No pressure, but the whole nation will be watching our state tomorrow evening.

Indiana’s 11 electoral votes could go either way, and those of us in the media are gearing up for an exciting (and likely exhausting!) election day/night.

I’m planning on making the coffee extra strong tomorrow! Our team will be on the air with election coverage starting at 5pm and lasting basically all night.  When ABC takes over network coverage on RTV6, Todd and I along with our field reporters will stay on the air on our digital channel, 6News 24/7, doing wall-to-wall coverage of Indiana races, including the presidential vote results in our state.

As news junkies Todd and I have talked about how cool it might be sit on the OTHER side of a TV with a remote and flip through all the networks to watch the coverage of this historic election. But I wouldn’t trade that for the privilege and thrill of being a part of election coverage, and having direct access to the information and experts as the evening plays out.

I’m also looking forward to seeing how ABC handles the national coverage - my expectations are high!

I hope your voting experience is (or was) a good one.  Feel free to share your interesting stories here!

I hope you’ll be with us Tuesday evening.

Thanks for watching!

I admit it. I almost made Trisha crack up as she was reading a story in tonight’s newscast. It was completely my fault, but I couldn’t help it. Honest! Let me explain.

We were running a stroy by Jennifer Carmack when I suddenly felt a combination of a sharp pain and itch. I honestly thought something bit me. And it made me jump. To make matters worse, I couldn’t really reach the area because it was just below my shoulder blade and near the center of my back. I twitched, I squirmed, I reached, but it only seemed to get worse. It was really aggravating.

Then, of course, it was time for me to read a story. I got myself together just long enough to get through it. But as soon as the camera was off me, I went back to twisting, itching, reaching and grabbing. But dang it. I still couldn’t reach my back. By now, the itchy feeling was getting downright annoying. Now imagine what this must have looked like to poor Trisha. She had no idea what was happening. She just saw me look like I was imitating her beloved Elvis in my chair.. what will all that shaking and everything.

And of course, now it’s her turn to read.

She told me she almost lost it because I just couldn’t seem to calm down. We even came to a two-shot (Simply put, it’s when we are both on camera) and I was so distracted I wasn’t even looking at the camera!!! GEEZ!!!

Anyway, during the commercial break, Trisha took the word “teamwork” to an entirely different level. She started scratching my back in the exact spot where I couldn’t seem to reach. Thank God!!! Relief.

Of course, then she said the entire episode made her feel itchy.

I promise I cannot explain what happened during those few moments. I have never had that happen before. I still think I was bitten.. but who knows???!??!?!!

Happy Birthday, Calvin! My first “baby” turned 6 today. 

(He was up at 4:30 a.m. asking me, “Am I 6 yet?”)

I just HAD to share this - today we took him out for a b-day lunch at his favorite Mexican joint, and snapped this photo when the waitstaff busted out a sombrero and fried ice cream. 

      Here’s the weird part: as I tried to load the photo into my computer today, I noticed there was already a photo I had labeled “Cal bday sombrero.”  It was from exactly one year ago - at exactly the same restaurant - in a similar hat!  I had completely forgotten.  It’s pretty cool to compare how much this little guy has grown in just one year.

Enjoy your day!

Trish

SOMETHING NEW! If you check out our blogs regularly ( I know there are a lot of you “lurkers” who read up but don’t usually comment!) you can now get email alerts when there’s a new post!  Look to the right to sign up.

It’s yet another wildly busy day but I thought I’d paste in a few new photos.  Things are about to get super busy with the election and it might be a while before I have time for a frivolous blog entry like this! 

Here’s from a neighborhood Halloween hayride this weekend. A rare moment of sweetness between Cal and Clara!  He’s turning 6 this week and CANNOT wait to open more presents.

Here’s my Auntie Corky and mom at a recent Snow White performance. (Note how messed up the hairdo is! After I get knocked out by the poisoned apple I have GOT to remember to fix the “bed head”!)

   My Grandad and Elaine from Westfield, Illinois. (As you can see my kids are likely to inherit height from both sides of the family!)

  I can’t wait for Todd and his daughter to see the show in a few weeks-  she is a little princess and I think she’s going to love it.  Tickets are nearly sold out and the audiences have been wonderful.

HHere are a few backstage photos - here’s the Prince! (AKA J.T.) He’s got a GREAT singing voice that would charm any princess!

   His costume includes a very regal looking hat with a huge feather that he keeps refusing to wear, and of course, tights and a cape. Did Princes really ever dress that way, or only in fairy tales?   

    This is Jill, the evil Queen who is Snow White’s stepmother.   She’s so  beautifully wicked it’s awesome!

   The first time my little boy Calvin saw us rehearsing the poisoned apple scene, he made his way up to the edge of the stage and whispered to me, “Mom, if you want me to stop her, I will!”   

      I think it would be fun to play the villain some time.  I always seem to be cast as the wide-eyed heroine.  Maybe next time around…although I’d have some explaining to do to my kids!

Here’s Michael, the Magic Mirror and the show’s comic relief.   I love what he’s done with the role - he’s an improv comedian and it’s been so much fun to watch him work!  He and the Queen have in my opinion the best dance number in the whole show.

There’s a little slice of my life outside of work.  The days are as packed as ever.  This morning I was working in Clara’s classroom, tonight I’ll be emceeing a March of Dimes fundraising event between newscasts, and working on a special report for Veterans Day.

  Good thing the coffee pot is working well!

Take care-

Trish

FUN WITH SCISSORS

Did any of you know that baby scissors can cut hair?

Guess how the Shepherds found out?

How long do you predict before her nonexistent bangs can pass as normal?

THEATRE ROCKS!

     We finished the second weekend of Snow White at Beef and Boards and the audiences were awesome.  I’ve never in my life seen so many awestruck little girls in princess dresses.  

    I was especially happy to see my late coworker Don Foss’s family at the show after I got them some tickets! Here are Zach and Megan at right (my post-show hair had gotten a bit “wiggy” I’m afraid)

   Megan’s one incredulous question for me - did you REALLY  kiss the prince??  I love the collective EEEWWWW we’ve heard from little kids, especially the boys,  at some of the performances. Priceless!

FINDING THAT MAGIC  

 I sort of worried when I committed to this 8-week run that I’d be drained and exhausted, but getting back on stage (after about a 4-year hiatus due to kids and career demands!) I realized that I’m actually drawing more energy than I’m expending somehow from this process!  Yes, at the end of the second show Saturday, after a full week of newscasts and a long Friday of theatre in the morning, news at night, I was pretty beat, but I was smiling.  I have to say, after some of the darker news in the world, it’s not so bad living in a magical, musical fairy tale for an hour.

     There’s always been something magical that live theatre has done for my soul that nothing else quite can match.  I wish everyone could find that one unique thing that does that for them, and find a way to carve a spot for it in their life.

  It is good to be back.

A MONTH OF BIRTHDAYS

  I have two October babies, Clara’s early in the month and Calvin late, so it seems like the birthday celebrations keep going.  This weekend, I had lots of family in town to see the play, and we threw a mini b-day bash.  They are officially spoiled so rotten they’re starting to stink.

Cal LOVES his new superman suit. Can you say - ABS OF STEEL?

He tried flying.  Didn’t work for some reason. Probably the cape.

THE STORYTELLER

 My Grandad (from central Illinois at far left in the photo as everyone sang happy b-day) and his wonderful wife Elaine made the trip over. Grandad managed to mesmerize the kids with the stories he told to go along with the wooden gifts he’d made them.  He is a retired minister and along with being a gifted carpenter, has always been an incredible storyteller.  I’ll be lucky if I’ve inherited an ounce of his talent in that department. It was really good to see them and especially to see my kids caught up in his spell, even just for a moment.

I know my “Greatest Auntie Corky ” (second from right) who also came for the show, took a bunch of photos so I’ll add them as soon as she sends them my way! 

HD DIFFERENCE

  Are any of you watching in HD? We just switched our cameras and system last week. Can you tell the difference?  I applaud all our engineers and technical staff who are working their tails off to get us looking as smooth as possible. I’ve become increasingly paranoid about my makeup and flyaways, worried that every little flaw looks 10 times clearer! 

Thanks for checking in - see you on the air!

Trish