NotesFromtheVoices

For me, the Christmas season starts when I cover my first parade. Today, it started. Even though, I am not a Christmas person, I was happy to see the big fellow in the red suit. It doesn't matter how you are but there is something about Santa. And there he was riding on a fire truck so I snapped this shot. It didn't make it in the paper so I decided to put it here. It has been a long but productive day. I covered a Christmas parade in the a.m. and an Indian Festival in the p.m. Not a bad way to spend a Saturday. And now comes the relaxation. I finally found where the Papa John is located in RR. I am so happy. So happy that I brought a small beef pizza to celebrate. Daily Dose 1. Seeing Santa! 2. Finding my favorite hat and gloves. 3. Starting to find my grove!

Happy Thanksgiving! Today is my favorite holiday of the year. The one where truly give thanks for everything. I am thankful for being on the road to recover. I am thankful for my beautiful little boy. I am thankful to know that whatever happens between my husband and I, we will always be friends. I am thankful for friends and family. I am thankful for a great job. Today is the only day I have off so I decided not to drive home and drive back. I had many options for dinner today. Instead I chose to go a community dinner in Weldon. I got a great story, a great meal and a great feeling. I planned to stay an hour but stayed for three. It is amazing what a few people can do for an entire community. Tomorrow is Black Friday. I have to be at Wally World at 4 a.m. and then hit some other stores. Not looking forward to it but it is my job. Daily Dose 1. I am thankful that I have the chance to be thankful. 2. Criminal Minds-- I love this show even though it scares me. 3. Being able to watch a mo...

Today, I returned to the world of reporting. But this weekend, I was mommy who watched her baby turn four. He told me that he had the best birthday ever. He loved his birthday cake and the fact he had a surprise party like they did on Curious George. Digital pictures were taken and I went only school with 35 mm. Guess who will probably have the best pictures. All of the digital pictures were taken by my husband's family. They were focusing on their kids and not the birthday boy. I have to drop off the film tomorrow. As long as I get them, I'll post some. It was nice being home and it makes sense that I feel like a visitor. I am. I live here in RR. We saw New Moon with some friends. It was pretty good. I don't feel like I wasted $10for the ticket. Tomorrow, it will be interesting with us putting out two papers in one day. And Friday will be my first experience with Black Friday as a reporter. I think I will be making my first visit to Starbucks for the good stuff. Daily Dose...

Work is abuzz with talk about New Moon. I plan to see it but I have to remember that I live in a town that has a movie theater that shows three movies. So I have planned to see this weekend in the middle of my son's birthday festivities. My baby is turning four. Four! It seems like yesterday that I was out to here carrying him and worrying. I was labeled a high risk pregnancy because of my ED. Plus, I was nowhere near recovery status when I was pregnant. The fact that I went from 90 pounds to 125 pounds was remarkable. There was days that I thought I was going to jump out of my body but I kept my eye on the prize--a beautiful, healthy boy who loves me as much as I love him. I can't wait. So I am working hard trying to get things done. Daily Dose 1.Keeping my fingers cross that my insurance has finally kicked in. I have done well but I need a therapist. 2.Two and half meals and three snacks. 3. Finally figuring out who I am and who I am meant to be is interesting. 4. Happy three...

Today has been a cold, wet and blustery day. It is not an ideal day for a reporter. On the plus side, I covered an American Indian Heritage event and learned some new things. And took some really pictures of the tribal school dance team. After the event, there was nice buffet lunch where I sit on some stairs and had a nice conversation with a few people. I came back from the event in a pretty good mood. When the weather is cold and yucky, people tend to either do bad things or get into accidents. It was like the floodgates open. Since it is so windy, the railroad crossing arms came down. Down as the train was coming through. Train didn’t stop. It came over the scanner and I was send to take pictures. Have you ever seen on the news when reporters are reporting in the wind and rain. Imagine me with a camera in the rain and the wind taking pictures. I now know what a kite feels like. The pictures looked decent. Before I went back to work, I stopped and got a hot coffee and sundae pie fr...

This week, I have worked my little fingers to the bone writing. I have been burning the candle at both ends covering events. I was so tired today that I dozed off while eating my lunch. I remember taking a bite of my corn dog and looking at the time. The next thing I know it was 30 minutes later. Sad but true. This is my weekend to work so I am still busy. But I see a wonderful bed and fluffy pillows in my not to distance future. I still have a Veteran’s Day march to cover on Sunday. And then I can head for home and see my guys. Plus, I will have Monday and Tuesday for some well-deserved R and R. I have been so busy that I hadn’t realized the Yankees won the World Series. But I did make time to cut my hair. My hair used to be very long and pretty but because of my ED, it started to break off. There were also a lot of split ends so I decided to just to make a fresh start and cut it. It looks amazing. The community college here has a cosmetology program with excellent prices for their s...

For the first time in a long time, I didn’t vote today. When I moved here, it was too late to register to vote. And I couldn’t vote at home because I really didn’t know the candidates. If I had voted absentee, I would have been voting just to vote. And I feel that is wrong. But next year, I will be prepared. Even though, I didn’t vote. I will be in the thick of things for the first time. I will be doing election coverage tonight. In all my years of journalism, I have never covered an election. Of course, the county I cover all of the elections are uncontested. So my night will be interesting. Every morning, I get up at 6 a.m. I am not excited about the early hour but am excited about my job. Some days, I can’t believe I am getting paid to do this. But I am. And I feel so blessed and fortunate to be doing something I love and am good at doing. Daily Dose 1. I ate lunch with another person. I am working on eating with others and not feeling so weird about it. 2. Dairy Queen has the best...

I am not a big Halloween person but I do love horror movies. I spend Saturday watching movies with a four break to go cover an event for the newspaper. I started Saturday morning with "I Still No What You Did Last Summer" and "Ghost Ship." Then I saw one of my favorites "Halloween H20" was coming on that night. I was so excited. I have some really good memories of seeing that movie in the theater. After working, I stopped at Sonic and bought four corn dogs from Sonic. One poor dog didn't make it home. After watching, my favorite one. I watched Halloween Resurrection and My Psycho Sweet Sixteen. If I had had a dvd player, I would have rented the Halloween 2, The Night of the Living Dead and Final Destination. But overall, I was pleased with my selections and ate a ton of candy corn while watching them. It is the beginning of the month. This means county commissioner and board of education meeting. Nothing gets my heart racing faster than a government ...