, you ALWAYS hear pastors praying for Dubya? Well, I don't remember anyone praying for Bill Clinton. Why is that? Is it my imagination or is it just easier for evangelical Christians to pray for someone they agree with? Anyway.

Also, there's this. Obama is going to pay for my gas and my mortgage!

Working from home or hardly working

Today is day 1.5 of the new experiment in the employment of Katy: working from home. I say day 1.5 because on Monday, I went to the office for a few hours to turn in a couple things for this Friday's paper and gather up some stuff to help me do my job here at home.

So, today, Tuesday, I've been working from home. This means that for the first time in maybe a year I was in my little desk chair at 9:15 a.m. I usually manage to roll into my office (WHICH IS 30 MINUTES FROM MY HOUSE IF THERE'S NO TRAFFIC) at about 10 a.m. Shut UP. It's really hard to wake up at 7:30 a.m., hit my snooze button for an hour, and then drag my ass into the shower to make it to work at all. The idea that I could get up at 8 a.m., take my shower and get ready, and then be in my office down the hall at 9:15 a.m. worked out quite well for me, thanks.

I've actually been productive today. I called some people and did some interviews. I went to a couple of polling places to interview people holding signs and listened to them talk about how they're scared of Barack Obama. I have yet to find any people holding signs who are not scared of Barack Obama, but that's probably because my coverage area is West Plano, Collin County, Texas, thanks. In a little while, I'm going to head out to a couple of election night watch parties to chat with local voters about their election experiences. And, anyway, it's just been a good day.

So, did you vote? Because if you didn't, I want you to know that you don't have to.