Pause for pre-k Halloween! My little skeleton piglet butterfly is in her first school Halloween parade, so I’ve had this half-hour blocked on my calendar for weeks. Frank and I cheer on the kids as they march around the block.
1:40pm
I’m mid-parade when I get a call from the executive producer of NBC Nightly News, launching me on a Pennsylvania election story for the show tonight. There’s so much political news to cover and the network has a massive team across all of our linear, streaming, and digital platforms—NBC News, NBC News NOW, and NBCNews.com. I shift a few things around to make time to huddle with producers and work up a script. I bike to work most days, and my route to the bureau this afternoon takes me right past the Capitol. Frank picks up Monroe from school today and drops her off with our nanny, passing the child-care baton until dinnertime.*
4:48pm
I grab my laptop and head to the studio downstairs for our NBC News NOW show, Hallie Jackson NOW. Ever since I started doing a “work uniform” a couple years ago, I’ve been legit shocked by how much mental labor it saves me. Blazer, tee, jeans, sneakers—done. We lead with campaign politics and close with a World Series update tonight—very October.
7:11pm
I’m sprinting out the door post-show, and I make it home in time for the last couple bedtime books. It’s a good day when I can wake up with Ro in the morning and then tuck her in at night. We’ll spend a lot of time apart while I’m in New York for election coverage. I’m lucky to have our village crashing in to make sure she doesn’t miss a beat at home—parents, in-laws, sister all traveling in to take a “rotation.”
8:39pm
Frank and I catch up on our days and start to dream up a post-election vacation plan, although we’re super behind on booking anything. I’ll head to bed in an hour to try and bank sleep… while I can.