Whoa

Good gravy, I hadn't realized it had been more than a month since my last post! I don't have any real excuse except that there wasn't much blog-worthy to write about for a long time, and then when there was, I was very busy. But I'm not busy right now, so I'll do a little post.

The most exciting thing recently is that I got to meet Hillary Clinton. Not only did I get to be in the foyer when she reported for duty at the State Department last week, but I also got to be in the room later in the day when she and Biden and Obama announced the new middle east/central asia envoys. Yesterday, Secretary Clinton gave 45 minutes (originally only going to be half an hour) to a group of us representing State Department "affinity groups". I was there as the representative for the Young Professionals Society (YPro). I had a full 60 seconds of her undivided attention while I explained our organization, what our members are about, and what our concerns are. I was really nervous, since I was acutely aware of not wanting to waste her time, but hopefully it didn't show. I did notice right before it was my turn to speak that breathing was no longer an unconscious biological process. It took effort. I'd breathe in...expect my body to do the usual breathing out thing, which wouldn't happen...and then make a conscious decision to exhale. Then I'd think, hmmm, guess I should breathe in again. Rinse, repeat. It was like that for about 3 minutes and I was worried about making myself hyperventilate or something. I also noticed a peculiar tingling in my hands as I neared the last 15 seconds of my spiel. Maybe I hadn't breathed in a while and oxygen wasn't reaching my extremities. At that moment, I realized everyone in the room was looking at me. Which OF COURSE they were, because I was the only one talking, but the thought popped into my head "what if they're looking at me because I look like I'm about to pass out?". But that didn't happen.

Before we started the meeting, she walked around the conference table so we could each introduce ourselves, shake her hand, and get a picture. Hopefully they'll get the pictures to our group somehow so I can post it here! She was very gracious and personable. Good handshake. I noticed her wedding ring set was interesting, although I'd be hard-pressed to remember how it looks now. That's pretty much my synopsis. It's going to be hard for me to top that experience anytime soon!