NOT YET!!

Do you understand that tomorrow the high is 69.


On September 12th.

NOT YET NOT YET NOOOOOT YEEEEEEEEET!!!

I'm not ready for this crap. Then the weather is supposed to go back to mid to high 70s. Then another front moves in and the high for the weekend? 60s, lows in the 40s..........................................................

STOP!!!

*FULLTEMPERTANTRUM!!!!!*

Guess Who's Back?

Ahhhh yeah! So the weather is doing its best to beat the crap out of any residual joy I may have over those days in the 40s and one or two in the 50s over the last week. Today? Wind chills in the single digits and teens with snow! PASS!!! Sick of it. Ready for spring like yesterday.

Kyle and I had a great time! I'll touch on that when I have more time. I will say the last couple of hours before he leaves are uber depressing. Like smother me with a cornhusk pillow then kick me in the spleen depressing. Sigh.

I just finished ABC News anchor Bob Woodruff's book with his wife, Lee, called In An Instant. It was really good. Did you know he was in a coma for 36 days after he was injured by a roadside bomb while covering the war in Iraq? That's insane. He also had traumatic brain injury and had to re-learn much of his vocabulary. His recovery is ongoing as it is for all traumatic brain injuries. Another good biographical TBI book is Where is the Mango Princess? It was my first TBI book and I loved it. It was fascinating. I pick all books by their titles which explains why I even picked that one up in the first place. The Woodruff's book also made me look at my own journalistic aspirations. Very good book. I consider it a must read for all journalists and aspiring journalists.

16 days until I go home!!!!!!!!! Can't wait. I'm about to lose my mind. Vacay is great.

I'm Mellllllllllting!! Meellllllllltiiiiingggg!!

Man that was the coolest part of the Wizard of Oz. That and the fact that she got to wear those hot ruby slippers. I also wanted to be Glenda the Good Witch when I grew up.

"Ding dong the witch is dead! Mean old witch! The wicked old witch! Ding dong the wicked witch is deaaaaaaaaaaaaad!!!!"

Fabulous.

Why am I so overjoyed? Because on Saturday as I was producing my show, I happened to pay attention during weather. Know what happened? Wednesday was on the 5-day forecast. Guess what it said? 41. Guess what? It was 41 when I got to work at 1 am. Know how that felt? Like a summer breeze.

If you live in the south right now, close your ears (I used to crack up when my mom used to tell us that. I was like, "Mom. You can't close your ears." Then she'd say, "Well turn them off." HUH-larious). I don't want to hear any of you talk about how cold it has been there and it's warming up. I also do not want you saying 41 is not warm. (Yes, Cnel, I am once again telling people how to talk. My mom hates when I do this. Kyle is not a fan of it either. Five words. Naa, naa, na, boo, boo. MY blog. I am crackin myself up today!!!).

It's amazing how your body reconstitutes it self and adjusts to just about anything. After literally weeks of sub-zero and single digit wind chills, 40 feels downright balmy. I now understand why people in Pittsburgh start stripping when it hits 45. Your body is so used to highs in the 20s that when the lows are in the 20s or higher, you lose your mind. I would die if I were to move back home right now. Texas? WOW! I would need to move in October to try to slide in. Pittsburgh is also notoriously dark and gloomy. Often cloudy which as you know makes you SAD.

Ice is melting all over creation. It is getting rid of all the messy nastiness when it melts as water, but when big chunks of ice fall... multiple people at work have had thousands, yes THOUSANDS of dollars of damage from ice falling on their cars, including through their windshields. Nobody hurt but yeah... that is not cute. Imagine that falling on your head! Yikes!

IT'S MARDI GRAS!!!!! LAISSEZ LES BON TEMPS ROULEZ!!! (Let the good times roll!) Man I wish I was in the NO right now. I would be gettin it. Giant hurricane in hand. Strolling to the daiquiri bar. Sigh. I love drinking holidays. This one, cinco de mayo and St. Patrick's Day. So jolly.

Anyone else notice that BET plays the MOST hood songs ever on 106 & Park and Rap City? Crime Mob's "Rock Yo Hips," Huey's "Pop Lock and Drop It." Rap City I'm used to but WOW! I don't even need to go home. I can stay up to date on the music of my homeland by watching BET. I've been forcing myself to watch even though the music is getting closer and closer to nails on a chalkboard to me. Sigh. So sad! And is it just me or are all the girls in these videos girls from their neighborhoods. "Keisha! Ay! Whatchu doin later taday? Yo, I'm makin a video. You wanna be in it?"

I have to get used to it again, though because that's all they play in the clubs at home and when I'm at home, I AM GOING OUT EVERY NIGHT IF I CAN HELP IT!!! Can't wait. March 21st homies. I'M GOING HOME!!!! WHEEEEEEEEEEE!! I'm gonna have a blast even if all I do is hang with my crew(s).

The Day from HELL

It started when I walked out the door to the freezing rain. You know the kind. It sounds like rain, then you walk outside and almost bust your head open on the concrete? Yeah that happened to me. Three times in the 20 steps from the front door to my car. Then I got to the car and there was a layer of ice on top of the inch or two of snow that had fallen since I'd come home from work earlier in the day. Got to the car, had to yank open my door because it was iced shut. Curses!!!

I spend the next 15 minutes scraping the ice and snow off of my car. New laws here give hefty fines if snow or ice from your car flies off causing an accident. Then I see the pile of snow behind my car from the snow plows coming through last night pushing it all to MY SIDE... and it also has a layer of ice on it. I try to drive over it anyway. I get stuck but I'm able to pull forward and almost slide into my dad's car. I pull back up into the space and call my job. "I can't get out of my driveway and its freezing rain." I already have the shovel out trying to scrape something out. I'm on the verge of tears because I'm frustrated and I'm scared I'm going to kill myself trying to get to work.

My news director tells me to wait a few minutes and try again. So I go back in the house and sit down for a few minutes but I can't relax because I'm like I've gotta go. (It's the news disease. The news has to get on the air regardless. We don't get snow days. We're just as bad as mail men and we don't get Sunday off either). Then I see we're going on early at 4:30 so I get in the car and leave. The road near my house was pretty bad. The main roads were ok though. I get to work in 45 minutes instead of my usual 30 and they were just glad I was there.

The morning shows were a combined 4 1/2 hours of news instead of 3 to get all the snow coverage in with lots of running around. It was how you picture a news station rushing to get you everything you need to know RIGHT NOW. Very dramatic.

I'm supposed to get off at 10 but we have more extended coverage so I stay to help. In between this, I'm getting updates from Kyle. His 630am flight was cancelled because the airport was closed. They thought they would be able to get it open by 830 and he would now be connecting in Minneapolis instead of Detroit and his flight would get here at 430p instead of 1130a. About 1045a, I another call telling me he is STILL IN HARTFORD!!!!!!!! and his flight will get there around 7pm. #$%^&*()_!$%^&*(?!%&*

I'm like that's ridiculous. We'll have a day together instead of a full 48 hours!!!!! And we haven't seen each other in more than a month and that was for 15 minutes. So I ask him to see if he can get a different flight for next week since he has the same off days. It was just about seeing each other, not about Valentine's Day.

He checks with the folk. They say no dice because he'll have to travel on days when he's not available and has to come by next Wednesday. WTF?!?!?!?!?!!?!?!?!?!?!

#$%^&*(#$%^&*()$%^&*()!&^%#$%^&*

I cut a line in my car to loosen the ice so I can start it up. Then I trudge home in the snow to take a nap until he gets here and I get an update. He calls me... I say do you have an update? He says yes, but it's not good. What? They're closing the airport. I'm not coming. I'll try to come in two weeks.

I'm too exhausted to cry. I'm disappointed and sleepy. AND I HAVE CRAMPS. He's sleepy, its cold, he's driving in bad weather. We talk later in the day and I feel better. But overall? Not a fun day. When you comment, do not say awww. Or its ok. Or feel better. To keep up with Madam, I do not want to hear that. Encouraging words are not going to be appreciated right now.

AI started a list of things she likes EVERYday, not just on the unnecessarily maligned V-Day. So here are some of mine.

1. Telling me you love me. I could hear this all day long.
2. Getting a lot of comments. It really makes me jolly.
3. Wearing red, pink and other bright colors.
4. Looking fly. This is why I'm hot.
5. Going out to eat. Speaking of which, did you know baked potatoes are the greatest source of food bourne illness at restaurants? It's because its almost impossible to keep them at the internal temperature they're supposed to maintain once they've been cooked. So skip the baked potato. Learn something new everyday, right?
6. Getting cards. There is something joyous about seeing a colorful extended rectangle with your name on it.

Today on the Record Dish: Luda shouts out Oprah at the Grammy's. You know how I feel about Oprah. This is a must read.