Soundtrack

Every now and then a song comes along that just sticks with you.  This song popped up in my shuffle this morning and brought me great joy.  I think it will be one that I always go back to and one that reminds me of who I am in Christ and the potential we have as a people to please Him and love one another:

Jill Phillips -- "Steel Bars"

So this is how it feels at the rock bottom of despair
When the house I built comes crashing down
And this is how it feels when I know the man that I say I am
Is not the man that I am when no one's around
This is how it feels to come alive again
And start fighting back to gain control And this is how it feels to let freedom in And break these chains that enslave my soul

CHORUS:
I refuse to be locked up in here like a prison
cell Where all I ever get is a meal and four walls
I used to be just fine in here but not anymore
Gonna break through these steel bars

So tell me how it feels when the tables start to turn
And you find yourself at the losing end
Tell me how it feels, you're not welcome
here 'Cause I'm tired of pain and I'm tired of sin 

CHORUS
I won't let you win
I have no doubt
I don't want you in
So get out, get out

CHORUS
I refuse to be
locked up in here like a prison cell
Where all I ever get
is a meal and four walls
I used to be just fine in here
but not anymore
Gonna break through these steel bars

From the Tivo Files

Kenny Chesney was on Ellen yesterday (This is my new favorite talk show by the way -- she is HILARIOUS)  He went over what he is looking for in a woman:

1. She has to love music

2. She has to love the beach

3. She has to love people

4. She has to love doing laundry (apparently this is something he is quite passionate about)

Now... seeing as I have a dresser full of CDs plus 1500 songs in itunes, I love the beach, I'm great with people, and I spent Sunday doing like 4 loads... I'm pretty sure I qualify!  So that's good news!

Also -- David Gregory (He's the chief White House correspondent for those of you not following along) was on Conan.  He's so funny!! You should look for the clip of him dancing, it's probably on youtube by now.

One more thing -- I should never wake up at 5:30am again and catch up on my "list."  I watched two episodes of Laguna Beach... you can just feel the brain cells being sucked out of your skull... it's ridiculous, but for some reason... I still watch.

Reminder everyone: Gilmore Girls season premiere tonight 8:00 eastern on the new network, the CW.

Recovering Pseudo Runner

So... ouch!  Yesterday I was so sore.  My body was hungover from that 5K I ran/walked Sunday. I didn't even eat my lunch.  The stairs equal pain.  Not going up, but coming down. (do you think this is what it's like to be old?) I wasn't about to endure that for my Smart Ones Chicken Parmesan.  Hardly worth it. Hardly. So I sat at my desk and munched on the other edibles I brought that didn't require assistance from the microwave.

What is up with the traffic? Usually, the later I leave my house, the less the congestion.  Not so much yesterday. I was later than usual, not a good start on a Monday.  Today, I VOW to leave earlier! I guess all the Pittsburghers are back from the Outer Banks!

Mmm... I have really good coffee today.  Home brew: Godiva Vanilla Hazelnut.  Cup 1 = warms you up. Cup 2 = wakes you up. Cup 3 = now you're ready!!

My coffee was so swell I even took the dog for a morning walk.  He was pumped.  I hope he doesn't think this is going to be an everyday thing though... I saw my breath out there! The walk was good for me too. I'm trying to turn my strike into a spare. (that's a metaphor for my exercise -- I am trying to use this 5K as a jump start)

The Great Race

Shout out to Gretchen for encouraging me to run in The Great Race this morning.  It was fun and mostly downhill :)  I am already sore but feel very satisfied that I did it!!

Tonight I took Brokaw to the park for a walk.  It was the perfect fall night.  I was sporting my Va Tech sweatshirt, sipping a pumpkin spice latte and there were leaves so pretty they looked fake.

I love fall.  It always seems so short though.  Let's savor every autumn moment.

Oh, and check this out -- apparently I am, by far, not the only person who is obsessed with Pumpkin Spice Latte's.  I searched for the syrup on e-bay... people are willing to pay like $70 bucks for it!

seriously: http://search.ebay.com/search/search.dll?cgiurl=http%3A%2F%2Fcgi.ebay.com%2Fws%2F&fkr=1&from=R8&satitle=pumpkin+spice+syrup&category0=

Touchdown!!

Brokaw could be a referee in the NFL:

Look at these people

My sister seriously has the most beautiful family that has ever lived. Ever.

42 Degrees

42 degrees is unacceptable on September 20th. I'm busting out my fuzzy yellow scrambled egg socks.  This, my friends, is a tragedy.

At least I will be watching many beautiful Tivo'd things tonight while I am wearing my yellow socks.

Today I tivo'd Kenny Chesney on Regis & Kelly and Matthew McConaguhey on Oprah.  And while I'm watching that stuff, tivo is working his majic recording more stuff for me. :) I don't know how tivo does it. I couldn't hold that in all day!

Okay, well... happy Wednesday everyone.

Oh, and my Weight Watchers update: I'm down 3 pounds!!

Hey Strangers

I don't know why I just haven't felt like blogging a lot lately.  Maybe because sometimes it doesn't seem like I have much of a life.  Who wants to read the blog of a loser?  Seriously, my digital camera broke... and what fun is blogging with no visual aids?  Okay... enough of the Eeor talk. I'll pin my tail back on and get going.

First thing's first.  I got up extra early today and made it to Target in order to buy the new Kenny Chesney CD and 6th season of Gilmore Girls on DVD.  It is truly amazing how a girl that manages to make it to work (technically) on time only about once a week, can get up, showered, coffeed, and in and out of Target by 9am.  Perhaps if Kenny, Rory and Lorelai were waiting for me each morning I would have more incentive.  The CD is amazing and makes the inside of my car feel like I'm at a Kenny Chesney concert.  I haven't had a chance to watch the DVD's yet, but I'm sure they won't disappoint.  Oh, and I owe Rory & Lorelai one.  I got a $5.00 gift card to spend at a later date at my favorite place on earth for buying the DVD. Those girls know how to please.

In other news... Brokaw is back to school.  He's going to "clicker training" on Tuesday nights. Basically, he'll learn to do things on command with this little piece of plastic that when you push it, amazingly, clicks.  He loves school, and I'm not one to hold a genius dog back from fulfilling his full potential, so here we go again!  Brokaw loves seeing John the trainer again because he equates him with treats. :)

Okay, now I guess I should deliver on my tease:

1.  Trip to Roanoke: it was a blast, as usual.  I have a special place in my heart for the Star city.  Probably because that's really the first place I experienced life as an adult.  The highlight of the trip was Ann and I eating at this posh place called Metro.  It's the kind of place that serves 47 different martinis and tiny pieces of raw meat for $40.00. We had both. The first was amazing. The latter was easier for me to take than Ann, but she was a much cleaner eater.  Only my plate was clean. The posh white table cloth? not so much.

2. (I already told you about Brokaw going back to school)

3. Meredith, welcome to TODAY!! I heart Meredith Vieira.  She stepped right into America's First Family and didn't miss a step.  She gets bonus points for showing me the beautiful picture of Matt Lauer's ripped torso that was in People Magazine and at least one "cool point" (remember those -- ha!) for having a hamster named Al back in the day.  Al didn't seem to be too amused, but I had a hamster growing up too, so therefore Meredith and I have something in common.  It's a stretch, yeah... I know. Whatever.  Oh, I also like the Today Show's new set, but he "bug" in the lower right hand corner (that's TV talk for the little graphic that has the time & temp) is too flashy and the animation loops too fast.  They need to slow that down.

4. 10 year reunion.  So, this October, I will fly home for Indian River High School's homecoming game.  It will mark 10 years since my senior year's homecoming.  I can't wait to see old friends, even if they are bald, wrinkled and fat.

5. Weight watchers and cost cutters: this is how I am taking action currently so that I look decent at the above mentioned homecoming. I've put on a few lb's since I moved to the 'burgh.  I have to weigh in tomorrow night, I'll let you know how I do.  Cost cutters just so happened to be next door to the Weight Watchers center and I desperately needed a haircut so, I figured, "Hey -- what can it hurt?"  Yeah.  Apparently it can hurt my bangs.  The girl cut them way too short!! The good news is they will grow back pretty quickly and I'm only out about 12 bucks.  I need to get my hair highlighted again soon, then I will be able to go back to Michael, my hair dresser.  I'm too embarrassed right now since I've been doing my own color.  Embarrassing for any grown, self respecting woman with a decent paying job. I know. Shameless.

5. Mayor Luke the media darling: I've lost some momentum on this one. After Mayor O'Connor died, the 26 year old president of Pittsburgh's city council, Luke Ravenstahl, became mayor.  I used to have a crush on him.  Now, I'm kind of burnt out on Luke.  He's been on ABC, CNN and David Letterman, just because he's 26.  Seriously, people, he's not Doogie Howser.  It's not that hard to be 26 and make decisions.  I do it all day long.

List

I haven't blogged in forever, I know. Thanks for keeping me on your "favorites" list and checking in every now and then anyway.

I don't have much time.  I PROMISE to update later.

Here's a little tease... I've been keeping a running list of "things to blog about."

-Trip to Roanoke

-Brokaw: Back to School

-Meredith!! Welcome to TODAY

-10 year reunion

-Weight watchers and cost cutters

-Mayor Luke the hottie/media darling

Difficult Day

"I get the facts, I study them patiently, I apply imagination." -- (Bernard Baruch)

Today will be a long and difficult day at work.  Some days are long and difficult because of people.  Some days are long and difficult because it's Monday. Or because it's only Thursday. Or because you have too much work to do and not enough time.  Some days in the news business, it's like mining.  You churn out what you can, maximizing your output, making it the best it can be.  It's just coal.  It's your product.  It's what's expected of you, so you produce it.  Other days, it gets to you.  Today will be one of those days. It will be long. And it will be difficult.  And I as a producer will have to balance two major influences of this city.  A majestic, prestigious goodbye to a beloved leader (whom I also loved) and a majestic, prestigious beginning to long awaited season for a team of defending Super Bowl Champs whom this city loves more than life itself.  Balance will be key.  Thankfully, I am bringing in good coffee and I already know from the conference call that my boss is bringing in bagels.  So long Bob O'Connor.  Well done.  And Steelers, here we go.

Katie's Big Night

So last night I rushed home to see the CBS Evening News with Katie Couric. (even though I already had my Tivo set -- yes, I got my DVR on Friday (freaky cable guy by the way, but we'll save that for another post))

Here are my thoughts:

1. Off lead!  Afghanistan? Yes, there is important news going on there and I agree that the network news media has somewhat neglected the original "War on Terror," but the President began a whole new series of speeches on the WOT yesterday and they could have at least weaved that in. (I'm not flying my "liberal alert" flag just yet... I'm just saying... I noticed)

2. Katie's voice!! Did you hear it.  It's completely different. Hey, I can relate, all women sound a little more manly at 7am than they do at 7pm, but geez... she sounded like a completely different person.  More feminine, which she and CBS obviously aren't afraid of... and I think that's cool.

3. A white blazer -- the day after Labor Day?!? Just kidding. I think it's just funny how many people will write/blog/talk about this today just because she's Katie Couric.  America is obsessed with her hair/legs/clothing choices/shoes. It's a strange back-handed compliment I guess.

I enjoyed the fast pace of the show, thought the lead story was a little off... I LOVED the "kicker" (which is a TV term for the story towards the end of a newscast that may be a little uplifting or fluffy) with Steve Hartman and the story of the guy who is giving portraits to kids in 3rd world countries.  It was touching. One more thing... I am considering going back online and watching again to count the website plugs... geez!! (we're so guilty of this in local news too -- but when you hear "go to our website" like 9 times, it's like "okay, okay, okay Katie -- I'll go log on right now)

side note: apparently a lot of people took the order because I have a friend who couldn't watch the newscast online because so many people were on at once!

(by the way -- another cool groundbreaking thing about the CBS Evening News with Katie Couric -- it's simulcast online!)

That's all for now... since Katie doesn't have a concrete way to sign off her broadcast, I don't feel a need to have something consistent either.  But don't worry... I won't ask you to go to my website and make suggestions.

Here's a link to the Washington Post review: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/05/AR2006090501473.html