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 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:
As a reporter, I’ve covered it all. But tonight I covered one of my favorites – a heart warming story. I had the privilege of traveling to Fostoria to witness a hero’s homecoming. And, boy was it worth it.
Army Sergeant Shane Parsons was severely injured by a roadside bomb in Iraq three years ago. Now he is a double amputee – with a great attitude. I was there when he came home to a totally remolded home (thanks to Hope for the Warriors.) The home is now wheelchair accessible and he has a home gym which will let him continue with his therapy.
However, the remodel is now what struck me the most. It was Shane’s attitude. Here is a 24 year-old man who lost both of his legs, but is not letting it get him down. Shane now participates in marathons. He swims and plays basketball. He is even on a traveling hockey team. But, get this; he didn’t do any of it until after he was injured!
Now, I can’t even imagine playing ice hockey. There is no way I could balance on the ice and attempt to hit a puck into a net. It would be total disaster. But here is a man who actually died twice in the hospital who lost both of his legs and he is competing on a regular basis. Amazing.
I have to admit. As much as I love my job and all of the stories I do, this one really was it. I loved meeting this man and telling his story. I’m sure he has more stories in him, too. I expect great things from Sgt. Shane Parsons. So, stay tuned. I can almost guarantee this isn’t the last time he’ll be on TV.
My how the time flies. I cannot believe it is already the end of October. It seems like yesterday we were filling up the baby pool and creating a backyard oasis and now, suddenly, I’m in the market for a winter coat.
Despite my constant craving for sun, I’m actually excited for the onset of colder temperatures and (maybe) a little snow. Yes, I know I’ve been known to complain about being bombarded by holidays months before they arrive – but I am really starting to get excited for Christmas.
I purchased my first two gifts over the weekend. (Thank you Disney Store.) I plan to do much more in November when I spend the weekend in Columbus. My husband will be in continuing education classes at the State Chiropractic Convention which means I will be free to wander store to store and burn up my credit cards.
Of course, I will always have a couple of people who are impossible to shop for. I can usually count on local artists or unique boutiques for those gifts. If you have any suggests, be sure to pass them along. Any ideas I get I’ll be sure to post right here.
So, I’m either the greatest mom ever – or totally insane. I’ll go for the latter. This past weekend I threw a Halloween party for my son and what seemed like a million kids ranging in age from four months to twelve years.
Shaun Hegarty and his adorable family joined in on the fun. So did my parents and many of our neighbors. In all I believe there were fifteen or so children and nearly as many adults.
I began making plans at the beginning of September. Once I started, I realized I had no idea where to begin. So, I simply thought back to what I would have wanted to do if I would have had a Halloween party when I was a little girl.
I took the dozens of gourds I grew over the summer and bought lots of craft supplies at the dollar store. The kids did great coming up with creative ways to decorate the gourds just like they were pumpkins. I purchased two piñatas (so everyone would get a turn.) And I arranged to have a mini hay ride. I bought lots of snack items and enlisted the help of my mother and mother-in-law to make sure I was armed with plenty of cupcakes. Then, just as I was worrying the kids wouldn’t have any fun, a firefighter from the Napoleon fire department offered to bring a fire truck over for the kids to check out.
Needless to say, everything worked out great. The fire truck was a hit. And everyone got to hit a piñata.
Check out a little of the video I took of the event – be sure to keep your eye out for Shaun:
Why is it that Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas seem to have melted together in to one holiday that begins in August and lasts until all of the clearance merchandise has left the store sometime after the first of the year? This is, at least the impression I get anytime I go to any store. I mean, seriously. It seems to take all of the fun out of each individual holiday. It seems like I am so bombarded by holidays for so long that I become desensitized and don’t get excited anymore.
Seriously, if I want a Christmas tree when it is still 80 degrees outside then I will head out to a Christmas specialty store… not the place where I do my weekly grocery shopping. I know this is a way for retailers to maximize sales, but come on. I am not kidding when I tell you there was a Santa Claus on display next to a pumpkin at a store I visited recently. What’s next? Jack-o-lanterns dressed as Santa, and Dasher, Dancer, and Prancer decked out in orange and black? Poor Thanksgiving is nearly crowed out. Turkeys and cornucopias are lucky if they get any shelf space.
There is one good thing to come of this. The fact that stores seem to been so ahead of seasons makes it easy to find warm weather fashions in January for those of us who like to plan little getaways to warmer climates. But this year I’m sure the Easter baskets and Fourth of July fireworks will be on display right beside them.
It is no secret that autumn is my favorite season. Halloween is one of my favorite holidays. I love gourds, pumpkins, mums, ghosts, and witches. Needless to say, my house is quite decked out.
There is only one thing that spoils my fun this time of year – when someone smashes my pumpkins.
The first day of October I fell victim to such mischief. I was heartbroken. I arrived home after the 10:00pm show to find pumpkin seeds scattered across my driveway and pieces of the pumpkins fatality in the street.
Now, my husband laughed at my outspoken disgust. Shane said, “Its only a pumpkin.”
But, it was more than a pumpkin to me. Just five days earlier my two year old had picked that pumpkin from my Dad’s garden.
Memorial Day weekend we traveled to Grandpa Lindsay’s to plant pumpkins and gourds. We patiently waited for three months for them to grow. My little guy was so excited when we spent the day with grandpa to harvest them. It was so funny watching Kelan follow Dad around and picking which pumpkin would be his, and which would go to his cousins in Illinois. Kelan checked on his pumpkin each day and expressed how he couldn’t wait to use it at his Halloween party. So, to me the pumpkin smashing was more like an attack on my son.
The incident upset me so much that I literally couldn’t sleep. I really didn’t want my son to known his prized pumpkin was gone. Luckily, he spent last weekend with my Mom. That left me time to make a quick trip to the farmers market to find a decoy pumpkin. So far, the replacement has worked and Kelan is none the wiser. I just home this pumpkin can tough it out ‘til the end of the month.
As autumn leaves turn their brilliant hue
Two lovers will join and say I do
~Anonymous
That poem was featured on the my wedding invitation five years ago. My hubby and I tied the knot on October 2, 2004.
Five years may not sound like a long time, but you must consider that Shane and I dated for eight years before he made me an honest woman. And we have actually known each other for twenty years.
Shane and I met in high school. I was a sophomore and he was a junior. We had mutual friends. We went to different high schools, but my group of girl friends and his group of guy friends all hung out together. We stayed friends through college, but we didn’t fall in love until two weeks after I graduated. We hadn’t seen each other for a couple years, but re-united at our friend’s wedding. Shane was still in chiropractic school, so we spent the first eleven months of our relationship separated by two states. He was in Iowa and I was in Ohio. Needless to say, we burnt up the turnpike to visit each other every couple of weeks.
That was in 1996. It seems so long ago, but I’m just as in love with him now as I was then.
So happy anniversary, Shane. He’s to many more years of wedded bliss.
I almost made it all summer without suffering a cold or the flu. However, my luck ran out on the last day of summer. It seems I contracted one of the many viruses that float around and it has since turned in to bronchitis. Needless to say, I have spent the majority of this week cuddling a box of kleenex and fighting a fever.
Hurry up and wait. That pretty much sums up Election Day from a reporter’s standpoint. Its weeks and weeks of anticipation and then it is all over in a couple hours.
November 19th, 2009 at 3:40 pm by Heather Miller under Uncategorized
