NotesFromtheVoices

For the last few months, I have had a rough time with ED. Some days almost paralyzing. Many have been in my corner but my co-worker and friend D has been there with mixture of compassion and tough love. I have wondered if I would ever be able to pay her back for all she has done. Today, I have the chance. She called me this morning with some very sad news. Her 18-year-old daughter found out her son has died in utero. She was about four or five months pregnant. I know what she is going through. I have been in her shoes. It was hard for me in my 30s. I can't even begin to imagine being what she is feeling but I have a pretty good idea. In a moment like this, you need your mommy. And mine was there for me during this devastating time. I told that her daughter needs her mom. I would work for her with no questions asked. It will be rough because the other reporter is on his honeymoon. Years ago, at my other paper, everyone took care of me. I will take care of D in the only way I can--

It has been awhile since I posted. Between work and trying to find freelance jobs, I have been swamped. Nothing brings life pretty to halt like food poisoning. If you have ever had it, I know you can remember perfectly which meal did you in. For me, it was some homemade herb chicken risotto. The meal was amazing. In fact, one of the best I have cooked in a long time. I enjoyed every bite and ate all of the leftovers. Hours later, my beautiful meal became a horrible memory. I was so sick that it scared me. A week later, I am still trying to get my stomach back to normal. Thank God for soup and applesauce.  And as sick as I was, the only thing I could think was how will I get my two stories a day done. My adventure started on my two days off (Sunday and Monday). I worked for a few hours Tuesday and had to go home. Wednesday and Thursday, I was at work powering through weak and exhausted but no vomiting or other stuff. I went to the doctor Thursday because I still wasn't feeling

I am so happy that it is the weekend! Sleeping late, watching movies and no work!!! It has been quite a week. On Thursday, I learned my stats (how much I  have done at the newspaper) for the February. For me a month represents, a daily newspaper that comes out five days a week, a monthly magazine and a quarterly that comes out four times a year.  For February, I wrote 47 stories (36 newspaper, three indepth pieces, 5 for women's mag and three for the Lake). I took 96 photos, one video and several photo galleries. I am tired just thinking of what I did. Apparently, it is not enough. The higher ups think I could do more since I am the education reporter. One of my co-workers had 70 stories for the month. 70!! Wanna know how he got that number. He is the crime reporter and we are in the middle of bad crime times in RR. He doesn't go to crime scenes. Police call him to give him the stories plus he gets press releases from them. Some days, he has 5-7 stories this way. The publish