Hometown Hero

He's back! And I got a front row spot at the presser to hear all about it.



Perks of the job.

Born and raised in Minnesota, Mauer now plays for the team he watched as a kid. He's been a star since his rookie season. He was on the disabled list for all of April and today he's come back in full force. In fact, on his first at bat, in his very first swing of the season, he smashed a solo home run. How's that for awesomeness. I'd say, pretty awesome.

Ahhhhh... Vacation.

Went to Oregon a couple weeks ago. I sometimes wonder why I ever moved. I love my hometown and my job is good, for sure. But when you've got this -



and this -



no more than an hour away... Why would you ever go live anywhere else?

Just because Guapo loves it when I make "the face," I include this photo of APA and I making said "face."



We're both a couple of crazy tourists. When I get some time, I'll post the rest of my photos to flickr, including the pictures of the hole in Guapo's head.

Buddyfest 09

John, one of my co-workers, invited several of us lucky people with Tuesday off out to his hometown in rural western Minnesota for an action filled day.

It started with some awesome camo pants.



Continued with some snowmobiling



and competitive ping pong.



And, of course, the card games that went well into the night.



John's mom, Juanita made really delicious food. It was a really good relaxing day, out of the city and back onto the farm. Good news team bonding time.

Don't leave us!

If you live in or near Austin, Texas, watch out for this girl.
She's coming to your town.



She's ditching the cold tundra for the warm climes of the south. She's got a great new gig as a weekday main anchor and will, no doubt, fit in great.

She has really held the weekend shows together. She's incredibly hard working, is a great reporter, knows all the good deals in town, and makes killer cookies. I'm going to miss those cookies...

And who is going to lint check the boys now that she's gone?



Here's the weekend team together, one last time.



You know, Februrary would be a great time to travel down south... How much are flights to Austin?

It's Black Friday!

I bought nothing the whole day! Nothing but a cup of coffee, but that doesn't really count. I avoided the traffic, the shoppers, the typical busy shopping day story... things are good.

Have I mentioned that my station is downtown? As in, right in the thick of things downtown. As in, I sometimes load my gear onto a cart, and walk down the street to cover stories, downtown. Tonight was one of those nights. It was the first night of the Holidazzle parade, and while every other night the parade clogs up traffic around the station, makes things difficult and generally drives me crazy, tonight I did a story on it, so it was cool. The parade runs eight blocks on the Nicollet Mall, starting at 11th. I work at the corner of 11th and Nicollet. Nice location.

We've decorated for the holiday.



Good thing they started a fire. Gotta keep the hands warm.

Santa even made an appearance. I'm sure his December schedule is packed. It's nice that he could find time to see the kids on the mall in Minneapolis.



The story turned out pretty cute. Liz is a good sport and we had fun shooting it. It was her first Holidazzle experience and she said it was "magical." In fact, she said that probably 20 times over the course of the night, and I think she may be exaggerating a bit.

While you're on the website, check out the 'Good Question' story that aired tonight. Hilarious.

Turkey Day

5K!



Nothing like running 3.1 miles in the morning and stuffing yourself with turkey in the afternoon. What a great holiday.

Secrets

The past couple days I've had the opportunity to go on a really great shoot. Something completely different that I've never done before. But you're not going to hear anything about it.

It airs in a couple weeks.
I'll let you know.

Until then, Norah and Jet would like you to join them for tea.



Cream? Sugar?