A Hairy Situation

A few of my co-workers and I have decided we’re going to train to run a half marathon during the Glass City Marathon in 2010.

I’m pretty excited considering this is something I’d never thought I’d do.  The reason-not so much because of all of the hard work but because of my hair.

That may sound a little vain but due to my hair type I can’t wash my hair everyday so now I only workout on my days off but that will have to change.

My hair is chemically straightened naturally “curly” which means any moisture, especially sweat, is not good for my hair.  It will sometimes kink up and using a flat iron on sweaty/salty hair isn’t a good thing.

My hair is dry so washing it more than once a week will make it dryer and more brittle than it already is.

Now if I workout on a day (or the night before)  I have to work on-air my hair will not look its best or even worse will look a complete mess.

With all that said I’m trying to find the best option for my hair because training for this half-marathon will be quite intense at 5 to 6 days a week.

I’ve done so much research and yet I’m still not completely sure what I should do but I know I’m not going to let my hair stop me from successfully completing this challenge.

If you have any advice pass it along!

I am suffering a tremendous case of ‘mom guilt.’ My 2 year-old (almost three) has been acting horrible and I’m sure it is because I have been working a lot lately. I usually work evenings, but I have been filling in for our assignment manager this week. Therfore, I have been leaving my house by 7:00am all week. Kelan usually isn’t up yet, so he hasn’t been getting AM mommy time. I’ve also worked some extra hours… so I’m sure he’s missing me.

It is hard to explain to a toddler why I have to go to work. Today he asked if he could come with me and play with the TV cameras. I explained to him that we don’t have any toys at work and that I don’t work at Nick Jr. so he wouldn’t get to watch the Wonder Pets. That seemed to do the trick. I once told him I had to go to work to make money to pay bills. He told me we didn’t need money. If only…

I am planning on taking some time off in early December. Hopefully that will get my little guy back on track. Until then, I hope a game of Candyland will do the trick!

I have lived in Ohio for 4 years and I would have to say this is the first year I am excited about the Ohio Michigan game. 

My neighborhood is actually having a tailgate party.  rather then just hanging out and watching the game inside someone’s house, we are going to tailgate outside starting at 8am.  Brats and burgers will be served for Breakfast.   Should be fun

What are your plans for the big game?

The President’s 2010 Budget requested $475million in EPA’s budget for a new Environmental Protection Agency-led, interagency Great Lakes restoration initiative, to target the most significant problems in the region, including invasive aquatic species, non-point source pollution, and contaminated sediment.

For more information on this initiative click here to link to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agencies press release.

Many of my friends have Blackberry phones and sing its praises. My husband and I have been wanting one for a long time now, so when our phone contract ended, we finally made the splurge. My husband is on the road a lot for his job, so he wanted a way to easily access e-mail while on the go. I run around a lot being a reporter, so being able to e-mail from my phone is a nice addition. I can e-mail story updates, or let my producer know how a story is going, without stepping away to make a phone call.

Now, when we got the phones, I was sure that being able to do more from the palm of my hand, would save me time. Now that I actually have it, I’m not convinced. Now, I may just not have mastered what I can do on this phone…. (In fact, I remind myself of my parents with their phones… “How do I write this text? What if I want to…”) but there’s aspects of the blackberry that drive me nuts. I am constantly getting “notified” every time a new junk e-mail comes in, or about a posting on Facebook. I wouldn’t normally take the time to check my e-mail or Facebook as much as my phone likes to “notify” me, so I feel like it’s taking up more time than saving. I’m also not that impressed with how long it takes to connect to the internet or send a message.

Unfortunately, no matter how great an advancement in technology may seem, I feel like in the end, we serve it, rather than it serves us. Think about it… do you ever feel like a slave to your phone/computer? Or that your phone or television recorder (DVR) acts more as a leash than a connection to others? Every now and again, try turning everything off, take a deep breath, lay your head back and feel the freedom/relief that comes with being unconnected.

While preparing for our early newscast today, several members of the Fox Toledo News crew found it funny that it seems everything these days is blamed on the economy.

Lucas County Commissioner Pete Gerken’s sound bite is what set off this thread. He was talking about the reason why we’re not having a Children’s Wonderland display this year.

But after so many months of downturn and struggle, we sometimes don’t realize how much of our lives are affected by the economy, because it’s happened so gradually.

See if any of this sounds familiar in your life–
Sales projections are down.
All of your magazines now have headlines touting bargain gifts and budget friendly meal ideas.
Charity donation requests all say the need is up.
You’re driving your car longer and considering whether each repair is necessary.
Combining errands is the norm, forget joyrides.
You’ve gotten used to the potholes and no longer wonder when they’ll be fixed.

I’m sure you could add to this. Hang in there, and when in doubt, blame the economy.

So, I’m sitting at my desk and Tiffany Tarpley is torturing me. She has Five Guys for dinner, and I can see the grease outside of the brown paper bag. The food looks so good, and it’s getting close to dinner time. ugh.

I have only had Five Guys one time. My brother-in-law swears by the food there, and so we went to a restaurant location in D.C.

I am pumped that Five Guys has opened in Toledo, Ohio.. I have heard from other co-workers that more franchises will be on the way in our area. Woohoo!  If you didn’t know, the current location is at Westgate.

Have you tried Five Guys??? What do you think?

P.S. Work has been fun today. I think I felt Kristi’s baby kick. haha.

This past Saturday, Tracy, Jeff, and I gave out FOX Toledo goodie bags at the Penn Station in Sylvania (the one next to Bed Bath and Beyond). We had a great turnout, enjoyed an amazing lunch and got to meet some really great people! Thanks to everyone who came to say hello and I’d like to give a special thanks to the owner, James, for everything.
If you haven’t been to Penn Station yet, you should definitely go and try the Philly Cheesesteak. As a Philadelphia native who has had some of the best Cheesesteaks ever, I can say that Penn Station knows what they are doing! YUM!

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“Okay well, lets get this over with.”

Joi had a habit of being a little crass sometimes. As annoying as it was I was used to it, and she is my matron of honor but I swear if we weren’t sisters she would definitely be an usher. The three-year age difference gave us a lot to be competitive about. Being the youngest of the pair, I was often passed over by our mother sometimes not on purpose of course. Only when Joi’s ‘problems’ out weighed my own which was very often.  However, no one ever accused my sister of being over dramatic. Being named after our grandmother Joilinda Kelley, blues singer/songwriter, Joi’s artistic talents were few and far between, but try to convince her of that.

The door opened and my mother stuck her head in.

“Come on girls, it’s show time, everyone is seated. Sam and the groomsmen are all waiting at the altar, let’s go! Hustle” she called.

“Ok, let’s get ready to rumble,” I said, trailing behind the ten bridesmaids into the chapel.

Before letting go of my hand, my last bridesmaid kissed me on the cheek wishing me good luck as she got ready to march down to Kenny Latimore’s “For You”

“Will everyone please stand,” I heard the Reverend say.

Ok Lee just breath, count, 1,2,3,4…

Glancing over, I smiled at my mother as we walked down the aisle hand in hand to the wedding march. My father, for the little presence and account that he was in my life, had decided to boycott.  His own religious and personal beliefs had propelled him to it.  I decided not to be sad about it, this was just one more to add to the long list of past disappointments.

I can hear the excited whispers of my friends and family, as I pass each pew: she looks so lovely, look at her, she finally looks like a grown woman, are those boobs real, her smile is just to die for, her mother is gorgeous… I hadn’t expected so many people; the groom’s side is stuffed.  There had to be more than the original three hundred guests, fortunately we had paid for an additional one hundred as well.  As I got to the altar and stood next to Sam I noticed that everyone, except my father, is here.  Even people I haven’t spoken to in ages. I noticed a woman sitting to the far left in the third pew, she looks uncannily familiar, but where have I seen her before? Suddenly it came to me she was my piano teacher, Mrs. Bartlow. Now who had thought to invite her?

“Do you, Leeanne Smith take this man Samuel Ethan Shine to be your lawfully wedded husband…?”

There was Ms. Mendenhall, my fifth grade elementary school teacher. She remembers me? There’s Tommy, Angela, Steve, Mary, Ashley and Carlie.  Carlie? She’s not even a friend of mine and whom is she sitting next to, that guy looks awfully familiar.

“LeeAnne, do you take Samuel Shine to be your lawfully wedded husband…?” Reverend Daniels repeated.

That can’t be who I think it is.

The crowd began to whisper.

That can’t be Gray Jackson!

“LeeAnne…Lee sweetie, say something,”  Sam’s whispering to me, he’s watching me closely.

What should I do now?  Why is Gray here, who invited him to my wedding?  This isn’t good.  This isn’t good at all.  Why is the man I love at my wedding?

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Tune in next week..

I love a bargain as much as the next guy (or gal,) but my sister is the sale guru. Over the past few years she has taught me that I need not pay retail for anything – thanks to the World Wide Web. Now I am passing the deals on to you.

A few years ago me sister showed me the ropes of online couponing. It is easy. Most of the time all it takes is a Google search, the name of your favorite retailer, and the key words ‘printable coupon.’ I swear this works. I printed off a Bath and Body Works coupon just last night. It is now a ritual in our household to print off coupons from our favorite stores before we head to the mall.

There are also some website you need to check out. These are great for finding deals and knowing where you can find items for a steal. Check these out:

dealcatcher.com

dealnews.com

printable-coupon.blogspot.com

Hopefully these will help save you some money as we head in to holiday season. I’ll post more in the future. Happy shopping!