We Shepherds are about to head off on a Christmas trip to visit family - mine near Chicago, and Ian’s dad’s family on Lake Erie in southern Ontario.  (People have asked how long the drive is.  My answer: with two kids and a big dog in the car, who knows?)

    As much as I’m looking forward to the break, I know it’s always a LOT of work to travel with kids.  We’re not foolish enough to expect a silent road-trip or restful nights of sleep.

But I’m going to do my best to shrug off the stress - and focus on what’s important:

We’ll get to meet my new baby niece, Anna, for the first time.

I’ll get to be a “rock-and roll wife” - watching Ian perform with his band (the Nadas) at the House of Blues in Chicago!

The kids will experience their first Canadian Christmas. 

Santa will come. 

Ian and I will be in the same place - at the same time - for more than a couple hours. (Something that almost never happens with our schedules!)

We feel very lucky to have this chance to re-connect with our wonderful families after a VERY busy and exciting year!  And I feel quite grateful for all my colleagues at RTV who will cover for me while I’m gone.

    I hope to come back with stories to tell.

Merry Christmas, everyone - see you soon!

TS

     I’ll admit it - I’m a sucker for Christmas music. 

Tonight I found myself singing along to Winter Wonderland as I drove through the rain. I got a little giggle out of that.

Come on - admit it- you are at the very least a closet fan of cheesy Christmas songs! (unless you’re a Grinch. I’ll deal with you later)

  I knew a lot of people feel a little merrier when they hear a familiar holiday tune - so when RTV6 asked if I’d mind providing my voice for their Toy Drive promo on the air, I said, “Sure, no problem!” 

I guess it’s sort of risky - people might say news anchors should stick to news, the ad is corny, the singing isn’t their favorite style, or they’re just annoyed with too much holiday cheer. (Grinches. Just flip the channel if it drives you nuts! But come back for the news, okay?)

I even found myself cracking up and cringing when I checked out the “Making of the Video” segment. Is it that interesting to anyone besides my mom? Not quite like the making of “Thriller.” But our promotions team is gung-ho about letting everyone in on the process!

But I was reassured once I saw all the emails that started filling up my inbox.  Every day I hear from another bunch of Hoosiers who for whatever reason really got a kick out of the song and video.  A few wrote to say they love the fact that we used a “Christmas” instead of “Holiday” song (not intending to jump in on the ”war on Christmas debate” - we simply liked the song for this purpose and weren’t afraid to use it!) 

     Some wrote to say they like the home video of all the anchors’ families.  (It was a miracle we got one happy-looking shot of my two kids that night. It was past bedtime and the little angels were on a tear.)

    Most people who wrote just wanted to tell me they enjoyed hearing the singing, and that they wish us at RTV6  a Merry Christmas too.

I’m writing every single one of them back. They took time out of their day to say something nice. We need more of that.

Happy Holidays/Merry Christmas!

Trish