Never had I ever been involved, or thought I’d ever be involved in an eating contest until this past Friday when I competed to earn the title of Spaghetti Eating Champion at Spaghetti Warehouse! The contest was held to benefit the Cherry Street Mission, and I’m always up for a challenge so I was excited (plus Italian food is by far my favorite)! Basically me and four other contestants had to eat as many bowls of pasta as we could in a ten-minute time frame.

Well, if you have never been in an eating contest, I must say it is nerve racking! Everyone is staring at you and cheering and you are doing everything you can to eat fast. And spaghetti is not easy to eat fast! Plus, the whole thing is just hilarious and I couldn’t stop laughing the majority of the time.

So after the second bowl, my stomach could not take much more, but I wanted to keep up with the only other girl in the contest, Jennifer Taylor from NBC 24. So I slowly but surely worked on my third bowl. Meanwhile the contestant that was actually a Spaghetti Warehouse employee was on his 7th or 8th bowl!

So in the end, I came in last with 2.5 bowls, but I think the fact that I managed to keep eating until the end makes me a winner! If you ever have the opportunity to be in an eating contest, I’d recommend it…and bring FOX Toledo’s Betsy Russell to film you because her commentary will make you laugh!

I wouldn’t take the Notre Dame job.

No, it’s not available YET, but trust me, it will be.  I was driving around thinking about it today and seriously, the Fighting Irish football program is at a stage similar to where Syracuse was last year, in relative terms.

Don’t think that’s too ridiculous.  Granted, Notre Dame’s far from being the laughingstock that Syracuse became last year, but the two programs have different standards.  SU has a proud history in the Big East and used to be pretty nationally respected.  Under Greg Robinson (now Michigan’s defensive coordinator for all you Wolverine fans), the program went backwards and sunk to depths never seen before.   Syracuse used to dominate Rutgers and UConn.  In the last few years, that changed, and Robinson was canned.  At Notre Dame, there’s an expectation to contend for the national championship.  Heck, some experts this year thought the Irish had a legitimate BCS title shot.  Instead, they’re 6-5 with inexcuseable losses to Navy and UConn.

Think about it.  Navy and UConn.  Both beat high and mighty Notre Dame.  If Ty Willingham got fired quickly, Weis is as good as gone.

So who’s next?

It’s definitely a desirable job, but it depends on where you’re coming from.  It’s always flattering to hear your name mentioned as a potential candidate, but Urban Meyer would be out of his mind if he decided to leave Florida.  He’s already in a program that has national championship aspirations in argubly the top conference in college football.  The Gators are viewed as the top of the top.  AND… Meyer’s considered a LEGEND there.  That kind of job security is priceless.  It’s like JoePa at Penn State or Pete Carroll at USC.  Why leave for other pastures when you’re pretty much set for life where you are?

It’s a different scenario for a coach like Cincinnati’s Brian Kelly.  He’s proven himself time and time again.  Now, he has the Bearcats in unchartered territory.  It’s not matter of if.  It’s a matter of when.  I was surprised after last year.  But after this year?

It’s like in West Virginia, where I understand that fans live and die by WVU.  Seriously, get over Rich Rodriguez leaving for Michigan.  That’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.  Michigan, Ohio State, Notre Dame, Texas, Florida.  If those jobs come open and it’s offered to you, you don’t say no.  West Virginia is no Michigan.  And oh by the way, I think it is TOTALLY irrational for Wolverine fans to call for Rodriguez’s head NOW.  He just finished his second year!

Just my two cents…

But I will say that the Notre Dame job is a good one.  You can recruit the best of the best athletes anywhere in the country.  Kids will want to come and restore the tradition like what Mack Brown convinced the Texas prep athletes to do when he took over for John Mackovic.  Whoever the new Notre Dame coach is, he better establish a defensive identity so that the school doesn’t just get a great crop of offensive high school talent and just one or two defensive studs per year.  That was one of the many downfalls of the Weis era.

It’ll be interesting to see how Notre Dame adjusts to the next era.

I would have to say Black Friday is one of my favorite days of the year.  I love shopping and like saving money even more.  I have been planning my shopping route for weeks and I think I have my game plan down. 

This year with many stores opening at midnight and even on Thanksgiving, it is messing with my shopping plan a little.  I’m not sure if I will try to take advantage of those sales on Thursday, or try to get a little bit of sleep.

Every year there are websites that post the Black Friday ads two weeks in advance.  I pick the store to start at that has the most items I need.  Then I decide which items are most important, and go for those first.  After the first store I have a list of the stores I want to hit and the order I want to go to them. 

I usually get a huge chunk of my shopping done on Black Friday.  I am looking forward to another successful year. 

Here is the link I use to plan out my shopping trip before the ads come out on Thursday.

Happy shopping!

Friday night I attended the Boys and Girls Club’s Border Battle Bash for the big Ohio State Michigan game. There was a live auction, raffles throughout the night, lots of chances to win tickets to the Big House, and all of the proceeds went to the Boys and Girls Club. The University of Toledo volunteers and Ohio’s Youth of the Year were so enthusiastic, the guests were all having a wonderful time, and the excitement for the game along with the desire to help such a great cause truly made it one of my favorite events to be a part of! I hope to work more with the club in the future!

Okay, so I’m working on my new web series that takes you along with local firefighters, police officers and paramedics — and I need some direction.

Literally, in some respects.

I’ve already ridden, camera in-tow, with Wood County Sheriff’s deputies, as well as Life Flight, but — utilizing this “Internet” thing — I’d like your input on where I should go next.

Here are some departments that have shown some interest, but feel free to throw out your own in a comment!

• Rossford Fire
• Perrysburg Fire
• Toledo Fire
• Sylvania Twp. Fire
• Maumee Police
• LifeFlight (again? so soon?!)

Page 4

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Chapter 2: The Reunion

“Lee are you ok?” Sam asked again, this time with a bit more urgency.

Yes Sam I’m fine.  I do take thee Sam to be my lawfully wedded husband, to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till GRAY do us part. 

“Yes Sam.  I do take you, I do, I do I do I do.  God knows I do,” I said abruptly.

“Good,” Sam replied relief written all over his face, the crowd is laughing at his anxious response.

I can’t believe Gray Jackson is here. WHO INVITED HIM!! Doesn’t he have a game or something? Why can’t he just leave me alone?

“Samuel you may now kiss your bride,” Rev. Daniels announces.

He kisses me romantically on the lips, but I couldn’t take my mind off of Gray’s presence.  I know I don’t love him, I can’t, I’m married now. I’m really furious now.

It’s funny how something so important that I had planned for, for almost a year, was over so fast it only took moments. Thank God it’s finally over, I am Mrs. Samuel Ethan Shine.

As we’re marching down the aisle as Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Shine, I couldn’t get it out of my mind why Gray decided to attend my wedding.  Only my closest friends know about Gray and me, but Sam is completely clueless.  I had been in love with Gray ever since elementary school, and all though we’ve never actually dated I always had feelings for him.  He’s a huge basketball star now and was a friend of mine.  He always had girls around him, throwing themselves at him and pining for his money. All the girls loved him but he consistently broke my heart.  Loving Gray almost killed me, and even though it took me a while I finally accepted that he was nothing but a taste of rotten fruit.  God! What am I thinking? This is my wedding day!

“Congratulations LeeAnne, wonderful ceremony, even with your little spaced out moment there,” my aunt said pinching one of my cheeks.

I pasted a smile on my face.

“Thank you Aunt Roe,” I replied

“Congratulations LeeAnne, Sam,” someone else said from behind.

All this smiling and preening is giving me a headache now, as well as the constant warning bells in my head about the uninvited guest. I sent up a quick prayer that he would leave and not cause a scene, not today, my wedding day. Oh No! Too late, I turned around scanning the room with my eyes looking for Sam when I saw Gray walking towards me. Should I faint, run, or should I just, just…Oh God I don’t know what to do.

“Congratulations Lee you look amazing,” Gray said to me with an inscrutable expression.

“Thank you Gray, I’m glad you were able to come,” I said, as my heart tried to rip itself from my chest.

“Gray Jackson, Miami Heat forward, how are you doing man,” Sam said as he stood right next to me.

“Great man, how are you doing?  It’s finally great to meet you. You are a very lucky man.  She’s a very special girl,” he said in an almost inaudible tone.

“Yes I am, she’s the joy of my life.  LeeAnne, sweetie, you never told me you knew Gray Jackson.”

Gray looked over at me and raised an imperious brow, I stared right back refusing to be cornered but I didn’t know what to say. I couldn’t very well mention that I was once in love with one of his favorite ball players.

“Well he was an elementary friend Sam, I have plenty of those,” I said in quick defense.

It has been a while since I last mentioned Gray to anyone since that one “crazy day.”

——

Tune in next week for more!!!

On a rainy November night, Life Flight 2, based at the Fulton County Airport, is called to a head-on crash — a sport utility vehicle versus a semi truck. At first, Gorham-Fayette firefighters aren’t sure if the helicopter could fly to the scene in the rain, but knew a they’d have to get the victim to a hospital quickly after cutting him free from his truck.

Check out the rest of the videos in the First Responders web series.

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?