Okay, I am going to come clean here...
When we do the "Kicks Cares For Kids Celebration" for Children's Miracle Network everyone talks about how hard this long broadcast is and how exhausting it must be, etc. But, in all honesty, Mike and I get treated so incredibly well by the Medical Center Hospital staff and by the CMN Director (Bridgette Meyers) and by our wonderful sponsors (including the FOOD sponsors!) that doing this broadcast is WAYYYYY more fun than it is work!
We stay in Odessa, in a lovely hotel room. We have dinner with our friends and co-workers every night. We have breakfast, lunch, coffee and other beverages brought to our table whenever we ask. All WE have to do is talk! The real work for us happens in the days leading up to the broadcast. Once we actually start, it's just fun!!
We get to see faces other than each others, talk to people other than each other and laugh at jokes other than our own! We DO broadcast for over 34 hours, and it IS an emotional and physical roller-coaster...but mostly it's fun! Join us!
Wednesday, February 13, 2013
Tuesday, February 12, 2013
Our Most Important Broadcast
Day after tomorrow, Valentine's Day, we begin the most important broadcasting we do all year. Our annual "Kicks Cares For Kids Celebration 2013" for Children's Miracle Network sponsored by Alan Lang Home Improvement. For four days we will broadcast live from the Dillard's Court at Music City Mall in Odessa. Thursday and Friday we will be there from 6am to 5pm, Saturday 10-5 and Sunday noon-5.
We really hope you can come by and visit during our broadcast. We love to have our listeners drop by so we can put faces to the names! We have so much fun during this annual event, and we really want you to be a part of it all. The on-line auction items will be on display as will the television you could win with a donation on your debit or credit card.
If you have a child that has been touched by Children's Miracle Network please come by and share your story with us. Children's Miracle Network touches more children's lives each year than all other children's charities COMBINED! So there is hardly a person out there who doesn't know someone who has benefitted from this amazing organization. For us, of course, it was our own son 21 years ago. And that life saved could one day save yours as he is serving in the United States Army!
And if you have never heard of Children's Miracle Network, stay tuned. If you open your hearts, we will open your eyes. This year, you will hear stories that will make you realize that your donation to Children's Miracle Network won't just save children's lives...it can also change your life!
We really hope you can come by and visit during our broadcast. We love to have our listeners drop by so we can put faces to the names! We have so much fun during this annual event, and we really want you to be a part of it all. The on-line auction items will be on display as will the television you could win with a donation on your debit or credit card.
If you have a child that has been touched by Children's Miracle Network please come by and share your story with us. Children's Miracle Network touches more children's lives each year than all other children's charities COMBINED! So there is hardly a person out there who doesn't know someone who has benefitted from this amazing organization. For us, of course, it was our own son 21 years ago. And that life saved could one day save yours as he is serving in the United States Army!
And if you have never heard of Children's Miracle Network, stay tuned. If you open your hearts, we will open your eyes. This year, you will hear stories that will make you realize that your donation to Children's Miracle Network won't just save children's lives...it can also change your life!
Monday, February 11, 2013
The Squirrel
Our little Jack Rotten Terrier, Sadie, is fascinated with squirrels. In fact, you only have to say the word "squirrel" and she will run to the back door and start barking.
We have a live oak in the back yard that hangs over our bedroom roof. And we have always had squirrels that come and go from that tree. But now we have an expectant lady squirrel that has taken up residence in the birdhouse that is attached to the fence. And she KNOWS that she is driving Sadie crazy. I would swear she knows!
This weekend we spent a lot of time in our room because we had painters in all the other rooms painting ceilings. So we got the opportunity to witness the squirrel/Sadie dynamic. She will come down the tree to a branch that is right outside our french doors and look in, shake her tail and "chitter" at Sadie, who is sitting by that window just watching for her! Sadie will talk to the squirrel in some high-pitched half bark/half whine until we let her out. The squirrel will then run up onto the roof and laugh, I swear, LAUGH at Sadie as she goes crazy barking at her!
And if the curtains are closed, that squirrel will run back and forth over our roof, driving Sadie crazy! Needless to say, it is ALL driving us crazy. That squirrel needs to have her babies so she has something else to occupy her time!
We have a live oak in the back yard that hangs over our bedroom roof. And we have always had squirrels that come and go from that tree. But now we have an expectant lady squirrel that has taken up residence in the birdhouse that is attached to the fence. And she KNOWS that she is driving Sadie crazy. I would swear she knows!
This weekend we spent a lot of time in our room because we had painters in all the other rooms painting ceilings. So we got the opportunity to witness the squirrel/Sadie dynamic. She will come down the tree to a branch that is right outside our french doors and look in, shake her tail and "chitter" at Sadie, who is sitting by that window just watching for her! Sadie will talk to the squirrel in some high-pitched half bark/half whine until we let her out. The squirrel will then run up onto the roof and laugh, I swear, LAUGH at Sadie as she goes crazy barking at her!
And if the curtains are closed, that squirrel will run back and forth over our roof, driving Sadie crazy! Needless to say, it is ALL driving us crazy. That squirrel needs to have her babies so she has something else to occupy her time!
Friday, February 8, 2013
Angels
In October 2007 we took a couple to dinner. Lisa and Mike Lockaby were in town from South Carolina on radio business. Mike was a co-worker from a group of stations in Columbia, SC so we started talking about our mutual passion for radio. Then we started talking about Children's Miracle Network. By the end of that dinner they were hooked!
Lisa and her friend Linda Gatti have been coming for our "Kicks Cares For Kids" Celebration for Children's Miracle Network every year. And up until this year, they have been paying their own airfare, etc. to get here! Lisa trains all of our phone volunteers and spends the 4 days of Celebration getting up early and going to bed late and helping us in every way she possibly can "for the babies" she says.
Linda spends the year collecting ALL of the items for the auction on www.biddingforgood.com/kicks and we raise thousands of dollars from it each year! Once again, she says she does it "for the babies."
These wonderful women do not live here. This is not their community, neighborhood or even STATE! Yet they come in and help OUR children every year. Why? Because they love it here. Because they love Children's Miracle Network. Because they love the fun and the families that come to our Celebration at Music City Mall every February. Because they love "the babies". Because they are angels.
Lisa and her friend Linda Gatti have been coming for our "Kicks Cares For Kids" Celebration for Children's Miracle Network every year. And up until this year, they have been paying their own airfare, etc. to get here! Lisa trains all of our phone volunteers and spends the 4 days of Celebration getting up early and going to bed late and helping us in every way she possibly can "for the babies" she says.
Linda spends the year collecting ALL of the items for the auction on www.biddingforgood.com/kicks and we raise thousands of dollars from it each year! Once again, she says she does it "for the babies."
These wonderful women do not live here. This is not their community, neighborhood or even STATE! Yet they come in and help OUR children every year. Why? Because they love it here. Because they love Children's Miracle Network. Because they love the fun and the families that come to our Celebration at Music City Mall every February. Because they love "the babies". Because they are angels.
Thursday, February 7, 2013
Never Thought We Would...
We bought a motorhome. Never thought we would. It is just amazing how things change!
When the kids were babies, we used to love to go to Fort Davis and camp. Tent camp. Sleep on the ground, or on an air mattress (that NEVER stayed inflated) in a sleeping bag camp. We did that until one summer when we were sitting in the campsite and it was 103 degrees and we said...let's go home and get into some air-conditioning! And we did.
That's when we bought a pop-up camper with an air-conditioner! We took that camper to Canada and back several times. The kids have really fond memories of our pop-up. In 2004 we sold the camper and bought the cabin and that was the end of camping for us. But recently we have realized how nice it would be to go to Georgia and visit family, drive up to Canada this summer, visit Fort Davis again and be able to stop and eat, sleep, etc. We thought we were going to fly to Canada this summer, but we couldn't take our doggies and my mom would not be able to go. So...we bought a motorhome.
We went to Camper Coaches RV in Lubbock (GREAT guys, and a really great deal!) and got a 23 foot Coachman. We love it. Mom and Rachel love it. Even the dogs love it! Now we are excited about the looooooong drive to Canada. And Rachel promises to make us coffee whenever we need it! A truck with a waitress! Doesn't get any better!
When the kids were babies, we used to love to go to Fort Davis and camp. Tent camp. Sleep on the ground, or on an air mattress (that NEVER stayed inflated) in a sleeping bag camp. We did that until one summer when we were sitting in the campsite and it was 103 degrees and we said...let's go home and get into some air-conditioning! And we did.
That's when we bought a pop-up camper with an air-conditioner! We took that camper to Canada and back several times. The kids have really fond memories of our pop-up. In 2004 we sold the camper and bought the cabin and that was the end of camping for us. But recently we have realized how nice it would be to go to Georgia and visit family, drive up to Canada this summer, visit Fort Davis again and be able to stop and eat, sleep, etc. We thought we were going to fly to Canada this summer, but we couldn't take our doggies and my mom would not be able to go. So...we bought a motorhome.
We went to Camper Coaches RV in Lubbock (GREAT guys, and a really great deal!) and got a 23 foot Coachman. We love it. Mom and Rachel love it. Even the dogs love it! Now we are excited about the looooooong drive to Canada. And Rachel promises to make us coffee whenever we need it! A truck with a waitress! Doesn't get any better!
Monday, February 4, 2013
Whenever Possible, Hire Someone!
Mike and I have been married for a long time. And in that time I have learned a few things about him.
1. He hates moving furniture.
2. He hates messing with anything electrical.
3. He HATES plumbing.
4. He knows nothing about car engines.
So, mom and I have learned it is just easier to pay the extra to have whatever appliance we buy installed. It is worth it to call in an electrician or plumber.
Mike's father was a Teamster pipefitter in Detroit...who was in the NAVY in WWII. Needless to say, the first language Mike learned was language not fit for polite company. Or ex-cons for that matter! So when he is doing something like moving furniture or fixing plumbing he reverts to his native roots. Rachel and my mom just fade into the background and hide in their rooms. Eric and Adam think it is funny because he gets so creative with stringing words together. It's like he is speaking in tongues!
There are many times when he shows remarkable patience and sensitivity. But those times do not involve plumbing, electricity or furniture moving.
1. He hates moving furniture.
2. He hates messing with anything electrical.
3. He HATES plumbing.
4. He knows nothing about car engines.
So, mom and I have learned it is just easier to pay the extra to have whatever appliance we buy installed. It is worth it to call in an electrician or plumber.
Mike's father was a Teamster pipefitter in Detroit...who was in the NAVY in WWII. Needless to say, the first language Mike learned was language not fit for polite company. Or ex-cons for that matter! So when he is doing something like moving furniture or fixing plumbing he reverts to his native roots. Rachel and my mom just fade into the background and hide in their rooms. Eric and Adam think it is funny because he gets so creative with stringing words together. It's like he is speaking in tongues!
There are many times when he shows remarkable patience and sensitivity. But those times do not involve plumbing, electricity or furniture moving.
Friday, February 1, 2013
Is It All About The Game?
It's Super Bowl time! For many that means a really bitchin' party! For others, it means the win or loss of much money. Almost everyone loves the commercials and for a few it is probably about the actual game of football and the teams that are playing. For us it is all about the eggs.
For 12 years, including this one, we have put two eggs in the microwave to predict the outcome of the Super Bowl. They are 10 and 1! And each year the Super Bowl, for us, has become about rooting for the team that the eggs predict will win. It makes the game far more interesting for us to watch!
This year, the eggs went in...Ravens and 49ers...the microwave turned on...and the 49ers egg blew up in spectacular fashion! The Ravens egg didn't even crack! And boy did it stink!! It STILL stinks! We need a candle up here...STAT!!
So, the eggs say the Ravens will win the Superbowl in a blowout against the 49ers. Place your bets, make your dip and get your chips, gather your friends and root for the eggs (I mean the Ravens) on Sunday!!
For 12 years, including this one, we have put two eggs in the microwave to predict the outcome of the Super Bowl. They are 10 and 1! And each year the Super Bowl, for us, has become about rooting for the team that the eggs predict will win. It makes the game far more interesting for us to watch!
This year, the eggs went in...Ravens and 49ers...the microwave turned on...and the 49ers egg blew up in spectacular fashion! The Ravens egg didn't even crack! And boy did it stink!! It STILL stinks! We need a candle up here...STAT!!
So, the eggs say the Ravens will win the Superbowl in a blowout against the 49ers. Place your bets, make your dip and get your chips, gather your friends and root for the eggs (I mean the Ravens) on Sunday!!
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