Stay Classy

More last day nostalgia, gratuitous cuteness, and holy cow that's a lot of pregnant...

The very end of my very last day on the desk...

Some random bath time fun to counteract the bittersweet...

And wow. At 39+ weeks pregnant, I officially look as tired as I feel.

And that, friends, is about as coherent as I can muster at the moment. Happy weekend!
 

Last Day...

It's a weird day in Lauren-land.

A good day, no doubt, but weird too. After 6+ years and more than 3,750 shows, it's my last day at Channel 8.

Sweet co-workers decorated my desk with streamers and balloons (inadvertently in USC colors, which I forgave them for), and brought in what is essentially a snack buffet of chips, popcorn, cookies, peanuts, and candy. I got some very nice calls and emails, and people are making me feel loved. 

Paul and I moved to Lincoln in March of 2004 so I could be a reporter at Channel 8. I worked my butt off to get promoted in 2005. I have never lived in Lincoln and not worked at Channel 8. So as excited as I am to be moving on, and as ready as I am for the next adventures, it's all a little bittersweet.

So here we go! And bring it on. :)  

Clearing out...

So you know how your pens just mysteriously disappear from your desk drawers at work?

I found them. 

Sorry. Apparently, I've been harboring them all in my top drawer at work under a ton of papers for the last 5 years or so. In my defense, I'm fairly sure a decent number of them were there before I started.

I spent yesterday evening before the 10 o'clock news cleaning out my desk at work. It suddenly hit me that any day now I just might leave for the night, go into labor, and never come back-- and if that were indeed the case, the last thing I'd want to do would be to have to go back to clean. So, even though I'm fully planning to work for another week or so, I set out to sort through 5 years worth of desk junk.

It ended up being more of a trip down memory lane than I'd anticipated. There were thank you notes and newspaper clippings and scripts. There was the photo and sweet note from the holocaust survivor I interviewed several years ago. There were plaques from events I've emceed. There were tapes of some of my favorite stories. There was a whole bunch of stuff left over from the MDA telethons I've worked on, including the infamously awkward picture of me with Jerry Lewis. There were old birthday signs from co-workers and letters from viewers.

This moving on stuff is bittersweet. It's been a challenging, wonderful, infuriating, and occasionally surreal journey here. Hopefully, I've done some things that I can be proud of. Hopefully, I'll be left with some stories that I can tell my kids when they refuse to believe that their boring old mom was ever a tv news anchor. What I do know is that I am different than when I started here over 6 years ago, bright eyed and bushy tailed, just shy of my 23rd birthday. I've met people who have changed the way I look at the world, both for the better and worse. I have vastly different ideas about what's important, what's worth worrying about, and where my boundaries are.  

I know, without a doubt, that I am ready for the next adventure.

And I have the 248 pens to prove it.
 

A few more...

...of the birthday boy.

There was an actual little Brady's birthday/Super Bowl party that happened this weekend, but did I take any pictures of anything other than the (really, really cute) Sesame Street cake? Of our friends piled on our couches eating pizza and laughing at Betty White getting tackled (my absolute favorite commercial EVER, by the way)? Of Brady playing with his new toys?

No, I did not. So this is what we have.

Oh, how I love that face. Possibly even more when it's covered in cake.
   

The winds of change...

...are headed our way in 2010!

In the recent past at least, the trend has been that even-numbered years bring big change in my family. In 2006 Paul and I got married, my dad moved out of my childhood home, and my brother left for college. In 2008, Brady was born (and that's all the change we needed, thankyouverymuch). In 2010 Baby D2 will make his grand entrance, my brother will graduate from college (oy!), and as soon as the baby is born I'm leaving my job.

Yes, that last one is the big news around my house lately. A lot of factors went into the decision, but probably the biggest was that I just miss too much. Working until 11pm every night is hard with one kid, and the thought of trying to do it with two was causing a permanent lump in the pit of my stomach. Paul has a hard enough time working as many hours as he needs to while watching one kid... there was no way he was going to be able to do it with two. His business is growing, we're both passionate about where it's going, and I want to be able to help. Plus, my boys are only going to be really little once. I want to be there to see what happens. As (horrendously) cheesy as it sounds, it's where my heart is.

Of course, big decisions like these don't come without anxiety. I worry about my concept of myself as someone who is not a full-time member of the working world. I worry about maintaining my marketable skills. I worry about walking away from a perfectly good job in a terrible economy. Of course, I worry about money (doesn't everyone?).

Still, even with all the worries (and as I have pointed out in the past, I am a professional worrier), I know in my gut that this is the right decision for me and for my family right now-- and believe me, I am too neurotic to feel that way almost ever. I feel like Paul and I are running towards something, which is a pretty great place to be.

So there you have it. As of May, I will officially be unemployed (in the best possible sense of the word). I've been nervous about talking about my decision, and I hesitated so much that the newspaper actually beat me to the announcement. Who knows what kind of a reaction I'll get over there (open comments can be a scary thing!)... but in the end I know why I'm doing what I'm doing, and I know that I'm doing it for the right reasons. And I'm excited. Other than big changes, I have no idea what 2010 will bring-- and that's just the way I want it. 

Merry Christmas to all...

...and to all a good night! Hopefully you're all snug in your beds, wearing Christmas jammies, of course.

I, sadly, am at work and am missing this adorableness. But just a few more hours, and then I'll be home for 5 straight days of baby hugs.

Merry Christmas! 

Love

Oy.

Tomorrow, I have to dance in front of people.

Not just people-- dancers.

I'm starting to get nervous.

I'm also getting sad that the whole experience will be over. I know I won't let this much time go by before I dance again.

On the other hand, it turns out that my body isn't quite as resilient as it used to be. My bruised rib still hurts. My back is sore. I have bruises everywhere and floor burns on my toes.

Isn't it glorious?

I can't feel my legs

My whole body hurts. I have a kink in my neck, friction burns on my arms, an ugly purple bruise on my hip, and my core muscles are so sore it hurts to breathe.

It is awesome.

But let me back up. A few months ago, I got an email out of the blue from someone with the Lincoln Midwest Ballet Company. They were trying something new as a fundraiser. They were looking for local "celebrities" (clearly they are using the term loosely, given that they called me) to do a Lincoln version of Dancing with the Stars, and they wanted to know if I'd participate. After hemming and hawing and secretly panicking, I finally said I'd do it. It's for the kids, right? 

Several weeks later I was matched up with a local choreographer (the fabulous Brittany at Anderson-Hoxie Dance Project), and we met for coffee to talk about what we were going to do. I told her I needed a dance partner (because no way was I going to dance by myself), we discovered a mutual love of Bob Fosse, and I told her that, while I made no promises about my ability (I was never really a dancer-- I would usually check the "singer who moves well" box back in my auditioning days), I was willing to try just about anything.

She took me seriously.

Yesterday afternoon we met at the dance studio for our first rehearsal, and I had no idea what to expect. I think that was actually a good thing-- because if I knew what was coming, I would have been petrified. See, I haven't danced for real (like, in an actual dance class, not just shaking my thang to Lady Gaga in my living room while Brady yells "Boom! Boom!") in years. And when Brittany started talking about lifts, I realized that I hadn't attempted a lift in literally a decade.

But an hour or so later, I was doing a back-bend off the shoulders of a big buff dancer guy like this was an average Sunday for me. I was completing lifts with scary lifts like "the helicopter" and not killing myself. And it was so much fun. I did stuff I had no idea I could do, and I was so far outside my comfort zone it isn't even funny. I credit this completely to the awesomeness of Brittany, Amber, and Jamie (the choreographers), and the fact that I completely trust Kevin (my dance partner) to not drop me.

I think I forgot just how much I love rehearsing. Love it. And one of the major drawbacks of my job is that the hours make it impossible for me to do theater, so it's something I get to do exactly never. But man, do I miss the high you get after a really great rehearsal. I miss that sweaty, flustered, free feeling of really dancing.

If we can actually get through the routine that they choreographed, it'll be fabulous. We have three weeks to nail it-- here's hoping!   

Did you miss me?

Sorry about the blog-silence yesterday. It was a little bit of a crazy day, and I was pretty much brain dead by the time I even thought about trying to write.

But really, you can't stay mad after looking at this face... right?

 

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Yesterday was one of those days that reminds you just how dependent we've become on technology-- and how much it can mess with stuff when it suddenly stops working.

I got to work yesterday afternoon to find out that our entire newsroom computer system had crashed-- and we were only able to run one or two computers at a time, or everything would crash again. Normally there are upwards of 10 systems running at any given moment, so needless to say this created a huge disruption. People were forced to do horrible, archaic things like write scripts out by hand while they waited to use the few working computers. Can you imagine? By hand! Just like the dark ages. I'm pretty sure we lost a few brave souls to writer's cramp.

To make a long story short, we were able to produce all the shows pretty much normally, and as far as the viewer was concerned nothing was wrong. Everything is pretty much back to normal today... except for our renewed respect for all the people who somehow were fully functional, productive human beings before internet access. Oh, the horror.   

Friday Fluff

 It's a sunny Friday here in Lincoln, and my brain doesn't seem to want to work too hard. In that spirit, how about some mindless fluff?

First, if you haven't watched this video of Ricky Gervais and Elmo, you should really stop what you're doing right now and go watch it. It's hysterical. The best part is that the actor who does the voice of Elmo never breaks character... he isElmo reacting to Ricky Gervais being Ricky Gervais. It made me laugh out loud, and Brady got all excited because Elmo was involved.  

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My latest goal is to tire Brady out as completely as possible in the mornings so that he'll take a good afternoon nap and Paul can get lots of work done. In this interest, we've been on all kinds of outings, and it seems to be working-- he's slept for at least 2 hours every afternoon for the last few weeks. Awesome.

Anyway, Wednesday morning we went to Toddler Storytime at the library, and then we stopped at Lost in Fun on the way home. I offer you the photographic evidence (check out Brady's static hair in the first one!)...

  

 

Here, he's watching some older kids play on the swings. I don't know if he just wishes it was him on the swings or what, but he seems to be doing his best Romeo and Juliet impression... 

 

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Maybe I'm way behind the curve here, but how did I not know that Lincoln has a co-op organic grocery store? I just found it last week, and I am in love. It's now a weekly stop on the way home from Toddler Playtime(see? tiring him out!) on Friday mornings to pick up produce and whatever else looks interesting. Brady doesn't mind the trip because I let him have samples from the bakery (what can I say? my kid's a sucker for baked goods). They even have a fresh deli, and last week I bought myself a big slice of peach/blueberry crisp and had it for lunch. Mmmmmm...

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One of the best parts of my job is when I get to use the tv platform to directly help people. It doesn't happen every day, but every once in a while I get to feel like I'm making a difference. In that vein, this week I have a series of Call to Action reports airing that feature a new program from the People's City Mission. They have a brilliant new partnership with some local churches called The Barnabas Project. Essentially, they're opening thrift stores in strip malls in parts of town where there's a lot of need-- and they give everything away for free. The churches raise money for the rent and provide volunteers to staff it, and the mission provides the clothes, shoes, books, toys, and furniture they give away. The thinking behind it is that, by putting the services right in the neighborhood, it will help combat some of the stigma that prevents people from asking for help. It's a fabulous idea, and since they opened their first location in November the number of people coming to them for help has doubled and tripled.

If you're in the area, you can catch the last story on the project on our Sunday 10pm news. Otherwise, you can watch them on our website (I tried to link directly to the videos, but from some reason it keeps knocking me offline. Good times. But if you scroll all the way down to the news videos, you'll see "Call to Action: Barnabas Project" videos".)

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Have a great weekend, everyone!