I spent an awful lot of my life underestimating myself and, as a result, not exceeding my own expectations.

I have been fiercely private, in part because I could never understand how a journalist could be otherwise. I was also the mother of small children, and security concerns were paramount.

I came back to work when my children were two months old. At that early age, they seem to have little awareness of anybody but their Raggedy Ann dolls, so it wasn't a matter of them missing me. I was missing them.

I was an unusually private person - in a way, kind of insufferably so. I think I thought the celebrity thing when it happened was a temporary phenomenon, and I was above it.

What I've discovered is that my kids weren't watching the 'Today' show... they watch 'Gumby' and 'Bugs Bunny!'

I've always had a lot of ambivalence about fame and celebrity.

I can cook; but not well. I figure I have six years until my children discover what their friends' mothers make for dinner.