If you ever thought peer pressure stops in the halls of high school, think again.  Today during our commercial breaks, we got into a lively discussion about the pressure we sometimes feel from friends and family.

In Dan’s case, he’s still single.  He is, however, dating a very nice young lady.  Now he has to deal with the constant… “Hey… when are you guys getting married?”  Tom and his wife have been married for a few years.  Now he has to deal with the constant… “Hey… when are you guys going to have a baby?”  My husband and I had to deal with the same questions.  We thought we might get a break after we had our first child.  Right after our first son celebrated his first birthday, we started getting… “Hey… Christian needs a little brother or sister.  When are you guys going to have another child?”  Now that my husband and I have three kids, I think we’re off the hot seat for awhile.

Speaking of peers, we’re actually saying farewell to one of ours.  Our beloved writer/associate producer Chris is moving on to the big show.  After proving his skills with us in the morning, he’s going to start producing the 7 p.m. show next week.  It’s an exciting time for my friend.  His mother’s surgery went well this week and we are all so thankful.  Now, we say so long and good luck as he moves on to work the evening shift.  We are going to miss you, Chris.  You’re a hard-worker… smart… kind… and deserve everything that’s coming your way.  Please don’t forget your early morning peers who supported you along the way!

Good morning! We had a cute story in the news this morning about a Louisiana woman who loved to save pennies. After many years, she collected about 55-thousand pennies and now plans to buy herself a new, diamond bracelet.

Dan made the comment that he sometimes throws pennies away. I must admit, sometimes pennies can get annoying… especially when, in my case, they’re starting to weigh down my purse. Now that I have a family, however, I’ve come to value every penny that finds itself either between the cushions of the couch or the floor of the minivan.

Paul is probably the real penny-pincher of the group. We tease him about it all the time. In the summer, he won’t turn on the air conditioner unless it’s 95 degrees with 99 percent humidity. Once it drops down to 94, off goes the air.

I watch my pennies a lot more than I used to. Now that I have three children, every penny counts. I know that the day will come when we might have to pay for braces and maybe even music lessons. My husband opened a college savings account for the children when they were infants. By the time our kids are ready for college, it’ll probably be 100-thousand dollars a year for a public university!!

I think that’s probably one misconception people have about those of us on the news. I know some people, especially young children, think that because we’re on television we’re loaded!! I’ll never forget the time when I went to a drive-thru at a downtown Wendy’s. I got to the window and the lady said… “hey… aren’t you the news lady?’ I replied yes. And then she said, “Wow. You just drive a regular car.”

Yes… those of us on the news drive regular cars, live in regular houses and have regular bills. So… I owe, I owe… off to work I go.

If you caught Good Morning Indiana around 5:50 this morning, you heard Tom telling some tough tales about his dog.  As it turns out, it was his wife’s dog long before they got married.  Tom says the dog used to be pretty calm.  Lately, however, he says the dog has turned mean.  Tom and his wife are trying to determine what’s wrong with their once-caring canine and hopefully things will get better soon.  In the meantime, before tongues around town start wagging… I thought I should set the record straight and let everyone know that Tom does indeed like animals.

Paul’s pets of choice are cats.  He has three of them.  I’m just waiting for the day when he gets a fourth feline.  Every Tuesday, we feature a Humane Society pet of the week on the Noon Show.  Whenever we feature a cat, Paul melts a little bit.  I know he’s been tempted more than once to adopt another cat.  I think in this case, however, Mrs. P has decided that three is enough.

Dan is a dog person.  He says that when he was growing up, his family always had dogs.  I can tell that Dan would love to have a dog again someday.  At this point, Dan’s schedule would really give a dog something to bark about.  He’s single and travels a lot, so it really wouldn’t be fair to a pet.  One day, though… one day… 

I’m sure we’ll get a pet soon.  Some days the kids say they want a dog… and yet they seem to melt when they see kittens.  I’m trying to wait a little longer before we get a pet so the kids can help me with it.  Then again… who am I kidding?  I’m putting off getting a pet because I know I’ll go from having three kids to four. 

All the pet owners I know tell me it’s well worth it to welcome a four-legged friend in the family.  Pets give you unconditional love and so much more.  Some studies even suggest that owning a pet can lower your blood pressure and lead to a longer, healthier life.  It sounds like life is anything but rough when you’re lucky enough to form a bond with man’s best friend.

I’d like to thank those of you who responded to yesterday’s blog.  I appreciate your support and kind words.  Yes… I had the best mother on the planet.  She was a kind, compassionate, God-fearing woman.  I hope I can honor her memory by being the same kind of mother to my children.  And yes… without Doctor King, I wouldn’t be where I am today.  I thank Dr. King and the other leaders who fought with him for equal rights. 

I had an interesting discussion about Dr. King with my kids yesterday.  My 6 and 4-year-old boys told me that Dr. King wanted us to be nice to everybody.  My sons asked me if I knew even though we’re different on the outside, we’re all the same on the inside?  I assured them that I knew that was the case… and I’m glad that they understand that, too.  The lesson sounds so simple.  Perhaps grown-ups could learn something by attending a pre-school or kindergarten class.

As parents, I think it’s our duty to reinforce those lessons of acceptance that are taught at school.  Better yet… the lessons of love and acceptance need to start at home, at least in my opinion.   And speaking of parents… our prayers here at Good Morning Indiana go out to one of our producers and his mother.  Chris is one of the most delightful, positive, hard-working and gentle souls I’ve had to pleasure to work with here at RTV-6.  Today, his mom is having surgery.  Chris… please know that our prayers are with you and your mom and we hope all goes well.  We’ll see you tomorrow.

Good health to all of you, too… and be careful on those slick streets out there today!  We’ll see you Wednesday.

People have often asked me if I could interview anyone… who’s either alive or dead… who would it be?  The list is pretty long, but Doctor Martin Luther King Junior is definitely on my list.

It takes tremendous courage to risk life and limb to fight for what you know is right.  You can’t help but wonder how Dr. King kept going… how did he keep the struggle alive… when he was facing so many obstacles and so much hate.  I dare say many of us often back away from doing what’s right… when we’re not facing nearly as much hostility.

Think about it.  How many times do we stick up for the little guy?  How many times do we refuse to laugh at a racist joke… or better yet, tell the person who’s telling the joke that his/her attempt at humor is offensive?  Even though we may feel that way… I dare say that more times than not, we don’t have the courage to say anything.

I still remember the first time I was confronted with hate.  I attended a Catholic Elementary School in Texas and most of the students were white.  One day, my mom decided to do something extra special with my hair.  She wet my hair, rolled sections of it around  a pencil, blew it dry, and made lovely little candy curls.  My dad said I looked a black Shirley Temple doll.  On the way to school, I felt so pretty.  On a level of one to ten, my confidence level was at an 11.  I loved the way my curls bounced up and down on my shoulders.  Well during recess, a girl named Laura came up to me with the most disgusted look on her face.  She said, “I hate it when little “n’s” wear their hair like white girls.”  That was the first time anyone had ever referred to me as that ugly “n” word.  My confidence level went from an 11 to a negative one.  I can’t even put into words how much her words hurt me.  My friends grabbed my hand and we ran to another part of the playground, but I couldn’t get Laura’s words out of my head.  When my mom picked me up that day, she knew something was wrong.  She asked me what happened and I told her.  My mom’s face went from hurt to anger to compassion in about 10 seconds.  She told me that we should pray for Laura and her family.  I thought my mom had lost her mind.  I said… wait a minute.  I’m the one who’s been hurt!  Let’s pray for me!  That’s when my mom explained to me that hate is taught.  She told me that Laura was being taught to hate and how sad that was.   As we drove away, I looked back at Laura.  At that moment, I did start to feel a little sad for her.  She was very overweight and I imagined the kids probably teased her a lot about it.  While most of her friends had nice, shiny hair, her hair was frizzy and seemed hard to manage.  I started thinking that maybe the kids teased her about that, too.  I began to realize that maybe it made Laura feel better to try and hurt someone as much as she had been hurt by others.  Did it make what she said to me right?  Absolutely not.  But that night, I did say a prayer for Laura and her family.  Someone had to stop the cycle of hate.  I figured… why couldn’t it start with me.

On this Dr. King holiday, perhaps we should all reflect on the times we can show a little courage and love in our everyday lives.  The hate has to stop with someone.  Why can’t it start with you?