N is for No More NaBloPoMo!

I survived this month's NaBloPoMo challenge. All I had to do was post every day for a full month. I was writing almost every day anyway, but this was truly a challenge. I admit, I strayed from the theme, which I believe is okay. I'm not bored with blogging... not by a long shot. I love all the new blogs I've discovered, I've improved my writing, but now I'm tired.

I'm not going to take part in NaBloPoMo for May. I'll wait and see what the theme is for June and decide then whether or not I'll take part. I had fun with this challenge... who knows what's next?

D is for Dorky

I have discovered a direct correlation between the length of time I've been blogging and the magnitude of my dorkiness. I've always been one of those people who are comfortable using the computer, good at grasping new programs or skills, but I can't explain why or how any of it works.

I started the blog in January and I really feel like I've embraced the concept. I still struggle with the direction of my writing. I intended to blog more about the media... what it was like to be part of that group, and what it is like now that I've left the media. But I find I'm writing more about myself, my friends and family, and about being a mom more than anything else.

I've entered a blog challenge on NaBloPoMo... which has exposed me to some other awesome bloggers. (ellen, the Mama, you know who you are!) It's weird to think I've made friends in cyberspace... but very cool at the same time... said the girl who collected Pen Pals when she was little.

I've also figured out ways to track who's reading my blog. I've installed a blog counter (two actually, but I like StatCounter the best) that helps me log the number of hits... but it also tells me where they are coming from. Yesterday I had hits from as far as Mexico, Brazil, Thailand, Sweden, Hungary, Canada, and Italy. I've also seen hits from France, Poland, and England. I just think this is so cool! I just wish I knew who these people were and how they stumbled into my little corner of cyberspace.

I know the comments form is like a guest book. I wish people would leave me a note when they stop by to read. So if you're a regular, or just visiting, I invite you to send me comment. I'd love to hear from you!

More photos

trying for a few more... this is taking FOREVER!!! So much for DSL being faster...

So, we have Sangeeta and me, and Sangeeta and Rich, the Renwick Building (otherwise known as the Smithsonian Castle), my "postcard shot" of the Washington Monument.

Photos from the trip to D.C.

the WWII memorial. it's really beautiful.

Capitol Hill (obviously)

Sangeeta and me by the reflecting pool between Washington monument and Lincoln.

The weather was fabulous. Temps in the 80s and sunny, except for Sunday. I think mother nature was just preparing me for the brutal weather back home. It was in the mid to upper 40s today in Milwaukee. It's supposed to drop below freezing tonight.

I'm back...

After a fabulous trip and a bumpy plane ride home... I'm back in 'Tosa. Whew! It was a whirlwind weekend of good times, good friends, good food, and a great city.
I fell a little bit in love with Washington, D.C. Everytime I visit a cool city, I want to move there. I feel that way about Chicago, Boston, New York, Paris, Munich, Florence, and now D.C.
Funny, three of those places are cities that Sangeeta lived in. Wish we could be closer in distance, but glad you always pick cool cities to visit! I'll post pictures tomorrow night!

For those wondering, I did fine being away from Alex. Alex on the other hand had a rough weekend... he ended up with a fever Saturday, Craig took him to urgent care and Alex had pink eye and a double ear infection. Craig definitely earned his "Super Dad" cape after this weekend!

I is for Imagination

“Run Daddy! There’s croc-o-diles!” said in a growling, little boy voice, emphasizing each syllable.

Alex has suddenly developed an active imagination.
He’s got snakes, bugs, or dinosaurs in his bedroom.
He plays pretend catch… he’ll have his baseball glove on and throw you an imaginary ball.
He does monster voices. Stories are invented about what happened to the trailer of semi that’s without a trailer. He uses his toy power saw to “cut” and style my hair. It’s really quite amusing!

I hope that imagination continues to grow strong. I’m nurturing it with a love for books as well.
I am a sucker for him when it comes to books. Sometimes if he’s particularly good during a trip to Target, we’ll stop by the book aisle and pick up a new one. I also love that my aunt sends him giftcards to Borders for his birthday and Christmas. I love turning Alex loose to pick out a new book. He’s nearly three years old, and already has all three shelves of his bookcase jam packed with books.

It’s fun to see his imagination play sparked by the contents of those shelves. I promise to keep adding to those shelves often as he grows bigger.

Funny flight story

So my flight out of Milwaukee was delayed Thursday morning... because one of the planes in front of us hit a TURKEY on the runway at Mitchell Airport. It made such a mess that the county had to shut down that particular runway to clean it up... and all the planes waiting to take off including mine had to use a different runway. So we were delayed about 15-20 minutes, but everyone on the plane got a good chuckle out of that. The turkey made us late!

By the time you read this post...

I will already be in D.C.

My flight left at 7:45AM CST - from Milwaukee. I'm flying Midwest Airlines... Milwaukee's hometown airline and the "Best care in the air." Sadly, no freshly baked chocolate chip cookies on this flight. Those are only available on flights after 10AM. I'm due to land about 10:25AM.

No, I'm not blogging from the plane. (That would be cool though.) I'm experimenting again with the whole "Blogger in Draft" thing. It worked really well last weekend and it's taking some of the pressure off of posting every single day.

I'll try to post some pictures from the road. It's going to be so much fun!

Meet Payton!

Here are a couple of pictures from the weekend. Alex did such a good job of holding Payton! He was a natural! And Payton did a good job of not squirming! Look at that cute little face!

I bet they're good buddies as they grow up!

I'm a bad Aunt!

So I posted about my new nephew, Payton, and posted pictures of Nate and Jon on their birthday. It's now nearly two weeks past Matt's birthday, and I just realized I didn't post to Matt on his birthday. So Matt, happy birthday 13 days late! I can't believe you're 9!

Oh and here's a picture of me holding Payton from the weekend. More to follow!

Y is for Yippee! and Yarn

Yippee!!! I leave for DC on Thursday. I can’t wait for girl time! And I miss my friend Sangeeta so much! It’s a long overdue visit. I'm in frantic list-making mode. What to pack. What I need to do before I leave.

And yarn… I need to go buy some more. Didn’t buy enough for a blanket. Need about 3 more skeins of each color. Oops. So I headed back to Wal-mart today to buy enough skeins for one blanket. The color is called "pink camo." It's brown, pink, khaki, green and cream variegated. I'm going to pair it with a raspberry colored yarn. That one will be for my grandma. I got a gorgeous boucle last week, too. Didn't buy enough of that either. So in a week or two I'll go back and buy more. Need to pace myself on the purchase of yarn. I've got no place to keep it but plastic bags right now.

And I just logged on to the TSA website and discovered I CAN bring my crochet and or knitting supplies on the on the plane! Hooray!

Great weekend, again!

We had another great weekend back home. We got to meet Payton, who is absolutely adorable. I don't have time tonight to post pictures, but I promise I'll post some tomorrow.
It's really late, just got back from the grocery store, and I'm still exhausted from the weekend.
More tomorrow!

One of my favorite dinners

Meat Apple Pie


1 lb lean ground pork (can substitute ground chicken or turkey)

1/2 cup finely chopped onion

1/2 cup Italian seasoned bread crumbs

1/2 cup chicken broth

1/2 teaspoon salt

dash of pepper

pastry for a two crust 9" pie

2 medium apples; peeled, cored, sliced thin

2 tablespoons brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon


Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Brown meat and onion until done and onion is tender.
Drain off liquid and remove from heat. Stir in breadcrumbs, broth, salt and pepper.
Line 9" pie plate with pastry for one crust. Fill with meat mixture.
Combine apples, brown sugar and cinnamon in a bowl. Toss to coat. Pour over meat mixture.

Place other pastry on top, seal and flute edges. Cut vents in top for steam to escape.

Bake for 35-40 minutes. 6-8 servings.

E is for Experiment

I'm actually on the road this weekend. We're meeting the newest nephew, little Payton. I plan on taking tons of pictures and I'll post some here as soon as we are back.


So I'm experimenting with Blogger in draft. One of the new features is the ability to set a date and time for posts. So I'm writing this on Wednesday the 16, but it's not going to post until the 19th. We'll see if it works! I'll probably do the same thing while I'm in D.C. if this experiment works.


While we're home I hope to indulge in one of my favorite "only found at home" foods... Happy Joe's Taco Pizza. It is the best on earth. They invented Taco Pizza. You can actually have them shipped now, which borders on the ridiculous, but I have actually considered having one shipped here. It's that good. One of the first shows I produced was a weekend morning show. It was actually two different shows... one was all news and feature packages from the feeds, the other was 5 minutes of news and then guests of my choosing. I booked Happy Joe himself to come on for National Pizza Day. The man brought so much pizza it was crazy. But it was so much fun, too.


So this is my experiment with blogging in advance. I really hope it works, or I might get kicked out of NaBloPoMo.

Wisconsin Woman Relieved After Finding Missing Yarn

(WAUWATOSA) A mother of one from the northwest side of this Milwaukee suburb expressed relief late last night, after confirming she hadn't, in fact, lost her mind. Four skeins of yarn in yellow, green, pink and blue baby shades were recovered from a box in the basement after a brief search.

"I had been hunting for the yarn for about a week," she said. "I knew I bought the yarn a little over nine years ago when my nephew Matt was born. I wanted to make him a baby blanket. But after a couple of weeks of trying, I figured out I didn't know how to crochet after all."

The yarn has been carted back and forth to three different apartments and now a house in the time the woman has lived in Wisconsin. Other various craft project leftovers were also discovered.

The woman's husband actually hoped the search would take longer.
"I was hoping that the end result would be her cleaning out some of the junk in the basement," he said. "She's got boxes from college that she still hasn't unpacked!"

The woman also purchased four new skeins of yarn yesterday evening. She plans to purchase a clear plastic tub with a lid to store all the yarn. "My ultimate goal is to become a knitting/crocheting machine," she announced.

###

Fun With Yarn

So back to the whole "Don't drink and crochet" thing.

My book club friends and I finally had our crochet night. It was a BLAST! Michelle is extremely crafty, and crocheted the other three of us in the group beautiful baby blankets back when the three of us had babies within a few months of each other. We have tossed around the idea of having Michelle teach us to crochet, but just never did anything with it... until Tuesday night.
Lisa was so excited she went to the library, checked out some books, and crocheted a tiny blanket for her daughter before we even got started as a group!

We all came, armed with wine, food, yarn, and hooks. We chatted for well over an hour, and then we finally got down to business. It wasn't easy. As I've mentioned before, I've been knitting, which requires two needles, different hand/wrist motions, etc. Once I got out of those motions I was on a role. But apparently I was sipping a bit too much wine. I was finishing what i thought was my second row of single crochet stitches, when Michelle took a look at my work.

"Did you mean to stop halfway across and turn it around?"

Um, no. WOW. How did that happen?

Oh well, I took out that messed up row and played with it some more last night. My plan is to sneak out tonight or tomorrow afterwork and buy a giant hook and some really soft yarn and make a blanket or two just doing single crochet stitches. I'd really like to make one for my grandma, who turns 90 next month and is recovering from having a pacemaker put in last weekend.

Craig apparently didn't realize I was going to be crocheting with my Book Club buddies Tuesday night. My frantic search in the basement for yarn I bought nearly 10 years ago when I learned my sister was pregnant with her first child (who just turned 9 last month) was not enough of a clue that I was working on something. My digging through my late grandmother's old yarn basket for a decent color/texture of yarn didn't tip him off either.

He said "Wow. How boring are we husbands that the four of you need to get together and play with yarn on a Tuesday night?"

Boys. They just don't get it.

My 100th Post, one post late

I've seen other bloggers do this for their 100th post. So mine is the 101st post. Oh well!

100 Things About Me

1. My favorite color is purple

2. I’m a Leo.

3. My family means everything to me.

4. I will do anything for my family.

5. I will do anything for my friends.

6. I want to be an author.

7. I want to be famous.

8. I want to wear a bikini again.

9. I suffer from road rage.

10. One of my favorite things in the world is watching Craig play with Alex. Craig is such a great dad, and Alex just loves him so much. Sometimes when the two of them are together, I just stop and watch them. It just fills me with joy!

11. I learned how to read when I was 4 years old. We had just moved to Illinois in December of 1979. It was snowing and my mom was busy with my brother, who was just a baby. I wanted her to read to me, she told me she was busy and to sound out the words like she showed me. Several hours later I went back to her and read her the book… “One fish, two fish, red fish blue fish.”

12. I have a vivid, nearly photographic memory. I can remember things that happened years ago and I get really mad when people question my memory. Because I’m right 99% of the time.

13. I’m obsessed with fairness.

14. I’m a practicing Roman Catholic.

15. I want my children to attend Catholic schools, at least through high school.

16. I believe religion and politics are intensely personal and often refuse to discuss these topics.

17. My mom is my hero. She raised three wonderful children who are bright, loving, and successful each in their own way. I hope I do as good a job as she did.

18. I am of Polish, German, and Italian descent.

19. I was accepted at the following Universities: Purdue University, University of Iowa, and Ball State University.

20. I nearly had to drop out of the University of Iowa during my sophomore year because I didn’t have the money to keep going.

21. I was Resident Assistant for 2 ½ years in college in the dorm where the football players lived. I still love that I was telling these giant guys to turn down their stereos and behave… and that they listened!

22. I was in a really bad relationship for two years in college. Really bad. It doesn’t define who I am, but it made me who I am today.

23. I met my husband the first day at my first real job.

24. I have held the following jobs: bus boy, newspaper carrier, sales person at J.C. Penney, line worker at a General Mills packaging facility, hostess/cashier at a buffet restaurant, administrative assistant, library assistant, circulation assistant at a newspaper, ad runner at a newspaper, associate producer, newscast producer, internship coordinator, teaching assistant, public relations specialist.

25. I have a tremendous capacity for useless knowledge.

26. As a result of #25, I love to play trivia games.

27. I love to play board games.

28. I played volleyball in high school.

29. I took a P.E. class in college called “Abdominal Toning” and won the push-up challenge. 127 push-ups in a row without stopping… and not “girl pushups”!

30. I like being crafty… I’ve made fleece no-sew blankets, soap, jewelry, wooden decorations, knotted friendship bracelets, mosaic-topped plant stands. I’m currently learning how to knit and crochet.

31. I love being a mom.

32. I get frustrated with people who are selfish.

33. I hold grudges.

34. I cry at movies.

35. I am deeply in love with my husband. He is a perfect complement to me. We have a lot in common, yet differ just enough to make things interesting.

36. I am the middle child of three (older sister, younger brother).

37. I have traveled to the following countries: Canada, Mexico, U.S. Virgin Islands, France, Italy, Germany, Switzerland.

38. I want to visit Sydney, Australia someday.

39. I’d like to visit all 50 states by the time I’m 50.

40. I have a hard time letting go of people and things.

41. I’d like to have four kids, but will probably only have three.

42. I never want to own a mini-van.

43. My dream car is either a Porsche Boxter or an Audi TT convertible.

44. My first car was a Plymouth Horizon. I loved that car.

45. I’m not even remotely athletic. Working out is really a chore, but I know I need to do it.

46. I am addicted to goodreads.com and blogging.

47. I spend too much time online.

48. I read books in the bathroom. (Hey, it’s called multi-tasking!)

49. I have this thing about owning books. I own a lot of books, and dream of having a room in
my house that is wall to wall bookshelves.

50. I’m not currently residing in my dream house, but I love the people I live with!

51. I am a dog person. I just love dogs.

52. I have a jar of cold cream in my medicine cabinet that I’ve had since I was in college. There’s not much left, but I feel compelled to use it till it’s gone. I’m like that with most beauty products.

53. I took part in 5 different elections between junior high and high school. I only won one, mainly because the person I was running against was not well liked.

54. All of my close friends from back home all have/had last names that began with G.

55. They Might Be Giants is my favorite band.

56. I am passionate about voting… I think there’s no excuse not to vote.

57. I like wine, but I’m not a wine snob.

58. I don’t really like beer, but I like Guinness and Sprecher Black Bavarian.

59. I prefer Diet Coke to Diet Pepsi.

60. I never met a chocolate I didn’t like. The darker the better.

61. I like to cook and I’m a good cook.

62. I’m really possessive of my kitchen. I don’t often accept help when I’m cooking.

63. I toy with the idea of becoming a vegetarian.

64. I love non-American food. Mexican, Chinese, Japanese, Indian, Middle-Eastern, Greek, Mediterranean… you name it! I love trying new foods!

65. I like salsa and buffalo wings to be just spicy enough to make your nose run. If it makes you lose your sense of taste, it’s too spicy.

66. I love shoes. The right pair of shoes can make or break an outfit. They can also make or break your attitude.

67. I have been in 6 weddings, including my own.

68. I’m really, really smart. I tested well growing up. But beyond that, I’m smart. I remember things, and I know a lot about many different subjects. I only play that card when I have to.

69. I originally planned to major in pharmacy. I still wonder if I could have done that.

70. I majored in English, but didn’t read “Catcher in the Rye” or “To Kill A Mockingbird” till I was out of college.

71. I tend to run late. No matter how hard I try or how good my intentions are, I’m almost always 10 minutes late. Except for church. I hate being late for church.

72. I was very active at the Newman Center in Iowa City. I was a Eucharistic Minister and retreat team leader.

73. I took French for 6 years and was nearly fluent in it after high school. By my senior year in high school, I was dreaming in French. I tested into third year French in college, but the teacher was going to grade 50% on pronunciation and conversational ability. When I tried to drop to a lower level course, the put me in the track for non-majors. I regret it to this day, but hope one day to pick it up again.

74. I used to get in trouble for talking out of turn in kindergarten. It was basically because I was bored and the nun who was my teacher was evil.

75. I had braces in high school for two years. I still occasionally wear my retainers.

76. It takes me a long time to make friends. I wasn’t like this when I was younger.

77. I would love to live in New York City. Even now.

78. Ever since I had Alex, I’m horrible at remembering birthdays. I’m even worse about remembering to buy and send birthday cards.

79. I love to swim and wish we lived somewhere where we could justify having a swimming pool. It’s only warm enough for that for about 6 weeks of the year here in Wisconsin.

80. When I’m done having kids I would like to have breast reduction surgery. Alex helped my boob’s grow two cup-sizes larger, and I don’t like it.

81. I would like to hike to the bottom of the Grand Canyon.

82. I would like to go on a cruise someday.

83. I think I’m a pretty good mom.

84. I think the bickering between stay at home moms and working moms is ridiculous. Stay at home moms work hard. So do working moms. You just have to appreciate the position you’re in and do the best job you can. Women can sometimes be their own worst enemies.

85. I need to have girl time periodically… it makes me a better wife and mom.

86. I would love to take really good photographs.

87. I take lots of pictures, but then never print them out. Because I managed to get the first six months of Alex’s life put into a photo album, but haven’t had the time to put the rest of the pictures in… and why print out more pictures to make the task even more daunting? It’s a vicious cycle.

88. One of my best friends is a guy. We haven’t spoken in a really long time and it makes me sad. I wish we could reconnect.

89. I want to be cremated after I die.

90. Cemeteries fascinate me. They also creep me out a little bit.

91. I love to wear dresses.

92. I was a tomboy growing up.

93. I’ve taken up running, but still don’t consider myself even remotely athletic.

94. I wish I could sing/act/dance.

95. I only have three cousins who all live in California.

96. I used to be a picky eater… refusing to eat broccoli, mushrooms, onions, green peppers, etc. I now eat all of those things.

97. I have two favorite kinds of pizza: Canadian bacon with pineapple and Taco Pizza from Happy Joe’s.

98. I want to learn how to sew. In fact, I kind of want to buy a sewing machine and take a class to learn basic sewing.

99. I often rehearse conversations in my head before I have them.

100. I love Broadway musicals. I have ever since I was a kid. Someday I would love to have a subscription to the Marcus Center’s Broadway series.

the letter d

d is for don't drink and crochet. I'll explain tomorrow. it's too late to blog, and my mind and yarn are fuzzy.

Also. this is my 100th post. and I have a list of 100 things about me you ought to know. but I left it at work. so that will have to be post 101. i'm always late with things, so that shouldn't surprise anyone.

Dear Metabolism,

Dear Metabolism-

Where have you gone? I’ve been working out at least three times a week since January and I have yet to lose a pound. It’s really getting annoying. I started running, thinking I could run my ass off, but so far that hasn’t worked. I eat breakfast everyday… because that was supposed to spark your interest. Well, it hasn’t yet. Consuming dairy three times a day was also supposed to get you going… so far it hasn’t. Taking a multivitamin... still no reaction. What do I have to do to get you to start working again?

We were so close in high school and college. You let me eat way too much pizza, way too many tacos, all while maintaining an adequate weight. Did I do something to upset you?

I know I’m not seriously overweight. I weigh about 35 pounds more now than I did when I got out of college. I'm not asking for the world here. I just need to see a little effort on your part. Maybe 10-15 pounds?

I’m going to keep working out. I’m going to start doing more strength training. I’m going to try to stop snacking, eat less, and drink more water. I’m doing my part… now I need you to do yours!

Thanks,

Sydney

A letter to Father (name ommited)

Dear Father (name omitted),

Forgive me for being so blunt, but get your act together!
You've been at our parish for nearly a year, and a priest for much longer than that, you shouldn't be forgetting to restock the hosts before mass.

At least once a month, you have to send one of the Eucharistic ministers back to the sacristy to get the ciboriums and to get more hosts. Come on! How hard is it to remember to do this? You have to do it at least once a day!!! Write yourself a note and post it in the sacristy!

Also, do you need a refresher course on baptisms? We've had them each of the past few Sundays and you never remind the congregation when they are supposed to respond and you often seem to get lost while saying the prayers.

Your rambling, scatterbrained ways make it very frustrating as a parishioner. You are a nice enough guy, but when you can't even manage to spit out the rules for fasting and abstaining from meat during Lent, it makes me question your vocational training.

So get your act together! And you might just win over the congregation!

A is for Ambitious

We did a TON of stuff around the house today. Craig cleaned out the spare bedroom/computer room. We did about 5 loads of laundry. There's not much else to do when it's snowing/raining/cold and all around disgusting outside.

I'm in the process of make dinner and I really excited about it. I'm making 13 bean soup with ham. It's simmering in the crockpot as I type. I'm going to make corn and rolls to go with the soup. I baked a devil's food cake for dessert, I just have to make some buttercream frosting for it next.

I think we're going to settle in with a movie tonight... maybe have some wine after the boy goes to bed.

I feel like we got so much done, even though we thought we wouldn't. I just love days like this!

Both articles are done...

Now it's time to go running. I'm hoping to hit 2 miles again today.

One down, one to go

First article finished. On to the next one.

F is for Fog

This is what downtown Milwaukee looks like today. I took these from the top of the parking structure on the building where I work. Visibility was less then a block on the drive in today. It was weird to not see any of the familiar tall buildings.

P is for Procrastination

Just thought I would let everyone know that I have two articles to write today and I am totally procrastinating. The first one needs to be about 300 words and is due in an hour. I’m at 200 words. The second one has to be about 250 words and is due this afternoon. FUN!

I'll keep you posted on my progress.

Two Letters- D.C.

Two weeks from now I will be in Washington, D.C. One of my best friends lives there. Sangeeta and I have known each other since kindergarten. Her initials are S.G. and my initials were S.G. so we always ended up sitting next to each other at the beginning of the school year (when teachers seat you in alphabetical order). It's actually kind of funny, my three best friends from high school all had last names that began with G.

I'm so excited about this trip. Sangeeta did her residency at Northwestern in Chicago. It was so great living that close to each other. Both of us had crazy schedules, but we managed to see each other every couple of months. We explored her neighborhood in Chicago, spent evenings watching "Sex and the City," making dinner, trying new crafts, drinking wine, and just having an all around good time.

She moved to D.C. right after I found out I was pregnant with Alex. Before she left, I drove down to meet her at Old Orchard Mall in the northern suburbs of Chicago. We talked for a few minutes, and then I broke the news that she was going to be an aunt! She was almost as excited as I was. I cried all the way back to Milwaukee after we parted ways. It was the first time in the 24 years we had known each other that I didn't know when I was going to see her again. That was over 3 years ago.

We finally got to meet up last August. She got to meet Alex for the first time (though he's talked to her on the phone before). I also got to meet her boyfriend Richard. It was a great visit, but I vowed it wouldn't be that long again before we got together. I decided to reward myself with the trip after Craig was gone following the Packers to the post-season for work. I figured I needed a break and Craig agreed.

So now it's almost time for me to go on my trip to visit Sangeeta. I bought new luggage tonight. I've already started my list of what to pack. I'm so excited!!! The countdown is on!

S is for Shoes

I love shoes. Flats, heels, casual, dressy, tall boots, flip flops, running shoes, doesn't matter. You name it, I've got a pair. Now that I'm out of TV and into the corporate world I wear heels. A LOT. It's not a complaint, because I've got some cute shoes. (and the fact that there's a shoe store and TJ Maxx in the mall where my office is doesn't hurt matters either!)
I'm just out of practice for wearing heels all day. When I was in high school, I worked at a department store in the mall. Standing on my feet for 4-8 hours at a time conditioned me to the mild discomfort sometimes caused by shoes. You learn to live with it after awhile.

Now being completely out of heel-wearing shape, I've learned a valuable lesson. Don't skimp on shoes! I wore the adorable shoes pictured above for 8 hours today. My feet are killing me. I wore them for a work event a couple of weeks ago. I wanted to cut my feet off at the ankles afterwards. I bought them right before my final interview for the job I now have. I actually bought them in my hometown, at the very same department store where I used to work. They weren't very expensive, so I decided to go for it. The went very well with the suit I had just purchased and I looked at it as an investment in my professional wardrobe.

BIG MISTAKE. Not only do the darn things kill my feet, they're less than a year old and they look like they've been through a war! The color has worn away in spots, they're scuffed, and just look battered. I expect more from my shoes, because I wear them till they fall apart.

Shortly after buying the cheaper shoes pictured above, I also purchased a pair of Nine West heels. I can wear those shoes all day and not feel any pain. They are just made better.
Now, I can't drop $60+ on a pair of shoes every couple of months, but I'm telling you, those shoes were a good investment. I'm already looking to buy the same shoe in black to replace those sad little slingback Mary Janes that feel like some sort of torture device if you actually have to walk in them.

So S is for splurging on shoes. Go ahead! You deserve it!

S is also for sleepy. I don't know what it is about this week but I am sleepy all the time.

R is for Recipe

My friend Lisa had some great suggestions for my dinner time troubles. One thing she suggested was planning menus in advance. Not necessarily down to the type of vegetable, but just organizing a little bit.

To that end, I have started making a list of what I can make with the contents of my fridge/freezer/pantry at any given time. That way the possibilities are at least narrowed down to what I have on hand. As I make certain dishes, they get crossed off the list. When there are only a couple things left on the list (or a few things left in the fridge) I go to the grocery store and start again. It's helping a bit!

Lisa also offered a fabulous recipe I can't wait to try. Here it is:

Unbelievable Chicken Meatloaf

1 lb. ground chicken (or turkey)
1/2 c breadcrumbs (1 toast 2 slices of bread and put in the food chopper)
1 large egg white
1 medium carrot (I use several baby carrots)
1 small onion (I omit)
1/4 c ketchup
1/2 tsp minced garlic
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1/4 tsp celery seeds
1tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper

1. preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. combine chicken and bread crumbs in large bowl
3. cut the carrot and onion into chunks and add to blender or food processor
4. add the remaining 7 ingredients to the blender
5. process until carrot is very fine
6. pour blender mixture over meat mixture
7. mix very will with your hands
8. form into a loaf and place in lightly greased 9 x 13 pan (or 8 muffin cups)
9. cover with foil and bake one hour
10. remove foil and bake for 15-30 min., until cooked through

She makes them in muffin cups and they only bake one hour total. Each cup has 2 weight watcher points, or approx. 111 calories and 2.2 g fat.

K is for Knitting

Awhile back I posted that I was feeling crafty after reading "The Friday Night Knitting Club." I bought a bunch of supplies for knitting and jewelry making, but of course, I never followed through. Until Saturday night. I took my needles and new yarn with me when I babysat for my friends Hank and Sara's kids. I started my scarf! So far so good. It looks like a knit scarf is supposed to look. It's a blueish-purple marled yarn. I'm going to take a picture. I've only worked on it for two sittings so far. I think it's coming along! I'm going to work on it some more after I get done blogging and do the dishes. FUN! The directions can be found at the weblink above. It's pretty simple... simple enough to build up confidence that I do remember how to knit. Depending on how long it takes me to finish the scarf, my next project will either be pot holders (simple) or a purse/bag (slightly more difficult). Here's the work in progress!!! Oh, and learning to crochet is next.

Having a blog is so much work... and other myths

The idea of a blog was first dangled in front of me about a year ago. I was still working as a producer at the time, and our station held a seminar for off-air folks who wanted to blog. It was a really great seminar put on by one of the tech folks who had been blogging herself for years. She gave some great tips. In fact, I still have the handout saved in an email. I struggled to come up with a name, argued with my news director over the direction of the blog (and won, thank you very much!), but it never came to fruition. I left the station, they still only let on air talent blog, and the rest is history.

Then late last year my friend Therese launched her own blog. At first I was extremely jealous. But she said, "You should do it too." So I did, it started, and here I am.

The general reaction when someone finds out about the blog is, "How do you find the time?"

Well, it's a blog. A journal. It's not long division or rocket science. I want to write. I've wanted to write ever since I was a little girl. I like to write almost as much as I like to read. So this is the perfect outlet for me. I love that other people are reading what I write, but that doesn't matter to much as much as just simply writing. I had to write in stilted, dumbed-down English for TV for so long that I thought I'd forgotten how to form intelligent sentences. My writing still needs work, I acknowledge that. This blog is helping me work out the kinks. I've got a long way to go as you can tell. It's either short, choppy sentences or long, run-ons.
And as for time... I work full time, I'm a mom, a wife, and a daughter. I blog at night, normally after Alex goes to bed. It doesn't take long. Maybe 10 or 15 minutes depending on how much I have to say.

The next reaction is, "I just don't have enough to say."

Have you read a blog? It doesn't matter if you have a lot to say. Pick a topic and write. You don't have to write every day. I'm only writing everyday as a challenge to myself (and because of NaBloPoMo) to see if I can actually do it. It's random thoughts. I decided to blog about being a working mom and about being a former member of the media. The media bit hasn't come out as much as I'd like, but I'm working on it. There are tens of thousands of people out there blogging and I'd be willing to bet most of them aren't writing award winning stuff. I know I'm not.
I'm having fun though.

I don't expect anyone to read my blog, I'm just happy people do. I hope it's entertaining, thought provoking, and only mildly annoying.

So to all those people out there who think they can't maintain a blog... snap out of it. It's not brain surgery! It's a blog!

Happy Birthday Mom!

Today is my mom's birthday. I can't believe it, but she's 59 years old. I love my mom so much. She's a great mom and she's also my friend. She instilled great values in me, guided me through growing up, and she still loves me. I have so much respect for her that even now, when I'm about to make a big decision, I wonder "What would mom think about this?"

My mom is a teacher. She teaches high school history. She is the reason I went on to graduate school to get my master's degree. I followed her example. My mom was teaching full time, had a 6 year old and a 2 year old, and went back to school to get a master's degree in U.S. History. I think the image of my mom on the campus of Ball State University in her black robe, hood, and cap, with red and white tulips in the background is one of my most vivid memories. I was at my mom's graduation ceremony. We clapped and cheered so loud when they called her name. It was awesome.

She took time off for awhile after my brother was born, but when we moved to Illinois, she would substitute teach periodically at my school. I LOVED it when my mom subbed in my class. I wasn't allowed to call her mom, though. I had to call her Mrs. G. Eventually my mom was offered a position teaching history and geography, (and religion and art... it was a Catholic school, you had to be able to teach a little of this and a little of that). She was my teacher in 7th and 8th grade. To this day I remember more from her classes than I do other subjects. Everyone loved my mom... all of my classmates. It was a really neat feeling. It made us feel like a family.

This year is a first for my mom... she has the child of one of her former students in her U.S. history class. She recognized this boy's last name. On the first day of class she said, "Is your dad's name Shawn?" The boy answered, "Yeah. He told me I had to be good in you class, because you were one of his favorite teachers." This boy's dad got into a lot of trouble in school, but he was an absolute sweetheart. He was one of those kids that didn't go looking for trouble, trouble just kind of found him. And I think it really warmed my mom's heart to hear that this big teddy bear of a troublemaker considered my mom of of his favorite teachers.

She's a techno-phobe, too. But she's really trying hard. Shortly after I started my new job, I sent her an email at school. I told her there was no pressure on her to email me back, I just wanted to say "Hi!" She emailed me back... then a few weeks later out of the blue, I got another email from her. Unsolicited. I was so surprised (and proud of her!) that I squealed a little bit in my office. Just last week, she took a class on how to do a Power Point presentation. I was so proud of her! She's now one up on me. I don't know Power Point yet, but hope to learn soon.

My mom is a pretty amazing lady in so many ways. I hope I'm as good a mom as she is. She's helped me so far... but I still have a long way to go. I can't wait till Alex wakes up from his nap so we can wish my mom a Happy Birthday!

M is for More than One Mile

(MILWAUKEE) We have breaking news from downtown Milwaukee. A mom in her early 30s broke a personal record yesterday while running on a treadmill at a downtown fitness center. The woman threw a towel over the monitor on her treadmill and just started to run. She made it for 15 minutes, then decided she wasn't winded or in pain, and went another 5 minutes, then another 5 minutes, then she eased down the speed a bit. She pulled the towel off the monitor only to see that she had run ***2.1 miles***.



"How can this be?" asked a friend since high school. "She used to wheeze through running the perimeter of the school in gym class."


Her parents were equally dismayed. "I can't believe it. Is she okay?" asked her mom. "Can she still walk? Is she breathing?"


Crews tried to reach her older sister for comment. The older sister was running herself, and said "Two miles? I'm training for a half marathon. I can do two miles in my sleep. But good for her. I'm proud of her."


The woman had been struggling to get past the 1.25 mile mark, having a particularly bad run just this past Wednesday. She credits her success to some research, and a great playlist on her MP3 player.


"I started digging around on some running websites. One site said not to eat 2 hours before running to avoid side-cramps. It also said not to stretch before a run, but to warm up by walking for about 5 minutes," she told a reporter while gasping for breath. "I honestly could not have done it without my playlist. Pearl Jam, Foo Fighters, Finger 11, Cake, Audioslave, and Muse all had a lot to do with this success."


Trying not to rest too much on a one-time record, the woman is planning to replicate the feat again on Monday.

L is for Learning Process

Parenting is a learning process. You read books on what other people say works. You get OODLES of unsolicited advice on what works. Your friends tell you what works for them. Eventually, you figure out what works for you.

Mornings have been a challenge of late. That actually may be the understatement of the year. Alex comes by his dislike of mornings honestly. If I could sleep till 10AM every day, I would. I'm not usually "Susie Sunshine" at any point during the day, least of all in the morning. We go into his room, slowly open the door and say "Time to get up, buddy."

"No Mommy. Go way. I'm still sleeping."
"Don't wanna get up."
"It's still dark. No."

I have many of those same feelings at 6:15AM when I get up. But we have to all get moving in the morning, or we'll all be late for work or school. Usually there's crying and struggling. Fights over what's for breakfast, going potty, getting dressed. Lots of tears. Massive frustration on our part.

We managed to snap out of it this week though (knocks really hard on nearest wooden surface). The trick? Let Alex eat breakfast in his pajamas. If only I'd realized months ago it was this simple! It guess eases him into the morning. Two mornings he crawled up into my bed while I was getting dressed for work, he was all smiles and chattered away. Two mornings he knocked on the bathroom door right after I got out of the shower. I threw on my robe, opened the door, and found two smiling faces ready to say "Good Morning." Well, three if you count Shadow, our dog. He sits down and eats his entire breakfast now with a smile on his face. Goes potty with minimal struggle. Gets dressed with minimal struggle. I guess the bribe of watching "Sesame Street" doesn't hurt, either. It's amazing!

So we found a new routine that works for us. And peace is temporarily restored in the mornings. Here's hoping it lasts!

For All Us Little People

Dear Mr. Gazillionaire:

I don’t know if you were trying to be funny or not when discussing your huge donation to our non-profit organization on the telephone. I’ve never spoken with you before, so I don’t know if you have a good sense of humor, but I was more than a little offended when you implied that I was just one of those annoying “little people.”

I hope you enjoy your trip to the casino this weekend. Go ahead, gamble away some of your millions! I’m sure that must be fun for you. You said you hope you “get rich” this weekend, so you don’t have to deal with “the little people anymore.” I laughed uncomfortably when you said this. I’m not used to dealing with gazillionaires who donate enough money to get buildings named after themselves. Then you said, again, “You know how annoying those little people are.”

No, as a matter of fact I don’t. I am a “little person” and I don’t know how annoying I must be.
So I’ll just go back to my not-so-important-in-your-eyes job of promoting an organization that does a lot of good in this community and beyond.

- Me

A Fan Letter

This is a letter from my friend Amy, who likes my blog. We've been friends since grade school.

I must tell you that your blog makes my day. Although I don’t respond as often as I should, it helps me feel like I’m keeping in touch with you and makes me smile. I love your plan to take Alex to the symphony. I have to share that Leyton is frightend by sheet music. He loves watching little einsteins but everytime they show the sheet music of the music of the day, he cries. I have no idea why…

Anyway, hope you are doing well!

Love,
Aim

She also added:

The blog is like I’m hanging out with you again in high school – I love it!

B is for Book Club

My book club met tonight, and as always it was wonderful. We really chewed on the last book, "The Friday Night Knitting Club." We all enjoyed it, but to varying degrees. I highly recommend the book to anyone looking for a good read. I'm hoping to start knitting a scarf this weekend. We also are planning a "stitch-n-bitch" session soon. Michelle crochets and all of us want to learn, so she's going to teach us. Should be great fun, with a few bottles of wine thrown in for good measure.

It was my turn to reveal the next pick. It's called "Garden Spells" by author Sarah Addison Allen. I think it will be an intersting read. I have to admit, I've already started it and am almost finished. But I'm not going to post my thoughts on it here until after our next meeting. I'm also not going to put my review on goodreads.com yet, either. I just don't want to taint anyone's impression of the book.

We're also starting to share books more in our group. Therese and I are hopelessly addicted to goodreads, so as I finish books, I'm putting them on a pile for her. She's starting to do the same for me. I figure this will be a great way to save money, and get to read more books. I hope we can keep it up.

Tonight is also my first NaBloPoMo entry for April. I didn't exactly stick to the theme... but as I understand the theme is only a guide. I already have my entry planned for tomorrow, so I may blog earlier than usual tomorrow... possibly over my lunch hour.