Knobby Knees, new grill, Chrysalis and Equal Access
Happy Monday!
Saturday I got to judge a Knobby Knees contest at a Celtic Festival at Living History Farms. What an experience! If you have no idea what I'm talking about, it involves men in kilts. Use your imagination.
We bought a new grill this weekend, and it's about time. Our old one was literally falling apart. Michael is already putting the new cooking utensil to good use, and I'm
lovin' it!
Tuesday we celebrate the Chrysalis After School program with an event called
HerStory. It's free, at Drake University's Olmsted Center from 4-6pm. We'd love to have you there to help us make a difference in the lives of Central Iowa girls and women.
Finally, I hope you'll tune in Tuesday and Wednesday nights for my special reports on the Americans with Disabilities Act and the struggles some Iowans are still facing everyday. "Equal Access" airs during our 10 o'clock show on both nights.
It's 9:45 and this anchor needs to slap on some lipstick and spray the do.
Have a great week!
EEK
Erin.Kiernan@whotv.com
Pets... Michael Buble' ... Weather ... Movies
Welcome to a very random Monday edition of "Erin Off Camera!"
First, thanks to all of you for the great vacation ideas. Now, I just need unlimited time off and a big chunk of travel cash!
On the radar this week - pets. Mine had to make a trip to the vet last week to have some blood work done. She was already in a bad mood since Michael and I had been gone for ten days, and the vet visit nearly put her over the edge. When Marley is unhappy, she makes sure we know about it... usually by whining incessantly and destroying things. Her latest trick is using a closet in our basement as a litter box. It is disgusting. I cleaned it up this weekend and Michael doused the room with Pine Sol so we're hoping that solves the problem. Do your pets have any lovely stunts they like to unleash on you? Do you
discipline them in any way? Marley is spoiled rotten ... I think I've created a monster.
Did any of you go to the Michael Buble' concert last Friday? I loooooooooove this guy and would've loved to have gone to the show, but we're in a ratings period right now and that means no time off. Even more painful was finding out from my hubby that good friends had offered up not only tickets, but the chance to go backstage ..... waaaaaahhhhhhhhh! This begs the question, had I known about this offer would I have used a "mental health day" on Friday? Likely not, but I probably would've done everything in my power to make it over to Wells Fargo Arena in between the six & ten o'clock shows!
This weather stinks!!!! I am ready for some warmth - how about you? I'm actually wearing one of my winter coats today because I know it's going to be freezing when I leave work at 10:30 tonight.
We had a bit of a "movie marathon" at the
Kiernan house this weekend and each flick was really good, in very different ways. Saturday night we watched "Before the Devil Knows You're Dead." It is one of the more disturbing movies I've seen in a long time. Philip Seymour Hoffman is creepy and amazing. After that, we watched "Juno." I was bracing myself for something that would have me in tears for an hour and a half straight, but instead the writing had me laughing ... until the end. Then I cried. Last night after an outing with Sonya and her hubby we watched "
Resurrecting the Champ." Parts of it were a little overdone, but overall it's a pretty good movie - especially if you have any interest in journalism and/or sports. What have you seen lately that you like? Any oldies you'd recommend when new releases are lame? Fire away.
Have a great week!
EEK
Erin.Kiernan@whotv.com
Vacation
Sigh.
It is always tough to come back to reality after any vacation, but especially difficult when you've done absolutely nothing but lounge around for a week.
Michael and I just returned from Florida, where the weather was great and we were beach bums and pool slugs around the clock. I think the most ambitious thing we did when we were there was go for a few short walks. We are both kind of anti-itinerary types. I think it might be because our lives at home are so jam-packed. When we get away we like to do nothing, or fly by the seat of our pants. During this trip, we did a little of both and it was good therapy. It didn't hurt that when we left Des Moines it was 26 degrees and raining!
How do you like to vacation? Do you plan every minute of every day, or just take it as it comes? Do you have any suggestions for great vacation spots or cool places to see? I'm not very far along on visiting all fifty states, and it's one of my goals so reading your recommendations will be fun.
Finally, I want to let you know that I have accomplished one of my life goals ... I AM MORE TAN THAN JOHN BACHMAN!!!!
:)
EEK
Big bash
What a difference a year makes!
This is my little niece Olivia last year, during her first hours of life.
This is Olivia on Saturday, celebrating her first birthday!
In case you can't tell from the photo, Miss O loooooooooooooves cake.
Not only did she dig in with both hands and get in all over her face ....
She got chocolate cake all over her body ... and all over Dad!
After getting hosed off and putting on a clean set of clothes, it's time for pictures with Mom....
And opening presents .... like these super-cool pink Converse shoes! Olivia got lots of cute clothes, some Hello Kitty accessories and some sort of Elmo Driving School toy that makes hilarious comments. I know at this age birthday parties are more for the grownups than the kids, but who cares - it's a riot!
Do you have favorite childhood birthday memories? One of mine is a Holly Hobby cake my mom made, although I can't remember which birthday it was.... young enough that I was still excited about being a year older!
Happy Monday!
EEK
Rules for Aging ... Forgetting ... Vegas
Happy Monday Everyone!
Days like today always have me humming "Rainy Days & Mondays" by the Carpenters. How cheesy is that? Very.
Is the weather making you crabby? Do you need a good laugh? Do you like to read? Then run out and get yourself a copy of "Rules for Aging" by Roger Rosenblatt. Keith Murphy loaned it to me last week, and it is fantastic. It's a quick, entertaining read with parts that will make you laugh out loud and others that will make you think, "I wish someone had told me this a long time ago." I plan on buying several copies of this book, one for myself and others for friends. Do you have any "must reads" to pass along to the group? Please share.
Speaking of aging, I am having the hardest time remembering things. If I don't write down what I need to do or buy or tell someone at the very moment I think of it, then it's gone. This blog is a prime example. All sorts of random topics go through my brain, but it's usually when I'm driving, or working out or blow drying my hair .... you get the idea. If I can't write myself a note I can't remember. It's horrible. For this reason there are sticky notes all over my house and my desk. Someone once told me a good way to remember something is to say it out loud ten times in a row. That's all well and good, but you can't really do that in public unless you want people to think that you're crazy. Any tips for remembering (or strengthening your brain in general) are welcome on the blog.
I think I'm forgetting things today because of the three days I just spent in Las Vegas. It was a great impromptu trip with Michael and my folks, but that town will wear you out! I feel like I was there running around like a maniac for a month. We covered a lot of ground and did a lot of different things, in part because my parents hadn't been to Vegas since the early 80s. During that trip with my Grandma and Grandad Moody, I got in big trouble. My Grandma hit a jackpot of some sort on a slot machine and she and I started grabbing up coins as they came pouring out ... a big no-no when you're only six or seven years old. I think I got dragged out of the casino by a floor manager. Maybe I'm embellishing. Maybe I just got scolded by someone. See ... I keep forgetting things! Either way, it was a traumatic experience and probably explains why I don't really enjoy gambling. But, I love to eat and shop and sunbathe and go to shows and people watch and there is a lot of that in Sin City. I am spent!
It's nearly news time, so I need to wrap this up.
Thanks for reading, posting and watching!
EEK
Belated and bothered
I apologize for the belated post. Yesterday I was on assignment during the afternoon and then short on time the rest of the evening, and today has been busy as well.
I spoke to a Drake University broadcast journalism class this afternoon and I feel OLD. I'm constantly amazed at how worldly and "ahead of the curve" so many high school and college students seem these days. I don't think I was that bright or driven at that age.
I'm feeling so bothered by the Sueppel case in Iowa City. We cover horrible stories all the time in this business, but some stick with you more than others. This particular case appeared terrible from the beginning, but the information police are releasing now makes it all the more horrific. I keep thinking about those four kids and wondering how things could seem so bleak that their father thought it was best to kill them. There will probably never be an answer that makes sense.
I know this is a terribly depressing note one which to close the blog, but it's consuming my thoughts today.
Be grateful for your life, and tell those you care about how much they mean to you.
EEK
Happy Birthday Mister Rogers
He would've turned 80 today.
"The real issue in life is not how many blessings we have, but what we do
with our blessings. Some people have many blessings and hoard them.
Some have few and give everything away."
