In Remembrance Of...

our veterans. (I know it's a day late)

Yesterday I had the chance, OK the assignment, to go to the Annual Veteran's Day Memorial Ceremony at the 45th Infantry Division Museum.  I have to admit this is not something I would have probably gone to voluntarily.  Not that I don't appreciate the veterans, my grandfather was a WWII veteran and I know many others who have served.  I truly do appreciate their sacrifice, but never as much as I did yesterday.

The ceremony was only about 30 minutes long, and moved me to tears.  Looking around the crowd at the men and women who have served, sacrificed and suffered beyond anything I can imagine was incredible.  I had the chance to talk with a man who is 88 years old.  He served in WWII.  He said he doesn't talk about his service because still, nearly 70 years later, it's too painful for him to think about. WOW.  I can't even begin to imagine, yet knowing this made me appreciate that much more his dedication.

I don't think the Star Spangled Banner, God Bless America and every other song played has ever impacted me the way it did there, in that moment, among that crowd.  Watching dozens stand with each battle that was called out, seeing them salute one another.  I don't think it's something I can ever fully appreciate.

I don't enjoy every assignment I get, but I thoroughly enjoyed the time spent on this one.  Stories like this make me a more passionate American and ever grateful for the freedom I have.

I Made It...

... one week without talking or texting while driving!

Aren't you proud of me? 

This all started last week, read that post here.

I have to admit it wasn't easy, but here's what I've learned in the last week...

• I talk to my mom A LOT while driving... so I had to call her the other night and explain that I wasn't ignoring her.  She understood.
• There are plenty of other ways to get distracted; eating, patting my screaming child's head, reading some random piece of paper that's cluttering up my cup holder, pushing "IGNORE" on my phone when it rings, thinking of what to write in this post, etc.
• It really is hard to just not answer the phone.
• It's not always easy to find a place to pull over and answer
• There are a ton of other people on their phones, and they almost hit me a few times.
• I think I have a slight road rage issue.
• That my life is not any less complete by not answering the phone call/text immediately.

I am going to try to continue this new found habit.  I think it's a good thing.  Once I master it then maybe I'll work on one of those other issues, like road rage. 

Incredible

Troy Golden is a man living without a heart!  The sentence of the day Tuesday.

I met Troy and his family at a press conference at Integris Baptist Hospital.

This man, a pastor, is about to become only the second person ever in the U.S. to be able to leave a hospital with a completely artificial heart!  He shows a flatline on hospital monitors, but he's walking around and will soon walk right out the door.

This picture to the left is the Total Artificial Heart, the device now keeping Troy alive.

Incredible.  Technology is so amazing.  He will still have to carry around a "Freedom Driver" which is basically an air compressor in a backpack that keeps the artificial heart pumping.  Isn't this crazy... it has a car charger so he can plug in to the car if his battery is low. 

The picture here is of the freedom driver.  This is what Troy will use.  Right now he's connected to the big machine seen on the left side of the first picture.  That machine weighs about 415 pounds.  The Freedom Driver weighs about 13 pounds.

Troy had a great sense of humor and told us that he just wasn't ready to die yet.  He had too much left to do.  He said that he has written a lot of sermons during his time at the hospital and can't wait to be able to deliver them to the congregation he works with in Geary.

Don't Let The Bed Bugs Bite!! YUCK

Apparently, I'm now the bed bug reporter!  Not a job to be too excited about, huh?

Earlier this month, I got a tip from a very credible, unnamed source, that there had been a bed bug case at OSU.  This in the midst of cases popping up across the country.  So, I sacrificed and stayed REALLY late at work that day just to do the story.

Then last week I get a call from a guy who has bed bugs and says his apartment complex is not having luck getting rid of them.

I set the story up only to realize moments later that I just agreed to go to an apartment THAT HAS BED BUGS!!! YIKES!!! WHAT WAS I THINKING!!

Several deep breaths later I'm on my way with photog Travis, who by the way has had a string of bad luck lately and figured bed bugs would just be the icing on the cake. 

We go and I tell the very nice man that we'll just interview him in the hall and that I'm NOT going in his apartment.  I have to protect myself and my home.. and my 11 month old. But Travis went in!  Brave guy.  Did I mention this guy had just trapped a bed bug on a sticky pad hours before we got there!

We then interviewed a Terminix guy about how to get rid of them.  He also gave us tips on how to protect ourselves from bringing them in to our house, just in case one of the little guys had hitchhiked his way on to our clothes while we were there.

I took those precautions, which by the way was a hilarious story on it's own, but one that's really not appropriate for this blog... sorry.

So the good news is, after checking my bed 4 times a day, washing my sheets and drying them on high heat, along with anything I wore that day, so far no bed bugs.  Keep your fingers crossed.

Trust me, before I agree to do another bed bug story I will definitely be making sure there aren't live ones where I'm going!!

Distracted

Monday's story was about distracted drivers... it got me thinking... Man, am I distracted!

OK, I'm willing to admit that I often talk on my cell phone while driving.  Sometimes I even text (gasp).  I know it's awful.  I do try to only text if I'm at a stoplight or stop sign.  I know it's bad, my husband tells me it's bad but I've never been motivated to stop.  Having an accident would be that motivation I'm sure, but I decided before that happens I should do something about this.

So, I decided to stop.  That was Monday afternoon... fast-forward to Tuesday 11:00 a.m.  I'm leaving work, EARLY!! which is great because I have not been off on time in weeks!  back on track... what do I do?  I grab my phone and call my husband about having lunch together... hang up.. realize what I've just done and then, very angry with myself, call him back and practically yell about how awful I am that I couldn't even make it 24 hours without talking on the stupid cell phone!!  What does he do?  Like a good husband, he just laughs at me.

I decided after that I would start over.  He even tested me by calling from his work number when I was on my way home, to see if I would answer.  I passed the test and didn't answer. 

I've done well since then.  It's only Thursday and I have to admit I'm very tempted to pick up that phone.  Yesterday I realized that I haven't talked to my mom all week.  That's rare.  Why haven't I?  Because I stopped talking while driving and I figured out that I tend to call my mom most often in transition from one place to another.  I called her today during a break at work just so she knows I'm still alive and haven't forgotten about her.  She thought it was funny.

I'm going to keep trying to not talk/text and drive.  We'll see how it goes.  I think I need a blue chip.. tomorrow.. there's always tomorrow.

Tragedy Strikes

Two sad stories in one day!

First, an officer "ambushed," shot while leaving the scene of what police say was a DUI traffic stop.  She was shot multiple times.  She's in good condition which is GREAT news!

Second story, just awful!  A six week old baby girl died over the weekend after she was rushed to a hospital last week.  Her dad agreed to an interview today because he wants other parents to know the danger of sleeping with your baby.  He told me that he had fallen asleep on the couch with little Elizabeth Rose.  When he woke up she was "unresponsive." 

Watch the story here.

This poor man was so torn up.  He was just holding on to her little blanket and fighting back the tears as best he could.  I can't imagine the pain he and the baby's mom are going through.  Being a mom I'll admit I have fallen asleep with my little boy numerous times.  This story broke my heart.  As I was listening to him talk I got goosebumps just thinking about it.  He had so much guilt.  The poor mom, she was at work when it happened.  My heart breaks for them both. 

Stories like this are hard to cover.  It's hard not to think about my own child when I hear these stories. I'll admit when I picked my little boy up after work I hugged him a little tighter.

This family may not be the wealthiest, and they may admit to having their own problems in the past, but none of that matters.  They lost a child this week and will forever be changed by those events.

They had a sign posted at their house that simply said "Please Pray For Us."

There are a lot of families out there that do believe in co-sleeping.  This story is not to say anything negative about those families, it's simply to let this family's voice be heard regarding what happened to their baby.

I'm Too Late

So, I've been thinking about starting this blog for a long time.  I finally did it a few days ago, no posts just the basic layout and then yesterday I get an e-mail from my boss that contains a blog post from a reporter/anchor/tv person that I don't know who has done the SAME thing! 
I never thought the idea was original, but what are the chances she would find that the same week?
Oh well.  I'm still going to try to keep this going.
Feel free to send me your thoughts and questions.  What do you want me to post about?  What do you want to know?