How well do you listen to the news… I mean, really listen?  During one of the commercial breaks today, Tom Davis took a detour from his traffic maps.  He started telling us all the details about a recent story we had in the newscast.  Dan then decided to give him a test.  Dan asked Tom about some other stories we had in the newscast.  Tom didn’t ace all of the questions, but he did remember the dollar amount of the Wall Street bailout package and the amount of money the big three automakers were asking for in Washington yesterday.  (I think the whole auto industry bailout controversy is driving many people a little nuts.)

Tom then asked if he could turn the tables and ask us about his traffic reports.  I don’t know about Dan, but I knew that would be a short trip for me.  While I pay attention to the main problems in the traffic report, while Tom is talking about construction zones I’m often listening to the producers, talking to Dan or yes… I’ll admit it… touching up my makeup. 

I have to confess that even after more than a dozen weather reports from Paul, I still have to stop and ask myself later in the morning… “is it going to rain today?”

Well, today I listened closely and I know it’s going to unseasonably cold for the next seven days.  Hopefully your plans to stay warm include cozying up to the television and watching (and paying close attention to) your favorite news station, RTV-6.

Good Wednesday morning!  Thank you to all of you who responded to my blog yesterday.  I really appreciated all of your questions.  We answered a couple of them on the air this morning.  For those of you who didn’t catch the entire show, here are the answers for you.

A couple of you wanted to know if we get along with the people at the other stations.  The answer is yes.  We often run into them on stories or at charity events.  I can honestly say I’ve only had positive experiences with the competition.  Years ago, former Channel 8 anchor Mike Ahern was actually a guest on GMI.  He was here to talk about a book he wrote with a former WRTV-6 reporter, Reid Duffy.  Mike could not have been nicer.  He’s a wonderful man.  Years ago Andrea Moorehead and I modeled in a fashion show together.  We had a great time.  She’s also very nice.  One of my favorite competitors is Fox 59’s Cheryl Parker.  I’ve known Cheryl for years.  She is one of the sweetest, most down-to-earth people you could ever meet.

Another question had to do with Paul and his other jobs.  Yes… Paul does the weather for many radio stations, including WZPL.  Sometimes I’ll be channel-surfing on the radio and I’m even a little surprised when I hear Paul’s voice on yet another radio station.  That’s one reason Paul gets up earlier in the morning than the rest of us.  He records quite a few weather reports for radio stations before he gets ready to face the camera.

As far as the traffic position being cursed, I wouldn’t say so.  Our two previous traffic reporters left on their own to pursue other interests.  We’re all hoping Tom Davis will be with us for years to come.

Someone asked if I had to talked to my previous co-anchor Eric Weisfeld recently.  I haven’t talked to him lately.  With the holidays approaching, I’m sure we’ll exchange e-cards.  I know he’s doing very well and really loves living and working in Florida.

One of my favorite questions had to do with Julie Pursley.  No… Julie doesn’t get paid more for standing out in the elements every morning.  As Dan said, once winter gets here, Julie should be paid by the snowflake!

Another viewer wanted to know if I could interview anyone in the world, who would it be and why.  Well, I’d love to interview the Pope.  I am Catholic and I have so many questions about my faith and the history of the Catholic church.  I could probably talk to the Pope for hours and not run out of questions.

I am running out of time.  I need to get ready for another newsbreak.  Thanks so much for all of your questions.  Feel free to put us on the hot seat anytime.  With the temperatures we’ve been having lately, I’ll take anything hot.

How many of you actually get to stick around the house and watch Good Morning America?  This week GMA is doing something kind of fun.  Instead of asking the questions, they’re giving the audience a chance to ask them questions.  It’s called the Hot Seat segment.  You can go to the GMA website and submit questions.  So far, the questions have ranged from “What is in Sam Champion’s dressing room?” to “What is Chris Cuomo’s wife like?”  Well, I can tell you that here at Good Morning Indiana, nobody has a dressing room.  The bathrooms have a separate section that has a huge mirror on the wall surrounded by round lights.  (It kind of gives us that Hollywood feel… at least a little).  There’s a huge vanity that gives us plenty of room for our makeup and hair care items.  We also have small lockers where we can put makeup or clothes.  That’s the extent of our dressing room.

At any rate, since they’re doing it at GMA, I thought it might be fun to put those of us on GMI on the hot seat.  If you have a question for Dan, Paul, Tom or me, please let me know.  Now, I haven’t talked to the guys about this, so I can’t guarantee that your question will be answered.  They’re good sports, though, so I say go ahead and put us in the hot seat and we’ll be happy to answer your questions… maybe even on the air.

Happy Monday everyone!   I hope all of you had a wonderful weekend.

I had a busy Saturday.  I started my day early with a visit to my eye doctor.  I’m happy to report that I should be able to see the teleprompter just fine for years to come.  I then hit the grocery store.  It was packed.  After a quick lunch, it was off to my son’s violin lesson.  Once I finally made it home, it was the usual routine that most of you can relate to… laundry, cleaning and preparing meals.  Something I do every weekend that helps me during the week, is I organize the kids’ clothes for the week.  First, I check the 7 day forecast.  Then I take each child into his/her room.  We pick out clothes for each day and put them in a special cubby I have in each closet.  It really saves time when the kids are getting ready for school!    After dinner and bath time Saturday, I was pretty much done.  I didn’t go to bed too much later than the kids.

On Sunday, I decided to do something I haven’t done in awhile… get some rest.  After church and Sunday school, I basically took it easy the rest of the day.  I snuggled on the couch with one son and my husband had the other two kids on his lap and we watched the Colts game.  I have to confess, I feel asleep during the second quarter.  I woke up in time, however, to see the Colts pull ahead and pull off the victory.  It was nice to see the Colts win and it was nice to spend time with my family without worrying about checking items off a “to-do” list.

I think I’m going to try and do that more often.  I’m going to start blocking out a little time on my “to-do” list to do absolutely nothing.  Ahhhhh.  I feel more relaxed already.

TGIF!  I think we’re all ready for a break.  Paul says he had a great time in Nashville.  He got to talk to quite a few stars, including Miley Cyrus.  He said Miley is a lot taller than he thought she’d be!  He said she was very charming and nice.  Paul also met up again with his pal, Sam Champion.  (I think they compared forecast maps during their chat.)  It was nice to have Paul back with us this morning.

Like most of you, I’m ready for the weekend.  I’m hoping I can sleep in… until 7 on Saturday.  Wish me luck.  Then it’s off to an eye doctor’s appointment (I’m so thankful my doctor sees patients on Saturdays!).  I also have to take one child to a violin lesson and get supplies for my son’s birthday party.  I told my sister-in-law that maybe I’ll get to really rest in about 10-15 years.  Here’s to the future…..