severe case of drymouth...

I was just telling Beth about how dry my mouth was during my recent interview. I’ve never experienced anything like it. I felt like I’d chewed on paper towels for about five minutes, sucked on some desiccant, then washed it all down with a gallon of some kind of diuretic. I’m talking bone dry. Hot…sandy…middle of the Sahara dry. You ever try to eat an overcooked piece of toast with nothing to drink? Multiply that by 17 and you’ll have some idea of what I felt like.

I’m not sure why my mouth dried out so quickly. I mean, to my surprise, I really didn’t feel very nervous…my speech was unhurried and deliberate, my pulse felt normal, and I wasn’t sweating at all. (A soaked collar and sweaty palms are usually the first signs of my nerves getting out of control.)

Thankfully, the agents had prepared a nice tall glass of ice water for me. I felt like I was taking a drink every two seconds, but I guess it didn’t really matter. I was afraid they might take my constant swilling as a sign of being nervous, but they passed me and that’s all that matters.

I’m just glad I didn’t look like this: