today is the first day in almost two weeks that i've left my office before 7:30ish pm. granted i was there before 7am. and it's not like i'm getting paid overtime. while i wasn't paid OT at my last job either, the difference is that 1) here, they at least offer; 2) they pretend to genuinely appreciate me; and 3) it's not just ... expected ... of me. so i do it.

what can i say? i'm a pushover.

in celebration of the first two huge communications pieces i've completed and released since i started as communications department (ones i've been working 10-12 hour days for the last two weeks to write, help design, and print for today), i was given 5 minutes to present at today's national board meeting.

as a point of reference, we don't just have a board of some people we found through an escort agency. among the likes of ralph nader and dozens -- literally, dozens -- of harvard law alumni (with connections to the majority of capitol hill and the supreme court), we have the top partners, founders and chairmen from most of the top 100 law firms in new york and washington, dc.

i even blew my hair out. which in my book, makes anything a big deal.

i was set to be introduced by one of the board members i work closely with. given that he tried to set me up with his son on our last conference call, (insisting i take down his number and call "to just to do lunch or something"), i assumed it meant he liked me. him, not his son. who i didn't call.

then the introduction began. for obvious reasons, i can't quote it word for word. but here's how it basically went:

"as chair of the communications committee, we've made some changes in our organization's communications tactics. for one, we've decided to stop spending resources on someone in-house worth a lot of money and have instead out-sourced our needs to a talented and experienced firm ... ... but anyway, here's our in-house communications associate, debbie rosenbaum, to discuss and present the materials that the consulting group has worked to develop for us."

those are my materials.

he said some other things in between, but i have no clue what.

this guy just called me cheap. i mean, i joke about them "not being able to afford someone legit" which is how they wound up with me, but this guy just legitimized that to -- the entire board. are you kidding me?

nothing like introducing someone by touting their strengths despite their weaknesses. oh wait, strike that; reverse it.

look. i'll admit it. i'm young. i don't have extensive professional experience. but i've also met a whole bunch of people with a whole bunch of experience who are still a whole bunch of morons. i may not be old enough, but i "get" it.

and i have a lot of shit i want to get done in this life so i don't have time to be held back by the fact that i'm young. indeed, my learning curve is steep, and i screw-up a lot (more on that another day), but i'm faking my job pretty-damn-well.

anyway. the "stellar" introduction threw me off my game, i can't really recall how my presentation went.

i remember it was fast. probably cheap and easy too.

just like me.

(postscript: and five lawyerly board members handed me back my blood-sweat-and-tears-communications pieces noting two small typos and the rest of the text fully edited. thanks guys; "good job" would have worked too.)