Let it be!

That's what I learned from Fine Gardening Managing Editor Steve Aitken.

We recently moved to a new home-- and this is our first growing season there. We knew the garden had been left alone for a few years, but I was really at a loss. I just didn't know what was what-- what was a plant, what was a weed.

Fortunately for me, I wondered that aloud on air-- it was on my birthday-- May 14.

And what a birthday present!

It came in the form of an email:

Dear Rebecca, I was pleased to hear a mention of gardening on this morning's broadcast. As the Managing Editor of a national gardening magazine based in Connecticut, I would be happy to help you sort your ornamentals from your weeds.

Let me know if you need help

Best,

Steve Aitken

Managing Editor

Fine Gardening

And so we did.
Yes-- I wrote back! We need help!
And Steve was happy to oblige.
He came over and helped out. What I thought were weeds-- were really perennials. And I have a lot to look forward to this summer.

Steve told me to let things go for a while, clean up what I could-- but let the big stuff go. It will bloom, he promised me. And it already has started to!

It's looking really great. And I'm so thankful.

Next week, we'll try to check out roses!

Until this week began-- I have to admit, I didn't know too much about golf. But in the past 72 hours, I have learned all there is to know about golf and then some.

That's the neat thing about being a journalist--
Everyday is a new adventure.
We have different interview subjects-- on topics that range from a 9 year old boy who did a modified Heimlich maneuver to the Traveler's Championship-- and just how much revenue it brings to the state.

Our job is to learn everything we can possibly learn about a subject so you can do more than spout out fact-- we have to internalize it, make it make sense-- not just to us, but to you the viewer.

Having a PGA stop in Connecticut is important-- even to those of us who don't play much golf. When a sport takes you seriously-- and you can get the big players-- there is a trickle down effect. And that's why it's so important to shine a light on what's happening in Cromwell-- why we'll go live there for two days running, and why we as a news organization put so much emphasis on the tournament.

Interesting facts I have learned about golf (compiled from a few different websites):
-There are about 27 million golfers worldwide
- The wooden golf tee was invented in the 1930s
-Some universities actually have classes about "Business Golf."
-The first type of golf ball was feathery, amde out of leather and feathers
- The Traveler's Tournament was founded in 1952 as the Insurance City Open. In 1967 it was re-named the Greater Hartford Open.
- For the tournament's first three years, it was played at the Wethersfield Country Club. It moved to Cromwell in 1984.

I just got word that one of my favorite teachers from high school (Hampton Roads Academy) is retiring. I wrote a little essay for him-- that I'd like to share with our viewers.
it's perfect for March-- as we celebrate Dr. Theodore Seuss Geisel-- aka Dr. Seuss.

It’s funny when you look back on high school— I’m astounded at just how vivid my memories are. I can actually conjure up the scent of the brand new auditorium and hear the bell ring at 8:15am. I remember getting in trouble for writing notes in class, but feeling it was imperative for me to write them.

What were they about? That, I can’t answer.

I remember finding history fascinating—because the man who taught me was unlike any other teacher I have ever known.

To date, Mr. Cunningham remains the most engaging teacher I have ever had.
I can still have a knowledgeable debate about Woodrow Wilson and his 14 points because of what I learned in AP History. But his legacy is more far-reaching than that.

We the class of 1992 felt a special bond with Mr. Cunningham. I still think of him as ours—perhaps because we followed him through the years.

From 8th grade on, he was so much more than our History teacher.
Larry Cunningham was our mentor, our friend and our rock.

His was the office where we all felt welcome. And this was years before we were allowed in the Senior lounge. A few years later—when I’d been suspended from school and thought my world was crumbling around me (a little melodramatic but this is a 17 year old girl’s perspective)— I still found comfort in Mr. Cunningham’s office, and in his words. He promised me better days ahead—and knew enough about me to say something encouraging when I really needed it.
He was right. And he was right about so much.

Teachers—the really great ones, do so much more than stand at the head of the class.
They help mold us into the adults we will become. They help us figure out who we are so we can navigate our way into the great unknown.

So Mr. Cunningham, your legacy remains in each and every one of us.
You have touched so many lives— and we are better for it.

I still have a hard time believing it has been sixteen years now since I walked those halls on a regular basis. When I close my eyes every now and then, I find myself transported back to HRA. And whenever I’m there, I see you there, too.

Three months into our new morning show, we are up and running.(!)

After years of talking about it-- the Fox 61 morning news is finally a reality. We've been on three months now, and the weeks have flown.

Truly.

My son just celebrated his first birthday (gasp!) which of course, has me a little teary eyed-- scratching my head wondering where the time has gone.

The past year has changed my view of the world entirely. Motherhood brings a sort of perspective that you cannot prepare for. When everyone told me, "everything changes," I didn't really know what that meant. Now, I do.

You look at things differently-- you appreciate the little moments and big moments alike. The huge giggles when you tickle his belly-- the quiet (and increasingly rare) sleepy moments when he's about to fall asleep. I think my son has a lot to do with what I love about morning news programs, and why I wanted to be a part of the Fox 61 Morning News. I wanted to help create a show that I would watch-- a show I find relevant and fun. It's a working schedule that lets me be home with him in the afternoon, but at the same time, I can keep working. Which-- in today's economy, we all know is a reality for most families. In fact, most of our viewers are a lot like me-- we're working moms who feel like there's never enough time. We're always running from place to place, from errand to errand-- pretty worn out, hoping to cross things off the "to do" list before it gets too long.

And that happens in an instant!

So-- I'm hoping to make this blog more than an entry on my "to do" list, and something to which I can look forward each and every week.

Anyway-- welcome to my new blog, I hope you'll be a part of it.