I think 'thinking' about this whole experience has made it worse. The advantage the ladies have is they came here suddenly, with no chance to think about anything until they got here. The worst thing so far? Those darned cameras out front when we arrived.those ridiculous cameras trying to film me in handcuffs is hideous and demeaning.

Putting on the uniform was odd. Turns out my underwire bra was a problem - the wire can be a weapon! The things you learn! Going through the door into the cellblock was scary. Going in, I knew, was my most important moment. (How would they react to me?) I decided to 'be' Deborah Norville, say "Hello," introduce myself, shake hands, etc.

Immediately, we started talking about what they were there for. They are chatty and cooperative. The clothesline is a garbage bag looped up, as is the shower rod. "Metal would be a weapon," they tell me. Toothpaste can be used to glue photos to the wall. The photos are down because the guards made the ladies clean the walls.

Later in the day, I played cards - Spades, jailhouse rules - with three other inmates. While we were playing one of the women started screaming at another. A dispute, I think over one of their kid's foul language. It went along the lines of "If you're a Christian then why did your child say ----?" Voices were raised and tempers flared. It seemed so foolish and pointless - after all, the children are being cared for by someone else and you're not really in a spot to influence your child much here.

That first night, the men started fighting and everyone in Cellblock A immediately stops.listens.and tries to identify who's involved They all seem to know the men on the other side. I guess the world behind bars is unique and known only by those who inhabit it.

Today is Sundayvisiting day. I don't have anyone coming to see me and even though I know I'm a 'short timer' here, it still makes me sad. Maybe that's because I'm tired. I don't think I slept ten minutes last night. I was so uncomfortable! The bed was hard, the blanket rough and I never knew how much I needed my pillow. No matter what I tried I couldn't get comfortable.

Today they put us on a work detail. Ordinarily, I suppose one would find that annoying or demeaning. Around here, it's a chance for a change of scenery! Armed with buckets and mops that were so dirty I can't imagine anything ever gets cleaned, we were sent into the hall outside Cellblock A to sweep and mop the floors. One of the guards joked to some of the girls, "At least when you get out of here, you'll know how to mop floors properly." My guess is that indeed, some of them never did this before!

I think this is the worst day. I'm really tired, even though I DID sleep last night. I have a kind of dull ache in my head, my neck is stiff. You can tell this will be a bad day. Becky is anxious about her court date. All the optimism she's expressed about getting out today is gone. She's now sort of back pedaling and now saying she might have to serve time for failure to appear in court.

Breakfast was better. The grits were hot.

I can feel I'm getting edgy. This 'grand experiment' has started to wear thin. I just want to get this over with! After the TODAY show segment this morning, I called my husband who said it was great television, but that Kyle and Mikaela were concerned. She cried at seeing Mommy in jail. I can't believe he let the kids watch! So much for all Mom's careful work to protect the little ones from the real details of my assignment.

I'm just tired. The girls in the cell are fine. They no longer fear me - nor I them.

Last night was amazingly noisy - AGAIN! One men's cell block was telling nasty jokes back and forth to another block LOUDLY. Can't they tell jokes to each other? And the officers on last night's shift - the men are simply rude! They seemed to deliberately be as noisy as possible. They want respect from the inmates - that seems to me to be a good way NOT to get it. All night long I had a terrible headache. At 5AM, I was happy for lights on - I took a long hot shower. (And I'd sworn I wouldn't do that before I came here!) It has been the one physically pleasurable experience since I got here. That - and the chocolate cake on Valentine's Day! Yum!

Breakfast came at 6AM. I ate a little and 'saved' the rest. Hoarding our food, sleeping because there's nothing else to do. I'm becoming more and more like the other inmates!

I didn't keep a diary because I was getting out this day. But following are some highlights.

I didn't sleep at all last night.this time because I was so excited! Today I'm coming home! I sat in my bed at 2:30am and wrote silly little poems about being in jail. And I went to bed singing , "I'm getting out of jail to-morr-row" to the tune of "I'm getting married in the morning!" What I didn't know .was when. As Sheriff Hege said before I came into this dump, "She ain't getting out till I say she's getting out." And before I got out, I had to not only record my on camera parts of the Inside Edition show, but also sign some autographed photos for the guards - and - receive the Sheriff, his wife and some of his friends who made a visit to 'Cell Block A." I just can't imagine Mrs. Hege and the Sheriff's friends make many housecalls inside the jail!

When I got out - Hallelujah! - a chance to go to the bathroom privately! And when I emerged from the jail to see a sun much more bright than I'd remembered, I was stunned to see perhaps two dozen reporters waiting to interview me. What did I tell them? That I was glad I was out, but also that I believed it was important to do what we tried to do: give a realistic picture of what a harsh jail facility was really like.

The Sheriff claims recidivism has dropped 70% -- there's no way we can verify his numbers. But my experience is that the inmates I got to know will leave with no more information on how to live a life that keeps them out of jail, than the day they walked in. They'll still have drug addiction problems, still not know how to care for a child, still not know how to make smart decisions.

I told the reporters that every woman I met had a relative who was or had been in jail. The stigma that you or I might have about going to jail doesn't exist for many of them. I got into journalism because I believe good reporting can help enlighten us all about the solutions to many of life's thornier issues. I spent five days with some women who were awfully nice to me - but have some awfully big problems in their own lives. And after five days there - and many days since then, I can't come up with a practical way to make sure my bunk in Cellblock A remains empty. There will be more women who end up assigned to it.