This doesn’t usually happen around these parts…

How was your weekend?  Odds are, you didn’t find yourself recovering from the kind of Friday that I experienced…let me take you through it, moment by moment.

 5:50a – IT Boy wakes up.  Again.  He’s already in bed with us, after waking the first time at 1a. 

6:30 – Mr. IT heads off to the shower.  I put IT Boy in the playpen and crank up the computer to check email.  I get breakfast going.

8:00 – Little IT Girl heads off on the bus to school.  Babysitter arrives for IT Boy.  Babysitter reminds me that she’s leaving early today for a weekend getaway.

9:00 – Sitting at the computer and the phone rings.  Caller ID shows “Unknown Name, Unknown Number.”  Generally, this is a phonecall from a machine with a valley girl voice that begins, “Hiiiiiii, it’s Jessica from Limited Too calling!  I wanted to make sure you got our latest catazine…” I do a killer impersonation of Jessica, BTW.  Kids love it.  But today it isn’t Jessica. 

“Hi I’m Andrea* and I’m a producer with “Inside Edition” – I’m looking for Ellen Gerstein.”

 “Hi, I’m Ellen,” I said with trepidation.

“Are you the Ellen who writes the blog ‘Confessions of an IT Girl'”?

Fame at last…”Yes, yes I am.”

“We’re doing a story on the Hannah Montana ticket sellout controversy and wondered if we could interview you and your daughter for a show airing next week.”

Oh.  “Oh.  I suppose so…when, where?”

“We’re not sure yet, I’ll have to check with my AP – can I call you back at this number?”

Sure.  “Sure,” I said.

9:10 – spend the next 10 minutes explaining all this to the babysitter, who thinks I’m crazy.  I tell her that I work with media outlets like this all the time, and the odds that I will be called back, much less appear on TV are minuscule.

12noon – I take my lunch break and decide to shower.  Since I work at home on Fridays, showering is optional, as is hair and makeup.  I’m wearing a tie-dyed shirt that is a size too big (debated between the L and XL, went with XL, big mistake) and long shorts with my hair in one of my daughter’s headbands.  Basically, I resemble the 4th grader across the street who himself looks like Jerry Garcia Jr.   When I throw the shorts in the hamper, I notice that the tag on them says “sleepwear”.  Great.  I’ve been wearing my pajamas around town for months, and no one says anything. 

12:15p – phone rings.  Camera crew is covering Marion Jones thingy in White Plains, they’re going to be here between 4 and 4:30.  Oh, and if the kid has any friends who are also into Hannah Montana, can they come too.

12:16p – utter and complete panic sets in.  What have I done?

To be continued… 

* Names changed to protect the innocent