Sucky Days and Campaigns

Friday was just one of those days. I'm usually an "up" person, and I'm old enough to have confidence in myself as a person and in my abilities specifically. The week had been crazy at work with a city council meeting on Tuesday and my first poll worker training on Thursday.

Elections are always a little nuts; it's the nature of the beast. I know some recorders who don't live in the communities they work for, and they say it can be easier because they're not so emotionally involved in the campaign issues. However, I am a resident, and I am emotionally involved. But I can't be involved anywhere but inside my head because I'm also a city employee and the election official. *sigh*

So that sets up my mood on Friday. I hadn't slept well earlier in the week, so I was tired. I'd finished the line critique for WIP #1 with my edits earlier in the week, and I'd started reading it to hubby Thursday night.

The changes sucked.

Not the suggestions. The way I fixed them. So I'm going to have to fix them some more. More than a little bit. How could I have messed up all those great ideas?

The next thing was an email from a peer asking if one of my candidates had really called someone a "witch" in the voter information pamphlet that began hitting homes on Friday. I rushed to the original document and, yep, the word "witch" was there. It should have said "which" but somehow I'd missed it even though I'd read the dang thing several times (as had other people, but it's my responsibility).

The thing that hit the hardest was the email received from one of the poll workers about the training the day before detailing all the ways it had confused the attendee, had sent him home with more questions than he'd come with. You know, the training I'd spent two weeks working on. The one that I'd thought through, agonized over, and fretted about.

Epic fail!

The email included good feedback because I sincerely want the training to be useful. The timing sucked, though. It felt like confirmation that I was a waste of space.

I posted on Facebook after I read the email:

This is one of those days where I feel my children were right. I really am the stupidest person God put on the earth. What am I thinking?

I felt like a failure on so many levels.

It's interesting how a few negative things can hit you when you're already feeling a little tired. I was already dragging and ready for the weekend. Suddenly I was spiraling down, down, down.

Though, I have to admit that everyone in my office did have a good laugh over the "witch" remark once I got over it and told them about it. I wonder how many of the 20,000+ homes that flier went out to will catch it. lol

My deputy was off on Friday, and she's always got great suggestions, so I'll bounce some ideas off her to see what we can do to improve the training before the next session on the 30th.

Perhaps the best thing came last night as I continued reading WIP #1 to hubby. I liked the section we were in much better than the ones I'd read to him the night before. It was a salve to my wounds. Maybe there was hope after all.

Campaigns

Click here for details

I've got a lot of blogging friends who've decide to participate in Rachael Harrie's Campaign and have encouraged me to do so. I've met such wonderful people in other events, I gave in. As Rach says in her post:

Length of the Campaign

This Campaign will run from August 22nd to October 31st. I'll be closing the List of Campaigners on August 31st, so join up before then if you want to come on board!

Organized Campaign Events

During the Campaign, I'll be running Campaigner Challenges and the Campaigner Notice-Board. Other than that, go for your life! I've set up a Campaigner Yahoo Group here, for you to chat among yourselves, and there'll be lots of Twitter-talk at #writecampaign.

Mark these dates in your diary now:

1. First Campaigner Challenge - Monday, September 5
2. Second Campaigner Challenge - Thursday, September 22
3. Third Campaigner Challenge - Monday, October 17

So, what about you? What are you up to this weekend? I hope I'm finally going to get see the movie The Help.