Oklahoma Strong, people helping people

Day 5 in Moore, OK. The rubble from the EF 5 tornado is evident as I drive around this city but the love of the people recovering from this horrific nightmare and the love of those who have descended upon this area to help is incredible! A young girl sits on a corner holding a sign offering a hug to those that need one. A sign for flat tire repair. A sign for work teams available. Those walking the neighborhoods handing out food and water. Signs on businesses that say Moore Strong, and We Are Open and God Bless Moore. And you know what, these folks... they've been hit in the heart but they've been infused with love... And this Texan has had the privilege of experiencing the spirit these Oklahomans call, "Oklahoma Strong"...

EF 5 and what that really means

Satellite trucks like dinosaurs amidst a prehistoric boneyard are parked in the parking lot behind a medical center in Moore, OK as worldwide news teams report on the EF 5 tornado that struck this town just south of Oklahoma City.

I have been camped out at the ABC compound this week helping produce multi-live shots reporting on the reality of devastation, sadness and hope.

Vicki Plucker took shelter with her two dogs at the Moore Medical Center Monday night. Tuesday morning she was okay but her car had been demolished by the Horrific tornado and her dogs were missing- feared dead. Wednesday construction crews cleaning up scattered debris found Dixie, one of Vicki's two dogs, alive with a few scrapes but okay! She was reunited with her owner and for a well paused moment ... Smiles conquered the heartache of disaster in this
Oklahoma town.

Midwest Abandonment

Sitting in a hotel room in Nebraska on a teleprompting gig and realized I have abandoned this blog... Life seems to grab hold with fierce clamps and take me every which way, and I tend to neglect my own writings. Sigh - 'tis really a shame because writing is my passion and I have allowed commercial writing (where I'm actually making money) and jobs to get in the way of writing for true delight... so I'm sitting here, after watching three hours of Animal Planet's Cat From Hell (I know - time just got away) where I learned that cat's really need environmental stimulation - who would have thought!l


I haven't posted in sooo long. Let's see, I've been to Berlin (on a job)... I worked with Terri Hatcher last April (too much Botox), met Director Gary Marshall, (my fav movie he directed was Pretty Woman) and what a nice guy!! Covered some ferocious tornadoes in my own back yard for ABC News and am currently sitting in Nebraska...

I attempted, this past summer, to complete my screenplay that I've had in the works for two years ... and I actually worked on it some at our summer cottage in Michigan only to have it disappear when my traveling companion's car was stolen on our trip back from up north... and yep... my hard drive was taken, along with a lot of everything else, and nope ... they never caught them. But that's just material things... the screenplay is still in my mind and now I have the cloud - which provides me sunshine storage that robbers can't touch.

Now there are no excuses about my screenplay - thus I hope to reacquaint myself with my characters, and begin the journey once more. And as far as the blog goes ... well, it's taken me awhile to PAUSE but I guess the Cat From Hell episodes really got me going tonight - jump started me - so I'll be posting again ... and if anybody see's someone wearing a pair of worn off-white cowboy boots in Missouri - they probably bought them from a pawn shop AND THEIR MINE!

If it wasn't for the song

I just returned from the rights of passage. Whose you might ask? Well truly it was for my son - he's off to college. The extra long mattress pad and accompanying comforter were in place. The extra storage bins filled to the brim with Ramen noodles, peanut butter and Star Bursts... the shower caddy - check, towels - check, a mad-money bill slipped to him at just the right moment - check,
my heart - check!

He and I were sitting in a college bistro having that last meal... some of you know that meal... it's the one where it's time for the parent to exit and you want this child you've nourished and taken care for 18 years to have one really good meal before they sub exist on soda and crackers, coffee and doughnuts for the next four years.

He had noodles and really didn't eat them. I knew it was time, and he went. I picked up the tab and when I got in my car to leave... I was fine if it hadn't been for
that damn song...
you know the one... by Lee Ann Womack.

I hope you never lose your sense of wonder
You get your fill to eat
But always keep that hunger
May you never take one single breath for granted
God forbid love ever leave you empty handed
I hope you still feel small
When you stand by the ocean
Whenever one door closes, I hope one more opens
Promise me you'll give faith a fighting chance
And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance
I hope you dance

And for my dancing...
well after all these years I hope I can remember how.

Fall has found me!

Wow! It's officially FALL! YEA! Love the cool weather (that's mid-80s in Texas)! My dogs are jumping around like they are teenagers and they are not spring chickens... not in dog years!



My teenager is jumping around because he's always jumping around... and even my husband has a spring in his step.



Even though it's still not cool weather - there is a feeling of FALL.. It's when you hear about a cool front... and the wind that accompanies it is ACTUALLY cool. It's when the sun is bright, and the shade is deep... when my fall tomatoes start to bloom (didn't have time to plant any this year)... when your Friday night dance card is full with high school football... and if you are a mom like me, you've volunteered for concession stand duty on the other nights!



FALL is a time to gear up for the winter. That means shopping for new fall clothes or dragging out the old wardrobe to see what might survive one more season! Maybe a new do... or correcting the summer frizzies.



For Texans, FALL means the State Fair of Texas - which opened last weekend ... Hey if you go be sure and visit the Food and Fiber Pavilion and taste some awesome pickles provided by in a pickle foods. They are a new client of mine and I tell you those pickles are INCREDIBLE... a little bit sweet and incredibly spicy... kinda like FALL.



Ahh... there's homecoming and Halloween and the Cowboys in the new stadium... and I would be remiss if I didn't mention the Texas Rangers... WOW - FALL has found me.



So bring on the cooler nights, the cooler mornings - the deep shade, the bright days -and let autumn begin!

The Social Web's We Weave

Facebook, Twitter, Linked-In: it's crazy out there in the world wide web. Just when I think I've got one form of mass communication down, another pops up. I'll have to admit that I'm a FB and LI customer but have been a hold out on Twitter. I can't possibly understand why anyone would want to know what I'm doing all the time. Likewise, I can't possibly understand why I would want to follow anyone around on Twitter - maybe my teenage son, but I'm not sure I want to know his every move… I'm too young for a heart attack!

Not long ago I was speaking with my cousin who is an accomplished woman enjoying retirement. She thought it would be fun to join Facebook. Her initial impression was good - but she was confused - for her there were way too many privacy concerns. She was not willing to set up her account to lock out this or that, to her it was way too much trouble.

I'm really surprised at the apathy of some of my friends to hop on the whirlwind web social sensation - but hey everyone to their own thing… some of the major complaints I've heard were privacy issues, some can't understand why every Tom, Dick and Harry from years passed are wanting to be their "friend", many don't like the idea of hanging out on a social site 24-7, and some really can't stand the whole technology thing. I think they appreciate it, but would rather not really be apart of the web world.

For me the web is such a reality. I do most of my work online, I get a lot of my news online, and email is one of my favorite ways to communicate!

AND then there's texting… I thank my children for forcing me to learn texting, because if I didn't text they would probably never answer their phones - thus I learned to text, love to text, can get so much more done when I text…

But not everyone is like that… my husband doesn't text, could care less if he texts, and half the time doesn't even check his messages - I can't imagine!

Then there's my 80-something auntie. She email's, she's a digital whiz sending photos of her great grand-daughters across the web…
She would be a great candidate for FB, in fact I think I'll set her up soon. :)

What did I learn this summer?

The dog days of summer are upon us! I couldn’t help but notice today whilst suffocating in the hot, sultry sun. Yep, I’m back at work (today it was teleprompting in an arena at Clinton Anderson’s DownUnder ranch) after a long month of cool days up North. Cooler than I would have ordered but I don’t think I’m in charge of the world’s thermostat, in fact I feel less and less in charge of quite frankly: anything. Life is a funny thing, just when we think we have it figured out it throws us a curve ball.

I attended my husband’s friend and co-worker’s funeral this summer. It was a sudden death, very untimely, and unexpected. It was a sad affair. A curve ball indeed, one of those sneaky pitches that have you wondering after the strike. Why him? A soul with so much more to give.

My friend’s mother passed away. It was expected but how can you ever really prepare for emptiness, for the curve balls that you think will never come across the plate?

I attended a friend’s second wedding this summer. It was quite a fairytale affair! The wedding took place on the quaint island of Mackinac where cars are not allowed only bicycles and carriages. The princess had tried on the glass slipper before and thought it fit, yet to her dismay the glass shattered and left her barefoot and forlorn … HOWEVER her REAL prince charming arrived in stately fashion and swept her off her bare feet. What did she get out of the deal? New Jimmy Choo’s, and a great husband! Yep, my friend was at a full count when she hit a homerun!

So what did I learn this summer? In this game of life, sometimes there’s scoring runs and sometimes there’s strikes. But I think we would all agree that we want to step up to the plate.