Lolo, Baby Ella, Good News, Are We Full of Ourselves?

Hello and Happy Monday, gang!
I hope everyone had a fantastic weekend and enjoyed the Drake Relays.

LOLO
A highlight for me last week was meeting World Champion hurdler Lolo Jones.


The Chrysalis Foundation honored Lolo with an award at its annual "HerStory" event. Here she is with event chair Marcia Munger and Chrysalis Communications Director Leslie Garman.

Chrysalis Foundation Executive Director Terry Hernandez giving a welcome speech.

Chrysalis Foundation Board Member and Bankers Trust Senior Vice President of Human Resources, Renee Hardman addresses the crowd. Bankers Trust helped sponsor the event.

I wish I had some pictures of Lolo with the girls in the Chrysalis After School program. They were absolutely tickled to have her at the event (we all were)! Not only did Lolo spend time doing a question and answer session with the girls, she posed for pictures and signed things afterward. Her message is so inspiring - not just for young ladies, but for all of us. Thank you Lolo for being you! If you're interested in volunteering for the Chrysalis Foundation, check out the website http://www.chrysalisfdn.org/. There are lots of ways to get involved.

BABY ELLA

Today marks one week since my new little niece Ella entered the world ....

Here she is with mom and dad .... so precious!

And here's yet another picture of my sister-in-law that will make you sick. I love you Bethany, but we'd all appreciate it if you looked pregnant or disheveled at some point!

My mother-in-law holding Ella, Matt holding Olivia.
This is my favorite picture, in large part because for many months when anyone asked Olivia about getting a baby sister she would emphatically say, "NO!" I'm happy to report that Matt and Beth say she is a good little helper.

GOOD NEWS!

If you'd like some more "good news" stories, check out The Des Moines Register's website. . .

http://www.desmoinesregister.com/goodnews. My friend Maurio Coleman was featured in the Sunday paper in this section, but I'm not finding the story online. Maurio is raising money the the YMCA of Greater Des Moines Partner With Youth program, and he's doing it in a unique way. . . by lifting A LOT of weight. Here's a link to his facebook page, http://apps.facebook.com/causes/237758/12887050?m=6d54c0aa or you can just send him a friend request if you're interested in giving.

ARE WE FULL OF OURSEVLES?

Finally, do we need to get over ourselves? A number of months ago someone I love made an observation about facebook, basically saying it shows that we're all narcissistic or voyeuristic (or both). I've thought about the comment often since then, and I just read an interesting Newsweek article that ties into the idea. Take a look and let me know what you think. http://www.newsweek.com/id/194640

Alright, I'm blogged out! I always enjoy your comments and emails - Court & Court, thanks for last week's posts.

Have a great week!

EEK

Erin.Kiernan@whotv.com

A big birthday, Relays week begins, another niece, and addictions

Hello and Happy Monday, gang! It's a dreary one out there again but Ed assures us the rest of the week will be gorgeous, so hang in there.

Last week was a lot of run, run, running around for me and it felt great to survive and make it to the weekend. I worked a day shift on Friday so I could be part of a birthday celebration for my good friend Heather Burnside.

Many thanks to friends Donna Heckman and Jenny Murphy for getting everyone together - Heather was surprised at dinner, but I think just about peed her pants when our gathering moved on to The Twisted Parrot and an even larger group screamed "Happy Birthday!" when she entered the room. Happy 29th, Heather! :) For the record, this is the only photo from this outing that I will post since every time I take a picture people now say, "Look out - you'll end up on Erin's blog!"

On Sunday I had the pleasure of serving as grand marshal for the Drake Relays parade. The sun broke through the clouds about a half hour before we started, I got to ride in a sweet Corvette and it's the start of Relays Week ... what more could a girl ask for? Plus, I got to see some of my favorite people, like Dolph Pulliam, President and Mrs. Maxwell, and Spike! I have a lot of fond Drake Relays memories and every year it's exciting to see Des Moines and my alma mater put on this world class event.

Yesterday I took some grub to my in-laws, Matt & Beth (otherwise known as parents to Olivia - my adorable niece). This morning, they welcomed another little one into the world. It's another girl, but she hasn't been named yet. I will share pictures of the newest addition to the Kiernan clan soon!

Finally, check out this horrid article I stumbled upon this afternoon. I have written several times about the trouble I have controlling my eating and now researchers have found that certain fat-sugar-salt combinations are addictive in the same way alcohol and drugs are?!?!? God save me. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30312808/ Check this out and let me know what you think. Right now I'm thinking a Whopper with cheese sounds fantastic, with chocolate chip cookies or Ben & Jerry's for dessert! On top of this food addiction news, an Iowa State University study finds that 1-in-10 kids ages 8-18 are addicted to video games! Again, the research shows it's similar to other addictions. Scary! I know I'm addicted to email. Last week our work system was down for less than a day and I thought I was going to lose my mind! I kept clicking on the Outlook icon, either forgetting that it wasn't working or praying that it was. What do you think about these new "addictions"? Worth worrying about? A sign of the times? Silly nonsense?

Have a great week - thanks for tuning in!

EEK

I'm a slacker, week old photos, JR's back & 13 facts!

Hi gang!

I know I've written (and said) this a million times, but on days like today I really do have The Carpenter's song "Rainy Days and Mondays" going through my head. It was hard to get out of bed this morning, yes?

I'm really sorry for not posting a blog last week. I was traveling from AZ to IA on Monday and then just got bogged down Tuesday and by Wednesday I'd forgotten about it! These days if I don't write down what I have to do, I forget about it. I'm the queen of sticky notes. My desk is covered with them and they're all over our house. Sometimes I stick sticky notes on my body because I think of something I need to do or someone I need to call, and if I don't write it down right when I think of it I will forget by the time I get to the room where the task needs to be done. Seriously! Oye.

My quick trip to Arizona to see my folks was great. Too short, but great. It happened to time out perfectly with my cousin Nicole and her family visiting from California, and my Aunt Nancy visiting from Nebraska. Without further delay - here is the fun in the sun from the Southwest!

We made the drive to Tuscon to my cousin Sean's house - that's where my cousin Nicole's family was staying. These are Nicole's sons Calvin and Mac. They spent hours in the pool playing basketball. I miss having this much energy!

The girls on the other hand, stayed on dry land. My cousin Sean's daughter Sophie, and Nicole's daughter Hannah spent some time on the swing set instead!

Nicole, me, my mom, my cousin Sean's wife Katrina, my Aunt Shelia

This cracked me up ... somewhere Mac had seen pics of stone therapy treatments offered in spas, so he asked us to put rocks on his back as he dried off in the sun. I miss being a kid!

I didn't spend much time in the sun while hanging with the entire family, but the next day my mom snuck up and snapped this photo of me in my pajamas eating breakfast on my parents' patio. This is the life! I think this is the day a snowstorm hit Iowa. My dad LOVES checking the weather in the heartland everyday, and of course reporting it to me!

We are really bad about asking people to take pictures of us as a family, so my mom has a growing collection of photos of us at various airports. This is me with my dad at Sky Harbor in Phoenix. Pretty exciting, huh? We even managed to have fun here, believe it or not! I also have some wonderful photos of my dad with his three siblings, but I am having a heck of a time downloading tonight. I'll add those later if the computer allows.

We are celebrating here at Channel 13 because one of our favorite people is back to work starting today. Please take the time to drop Jeriann and note and let her know you're glad to see her on the tube. Ed is taking some much deserved time off, so we are blessed with JR working nights with us this week. Welcome back, Jeriann ... we missed you!

Finally, check out the new addition to our website "13 Fascinating Facts." You'll find them by clicking "As Seen on 13" at the top of the Homepage. Then scroll down and click on "Channel 13 News Team." I'm having a great time learning news things about my colleagues and I think you'll get a kick out of these lists, too.

Have a great week!