The World is Watching..

So for my job I get to do what others may consider pretty cool stuff. Now in my field you never know what to expect or what is going to happen. I have gotten to meet a lot of well known people (some cool, some not so cool) like Jeff Daniels, Governor Jennifer Granholm, Former Governors, Mayors of Detroit(the Kwamster and the respectable Dennis Archer), Dave Dombrowski of the Detroit Tigers, Ernie Harwell, Willie Horton, Senators, State Senators, State Representatives and so many more. Yet I think out of all the things so far, the one to go down in my history book is interviewing (which I NEVER DO) boxing champions, Oscar De La Hoya and Floyd Mayweather. Now let me tell you, I am not a boxing fan at all! I think it's horrible to enjoy beating each other up, and then call it a sport. So as a good producer (and amature interviewer) I was going to dig deep and do my research since I knew nothing about either one of them, except that Oscar is really a good looking. Ok, so after getting on the Internet and talking with Bob, I was ready to do the interviews. Things didn't go as I had planned yet here is what I walked away with....Oscar De La Hoya...three questions from Oscar, one on one, very nice guy, quiet, soft spoken and didn't really want to promote this fight that much. Nice interview, yet not enough time. Floyd Mayweather Jr....interviewed after the press conference with a bunch of other media....loud, flashy, mouthy, talked for a really long time, could of asked him a million questions and as long as he got to talk about himself he would have given us as much time as we wanted. Yet he did look me in the eye when I asked him a question and that I thought was respectful. Other than that, according to him he is a "MEGA SUPERSTAR" because he has talent that you can't learn, it's a gift from god. Let's hope that his gift doesn't land him in a state of mind like Mike Tyson...ouch! It was an experience...that's for sure, yet you know what....even though I don't like boxing, after meeting them both, and all the hype of this big fight, I think I will watch them beat each other up and then this experience will be complete!

HAPPY FIRST BIRTHDAY ELLA!!!

Eat, don't eat, clean the house....stop pacing back and fourth. Let's flash back to earlier that morning.....It was 10:00 am in the morning and the doctor said everything looked good, yet to me I was huge and so uncomfortable it was indescribable. "What are my options" I remember asking her. "Well, you have two options, one you can wait another week and hopefully the baby is ready to come out or you can be induced tonight". WHAT! INDUCED TONIGHT! Wow this was actually going to happen, there was no stopping it now. Do you mess with nature and go ahead with forcing the baby out into this world or do you hope that with in the next 24 hours the baby decides that it's time and makes it out on its own? This was really a time to listen to my inner voice, and what a hard thing to do when everyone was so excited and waiting impatiently for this baby to join our family. So after a lot of thinking and pacing back and fourth, I made the decision to make a trip to the hospital on the night of February 22nd around 10:00 pm. It was like checking into a hotel, really we took our DVD player and movies....hmmm if I only knew what was going to be ahead of me. We arrived at the hospital and it was very quiet and the check in was really easy and everyone on staff was really nice. I was telling myself the whole time, just breathe, remember to breathe and don't be scared. As the Olympics continued and it was the big night of the figure skating I had other things that were going to be bigger than anything I have ever experienced.
The rest went pretty fast, an experience that I will never forget. Bringing a beautiful, healthy and happy baby into the world. The past year has gone by so fast and what I do know is that I have enjoyed every second of being with my little Ella Bella.

Birthday Girl!

What it means to have a first birthday? For a mom it means remembering your child coming into the world; the long awaited excitement of meeting this wonderful human being that you thought about every second of every day for nine months. Celebrating the birth of a child is more than just presents and cake; it's celebrating life! I remember my birthdays as one on one time with my mom, going to see Phantom of the Opera, Cats, Joseph and the technicolor dream coat, Somerset mall and always a special Red Lobster dinner, just mom and I. Those were the best birthdays, spending quality time with the woman who brought me into this world and carried me in her womb for nine months. I hope that I can make Ella's birthdays just as special as I remember mine.

Nickname

When I was younger my sisters loved me so much that they decided to nickname me, "Skinny", o where was the the love! Then when I started to get older, they mixed in, "bones".....ahhhh even better ladies! I remember being in a department store and Tawnya yelling as loud as she could..."SKINNY, WHERE ARE YOU"! For a young adolescent, I am not sure if that was a good nickname. My mom would try to get them to stop calling me this, yet it just stuck. I have since lost that nickname, yet it does slip out once in awhile and you know what; when it does, I don't seem to mind as much and it actually makes me giggle a bit. It's interesting how nicknames come about. After Ella was born I remember that I started calling her poonchki because she was so round like the donut, sometimes I still do yet it's starting to out grow her. Now we call her beaner....where do these things come from? What I do know is that it will probably change again, I just hope it's nothing to embarrassing for her.

The Secret....

It puts everything into perspective, makes you breathe again and feel comfortable in a world that is so face paced and out of control. It's something that if we all look inside ourselves and focus on, it can help us sleep at night and wake up with a smile on our faces every morning. It's something that not everyone will understand, some will figure it out and some will struggle through; life should not be a struggle. Consider yourself lucky if you know and understand the secret.

Watch out world...

What makes us do the things we do? I ask that of my almost one year old that decided today she would take a gander at her first 3 steps. Every "first" thing is such a big deal and it must be announced to the world. Through her milestones she has been really determined to do something and than once she knows that she can do it, well......she doesn't think it's so important for awhile. Then one day she will decide that it's important again and go full throttle. It's her personality kicking into full gear. In the past week, Ella has learned to take a couple steps, kiss like she is going to eat your face off and brush her own hair. In one week, she can learn so much and in baby world it's like going to college, graduating and finding your first job......I hope that doesn't happen over night! In eight days Ella will hit the biggest mile stone of all, turning ONE!

Rear view Mirror...

Keep both hands on the wheel, eyes on the road and check your rear view mirror often. Isn't this what they taught us in drivers training? If you think about it, life is a lot like driving a car. You really want to stay focused on the road ahead, but on the other hand you have to see what you are leaving behind, so you are constantly checking the rear view mirror. In life we grow as humans from the things that we have been taught and from the experiences that we have been through, this can make us better human beings. If you find yourself driving over the speed limit, maybe it would be wise to slow down a bit, move to the right lane and check your rear view mirror.....(CAUTION: DO REMEMBER TO LOOK BACK AT THE ROAD AHEAD).

Run.....Life is Changing!

You can run but you can't hide from change! Change is happening and wow is it a bit painful at the moment. It's kind of like aging, you know that it's going to happen, yet there really isn't anything that you can do about it. You can't run from it and you sure as hell can't hide from it. You can pout about it and curse till your blue in the face, but what good is that going to do you? How do we embrace change? Can we embrace it, is that even possible? Is change good? I guess that leads me to my next thought about choices....o this is another blog in itself. We make our own choices, and if we don't like the choices that we have made we can change them. Right? But I ask you how! I have known for awhile that the

"change god" would be coming for me soon, it was just a matter of time. Now that the time is here, I have panicked and exploded into a big ragging baby. Change can be good, yet you have to know that you can hopefully control the destiny of your future and not let someone else control it. If it becomes unbearable then you make the choice to change that. We can't hide under a rock and avoid change, it can be a good thing, I suppose. Yet until I wake up and realize that I have to accommodate this change for a bit, I am going to cry and pout about it for a bit longer. So excuse me if I am not friendly to you today, but change has ruined my day.

Information Highway Overload

Ok, so when I was growing up, cell phones weren't around. Now days, I can't imagine living with out my cell phone. Sad I know. O how did we function back in the day? Yet I have a basic cell phone, not the one with the web, or maybe I can get to the web? I just figured out how to text message on my phone. Is it that I am just to busy, or maybe just to lazy to keep up with the changes. I use to pay attention.
So in today's world, it's really hard to keep up with all the new technology and what this new technology does. Why do you need an Ipod that plays music and stores pictures and a cell phone that does the same thing? O yes, because you can talk on your cell phone, yet not on your ipod, that's the big difference.
Lucky for me, (or not so lucky) my husband is on top of all this new technology and he can try to explain to me, why we need to stay updated and I can continue to argue with him that once we buy an Ipod, Apple will come out with something bigger and better (and they recently did) and then we have to spend more money on these "new" gadgets.

Breaking News

I consider myself to be a news junky....or kind of. Yet yesterday, I must of been asleep or something because it wasn't until I got home that I heard about Anna Nicole Smith dropping dead in a hotel room in Florida. Why hadn't I known this? Do I even care, maybe it's just curiosity.

It takes me back to the day of 911 when I was driving to an avid composer editing class and I was so frustrated that I couldn't find the place so I turned off the radio, thinking it was distracting me. When I finally found the place and walked inside the teacher said, "did you hear what happened in New York"? I was dumbfounded....why did I turn the radio off?

After 911, I told myself that I would always be alert and know what was going on, yet yesterday was a clear reminder to me that you can't always know what is going on in this world. Not that I am comparing Smith to 911, because by no means do they even come close. What I do know is this....there is so much crap that goes on in this world today that sometimes you have to take a break from the "breaking news".

Staying afloat in rough seas.....

After listening to Jenny on the Block tonight, I forgot how good she is at telling everyone in this state what they want to hear......o Jenny, have you ever heard the saying that actions speak louder than words?
If you live here in the State of Michigan, you may be asking yourself, "how am I going to stay afloat in this state"? Do we jump ship, or hang onto our life jackets and pray that the storm will subside. I feel like Noah.....looking for some hope of dry land....somewhere.....anywhere! When will the white dove bring some signs of hope?
I think most people who choose to stay in the boat want to enjoy time on the water, yet the water has had some rough waves for the past few years and a lot of folks are getting sea sick....
So Jenny keeps talking about this 20th century jobs plan that she has, but things don't always turn out as planned, so it is wise to be well prepared for any emergency and this state is defninitly in a state of emergency. When bad weather hits, an overloaded boat can capsize in rough seas. Safety and survival of all on board depends on the boat staying afloat.
Who is the captain of this ship anyway?

The smile of a child...priceless

As I get ready for Ella's 1st birthday party, I can't help but reflect on the past year. From the anticipation of her arrival to now.........
Sleep deprived, I was for sure....
Clueless, I was for sure....
Excited, For sure....(still am every day)
Scared, I was for sure...(still am when I hear "wait till she's 16")
Prepared, hmmmmm (are we ever prepared?)

With all the emotions that come with having a child, one thing is for certain, her smile is what makes my world go around.

Challenges

We endure challenges every day. Even if it's the challenge of just getting out of bed on a very cold February morning. How do you handle your challenges?
One challenge I can tell you about, is the challenge to understand people. There are all kinds of "different" people in this world and sometimes I find it the biggest challenge to understand them. Yet should I waste my time trying to understand? Should I just go ahead in life and not wonder, "why is that girl using the "F" word in this store" and should I tell her how unlady like that is of her? Yet I don't, but as you can tell, it's still on my mind. This was one of my challenges today, not to complex since I just walked away and said, "that just shows the kind of person she is, or wants to be". I think I focus more on the people in my life who are important to me. Sometimes that can be a challenge too, yet a good one! What will your challenge be?

Shadows can tell alot?

Punxsutawney Phil didn't see his shadow today when he was pulled out of his warm cozy little home....which, according to German folklore, means folks can expect an early spring instead of six more weeks of winter. Now this got me really excited to hear this since the winter blues are starting to settle in. Yet I must remember that this is a "German folklore"....so what happens if I see my shadow today....what does that mean? I guess since I am not a ground hog, than it really doesn't matter.
What I do know is that, even if it is a folklore, it brought a smile to my face and made me think of my flowers showing their faces soon. Living in a fantasy land can be good for the soul.

Life in a box...

Life in a box....
Life in a box.... How does life fit into a box? A question that I have been asking myself a lot lately. I guess it's not so much how life fits into a box, more of what is in your box?