Your Good Morning Indiana team has a busy weekend ahead.

After finishing his first mini-marathon in May, Paul has now become running man.  He truly loves running and is participating in another mini-marathon tomorrow.  This one is in South Bend.  Paul tells me that distance running truly becomes a mind game and he now understands the concept of the “runner’s high.”  I’m thrilled to see that Paul has a new hobby he enjoys and is good for his health.  I’m still starting my slow but steady training for next year’s mini-marathon.  At this point, I’m still just a marathon mom.

Dan has a big weekend ahead, too.  He’s singing “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” during tomorrow’s game at Victory Field.  I understand that Dan will have many fans in the stands.  Good luck, Dan!  I know you’ll be a big hit.

Tom is finishing his backyard patio.  It’s pretty cool because this is Tom’s first home improvement project that he is doing by himself.  Once the patio is finished, I’ll be waiting for my invitation to that backyard barbeque…..

As for me, I don’t have any huge weekend plans.  There’s another basketball game morning tomorrow.  I could watch the kids play all day.  They’re just so cute.  It’s wonderful when you can watch kids play and have fun and not worry so much about competition and keeping score.

All of us on the Good Morning Indiana team hope you have a great weekend… whether you’re running around, working on the house or hanging out with the family.  We’ll see ya Monday.

Lately we’ve had some disturbing stories in the news about kindergarten teachers.  One case happened in Southern Indiana.  A 5-year-old boy had been complaining about his teacher.  His parents decided to send him to school with a tape recorder in his pocket.  When the boy got home, his parents listened to the tape and were very upset about what they heard the teacher say.  The teacher called the student ignorant and pathetic.  I must say that as a parent, this story just broke my heart.

I think most of us realize that teachers have a tough job.  It is my opinion, however, that once you get to the point that you’re calling a child pathetic, you need to retire from teaching and enter a field where you can go to ”battle” with people your own size.

I believe most teachers are wonderful people.  I think teachers are under-paid and under-valued in our country.  My family has been so blessed.  My daughter hasn’t started pre-school yet.  My boys, however, have had great teachers.  Their teachers are caring, thoughtful and have the patience of a saint.

I am in the process of working on an end-of-the-year project with my 6-year-old.  We’re working on a time capsule that will be opened when he is a senior in high school.  My husband and I are carefully thinking about the items that symbolize what has been a fun and successful kindergarten year for our son.  He has done really well and (allow me to brag, please) is reading well above his grade level.  I read to my kids and try teach them things at home.  I also, however, credit my son’s teacher for fostering his love of books and school.  We’ll have to include a letter in his time capsule about his sensational teacher.

My pre-schooler has two excellent teachers.  He is so curious and his truly motivated to learn.  Again, my husband and I spend a lot of time with our kids, but his teachers also deserve credit for helping nuture his thirst for knowledge.

So, I hope with the few negative stories out there about teachers, we don’t forget about all the wonderful educators out there who love teaching and love their students.  As the school year comes to a close, I salute all of the hard-working teachers out there and wish them a relaxing and rewarding summer.  They’ve earned it!

Well, those of us on Good Morning Indiana are definitely getting old.  (Then again, who isn’t getting older, right?)  In any case, we ran a story about Eva Longoria Parker returning to the Wendy’s in Texas where she worked before she hit it big.  She was there handing out ice cream for charity.  In any event,  we launched into a conversation about some of the odd jobs we had when we were teenagers.  Paul talked briefly about his job at Burger Chef and Dan mentioned his job at a sporting goods store.  I joked that I was spoiled.  I did work very hard in school.  I was in countless extra-curricular activities while working to keep my grades up.  At any rate, I thought the subject would make a fun blog.  Then Dan and I remembered I actually wrote about our first jobs in a blog about a year ago.  Oops.  Oh, well.  I decided to blog about the fact that I’ve been blogging so long, I sometimes forget about past topics and run out of current topics.

I do enjoy writing a blog, though.  It has given me an opportunity to hear from so many of you and I’ve made a few new friends along the way.  Hopefully the blog gives you an opportunity to get to know your Good Morning Indiana team.

We’d love to get to know even more of you.  I know mornings are very busy.  If you have time, however, we’d love to hear from you during the show.  Just send your emails to gmi@6news.com.  We’ll read some of your emails on the air.

Welcome back, everyone!  I hope all of you had a safe and restful Memorial Day weekend.

Dan and Tom had a great time at the race Sunday.  Both guys are sporting a tan this morning, proof of their time spent soaking up some sun and enjoying a fun 500.

Paul and I had a nice weekend with our families, too.  Of course, Paul and I worked yesterday.  It was a pretty quiet work day.  We were happy to see our friends return to the show this morning.

Abdul usually joins us for commentary on Monday mornings.  Because of the holiday, however, he joined us this morning.  Now, I must admit that I can get a little uptight about things.  This morning, Abdul was talking about how people can be a little rude sometimes.  He referred to people who don’t return their shopping carts to the designated areas.  Off camera, we also talked about drivers who don’t acknowledge or thank you when you help them out of a jam.  Well, while discussing this on the air, Abdul said people can sometimes be… well… I’m too uptight to write the word.  I’ll just say he dropped the “b-bomb” and the word doesn’t rhyme with witch.  Let me say that I like Abdul.  I think he’s funny and very intelligent.  I guess I was just caught a little off-guard.  At that moment, I secretly wished we had a seven second delay button.  We don’t have one here.  Perhaps you’ve watched shows that do have a delay.  The show that I most often hear a “bleep” is on The View.  Sometimes the ladies get a little carried away when discussing their views.  That’s part of the fun, right?

We once discussed getting a delay button.  Years ago, we used to let people call in to our Noon Show and ask Dick Crum gardening questions.  One viewer decided to play a joke on poor Mr. Crum and he asked a rude question that had nothing to do with gardening.  After that, we stopped taking calls live on the air.  Viewers can now send in their questions via email.

Well, our producer talked to Abdul after the show and Abdul apologized for this morning’s comment.  Sometimes you get so comfortable when you’re on the air, you forget you’re part of a live show.  While we’re in our comfort zone, however, we never want to make our viewers feel uncomfortable.

Happy Friday, everyone!  I’m sure most of you are getting ready for a nice, long holiday weekend.  Many of my co-workers will have a one day weekend.  Some of them will be working on Sunday, covering the Indianapolis 500.

I won’t make it out there this year.  We’re scaling back our coverage.  Instead of starting our pre-race show at 5 in the morning, we’ll start at 11.  This will be the first time in about 8 years that I’ll get to sleep in on race morning.  I must confess that the realization I get to sleep in on Sunday is pretty nice.  Being on this shift, I’m usually a little sleep-deprived.  Knowing that I can get up at 7 on Sunday instead of 2:30 in the morning sounds pretty nice.  At the same time, I always enjoyed working race morning.  I would usually arrive at the track around 4:15.  Watching the sunrise and watching the Speedway come to life, are really something to experience.  The first time I saw the beginning of a race, I had goosebumps on my arms and tears in my eyes.  It was really something to see.

I am working on Monday.  Some of my friends tend to feel a little sorry for me when I work holidays, but I really don’t mind.  I’ve been working holidays for so many years, it doesn’t even phase me.  I just take a comp day later in the summer.  My husband and I can take the kids to a fun place at a later date when it is less crowded and hectic.

To all of you who are parents, I hope you use this holiday as a way to teach your kids about what the holiday is all about.  Yes… cook-outs and parades are fun.  Let’s not forget, however, that it is a day to remember our brave heroes.  One of my boys asked me a couple of days ago why he didn’t have school on Memorial Day.  It was the perfect opportunity to teach him a little about pride in our country and pride in our heroes.

And so, I wish all of you a safe Memorial Day.  And for those of you who, for some reason, can’t sleep Monday morning, Paul and I will be here bright and early at 5 a.m.