You don't really know a woman until you've read her day diary!
From Miss America's hotel habits...to a double amputee's wheelchair reality...to an at-home mom's frustration in seeking out suitable play dates, the day diaries in this unique collection satisfy our insatiable curiosity about other women's lives. Amazingly intimate and addictive, the book transports readers to corporate boardrooms, concert halls, soup kitchens, television studios, prisons, classrooms, and households across America. Most importantly, This Day celebrates the extraordinary in the ordinary-those moments that occur throughout any given day and illuminate who we really are as individuals, as women, and as Americans.

~~~

5:00 am
“Coffee. Hook me up to an IV, I need coffee. God bless automatic coffeemakers!”
Laurelleigh Caudill, 44, El Paso, TX
Shipping and receiving manager

5:45 am
“Arrive at the station. I’m in the women’s locker room getting the rest of my uniform together. First is my bulletproof vest. I know, why do I need a bulletproof vest when all I’m doing is going to the local high school? Well, remember Columbine? I’m not going to make my self a victim if I can help it.”
Irene Crews, 25, Brea, CA
Police officer

5:48 am
“Donna Fazzari, my agent from United Talent Agency, has just arrived. She is going with me because she arranged this product endorsement. I have never traveled with “people” before. Must write speech.”
Lian Dolan, 37, Pasadena, CA
Nationally syndicated radio host

6:45 am
“Dale and I spent time in prayer together, as we do most every morning. We have a different prayer list for each day of the week.”
 
Wife of Mennonite minister

7:25 am
“Waiting in the lobby for an executive. Pray that I don’t trip and fall flat on my face while we are walking.”
Tejinder K. Grewal, 30, Royal Oak, MI
General Motors manager

7:40 am
“Arrive at work and walk into the office that I share with my two partners. For once there is no message light on my phone. My sergeant comes in and briefs us on a robbery and assault with a deadly weapon that occurred the night before. Thank God it wasn’t a sex crime or a juvenile crime. I’m not sure I would have had the energy for a call-out in the middle of the night.”
Kortney K. Dodd, 32, Anaheim Hills, CA
Detective investigating juvenile sex crimes

7:50 am
“I sit down and have a cup of coffee and read the news. The paper says the newest rage is home parties to sell adult entertainment items. Hmmm…would at least be more interesting than baskets , candles, or cooking items.”
Lynda Savard, 33 , St. Paul, MN
Physical therapist

8:00 am
“Our caregiver, Terrence, arrives. In a sarcastic voice Ian says, ‘Oh good, you won’t have to do anymore.’ When Terrence walks into computer room, Ian looks at me and says, ‘You may go now.’ It is very dismissive.”
Kate N. Pearson, 38, Parker, CO
Caregiver to husband with Lou Gehrig’s disease

9:00 am
“I eat a bowl of cold cereal, then take my blood pressure pill. Things change when you get older. I always had low blood pressure. Now I need pills. That sucks. I have other pills, too. Pills for arthritis, pills for sleep, pills for osteoporosis, vitamin pills, pain pills, calcium pills. The list is getting longer. That sucks, too. People say these are the ‘golden years’.”
Diane Norman, 62, Rockford, IL
Retired church secretary, grandmother

9:00 am
“I need my ID card or I chance a delay at the rehab facility door while I explain that I am a legitimate volunteer, that the dog will be working , that we both have had all our tests, shots, etc. Go back home to get it. I find the card in the puppy’s fleece bed. Puppy had found it on the table, which he was easily able to jump on because my husband again forgot to push his chair close to the table so it couldn’t be used as a stepladder, and I forgot to check its position before I left the house because I was in such a rush. Puppy has chewed up the corners. More sailor’s language and a few tears.”
Debi D. Davis, 54, Tuscon, AZ
Double amputee/volunteer

9:20 am
“Milt (my significant other) just came out in to the living room and was so surprised to see me sewing. He said he’d never seen me sew before. He went and got his camera and took several pictures of me…”
JoNeal Scully, 63, Charlottesville, VA
Handwriting analyst

9:30 am
“Back to the Internet . . . if it ever connects (sigh). Bad thing about small town “podunk” . . . can't get cable, and nothing high speed (sigh). Not gonna connect, so now I have to restart. I swear sometimes I HATE this computer!”
Justina M. Evans, 32, Farmerville, LA
Unemployed pipefitter

10:00 am
“I call my best pal, Joan. “Joan will you do me a big favor on Thursday?” “Sure,” she says, because she is my best pal and never says maybe or no. Joan is my beautiful friend who made me a lifetime fan of hers twenty- nine years ago when she showed me her silicone-filled breasts. She was a go-go dancer from L.A. We were cocktail waitresses together in a disco. Now we are both grannies and we still both have great breasts.”
Lake Boggan, 56, Beaverton, OR
Book publicist

10:15 am
“I used to be one of the more attuned teachers, I thought. I’m not sure which is the chicken and which is the egg here. I think my failure as a parent has kicked my confidence as a teacher straight in the teeth.”
Susan Heslep, 51, Richmond, VA
Teacher

10:30 am
“I arrive at the Los Angeles airport. Before boarding the plane, I call my staff in Washington, where it’s three hours ahead, to ask what was on the week’s agenda for the House floor.”
Hilda L. Solis, 44, El Monte, CA, and Arlington, VA
Congresswoman, U.S. House of Representatives

10:30 am
“I just made a play-date to meet at McDonald’s this afternoon. Lining up the amusement du jour is always a chore on our off-school days so I am relieved to have accomplished this relatively early. I’m sorry to say that I don’t have an abundance of other mommies with whom I’m truly compatible. I often muse that “mommy dating” has become my new social mission and I’m now on the look-out for tell-tale signs of compatibility in a mom- reading Vanity Fair ? a chic twist to the outfit? Maybe an irreverent comment? – like I used to be looking for compatibility in a man”
Tracey Sang, 37, Encinitas, CA
Stay-at-home mom, former attorney

10:45 am
“On train. Looking at river. Thinking of rowing on Charles River in college. One of my favorite sounds was the click and echo of the oars as we rowed under the bridges. One of my least favorite smells was when a couple of guys on the men’s team were having a contest to see who could go the longest without washing is shirt.”
Stephanie Zessos,38, New York, NY
Documentary filmmaker

12:00 pm
“I’m hungry. I’ve actually been hungry for the last hour. It’s so hard being pregnant when no one knows you’re pregnant, but it just doesn’t seem right to say anything yet. My clients are just used to me being focused and having the stamina to get whatever needs to be done, done. But, I’m tired. I feel like a cow.”
Christina R. Mautz, 34, Missoula , MT
Consultant to non-profits

12:00 pm
“I just talked to a photo editor at People magazine regarding the article they are writing about the harassment I experienced in high school. She tells me that she needs some photographs of me from ninth grade. I have my parents send them some, silently hoping that they choose photographs that won’t embarrass me. However, as I am photographed so often, I have made peace with the fact that there will inevitably be unflattering pictures taken. Therefore, I have decided that of approximately 70 per cent of the pictures taken are flattering, I won’t worry about the other 30 per cent (at least not too much.)”
Erika Harold 22, Urbana, IL
Miss America

12:30 pm
“Ralph’s grocery store in Calabasas. People are looking at me funny. Realize I still have glamorous makeup on from filming earlier. Try to rub some off but just make it worse. Oh well!”
Julie Benz, 30, Los Angeles, CA
Actress

12:40 pm
“200 direction cards for the wedding invitations are done! That wasn't so hard; now I just have to remember to bring them home. All my bridesmaids are mad and I know it's probably my fault. The maid of honor decided it would be best to have separate showers (one for my family, one for his friends and family, one for the work people). The others don't agree but are doing it because, well . . . because she's a CONTROL FREAK!”
Zoe JoAnna Papadakos, 39, Tarpon Springs, FL
Nurse practitioner

12:45 pm
“I took the extensions out of my hair and put them on a Trapunta quilt that I was working on and became officially a happy nappy dread. But it now means my hair regime takes up more time. I have to twist it with olive oil rolling it between my hands one lock at a time. Oh well, you have to make time for what is important.”
Chezia Thompson Cager, 51, Baltimore, MD
Language and literature professor

12:45 pm
“My office is in a high traffic area near the main employee entrance door. The employees, managers, and phone personnel walk by, take a quick peek, and keep on stepping. I know that everyone is trying to size me up. I just want to do my job and go home every day. I actually feel like people are staring at me all the time. I also hate it when people try to give you the lowdown on everyone in the office. I really don’t want to know.”
Robyn Sharpe, 41, Pasadena , CA
Human resources professional

3:10 pm
“As usual when I try to take a nap, my loving husband is talking to me! Yes honey, no honey, what the hell is he talking about?”
Belinda Gianola, 37, Lake City, CO
receptionist

4:02 pm
“Almost drove off without Kinsale's seatbelt on and mine too. Luckily she said, “I'm not ready yet.” Sometimes I wonder who's the mom.”
Mabelle Drake Hueston, 38, Corona del Mar, CA
Mother of four

5:10 pm
“Curves for Women is such a stupid name, thought up by some guy in Waco, TX. But it suits me. Most of us who exercise here are either dumpy or gray-haired, or both, and I love seeing this circle of women stretching, pulling, jumping to the oldies music. Curves or not, doing this I think we all look great. Today I don’t know any of the others. Sometimes I do. I come at different times. We can take our half hour anytime the place is open. It’s a No Big Deal commitment that is easy to keep. A woman across from me must have done aerobics; I copy her dancey moves. Walk in, do three circuits, walk out. That’s it. Dr. Sachs said I should exercise. She will be pleased. Everything I do is for approval. I haven’t outgrown that.”
Agnes Anna Zephyr, 60, White River Junction, VT
Library assistant

2:00 pm
“Class is over. Everyone is getting ready to go home. See you tomorrow. We all leave at the same time. First, I was afraid that they would make fun of me, but I want my GED more than anything. So when I came here the teachers and the students treated me like everyone else. You see I am sixty years old.”
Dorothy Thomas, 60, Roxbury, MA
Earning her GED after forty-five long years

5:10 pm
“My brother calls to tell me he visited our mother today and she is doing fairly well. As well as can be expected at ninety-seven. Oh dear. How I miss her too. I miss her AND SHE IS ALIVE. Sometimes I jus want to be able to pour my heart out to her so she can comfort me-but the poor thing is so stone deaf she doesn’t hear what I’m saying. Even the hearing aid doesn’t seem to help. She has her own issues now- how she can possibly give any of herself to me?”
Binky Chambers, 66, Kennebunkport, ME
Widow

6:35 pm
“Putting pages in sheet protectors is very time consuming. This job will take 1,450 sheet protectors and we will make 2,225 copies. Can you imagine putting that many pages in sheet protectors?”
Kimberly G. Garrett, 33, Washington, North Carolina
part-time copy center employee and online college student

8:02 pm
“I just sat down and took a breath. I’m drinking my fifth Diet Coke for the day. I should titrate the caffeine with some red wine. Life is all about finding balance, is it not?”
Karen L. Williams, 44, Mt. Pleasant, SC
Director of home healthcare services

8:15 pm
“Standing in the lobby of Radio City Music Hall, awaiting the VH1/ Vogue Fashion Awards, amidst a sea of fashionistas, each one trying harder than the next to exude an air of fabulousness. I want to remind them all that they are not the models, actresses, or the designers who will be on the stage, but clearly everyone felt the need to dress as though it were an audition. There is a tremendous amount of air kissing going on and I find myself both entertained and a little repulsed.”
Marisa Thalberg, 33, New York, NY
Executive Mom

8:17 pm
“Running very late. Fabulous dress rebelling against me. Carefully placed tape, intended to keep breasts from leaping out at an inopportune time, proving weak and ineffectual. Pre-red carpet panic setting in. Running very, very late.”
Aisha Tyler, Los Angeles, CA
Actress-Comedian

8:30 pm
“In the lobby of a Citibank: I came here for an extremely cautious ATM withdrawal, $20, so I can eat dinner and go to a movie. A date with myself. Out the money spat from the machine, but there was only one $10 bill! Great. What am I supposed to do now? My account has registered a $20 loss and I only go half of it. I cannot afford this shit. I called Citibank on my cell phone in the lobby. They told me I have to file some sort of a report with my bank. It could take weeks to get reimbursed. I need that $10 right now! I want to eat and see a movie, not choose between them. Wait a second…hold on…oops. It’s, um, another $10 bill. They’re stuck together. Let’s see, ten plus ten is…yeah. That would be twenty.”
Rachel Clift, 29, Saxtons River, VT
Independent filmmaker

10:00 pm
“Escaped Junior League meeting. During the first thirty minutes two women cornered me and asked if I was planning to have children.”
Michelle Barnes, 39, Morrison, CO
Marketing executive

10:00 pm
“Steve and I have a bite at the Daily Grill. We recap the day's events with each other and think about how lucky we would be to have a little girl like Ashley. We are working with a surrogate to create a family of our own. This is a very exciting time in our lives and we are looking forward with lots of hopes and prayers to next year.”
Linda Lore, 48, Glendale, CA
CEO and President of Frederick’s of Hollywood

10:00 pm
“The bedtime routine: put eye drops in the dog’s eyes; give a dog a treat for going potty. Button up the house, light’s off, alarm on. Floss and brush. Wash face, eye drops for me, kiss hubby goodnight. A little TV, then to sleep. Thank you, God, for the blessings of a regular day.”
Diane Norman, 62, Rockford, IL
Retired Church Secretary and Grandmother