Champaign, IL

January 23rd – 25th

Wisconsin vs 24 Illinois - College Basketball (CBB) – ESPN2 – 4pm

It took pretty much all day on Friday to get to Champaign, IL. Flight options are limited, so I was stuck with a 4 hour layover in Detroit. However, that allowed me to catch up on some emails.

This weekend was a reunion of sorts – Amy, the other graphics operator that started the football season with me, was the other operator this weekend. She did Viz and I did Duet. (Some higher profile CBB games have 2 graphics operators on them still)

Jason, my football AP, was also our AP for this game. So it was very nice for the 3 of us to work together again!

On Friday night, Amy and I had dinner and spent some time catching up.

Since the alarm was going off at 3:30am, I was in bed by 8:05pm Friday night. I was so obsessed about falling asleep, that I didn’t until well after 11pm. Ugh!

Game day went really well. Other than we had to be in a 5am for a 3pm game. Ugh! That part wasn’t fun!


But it allowed for Amy, Jason and I to take a real lunch break for once. We went to this place called “LePeep” – it was fantastic! It’s a lot like a “First Watch”.

Over the years, I have stayed in some of the worst hotels in the entire country while visiting Champaign. The “Historical Lincoln” was cross between a Scooby Doo Haunted Mansion and the set of the movie “The Shining”. I believe that was during football season of 2004.

There was carpet, velvet & tapestries EVERYWHERE!

I actually sent a complaint into the ESPN Travel Dept. begging them to never book this hotel again. It was winter time and I had to leave my window open in order to breathe. The ventilation system was so outdated that it was as if there was lit cigarette in my room the entire stay (or maybe it was the ghost in the corner smoking?)

It was a nice hotel, when it was renovated back in the early 80s!
Just so creepy now!

It defienately added entertainment value for our crew and gave us something to compare future hotels with. (See, 5 years later and I'm still talking about it!)

Then there was this other one – I don’t remember the name – maybe “America’s Inn” or something ? I think it was during the 2005 football season that we experienced this gem.

It’s feature was the sign at the check in desk:
“If illegal drugs or activities are conducted in your room, you will be asked to leave without refund. If you don’t leave, we will call the police.”

NICE!

Actually, if I remember correctly, the Illinois football team was doing so poorly at the time, the coaches made the team stay at the hotel the night before the game as punishment.

ANYWAY, back to this trip!
I am happy to report that Champaign has a brand new hotel!
It’s called “I Hotel” and it is located 1 block behind Assembly Hall.
Great hotel!! Just a lot of nice little touches.

This one was my favorite
(yes, actual books)

Happy National Squirrel Appreciation Day!

January 21st

Happy National Squirrel Appreciation Day!

These are the little squirrel (sugar) cookies I made to honor the holiday.

Columbus, OH

January 17th – 18th

Again, this weekend I was “on call”. No other Duet ops got sick or had travel emergencies, so I got to stay home.

I flew mom up for the weekend and we pretty much never left the house. A lot of cleaning got done!

BREAKING NEWS….. at approximately 10:52am on Saturday, January 17, 2009, the final bag from China was unpacked! What’s the rush? It had only been sitting on the guest room floor for 5 months!

Birmingham, Alabama

January 15th – 16th

South Atlanta (GA) vs LeFlore (AL) High School Basketball – ESPN2 – 9pm

I stayed in Cincinnati on Wednesday night after the UC game and flew to Birmingham on Friday morning.

The game was played at Bartow Arena – UAB’s basketball arena.


It’s always difficult doing a high school game – be it football or basketball – due to the lack of information available. Most high schools are not accustomed to dealing with being on TV; so do not know how desperately we need information on the school, team and players. Not to mention the fact that most schools do not keep stats or at least accurate stats.

Even with the challenges of doing HS sports, I always enjoy doing these games as we are there for a reason – one of the players is going to be tomorrow’s star. So that part is cool – getting to see them when they are still a kid.

But the action was not on the court – it apparently was outside the arena – in the parking lot just 50 yards from where the TV truck was parked. After the game, the play-by-play announcer was mugged at gunpoint.

On Friday morning, unbeknownst to me, it was “Be Evil to Nic Day.” All small things, but all annoyed me in a huge way!

First it was the woman in 3C – I was attempting to put my roller board in the overhead bin and it was not fitting “wheels first” as it typically does on that model of aircraft. So I flipped it around to “handle first” and again, it didn’t fit. (By putting getting your bag to fit wheels or handle first, you don’t take up as much room; thus allowing room for more bags; a kind gesture to fellow passengers)

While I was doing this, the woman in 3C was giving me a once over; apparently she didn’t feel that I was first class material. So she proceeded to snear, “It’s not going to fit.” I looked at her and said, “No shit!” She was instantly appalled by my response which made me giggle!

On the flight, I had a much needed nap as I only had gotten 3 hours of sleep.

As I was waiting to get off the plane in Atlanta, the guy in 2C reached into the overhead bin and started to take down my bag. I said, “Actually, that is my bag sir.” His head swiveled around and he said, “Well THAT is where I put MY bag. You must have moved it when you put yours in!” And he being the gentleman, that he obviously was, he shoved my bag back into the overhead bin.

I replied with, “No, I did not touch your bag.” He said, “Yes you did!”
I reached up and grabbed my bag and said, “Whatever dude” and left.

He had made such a scene that when I was on the jet bridge a lady came up to me and said, “Be thankful that guy isn’t your husband – what a jerk!”

Then in the elevator in the Crown Room, this old couple started talking about me as I am 8 inches from them. Seriously, it was an elevator for 4 people and the old man whispered
“Will you look at the size of that bag!”

The old lady said, “That is what is wrong today with carry-on luggage. People taking such large items on the plane”
I just stood there with my back to them, attempting to be nice – I am angry at myself for not saying “I CAN HEAR YOU!” Cuz that is what I was saying in my head.

I attribute all 3 scenarios with me being discriminated against. The 1st two things happened in first class, the other in the airline club. As I usually do on early morning flights, I was wearing a sweatshirt and comfy pants, no makeup and less than perfect hair.

Basically, I look homeless, but I am comfortable! All these people didn’t feel that I belonged in first class or in the club – when indeed, I do! Subconsciously, I think I dress worse when I know I will be in first class, just to annoy people.

And yes, I have an enormous backpack that weighs 37 lbs. I may not be able to walk by the time I am 40, but I have everything I could possibly need to do my job. I also carry my roller board suitcase – which is also typically packed until ready to burst. The more crap you have in your bag, the more mad the TSA agents get when they search your stuff. (But that’s another one of the fun games I play – I’ll save TSA stories for another day)

Anyway, to anyone who complains about the amount of stuff I carry on a plane I have a simple response – “I challenge you to live my life for one week and see how you pack afterwards”

I guarantee you, after you are buying underwear at WalMart at 1am because an airline lost your luggage and you have to be to work in 5 hours, I bet you won’t check your luggage next time!

Ok… so back to my trip home.
On the flight from Atlanta to Columbus, the guy next to me passed out after 1 bloody mary.

He sat hunched over the entire flight. I just thought it was funny.

Cincinnati, Ohio

January 14th

University of Cincinnati Basketball

It actually snowed last night in Columbus! So it took me an extra 30 minutes to get out of town since the roads inside of I-270 were actually pretty bad.

Other than that – nothing to report.

Waterloo/Cedar Falls/Cedar Rapids, Iowa

January 10th – 12th

College Wrestling – Tape Delayed for ESPNU

Flew into Cedar Rapids (I think) and then drove to Waterloo. For some reason, I was confused all weekend as to where I was. I think it was because our hotels kept changing during the week and I also originally thought our event was at Iowa, but it actually was at Northern Iowa.

Anyway, it was insanely cold where ever I was.

On Sunday morning, the front desk clerk gave me directions to the UNIDome. She said to get off at the “Hudson exit and the dome will be a couple miles down on your left.” So that’s what I did.

However, the road was a dead end. Hmm… I know I didn’t pass a huge dome!

So as I was turning around, I saw “University Ave.” – well I knew that had to lead to a college campus I assumed it would be the one I needed.

Eventually, it was. I eventually came to “Hudson Street” – and what do ya know, the UNIDome was on it, on my left.

Apparently the hotel clerk left out one minor detail…. There is an exit for Hudson (a town) and then an exit for Hudson Street. (I needed the street, not the town)

I was about 40 minutes late to work, but it was okay. It took a couple hours for the truck to warm up enough to turn on the gear.

On Sunday night, I was able to hang out at the bar with a few of my long time freelance friends. It was a lot of fun to catch up with them!

I only had about 4 hours of sleep on Sunday night and wasn’t feeling all that happy about the early flight when I woke up on Monday morning.

The night before, a co-worker and I had decided to sit together on our flight from Iowa to Cincinnati. (It’s better to be squished in together with someone you know)

Unfortunately, the seat next to me was taken and he had the one across the isle. He went ahead and sat next to me and when the guy came up and said, “I think you are in my seat”, Mike said, “I’m on the one across the isle, do you mind switching? I met this girl at the bar last night.”

I laughed so hard and said, “that doesn’t really bode well for you considering I haven’t even brushed my hair yet today.” (Sadly, it was the truth)

When arriving at the gate for the flight to Columbus, I ran into a client. He did a double take when I said hi – he obviously didn’t recognize me wearing sweats and unkempt hair.
Glamorous life I tell ya!

Sorry, no photos this weekend. I honestly forgot.

Cincinnati, OH

January 7th

Providence vs Cincinnati – College Basketball – 9pm ET - ESPNU



It’s nice to be into hoops season. As I have mentioned in the past, college basketball is my favorite sport to do.

Uneventful evening.

Bay Village, Ohio

January 5th

Dave and I went to see our friends in Cleveland to celebrate Christmas and to watch Ohio State play Texas in the Fiesta Bowl.

Cliff & Boo made a fabulous dinner for all of us! Oh my goodness, it was so delicious!

At halftime, we did our “Secret Santa” gift exchange. There are always prank gifts involved and most everyone is in on the joke.

The biggest one this year had to be Dave’s gift to Matty…..
Dave came across a laser disk while shopping at a used record store. So he bought it as a joke. Then when telling one of our friends about it, our friend said, “I have a laser disk player that you can borrow. It’s never been out of the box. But I have to have it back.”

So… poor Matty opened the laser disk first.


Then the laser disk player…



Matt & Cliff

It wasn’t until later in the night that Dave told Matty he could keep the laser disk, but he needed to take the player back.

Okay, not funny to everyone else, I know. But the NTACs have their own unique sense of humor that no one else really understands.

Anyway – Boo is always cold. So one of my gifts to her was the Snuggi – you’ve all seen the terrible TV commercial for it. “Blankets are okay, but they slip & slide”





Another one of the gifts was a toy Jonny had played with during breakfast one day. Apparently, Jonny was mesmerized by this toy and couldn’t stop playing it. Cliff had gotten it for him. And again, Jonny stopped everything and played with the toy for about 40 minutes…


And then we heard… “guys… guys… get the camera guys…”






It was such a fun night, even though the Buckeyes lost. Dave and I miss these guys so much! Long gone are the days of hanging out every weekend (when most of us lived in Columbus).

Oh well… I guess it just makes the few times we do get together even more special.

Amanda, Jonny, Cliff, Boo and Matt – you are the best!
(Bettes & TG too!) Looking so forward to our NTAC vacation in July!!

Columbus, OH

January 3rd

Happy New Year!

This weekend I was “on call”. No other Duet ops got sick or had travel emergencies, so I got to stay home.

It was very nice! I haven’t had a weekend off since July 17th.

I got to get a few things done around the house, watch the Blue Jackets win and actually went and saw a movie – in a theatre! “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” - which by the way, is worth the 2 hours & 40 minutes. Excellent movie!

Dayton, Ohio

December 31st

After 18 weekends of football, one needs a break!

Dave and I pondered many mini-vacation options – and it came down warm & sunny Daytona! Err, I mean Dayton!

Why Dayton you ask?

When we were having a hard time coming up with a destination, he decided to see where our favorite cover band, “The Menus”, were playing that week. They had a package deal at the Dayton Marriott on New Year’s Eve for a room, dinner, concert, open bar, dessert, etc. And the rest is history…


Nic & Dave

For those who have been reading the blog since last summer, you are familiar with “The Menus”. For those who are new to the blog….. "The Menus" are a cover band from Cincinnati. The set list varies from The Beatles to Jethro Tull to Boston to Blood, Sweat & Tears to Neil Diamond and anything in between!. They are entertaining from start to finish. The lead singer has about 15 costume changes during the show – all of which are outrageously mismatched and leave you wondering why?











Dave starting seeing their shows in Columbus in the late 90s, me shortly there after. In recent years, we started going to Put-In-Bay during the summer to go camping and see them play at The Beer Barrel Saloon.



It was on this recent trip that we realized the fans have gotten OLD! (We of course have not aged since first seeing them perform) Seriously, the majority of the people on New Year’s Eve were in their 50s & 60s. If they still handed out awards at the end of their shows (something they used to do), I would of easily won “youngest fan”.



We had a great time! We got our money’s worth on the open bar, BUT, we challenged each other to a glass of water between every drink. It worked – no hangover!


I even wore big girl shoes for the occasion! They had heels and everything!









About 2 hours into the night, Dave had the best suggestion ever – “why don’t you go upstairs and change your shoes.” Music to my piggies!


It may have seemed like an odd place to take a mini-vacation or spend New Years Eve – but it was a perfect match for us!

Shreveport, Louisiana

December 26th – 29th

Independence Bowl – Northern Illinois vs Louisiana Tech -ESPN -8p ET – CFB Week 18

We made it!
Our last week of football!!



I was traveling from Fort Myers this week into Shreveport. Had some issues with delays and ended up switching airlines and routes. However, I was only about 4 hours late into Shreveport… so nothing like last week!

Things were a little hectic on Saturday, our set day, because we were on a different truck this week. We had been spoiled for 17 weeks of having the same truck with the same engineers. So it was kinda like starting all over again!

After the game on Sunday night most of the production crew ended up in the bar; it was supposed to close at 11p, but ended up staying open until well past 1a. I had a few drinks with them and then the technical crew got back. They had anticipated a closed bar and had picked up some beer earlier in the day. So we had our own little party in the hotel lobby.


Saks

A couple people had passes to the Louisiana Tech Hospitality Suite and took shopping bags up and filled them with beer & food and would bring them back down to the lobby.

The lobby decorations quickly began to disappear.
(It was also the team hotel for Louisiana Tech)


At some point a demonstration of Butt Darts began. (A drinking game this crew played in seasons past)



Around 3am it was down to about 6 of us, so we went to the hospitality suite where there was still endless alcohol flowing; including a slushy machine that was making margaritas! (that’s where I went wrong)


Tom


I gave up at 4am and went to bed.

Thankfully, I had a 12:30p flight. It was not a pretty day.



What did I miss this weekend?
On Monday morning - my football crew.

It was a season of new challenges for me, but I learned so much!
I also made some fabulous new friends! I will miss them all over the next 8 months!

Fort Myers, Florida

December 22nd – 26th

On Monday morning, I headed home for a couple days to spend time with the family.

It was a complete whirlwind of a visit – I had to do my shopping still which took up Monday.

On Tuesday, I went to see my grandmother’s new condo and helped hang a few photos, etc.

On Wednesday, my dad and I prepared dinner for our family that was in town.
Followed by a family gift exchange. The photos of the family, as usual didn’t turn out. But that’s ok, the photos always turn out of the 2 most excited kids – Madison & Rizon.


Madison


Rizon

They both absolutely LOVE Christmas and have to be right in the middle of it all. Opening their presents and playing with the wrap and ribbons like kittens.

On Christmas, Mom, Dad, Grandma and I spent the day on the boat. It was a beautiful day! THIS was my vacation! (unfortunately it only lasted a few hours)

Claude & Smokey Update

Many have asked.... I apologize for the delay.

Finally - here are photos of Claude & Smokey - taken in December.


Claude & Smokey at Auntie Nic’s


Smokey helping Auntie Nic update her ESPN CBB Binder


Smokey napping in Auntie Nic’s office


Bath time!


Nap time!

Salem, Virginia

December 18th – 21st

NCAA Div. III Championship –Wisconsin-Whitewater vs Mount Union -ESPN -11a ET – CFB Week 17



Now this was a trip!

On Friday, I was flying to Roanoke with a connection in Detroit.
Got to Detroit a little late, but with still plenty of time to spare. Met up with a co-worker, Tim, who was on the same flight to Roanoke.

We spent a little time at the gate catching up when they cancelled our flight.

There are so MANY details, I won’t bore you with all of them this week! But here is the short version……

It was around 1:30pm when out flight was cancelled. The next flight to Roanoke was at 9:47pm. So Tim waited in line at the Northwest counter while I sat on the phone with ESPN Emergency Travel trying to figure out a game plan.

I sat with an atlas and tried endlessly to get us to a city within 4 hours of Roanoke at a decent hour.

We conceded and decided to take the 9:47pm flight to Roanoke since any of the other options would involve driving and getting in much later.

So the 3 of us – the color analyst had joined us, headed off to the Northwest World Club to waste the next 7 hours.

It was around 6pm that ESPN decided we needed to get on a plane ASAP as our entire crew was having issues getting to Virginia and there was a blizzard headed to Detroit – if we didn’t get out soon, we would never make it to work.

So, they decided to send us to Charlotte, North Carolina on a 9:15pm flight. In the meantime, we met up with a 4th person from our crew. With numerous trials and tribulations, the 4 of us did indeed make the flight and landed a little after 11 in Charlotte….. on auto pilot because there was 1/8th of mile of visibility.

Tim and I were seated together, ‘comfortably’ in the last row with non-reclining seats. When we landed and looked out the window, we knew there was little chance of us making it to Roanoke in that fog. It was scary bad.

We decided as a group that we would go ahead and start on the 3+ hour drive and see how far we got. As it stood now, it was going to be 3am before we got to the hotel. We wanted to get there, but also knew this is how others in our industry have died – just trying to make crew call.

Tim, being the total rock star that he is, volunteered to be the driver. It totally sucked and I don’t know how he did it! The fog was super thick at times and then gone and back again. Our color analyst shared stories of his days in the NFL and USFL and I think that is what kept us going. We were all beyond exhaustion!

Linda, my nutty GPS, was acting up and telling us to go South when we all knew it was North. Eventually, we programmed the rental car GPS as well and then had dueling GPSs which also added to the entertainment.

We made it to the hotel around 3am. It was at least 4 before I was able to fall asleep. 7am came really fast!

Friday sucked for everyone as we were all extremely tired. Each person on the crew had a story of how they made it to Roanoke, so that at least made the day interesting. Tim and I “won” because we had the longest day of travel on the crew – 17 hours. Most everyone else averaged 12; which is still insane!

The game on Saturday went fine. The weather was far better than the game last year. Speaking of which – I filled in on this crew last year on this exact game. It was my first Viz game; wow!

Speaking of the Viz, this is what it looks like:




Here is Jason, my AP:


This was the last weekend on our truck; so we had to say goodbye to our engineers and generator op. That was sad :(

On Sunday morning, Tim and I were on the same 6am flight. When we got to Detroit we went right to the World Club to check on our connecting flights and to see if Northwest had found his luggage yet (they had lost it there in Detroit on Thursday).

The saga continued …. By the end of Sunday; Tim had spent another day at the Detroit airport after numerous cancellations and I did make it back to Columbus; but my luggage did not!


What did I miss this weekend?
Driving 1 mile to work.

Columbus

December 17th

College Basketball – Jacksonville vs Ohio State – ESPNU – 9pm

It was so much fun to be working an ESPN game at Ohio State again!
It has been almost 2 years since we all did one together!

I had a great time seeing everyone and wish we still did this every week during hoops season!

Florence, Alabama

December 11-14th

NCAA Div. II Championship –Minnesota Duluth vs Northwest Missouri State -ESPN2 -1p ET – CFB Week 16



Had to fly into Huntsville, AL and then drive a little over an hour to Florence. Ran into some delays so got in a little later then planned. It was pouring rain on the drive to Florence. It got dark around 4:30pm as the rain slowly turned into freezing rain.

A few miles from the hotel, I stopped at a WalMart for a few items as I realized I had forgotten to refill some of my 3oz bottles (hairspray, etc)

I was inside for 15 minutes max. When I came out the slushy rain had turned into a blizzard!

It was snowing crazy hard. To the point that it took 10 minutes for the frost to clear enough from the car windows for me to drive.

The couple miles to the hotel where a gamble. The roads were sloshy and it was evident that the Florence drivers where not accustomed to driving in snow, let alone seeing snow!

Once I got to the hotel, I attempted to order pizza since even I didn’t want to go out into the mess. It took 4 tries and found a place willing to deliver with a 2.5 hour wait. What else are ya gonna do but wait :)

Got it, cold. But it was better than nothing.

On Friday morning, when Xris and I went to leave, the cars where of course covered in frost. And guess what? No scrapers!

We ended up using our room keys to scrape enough off for me to see out the windshield.

Found the stadium okay and the weather had improved greatly overnight. Most of the snow melted in the morning sun.



On Friday evening, we had our end of season crew dinner at a local steak place. Endless rounds of drinks and food for all! A fun time had by all!

Saturday was good until my laptop got hurt. A monitor was accidentally dropped on it and ruined the screen.


After the game, I drove back to an airport hotel in Huntsville.

Being the good girl that I am, I had asked at the National counter on Thursday if there was a gas station at the airport exit and the lady said, “yes”. (It’s an ESPN rule that we return the car full; however, a lot people ignore that rule)

So as I got off at the airport exit in Huntsville, I realized that the National lady had lied to me. There was not a gas station at that exit. Of course, I had to circle around the airport to get back onto the interstate.

I asked Linda (my GPS) where the nearest gas station was – 4 miles back in the direction I had just come from! AGH!

I was in no hurry, I was just in a bad mood. But I went ahead and drove to the gas station and filled up. Only to be rewarded with a pump that wouldn’t print a receipt! (I need the receipt for my expenses)

Cursing, I hopped back into the car and headed back to the airport. It was around this time that I remembered that the hotel I was staying in was attached to the airport – which is a good thing!
However, that “good thing” quickly turned into my latest reason to scream expletives.

In an effort to help co-workers with a quick flight, I had agreed to transport “the bin” to the hotel this week for Production. This “bin” contains various items that get shipped each week back to ESPN in Bristol, CT. Because the majority of the contents are tapes – it is typically very heavy.

As I pulled up to the hotel, I realized there was not anywhere to quickly drop bags since it was also the terminal. So I kept driving and called the hotel explaining my dilemma.
(ie: I had a heavy package that I needed to drop because I couldn’t carry it and my luggage from the rental car parking lot)

The lovely front desk clerk asked “why don’t you have someone else in your party help you carry the items – or – drop them off in front of the hotel with the bin and luggage?”
“BECAUSE I AM ALONE!”

Seriously, did she think I was THAT stupid?

She then informed me she had a guest at the front desk, so she would have to put me on hold. I said, “Sure, no problem, I can circle the airport for a third time while I wait.”

In the mean time, I am trying to find where the National return is. The garage was under construction and was not clearly marked. I ended up driving around the airport a for a 4th time before the hotel lady came back on the line.

“Mam, we do not have bellmen at this hotel. So I guess I could call the airport and have them page a luggage Skycap to meet you at the curb. Then that person could hold your items while you return the rental car.” I replied, “I don’t have that kind of patience lady! I will figure something else out!”

On my 5th circle of the airport, still not finding where to return the car, I decided to return the car on the 2nd floor of the parking garage, where I had picked it up. National could take it to the appropriate return lot since they didn’t care enough to post sings. Doing this however, required me to go up the down ramp of the parking garage – a chance I was willing to take at this point.

I got to the National pick up counter and as I was getting out of the car, the guy working the counter had the balls to say, “Are you picking up a car Mam?”

Are you kidding me? I am getting out of a clearly marked National rental car – do you think I returning or picking up?

I may have yelled at the man explaining I had circled 5 times now and could not find the return lot and he could take the car himself!

In retrospect, I should of walked away from that car then. But no, I am too nice and got back in and drove to the return lot that had signs for every freaking rental agency except National and parked in the middle of the ‘road’ of the lot. I got out and started throwing my belongings out of the car onto the muddy lot.

A National agent tiptoed over to me and printed a receipt. He knew better than to speak to me.

Of course this particular lot is at the furthest point from the hotel. There is no way in hell I am making 2 trips. So stubborn me, piles my stuff onto the top of my suitcase, put on my back pack and hunched over, dragging the bin with one hand and the luggage in the other. It was easily a half mile.

People cleared out of my way as I approached. The look on my face must of scared them away.

I went up the elevator that was for the hotel and followed the signs to the Sheraton. I ended up at the end of a dead end hallway – which I had passed a couple of banquet rooms filled with cheerful people enjoying their holiday parties. So I had to turn around and drag my shit back to the elevator and eventually found the lobby – which there were no signs for.

I nearly strangled the perky front desk clerk.

After numerous other mishaps, I found my way to the lobby bar and proceeded to drink away the woes of the day with my co-workers.

That 6am flight on Sunday morning really hurt!


What did I miss this weekend?
Having a normal job

Maryville, Missouri

December 4th – 7th

NCAA Div. II Playoff –North Alabama vs Northwest Missouri State -ESPN2 4p ET – CFB Week 15



Took most of Thursday to travel to Kansas City, MO. Then drive to St. Joseph, MO. We stayed in St. Joseph because there weren’t enough hotel rooms in Maryville.

The hotel was good for a Holiday Inn.

On Friday, the trucks didn’t heat up fast enough so I couldn’t turn on the Viz for a couple hours. This put me very behind!

I ordered a cake and cupcakes from a bakery in “downtown” St. Joseph for the baby shower our crew was putting on for 2 of our crew members. They turned out pretty good considering the scramble to find a bakery and then the last minute order.


A couple of us on the crew organized the shower – great group effort by all!

The baby shower was a success; both girls were very surprised!
(Of course, I forgot to take pictures)

It was extremely cold and windy in Missouri. We have the best camera crew in the country! I don’t know how they survived the single digit wind chill.


What did I miss this weekend?
Nothing that I can think of :)

Columbus, OH

December 3rd

North Carolina vs Ohio State Women’s Basketball – Big Ten Network

I have worked in Columbus 2 times in the past 10 days – wow!

A fun game for me as one of the players for Ohio State, Brittany, is the sister of a good friend, Jeremy. He and I went to high school & college together and have stayed in touch over the years.

It’s cool to watch her play…. Last time I saw her, she was an adorable little girl. I remember back in 1996, I went to visit Jeremy in Illinois – we took his 4 sisters sledding.

Jeremy - Kaydi - Brittany - Kelli - Leah
(I might have Kaydi & Kelli backwards; twins)

Who knew then that 13 years later she would become a rock star basketball player and I would be covering her games?