Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Creepy?

So rarely do I read sports stories, but LIFE Magazine posted an article about creepy college mascots.  Personally, macots that are supposed to look like real humans (ie. Purdue) could be classified as creepy.  Along with these other examples from the article:

University of Louisiana at Lafayette's Ragin ' Cajun

Pepperdine's Willie the Wave
But Bucky?  Bucky is not creepy!  The article descibes him as creepy because he looks like he's up to no good... he always appears to be plotting.  That's why we love him!  Are you with me people?
University of Wisconsin's Bucky Badger

Thursday, March 24, 2011

Wake Up!

It's day 4 of my ultra early new schedule.  My day starts somewhere between 3:00 and 3:30am.  Pretty much a 12 hour shift from what I was used to... going to bed during the early morning hours after getting off work at midnight.

Here's my sleeping plan so far:
  • Nap after work until 5-6:00pm
  • Try to have a normal evening with my guy, make dinner, watch tv, etc.
  • Even though I'm not that tired, go to bed at 10-11:00pm
  • Alarm sounds at 3:00am, ugh... I do not want to get out of bed.
Punch does a head lift, expecting a good morning kiss from Mom and then falls right back asleep.  After some coffee and a bight good morning from Jess and David, I'm good to go until about 10:00am.  That's where it starts to go downhill again...

Even still... so excited and very happy to be a part of the morning crew!

Saturday, March 19, 2011

Breakfast Time.

It was Breakfast with the puppies today at Hollowell Academy of Dog Training.  Punch, Kubes and I woke up and got right in the car for some much anticipated play time.  Punch was crying with excitement the whole way there.  (She knows what, "Do you want to play with the puppies" means.)

It was super fun and good food... egg bake!  I even brought a camera for a light-hearted story for the news tonight.  Not a bad way to start the day.



Punch's friend, Brutus

I think afterward I needed a nap more than Punch did though... and a bath!  There was plenty of slobber.

Thursday, March 17, 2011

My Latest Obession.

I have been off books but lately have started reading again full blast.  I usually get the most quality time with my book while I'm donating Plasma for some extra cash.  My latest read: Escape, by Carolyn Jessop with Laura Palmer.

It's a non-fiction tale about Carolyn's like growing up in the extremist Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and her decision to escape.  It's crazy and exciting... like being transported to another time and place into a cult society.

If you are in need of a good read... try this one.
PS, Thanks to Elise for recommending this book to me! I forget about the non-fiction section...

Monday, March 14, 2011

Smart Organic Shopping.

With a grocery bill today that topped $200 I try to save wherever I can.  Knowing which produce to buy organic is HUGE and can save a lot.  Here's a cheat sheet I use that shows the most contaminated produce that you should opt organic for if possible.  The low pesticide side is jsut as good to eat from a conventional farmer.  I learned about all this last May with a series I did about organic farming.  It's a lot of information, but this rule card makes it so simple!
PS, I had no idea of the effect a boy would have on my grocery shopping bill.  I've rarely topped $100 let alone $200!
PPS, all this thinking about produce has me craving farmer's market treats from Ber-Gust Farms...

Sunday, March 13, 2011

Parade Pics.

I wasn't sure if I would find walking in the Irish Day Parade fun or not... but it was!  Thanks so some sunshine, there were so many people!  Way more than I expected.  So it turned out throwing candy to the little kiddies iwth David and Jessica wasn't so bad at all.  Here's some pics:

Saturday, March 12, 2011

This Makes Everything Better.

I love absolutely EVERYTHING that contains cream cheese.  I'm also a big fan of brown sugar.  Here's a great reason to combine the two... Brown Sugar Cream Cheese Frosting... wow! 

I used it for some strawberry-banana muffins and it was to die for!  Obvi, to avoid eating it all in one day, I brought the treats into the newsroom for some help.

Here's the recipe:

(Makes 2 1/2 cups)

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, room temperature
8 ounces cream cheese
1 cup packed light-brown sugar

With an electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat butter, cream cheese, and brown sugar until combined and smooth. Use immediately or store in an air-tight container in the refrigerator.

Simple and delicious to die for!

Friday, March 11, 2011

One Year.

Well the actual day slipped by me without realizing it, but March 8th was my one-year anniversary at WLIO.  So one year ago, Punch and I packed up the SUV full of mostly clothes and a few dishes and drove with Grandma here to Lima.

Considering I had never set foot in Ohio, let alone Lima, before in my life... the move has been pretty smooth.  I think I've adjusted to this small town life.  The only thing I could really use is Target... I dream of Target.  And a good Japanese/Sushi restaurant wouldn't hurt either.

But thank you all for welcoming me into your homes each weekend for a little touch of weather.  I look forward to this upcoming year as well!  :)

Smile and Wave.

Well it's the Irish Day Parade here in Lima tomorrow and as my first duty as a member of the First Edition morning crew, I'll be rising/walking along in the parade to pass out candy and spread some Irish Day cheer with Jessica Dill and David DeRurange.

Although there is a slight chance for rain, I'm doing my best to secure a warm and dry spring day.  Fingers crossed. I'll be sure to upload some pictures of us all decked out in green and we head through the route.

Hope to see you all there!

Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Water Water Everywhere.

The flood waters in and around Limaland have been extraordinary over the past couple days... to say the least.  For many that meant flooded basements and cars.  But for one family I met in Wapakoneta, it meant collapsed basement walls!

When I got into work Monday, I posted on our Facebook page a message that asked anyone with basement flooding issues that was willing to be interviewed to call me.  Michelle Bowen called, and it turned into one amazing story.  Check it out here.  The video is so interesting.

When I was standing in her basement I was so scared.  I thought the hosue might fall down on top of me at any moment!  Thankfully it didn't, but I did have quite a bit of mud stuck to the bottoms of my pink rubber boots by the time i left.

I called Michelle today again to see how things were going.  She said that because of the news story, she received 25% a pair of rubber boots at Lowes!  The guy behind her in line then heard her story and bought her some bottled water.  Love it!  I told her she really needs to apply for an HGTV show.

She also told us that there was some progress on the hosue and things were progressing.  Good luck to the Bowen family...