NO SCHOOL!

How did you do in the snow this morning?  It was nasty out there for a while. 

This is when I love my job.  By the time I left for work.. the roads in Northern Kentucky looked great!  I think I made in faster today, than I normally do.  Way to go road crews! 

I was still afraid to make my sitter drive to our house.  So, my husband had to leave work early to help me out. 

But by the looks of these pictures, I don’t think he minded too much. 

MY THREE AMIGOS

 

 Look closely at my husbands hat.  He’s sportin’ the News 5 cap!  Now that’s a fan!   

And my boys were so excited.  The minute Connor woke up and realized he didn’t have school, he started asking if they could go outside and play.   

LET'S GO PLAY!

 

 I’m told they had a great snowball fight!  Pretty cute.  I love these ages.  Two and Five.  If only I could zap them. 

In the meantime, I brought in all the left overs from our Super Bowl party to my work today.  I HAD TO!  Last night I got home from work at midnight and had a Food Party of my own, while watching a little late night TV.  SO MUCH FOR THE RESOLUTION!   Forget the snow!  Late night eating is the biggest hazard of working this shift

SUPER PARTY

 I wish it would have been the Bengals.. but we made the most of it!  

 And what better way to throw a Super Bowl party than to have  a Pizza Buffet!  Personal pizzas for all our guests.  Homemade dough, special recipe sauce, and all the topping’s you could ask for!  

NOW THATS A PIZZA!

 Okay… So it looked good.. tasted good… and sounded good..  

But any of you who know me know… I’M NOT A COOK!   

My dads buddies came up with the idea… uh… and the homemade pie’s.  I was just in charge of takin’ orders and running the kitchen… while they made fun of my lack of culinary skills   

  

THE CHEFS!

 It’s pretty bad when you throw a party and you’re cooking is so bad.. you’re guests bring all the food!  OR MAYBE…. it’s a sly move on my part.  I keep pretending I can’t cook.. and people bring me food Either way, the food was good, the game was good and the party was great!

MY WORK HUSBAND

Do you have someone like this at work??

That person who you laugh with, talk to and often times argue with.. just like your spouse.. only they’re your co-worker.

I have an Executive Producers who is like this for me.  Only he’s more like a brother.

But now my Co-anchor Jack Atherton is taking the title of  my Work Husband.

Today, I come into work.  I’m wearing a purple jacket and grey pants.  I look over at Jack is wearing a grey suit with a purple tie that matches me perfectly.

Yesterday we both wore pinstripes.

Now, we’re completely opposite of each other.  I’m more “Current Events”.  He’s more American History.

I like Hip-Hop.  He likes Classical Music.

I’m raiding the vending machine.  He’s eating sugar-free candies or low-fat popcorn.

But when it comes to work, we can laugh, tease and joke with each other one minute and the next will be debating a point or fact.

It’s becoming a perfect fit behind the scenes… and I hope you can see it on the air too.

Tomorrow my job is to remind him to wear red for the Go Red For Women Campaign.  If that’s not a work husband, I don’t know what is.

MY TWO HANDY MEN

Today was one of those days, I was about to kill my boys before I left the house.

I don’t know if you remember me talking about my Golden Retriever trying to dig a whole out of our laundry room.  Well, we finally can’t live with it any longer and are praying he’s done eating base boards, window frames and drywall.

So, today I had a Handyman over to start fixing the gaping hole in my wall.  But trying to keep three dogs and two kids out of their way… WAS NOT EASY.

I had the dogs locked in my bedroom.  OR SO I THOUGHT.  Cameron (my 2-year old) kept letting them out!   So I’m literally trying to drag a Golden Retriever, and carry two Cocker Spaniels into the room as they’re wiggling with all their might to break free.

Finally, the handyman leaves.  He’s repaired the wall but it’s WET plaster that needed to dry.  Before I know it, Connor and Cameron are standing behind me and their fingers are covered in PLASTER!  I thought I was going to kill them!

I said, “I thought I told you guys not to touch it!”  To which they replied, “UHHH.  We wanted to see what it felt like.” 

So, I go into the laundry room and now the hole that was on its way to being smoothed over and repaired, has little fingerprints all throughout it.  UGH!

I did my best to repair it but I have a feeling when the Handyman returns tomorrow… he’s going to suspect foul play. 

GREAT FITNESS TIP

How are you doing on your New Years Resolutions?

Be honest!

It’s the first week of February and I’m happy to report that I’m still TRYING to fit routine workouts into my week.  But I have to share a great workout video with you.  Actually, I’m stealing this tip from my girlfriend who passed it on to me… but I think you’ll like it.

If you’re like me and like to work out (well… kinda)  but just don’t have much time  … you’ll love this.

I usually don’t like any other workouts other than jogging.. because I can be out the door.. get three miles in and I’m done.  But that’s hard to do in the winter.  So, I’m trying to change it up.

Well, you know the female trainer on The Biggest Loser (ON NBC… shameless plug)??  I think her name is Jillian Michaels.  Anyway she has a new DVD out.  I got mine for 9-bucks at Walmart.  It’s called The 30 Day Shed.  Here’s the best part.  You get a workout in, in 20-minutes!  No kidding!  And better yet.. she kicks your butt!

There are three levels, 1-3.  I figured I’d start with 3 to be sure I got a good workout in.  I’m thinking, 20-minutes!  How bad can it be?!  OMG!  I’m telling you I was hyperventilating!   I actually had to stop (ok more than once)  THAT’S HOW TOUGH IT WAS.

Another favorite of mine, is (but this one you have to get online at beachbody.com) is called “Slim In 6″ .   It takes 45 minutes or more.. but another great workout to help you lose weight and tone up.

Okay…

Now if I could only stop eating M&M’s on my drive home from work at MIDNIGHT, I’d be doing good.

Have a great night.~

LIKE LEBRON?

I took the day off yesterday to trade out a car in Indy and for my husband that means.. we also need to try to pick up some sort of sporting event while we’re there. 

So, we go to the Pacers/Cavs game.   It was me Connor and Kyle.  (Cam’s still a little too young, so he stayed behind)  We were having a great time.  Connor was in AWE of Shack and Lebron ALMOST as excited as KYLE. 

So, the game is over and we’re sitting we’re the Cav’s exit to go to the locker room.  Connor and I are yelling Lebron! Lebron!  All of the sudden he makes eye contact with us and hands Connor his sweatband!  Connor’s eyes were is big as his head.  I’m screaming.  And I look back at Kyle and it looks like he’s about to levitate off the ground.  WE WERE SO PUMPED.  I’m not even a B-ball fan and I KNEW that was big! 

Connor turns to us and says, “It’s wet!”  like ooh.. but then without hesitation, puts it right on his head! 

It was awesome!  Fans were giving him high fives!  The night was perfect!  Except for the fact that in the rush of  getting there from the dealership, I FORGOT THE CAMERA!   

So we’re in the bathroom and all the sudden we run into a group of girls from Cincinnati.  And me being the shy person that I am (LOL) I ask one of them if they’ll take our picture. 

Check it out: 

LEBRON FANS FOREVER

 A perfect ending to a perfect night.  This was definitely a moment I’ll always remember as a parent.  Lots of fun.  Although I am afraid any other NBA game will be down hill from now on for Connor.  That’s hard to top! 

And thanks so much to the girls from Cincy!  Now we have a picture to remember things.

HONESTY

So, I was making some calls tonight to try to line up a story I’m working on and I had to call this man who will be ninety years old this year.

He was adorable and funny but FRANK!   I start off the conversation by introducing myself and telling him how someone gave me his name and number and thought he’d be great for a story I’m working on.

He quickly flatters me by saying, “Oh hello. I only watch channel 5.”  Of course I was smiling, happy to have one over another viewer.  BUT before I can respond and thank him he adds, 
“Are you the ditsy blonde?”

LOL!  OUCH!  I hope I’m not ditsy and well.. I’m not a true blonde.  Does that count? 

Anyway, he was wonderful and agreed to the interview. 

And hey, when you’re 90-years old, you have the right to say anything you want!

DOING OUR PART

Before work on Tuesday, I stopped in to Matthew 25 Ministries to help with packing good for Haiti.

WOW!  I like to think I know a little bit about a lot of things in our community.  And I’ve seen the stories on Matthew 25 (in Blue Ash on Kenwood Road) but this place was INCREDIBLE.  It’s an enormous warehouse and it’s packed with food, supplies, water, clothes, YOU NAME IT.  Major corporations like P&G and Cintas donate and support to this cause.  In one corner there were 25-THOUSAND bottles of  Wipes.  P&G donated hundreds of thousands of paper towells, toilet paper, lotions.  It was something I’ve never seen before.

The best part, Matthew 25 isn’t just helping the victims in Haiti (which by the way- they’ve been doing years BEFORE this quake) they help poor and starving people all over the world.  This week alone they’re sending 20-truckloads to Haiti (each truck load costs 7-thousand dollars to ship) and another 14 shipments to OTHER NATIONS in need right now.

This goes on all year round.  It’s amazing to see.  We (the news included) only pay these countries any attention when a crisis or national disaster happens.  But the people at Matthew 25 realize the need is there every day, every single year.

Anyway, if you can volunteer time or donate goods, they need it.  One man stops in yesterday and drops of 20-thousand pair of Sandals.  They will be on the feet of Haitians in 7-days.  That’s impressive!

Another wonderful organization is A Child’s Hope International.  They too give all year round.  They feed hungry CHILDREN all around the world.  And they had a shipment go out yesterday too.  So, while some organizations are saying just give money… you can do more.  Volunteering your time with these other GREAT ORGANIZATIONS is so needed.

Have a great day~

BEST KEPT SECRET…

Okay, it’s no secret that I love to shop… or at least I used to BEFORE I had kids.

But ladies (and guys) have you been to Nordstrom Rack in Rookwood? 

We talked about it on the news when it opened a few months ago but with kids… well.. I’m sad to admit… there’s little time for shopping. 

But my husband got me a few Christmas presents from there.  So, yesterday I finally found time to go over and exchange a size… and I ended up staying for almost 2-HOURS!  I didn’t have the kids, so I could actually look and try on clothes without losing someone in a rack. 

Now don’t get me wrong.. things are still pricey.  But if you like Designer Duds CHEAP… like me… this place is for you.

I got a pair of jeans that are regularly 200-bucks (WHO PAYS THAT!)  for 40-bucks.  Maybe it’s because I know they normally cost 200-bucks but I swear they’re the best jeans I’ve ever pus on.  They actually fit!  MOMS OUT THERE… Are you hearing what I just said??!  Jeans that actually fit us after we have kids!   lol.

Okay.. so take a look when you  have time… NORDSTROM RACK IN ROOKWOOD.

GIRL CRAZY

We had our first playdate today, with my 5-year olds new flame today.

But get this…

Before we left, I picked Connor up from school and he hands me a sealed envelope.  I open it, and it’s a piece of paper with hearts all over it from ANOTHER LITTLE GIRL.

WHAT IS GOING ON?!  Man these girls are forward these days!  LOL.

Connor proceeds to tell me, AND I QUOTE, “Mom.  A lot of girls are in love with me.”

IT’S KINDERGARTEN!

Anyway, I’m happy to report that our playdate with the OTHER love of his life, was totally innocent and sweet.  They played chase at the Playland and had McDonalds for lunch followed by a “sugar” cookie for desert.  A perfect first date don’t you think? 

It was pretty adorable to watch how smitten he was.  I could tell he didn’t want to leave.. and when we did, he even gave her a goodbye hug.

Hugs I can handle. 

By the way..

Did I miss something?  When does the “EWW!  Girls are gross” phase start?

Have a great weekend~  I’ll see you on Monday.