Well, as much as I love my job, it’s time to take a break.  I will be off next week.  I’ll return to work on Tuesday, April 8th.  I’m really looking forward to spending some quality time with my family.

I must admit that when I started in this business, I never wanted to take a vacation.  You gotta love that youthful enthusiasm, don’t you?  I literally volunteered to work every available open shift.  I would often work 7 days a week and I loved it.  I think part of the reason I loved working so much is that I was so thrilled my dream had come true.  I had known since I was a little girl that I wanted to be a television reporter.  It was such a thrill and a blessing.  Also, let’s face it.  I was able to work all the time because I didn’t have any other responsibilities.  I was single and I lived at home with my parents.  It was wonderful.  I think my veteran co-workers found my work-aholic attitude both humorous and annoying.  I had one co-worker tell me that the day would come when I would be begging for a break.  I just couldn’t imagine that day would ever arrive.  Well, here I am… watching the clock, thinking… can I leave yet?  Can I leave yet?  Can I leave yet?

It’s not that I love my job any less than I did during those early years.  I still feel very blessed to do what I do.  Times have changed, though, and I do have four awesome responsibilities.  Their names are Christian, Nicholas, Rachel and Joe.  They need some quality mom and wife time, so as much as I like my job… I love having a family even more.

While I’m away, I hope our Good Morning Indiana viewers start sending us some morning greetings!  Just go to the homepage of our website.  Look on the right hand side of the page and you’ll see a link for Good Morning Indiana greetings.  We’d love to see your families or co-workers get together and wish all of Central Indiana a great morning.

I hope all of you have a great weekend!  I also hope next week is good for all of you, whether you’re on spring break or not.  I’ll see you bright and early on April 8th!

The National President’s Challenge has started and it’s not too late to join in on the fun!  President Bush, President’s Council Member Eli Manning, Acting Surgeon General RADM Steven Galson, MD, MPH and Council Members kicked off the National Challenge on March 20th by calling on all Americans to participate in an active lifestyle. 
All it takes is 30 minutes of activity a day (60 minutes for kids aged 6-17), 5 days a week for 6 weeks.  You can log your activity @ www.presidentschallenge.org on a personal activity tracker, and watch as you work your way towards earning an award.  It’s easy, fun, free……and you CAN do it!

You can sign up through April 3rd.  To register or learn more about the National President’s Challenge, please visit www.presidentschallenge.org where you’ll find a variety of promotional items you can use to encourage your employees, organization and family members to participate.

In recognition of this challenge, the President’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports will be acknowledging governors of the top five states, as well as companies and schools with 35% completion rate. Check out the map on their website to see how Indiana compares to others!

This is a great way to stay motivated with your workout plan and encourage others as well!

Watch President Bush and Eli Manning talk about the importance of physical activity and healthy lifestyle choices at this link:  http://cosmos.bcst.yahoo.com/ver/256.0/popup/index.php?cl=7070400

The National President’s Challenge is a program of the President’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports.  www.fitness.gov

A Healthier Nation: It’s Everyone’s Challenge!

A recent, tragic story in the news hit a little too close to home this week.   The victims of yesterday’s fatal fire at 37th and Capitol were relatives of one of our co-workers.  The lady and man who died were the sister and great uncle of our human resources director.  Needless to say, all of us at RTV-6 are hurting for our friend and co-worker.  It was a tough morning for Julie yesterday.  Knowing how compassionate Julie is, I know there was a part of her that wanted to put down her microphone and comfort Jimmy when he arrived at the scene.  She did talk to him briefly and told him that all of us at RTV-6 will help him and his family anyway we can.

This isn’t the first time I’ve had to report on people I know.  I remember when I first started working in Beaumont, I was asked to fill in and anchor the Noon News.  Word came in that there had been a tragic accident on Interstate 10, right in front of the station.  A car slammed into the back of a semi, killing the car’s driver.  I later found out that the driver of that car was my friend Kim.  Kim and I had taken dance classes together for years.  No one ever had anything negative to say about Kim.  It was impossible.  She was truly one of the sweetest people I’ve ever known.  She had a really quiet, sweet voice and she never had anything negative to say about anything or anyone. 

A few years later, my cousin was killed in a traffic accident on I-10.  He was being a Good Samaritan, helping a lady change a tire.  A driver swerved and hit my cousin, killing him instantly.  Talk about a sad time for my family.

I think those early tough, tragic times helped me become a more compassionate reporter and anchor.  At least, I hope so.  Two stories touched me personally, but it’s important to remember that every victim has a family.  Every victim has friends.  Every victim is going to leave behind people who care about him/her.  I never want to lose sight of that.

I often pray for people who make the news and their families.  I will no doubt do the same for my co-worker Jimmy and his loved ones.

O-K.  How many of you are ready for Spring Break?  I think I’m about ready for a little break.  Yesterday I told all of you about changes coming to Good Morning Indiana.  For some reason, I thought the changes started today.  We actually roll out the new format tomorrow.  In addition to the changes I mentioned yesterday, we’re also going to try and write stories a bit shorter, so we can fit in more stories.  We also want to leave at least a little breathing room to chat, when appropriate.  I think viewers like it when we get at least a little personal.  If that’s not the case, please let us know.  Let’s face it.  I’m a typical proud mom, so give me an inch and I’ll take a yard.  Just mention children and I’ll go on and on with the latest stories about my three adorable kids.

I’ve had viewers tell me how they feel like the anchors are part of their family.  I’m so humbled, thankful and honored when I hear such statements.  I realize that I’m in your home every morning and it’s a responsibility I take very seriously.  That’s just one reason I’m disappointed when we make mistakes.  It’s probably similar to the feeling you get when you’ve let down an old friend.  Oh, well.  The wonderful thing about friendships is you learn to support one another through the good times and the not-so-pleasant times.

Hopefully, we’ll have a good time with our new format and you will enjoy it.  You all are our customers, but you’re also our friends.  Thanks for your support of Good Morning Indiana.

I want to let all of our wonderful Good Morning Indiana viewers know we’re going to be making some changes to our show.  Many of you might remember the blog I wrote a few weeks ago.  I asked about what you would like to see in our morning news coverage.  Our supervisors have also been looking at the show and want to make some changes.

One thing you will notice is when we do weather.  We’re going to start doing weather on the  “6’s.”  We have found that when people wake up in the morning, they want first of all to know what kind of weather to expect.  Next, they want to know if they’ll encounter any traffic problems on the way to work or school.  We’re hoping that by having a predictable time for weather, we’ll help people as they’re getting ready to start their day.  We’re also going to have Skycam Six up everyday to find traffic problems.  Joni Michaels will be joining us as our Skycam Traffic Reporter.  Joni has been in the Indianapolis market for a long time and is a real sweetheart.  Welcome to the team, Joni.

You’ll also see fewer interview segments in our 6 a.m. hour.  We have found that most people are pretty busy in the morning and may not have time to listen attentively to a two and a half to three minute interview.  We might still have interview segments in our 5 a.m. hour.

There will be other little changes, as well.  We’ll start implementing them tomorrow.  Please let us know what you think.

Sometimes change is good.  Now that Spring is here, a lot of people are sprucing things up around their homes.  We’ve decided to do some sprucing up, as well.  Hopefully, Good Morning Indiana will bloom and we’ll come out smelling like a rose.