For anyone who had any doubt as to whether or not I still had my uncanny ability to turn a clever phrase...actually, it was more my doubt than anything...I have decided that I would jump on and just let my thoughts flow onto the keys. In other words, I have no idea what I am going to write, I'm making this up as I go.
I suppose the rather lengthy gap in my entries stems from Lisa's miscarriage. For some reason, life just became a little nuttier than usual at that time and blogging wasn't high on my priority list. Then, after the emotional blow of that event had subsided, there was the ongoing political furor that has been weighing heavily and inescapably on my mind. Honestly, I don't believe that there has been a single day when I haven't gone on a political tirade. I suppose working in news, especially for one of the more liberal networks, it would be a most unusual phenomenon if I were able to curb my visceral reaction to the seemingly endless fawning of the media over a particular candidate who is running for the highest office in the land. That being said...I actually did attempt to type something up on here once while on break at work...I couldn't think of anything to say except how utterly fed up I was with all things Obama. Which, ironically is what most of this entry has been thusfar. Okay...time to move on.
Let me explain some of the events that have taken place since I last wrote...no, there is too much, let me sum up...no, there is still too much, I will tell you some of the things that have happened in the past week or so. Alright, so...last Saturday, Lisa had a Pampered Chef party with my boss' wife, Judy, who also happens to be one of our anchors at the station. There were even some notable guests, such as anchor and reporter, Sarah Stokes, and reporter, Mary Rinzel, and producer/reporter, Heidi Bohl. Look at me name dropping. In reality, some people do react to it that way: "You had a Pampered Chef party with Judy Clark!" I believe that Lisa got that reaction from a number of people. I think it is really funny. They are just people. And most of them like to be treated that way...but, seldom actually do. Lisa even told me that in her time at Target, Judy came through her line and one of the other customers remarked, "You're Judy Clark! I love you!" To which Judy responded with a rather uncomfortable..."Oh...that's...um...great."
But, setting aside all talk of my notable local friends, it was a successful party and Lisa still has a few orders rolling in from an already high grossing show. Following that little soirre, we threw our bags in the car and headed up to Oakdale, MN for a marathon of Stake Conference meetings. I was supposed to be at a auxilliary leadership meeting at 2:00, but we left Eau Claire at about 2:30. But, we arrived in time for me to attend a priesthood leadership training at 4:00...well, I missed the first 15 minutes. I would have been sooner had I not taken the freeway in the wrong direction, not realizing it untill I saw Minneapolis looming large in the distance, as I passed unfamiliar buildings thinking..."Wait...I don't recognize any of these buildings." After finishing what actually ended up being a rather enjoyable leadership meeting, I got some nasty food from Dairy Queen for Lisa and I to eat as we ran out the door of our hotel to make it to the adult session. After getting back to our hotel, we tried to enjoy some quiet and relaxing time in the pool area. Some rather loud, and particularly giggly teenage girls that were the residue of a birthday party saw too it that our time there was neither quiet, nor relaxing. The following morning, we went to our final session of Stake Conference. I made certain that I was able to sit by my friend, Ethan Wickman. Meetings are so much easier when you have someone to joke around and laugh with. Well, a speaker got up who looked for all the world like a skinny Kenny Rogers. At one point, Ethan leaned over to me and said, "Brothers and Sisters, you gotta know when to hold'em. Know when to fold'em. Know when to walk away. Know when to run." I just about busted a gut. Despite how enjoyable it was...I don't know that I got much out of that talk.
Other than that...it hasn't been an overly eventful week. On all hallows eve, I dressed up in my Spider-Man outfit and worked master control at work. Fittingly, it was one of the most hair raising master control experiences I've ever had. Almost immediatly after I began my shift, I missed rolling a weather spot that airs during the Today show out of New York because they had put a break in that nobody told me was merely a list of spots to be moved to a different spot to air during an additional break that network had given us. Then, of course, there was dealing with the fact that most of our programing is now HD and the methods for getting shows and airing shows is very different. So, essentially I was flying by the seat of my pants the entire shift. On top of that, I had a nasty head cold that made the time even more unbearable. I got home and took a nice warm bath and just laid low for the rest of the evening. We had one anomalous group of Trick-or-Treaters stop by, which took up about 3/4 of a bag of candy that we happened to have. We did have a ghoulish time watching Ghostbusters in honor of the holiday. Then, it was off to bed.
Yesterday morning, Lisa had her biweekly charge of Wyatt, one of her semi-regular daycare kids. We went shopping and banking with little Wyatt in tow. When we stopped at Copps, we discovered that little Wyatt has very little love for the sun in his face. His carseat faces backwards and when we parked the sun was directly behind the car. I parked, got out, and when I went to open the door so I could get Wyatt out of his car seat, he was writhing in his car seat with a grotesque look of agony on his face. He looked how I would imagine a vampire looking in a similar position. I couldn't help but chuckle at this. Lisa said I was mean. I told her that I would have laughed even if it was our own child. Not that I wouldn't help them...but, I would still find their discomfort amusing.
After Wyatt's father came and picked him up, we spent the afternoon cleaning up the apartment, folding laundry and preparing dinner for the Solin (Bohl) family. We had been trying for over a month to have Heidi and her husband over for dinner. It was an imensely enjoyable time. I had been stewing before they came over, wondering how our conversation would be. I didn't want to bring up either of my two favorite subjects: politics and religion. I know that Heidi's political views...differ from mine. And, of course, it can be really uncomfortable bringing up religious views with a dinner guest. But, they actually did ask about the beautiful building that Lisa and I were married in. Without going into detail, we told the Solins about temples. So, a religious subject delicately picked up and then set back down without any trouble at all. Then, I think the closest we got to politics was a brief discussion of how hellacious work is going to be durring elections this next week. But, it was just a very pleasant visit.
So, there you have it. As up to speed as anyone could hope to be. I hope I managed to turn a phrase or two. It was decidedly more newsy...but, take what you can get, right? I will write again next month! (Hey, set expectations low and you will always meet or exceed them.)
