Out with the old and in with the new. It is that time of year again. It is the new year. It is hard to believe a decade has gone by since we rang in the new millennium.

I tried to not make any New Year’s resolutions this year. Every year I try to come up with something creative, but end up with with an old standard: Loosing weight, exercising more, spending more time with family, etc. But, alas, I still feel I need to try to improve in some way for 2010. So, here it goes.

I resolve to: value others more, value myself more, live in the now and value every moment, and of course – spend more time with my family.

Okay, now I sound like a life coach. But those are my New Year’s resolutions.

If you haven’t heard already, here you go. Starting January 11th, FOX Toledo News will no longer be producing our 4 p.m. weekday newscast. Instead, we’re adding a 6:30 p.m. newscast.

What!??!! some of our loyal 4:00 viewers are thinking. We know that you don’t always like change, but we’re excited about this because so many more viewers are watching TV at that hour. A lot of you are still at work or picking up your kids earlier in the evening.

6:30, you’re thinking, hmm, that puts Fox Toledo News up against the three national network newscasts. You’re right. We realize that some of you are a fan of one network or another, but are gambling that many of you would prefer local, Northwest Ohio and Southeast Michigan content as an alternative to a national newscast. After all, we’ll still be covering the big national and international stories of the day while also providing news of what’s going on where you live.

Having been a part of FOX Toledo News since it began, I’m excited to see the latest step in our growth. It’s a sign of the return of some optimism in the local media market. Our staff members are working hard behind the scenes preparing for the change. It’ll mean different work shifts for many, a different pace to our day of news gathering.

We invite you to give it a try. Hopefully FOX Toledo News at 6:30 will be even more popular than the news is at 4. Thanks to all of our viewers. We hope you’ll stick with us during the change.

Being the Face of FOX Toledo is amazing all the time…but last night I experienced my coolest Face opportunity yet…I played against the Harlem Globetrotters as a guest on the Washington Generals!!!

From the second I got into the Generals’ locker room, I felt welcomed as a member of the team! They were all fun and enthusiastic, and they made an already awesome experience even better. I was getting a little bit nervous as it got closer to game time, seeing as I have never played basketball other than in high school gym class, and well…I’m not very good…at all (and anyone who was at the game will second that). But the guys on the Generals told me they’d take care of me and just to follow their lead.

So we start off with a lap around the court (picture me in an oversized jersey in the midst of a group of very, very tall guys). Then we warmed up with some layup’s in an organized fashion that I could not seem to pick up…BUT I did make my first layup! Then the Globetrotter’s came out and did their thing, which was amazing to watch from the sideline!

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So every year, there’s all this “best of the year” talk.

Now I’m hearing “best of the decade.”

It’s 1:47am right now, so I’m not exactly tempted to think about best of the decade, but I’m watching Sportscenter’s top 10 NBA plays of the decade.  I agree with Scott Van Pelt, man.  Manu whups the #1 play.  In fact, I found the #1 play to be kind of weak, considering it was the #1 play.  Lebron’s buzzer beater and Devin Harris’ shot, not to mention Shaq’s NBA finals alley-oop dunk from Kobe, were all better.

But I guess the one that I was really amazed at the most was when I looked online at the top ten SAVES of the decade by NHL goalies.  Check out Puck Daddy at yahoo.com.  Holy crap.  Watch the save by Calgary’s Miika Kiprusoff.  I’ve NEVER seen anybody make a save like that.  Wow.  Seriously, please watch it.  It’s that good.  Doesn’t look that great at first glance, but check the replays.  Again.  Wow.

Anyway, New Year’s is around the corner, and the next time I work will be New Year’s Day.  Do I have any resolutions?  Not really, except just the usual “get better every day” mentality.   I was thinking about it the other night, how some of my friends are just straight-up better people than I am, in my eyes.  I mean, shoot, maybe they think the same of me, but I’m blessed to know this many truly good people and to be able to call them friends.  Friends from all over the nation.  Family from all over the world.

Okay, I can’t let this gratefulness take over yet another Ho Chen blog, so I’ll cut it short right there.

We’ll get philosophical on another day.

It has been a very quiet winter so far.  We haven’t had much in the way of snow and when we have had snow it hasn’t been more than an inch or so at a time.  So far this year to date we have only gotten 5.7″ of snow.  Our normal value by this point on the calendar would be 10.5″.  Meaning we are 4.8″ below normal for the season.  At this point, last year we had 18.6″ of snow for the season.  We were obviously above normal…  Last year was a different winter.  We had 3 major snow storms and several small ones.  Click here  to view our current snow depth information…

The weekend before Christmas, we took Ivie on her first road trip. We went to the “windy city” (Chicago) so Ivie could see her cousin Natalia. They are just shy of one year apart (2 1/2 years old & 1 1/2 years old.) Oddly enough, my sister got pregnant, shortly after I had Ivie, and she had the same due date as I had had! But while Ivie was 2 days late, my sister had her daughter two weeks early! No fair! (Also not fair… Ivie was nearly 9 lbs, while Natalia was just over 6lbs)

Ivie was thrilled to see her cousin. She loves playing “big sister” reminding Natalia to “listen to your mommy,” even though she could work on that herself!

One of the highlights of the trip was a visit to the Shedd Aquarium. They have sharks, whales, all kinds of fish… it was really neat. Here are some pics:

My hubbie, Nick, with our niece and Ivie

Looking at the first exhibit

Ivie looking into aquarium; Natalia taking a break

Ivie & Daddy hanging out with an Octopus

Natalie & Mommy

My sis and her daughter; Natalia's had it with pictures!

Well, we’re finally allowed to share it with you. If you haven’t seen the promos yet, you’ll be able to catch an all new newscast on FOX Toledo beginning January 11.

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Hey guys, I will be gone for a while, so I’m posting two pages.

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Page 9

“Lee…wake up, Lee wake up,” Yolanda said shaking me.

“I’m up Yolanda…jeez, what’s wrong?” I asked surprised.

“You’re late for work again,” she said concerned.

Oh shoot this is the tenth time I’ve been late to work throughout this year. I jumped out of bed, showered and jumped on the red line.  I lived 10 minutes away from my job, and in DC 10 minutes by train can sometimes take 30 minutes to get to work.  Luckily the train and I were both on time.

“Good morning everyone,” I said.

“Good morning Lee…” the office chorus replied.

My morning duties as a law assistant; check my files, report cases to Dr. Rothenberg, and then check my e-mail to see what Samuel Shine, my crazy buddy, has to say.

Samuel Shine is so silly he cracks me up, especially on the days when I feel like crap.  We’re both law assistants.  He works for his father in New York, and I am here in DC.  We both e-mail each other quite often to keep busy.

Lee,

Hey what’s up, how are you doing?  My dad is working on a big case today.  He said that if I work hard on it he would hire me as a prosecuting attorney for his firm. Can you believe that?  And get this; he may even give me my own office too.  He’s a great guy, but you know what happened to my brother Peter.  My father told him the same thing during one of his cases that he lost, and Peter cost the firm 2 million dollars.  Now Peter is a teacher , so wish me luck.  Talk to me.

Sam

Typical Sam, he’s lucky to have such a father.  Sam loves his dad, and wants to be just like him.  Me on the other hand, my goal is to become a journalist.

Receiving e-mails from Sam makes me feel special.  Unfortunately Sam has a girlfriend, which I respect.  But it seems as if the good ones are all taken.

Sam,

Hey, you’ll do fine.  I believe in you and your father will be proud.  Keep me posted and let me know how the case goes. I on the other hand have a story to write on the Supreme Court hearing Mclead vs. Stanley. It’s an interesting case. I’m quite sure you’ve heard of it.  Well let me get back to work.  I’m only an e-mail away.

Lee

Now my day can begin.  My heart still hurts but Sam always leaves me with something to think about, my career, my future, my goal.

“LeeAnne!” someone shouted.

“Yes, Dr. Rothenberg,” I replied.

“Miles Greystone, a friend of mine, has some documents for me to see…” he continued.

I couldn’t help notice that he said that awful name Gray.  It’s like I can’t escape it, it’s everywhere.  I mean listen to how silly this is; the walls inside the office are GRAY, today my co-worker Pamela is wearing a GRAY suit, Dr. Rothenberg’s license plate is GRAYTUR, as in Great You Are. Now why couldn’t the man just have GREATUR?  Well maybe it’s because his car is GRAY!

As I got up and walked to Dr. Rothenberg’s office he was still mumbling.  “I’m sorry Dr. Rothenberg, all I heard was Mr. Greystone has some documents for you,” I interrupted.

“Oh yes, well the documents are on the Washington Wildcats, you know the basketball team?” he asked stereotypically.

“Yes I know who the Wildcats are,” I said sarcastically.

“Good, well Miles has them on his desk at the MCI center, could you run over there and pick them up for me?”

“Of course, are the guards expecting me?” I asked.

“Yes, I will call them right now, and have someone escort you to his office,” he replied.

“Oh ok, thanks,” I said.

“No, thank you,” he finally stated.

It’s a beautiful day in the fall.  I really didn’t mind running errands for Dr. Rothenberg.  Anything to help me focus on other things is all right with me.  As I walked through the entrance doors, I couldn’t help notice five limo’s parked right in front.

“Oh, maybe some of the players are here,” I thought out loud.

“Excuse me can I help you?” a guard said as he approached me.

“Yes, hi, I’m LeeAnne Smith, I am here to pick up some law documents from Mr. Greystone,” God I hate that name.

“Oh yes ma’am, follow me,” the guard replied.  “He’s expecting you.”

As the guard and I walked to the office I couldn’t help notice about 50 men all in suits standing around one of the conference rooms.  I tried not to peak, but men in business suits is my style.  I looked at each one of them discretely to see if I noticed anyone.

“Gray Jackson, is that you brotha?” someone in a suit shouted.

I know this can’t be happening, I turned around smoothly to see if it was Gray, and indeed it was.  He saw me look at him as he shook the hand of the guy that had noticed him.  I quickly turned around facing the direction I was going.

“Hold on one sec. man,” I heard from Gray.  “Lee, wait up,” he said running towards me.  “Lee, hey, how have you been?” he asked.

That’s all he could say?  I wanted to smack him right in the face, but I didn’t, his hazel eyes startled me.

“I’m fine thank you, but I have to go now,” I replied and walked away.

I left him standing in the middle of the hall feeling lost and hopeless.  The same way he left me.

“Here you are Miss Smith. Mr. Greystone is waiting,” the guard said and left.

“Hi, you must be LeeAnne,” Miles said to me while shaking my hand.  “Pleasure to meet you.”

“Pleasure is all mine sir,” I replied.

As Miles handed me the documents all I could think about was another exit out of this place.

“Thank you LeeAnne, that should be it,” Miles said.

“Thank you sir,” I paused, “Mr. Greystone, is there another exit out quicker to 7^th and Penn?”

“No, I don’t think so LeeAnne, just the same way you came,” Miles finally stated.

What am I going to do now?  I had to be strong I had to be strong. Jesus please help me.  There he is.

“Lee…wait up,” Gray said.

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Tune in after the new year…

I write this from the FOX Toledo newsroom on Christmas Eve. One of the non-glamorous parts of broadcasting is that someone has to keep the station on the air, even during holidays. Many of you probably know someone whose job doesn’t stop either. Like those of us running the newsroom or master control, we get used to taking turns with our coworkers on having big days off and to rescheduling our family get-togethers to work with an odd schedule.

I’ve been doing it for so many years that it really seems normal to me.

Anyway the day after Christmas will be family time for me. I hope everyone likes their presents. I tried to keep the whole shopping process low stress this year.

I marvel at those people like we had on the news at 4pm today who put off shopping until Chrismas Eve. I guess they like the rush of excitement. Me, I need time to get things wrapped and make sure I didn’t forget anyone.

After work tonight, I’ll head home to bake some cranberry orange bread to take to the neighbors tomorrow.

Take pleasure in the little things, and Merry Christmas.

It’s interesting to watch my daughter discover Santa. She of course is completely blindsided by this guy in a big red suit, long beard and for some reason he spends all day at the mall, yet never spends a dollar.
We have shown her pictures of him and point him out when he’s on TV. But on the day she sat on his lap, she gave him a quick look and leapt for her life with the quiet cry that eventually turned into the full monty.
It makes me wonder how I discovered Santa, because for so many years I have taken him for granted.
I hope all of you this holiday season watch someone discover something. It’s an amazing gift.