Tazewell Today

   Track and Field record holder Carl Lewis was the name that rolled off of everyone’s lips during the 1984 and 1988 Olympics.  Even I, at the time a 10-year-old girl, had a full-length poster of Carl Lewis on my bedroom wall.  I had the biggest crush on Carl, my brother Larry’s Olympic competition.  I HAD to get his autograph and my brother Larry was my key to getting that for me.   

     I had ordered a pretty autograph book through my school book club… using my allowance money.  I vividly remember it.  It was very colorful and girly.  A white background covered with crayons of every imaginable color.  Larry, the sweet big brother that he is, put it in his bag.  I could only hope he’d have the time between training to get it autographed.  24-years later I think about that moment and chuckle.  Could you imagine being a competitor in the Olympics, sucking up your pride, carrying around a kiddie autograph book and asking your competition for an autograph for your little sister?  I guess when he saw the innocence in my face asking for Carls autograph, how could he refuse?  After all, Larry had to know I was HIS biggest fan, right?  I mean, he had to know that HE was my true hero.  Carl was just “the guy in the poster.”  Wow!  That’s some brotherly love!  As I reminisce, I feel bad that I put my brother through that. 

     When Larry came back from the 84 Olympics….in his bag was my crayon autograph book.  Did he get it signed?  Sure enough, there on the front page read, “Carl Lewis.”  Wow.  Carl Lewis touched my autograph book!  Wow.  That was one happy little 10-year-old Sharon.  But, an even prouder little girl of her big brother Larry…..the Olympian.

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     OK, let’s set the story straight.  I was NOT picking my nose on LIVE TV.  During the morning show, Bill’s camera (which is robotic) mysteriously panned over to the news desk.  Obviously, Donald and I were not expecting this to happen so naturally we were caught off guard.  I was caught SCRATCHING my nose (NOT picking) and Donald was standing up and turned around with a deer in headlights look.  Bill, determined to stay on camera chased it when it started to pan (move).  If you ever watch NBC’s Emmy Award winning show The Office, you’ll understand why I like to refer to our unscripted moment as one of the moments you’d see on that show. 

You have to watch in several times to capture all of our looks.  Even our reporter Yvette Yeon, seen sitting behind us in the newsroom, did a sudden head turn.  It’s hilarious!  Again, LIVE TV….all you can do is make the best of a situation.

Take a look.  And if you don’t believe me that I wasn’t picking my nose…watch it again.  Seriously (smile).

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     We all have awkward moments from time to time, but a moment, or a second in TV feels more like a minute.  I had one of those awkward “moments” this morning during our LIVE toss to Leanne Gregg at the Olympics in Beijing.  My co-anchor Donald and I were so excited about the U.S. 400-meter freestyle relay winning the gold medal and upsetting France that when I tossed to Leanne I was so excited and filled with laughter.  WELL, because of the audio delay between North Carolina and Beijing there was an “awkward moment.”  Sheer silence after my CACKLING.  Then, to make matters worse, Leanne didn’t share my laughter.  Talk about feeling silly.  Off camera, Donald joked, “and cue the crickets.”  We laughed about that moment for the next hour.

     If you missed it, here it is.  Ah, the world of LIVE TV.

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     How many people can say their brother is a 2-time Olympian?  MY brother Larry Miller ran in the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles also 1988 in Seoul, Korea.  Picture this: 1984…South Dakota, me 10 years old.  I remember being glued to the television set the night of opening ceremony…being careful not to blink for fear I’d miss a glimpse of my brother Larry walking the track, waving his arms….proud of his remarkable accomplishments.  His perseverance and determination paid off, he had become one of the fastest humans in the world.  Finally, there he was!  Amidst the camera lights flashing, lively, inspiring music in the background and cheers like you’ve never heard before….Larry, right in front of the camera in his track suit.  How ironic the Olympic Opening Ceremony takes places on the track.  The track, his home turf, the same track where he would give it his all LIVE on international television.  What a proud moment!  I still get chills thinking of that moment….then again in 1988.  Even on this day, August 8th, as we are moments away from the 2008 Olympic Opening Ceremony, my heart palpitates…it’s an adrenalin rush.

     Now picture this…the day of one of his three big races.  The 400m event…Larry in his starting blocks…silence….anticipating the instant the gun would go off.  Those moments felt like an eternity for me….for him probably a life-time.  BAM!  He was off, Larry striding the entire track like I’d never seen him do before.  This was his moment, his moment to show the world what he was capable of.  His stride, the look of pain on his face as he pushed himself towards the finish line.  I’m sure he didn’t hear the cheers of the crowd…just the sound of his breathing, the sound of his track spikes ticking, ticking, ticking on the turf.  As my brother ran focused on beating his record…in a foreign land across the world from me, I jumped up and down frantically screaming, “Go Larry!  Go!  Run!  Run! Run!  Faster!  GO LARRY!!!  GO!!!”  Words I had yelled a thousand times before as I stood on the sidelines cheering on my big brother….in Antigua, South Dakota, all over the United States and now THE WOLD OLYMPICS.  I was his biggest fan.

     In 1984 and 1988 Larry competed in the 200m, 400m and the 4×400m relay.  Larry made it to the semi finals…in the end, he was the 7th fastest man in the 400m.  Amazing.

     By the way, Larry also competed in Commonwealth Games, Pan Am Games, Yale University Track Captain and has several undefeated track records all over the nation.  During his time at Yale, Larry won three outdoor and one indoor Heptagonal titles, while breaking a record for the 600 yards.  He’s phenomenal.

     Stay tuned to Tazewell Today.  Throughout the weeks of the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, I’ll share more of my personal experiences with the Olympics.

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     Who’s Scotty? 

     It takes a crew of about 12 people to make a LIVE newscast run smoothly.  Most of those people are in the control room pushing buttons.  BUT, in the studio we are fortunate to have Scotty.  OK, his real name is Scott, but on a sleep deprived morning someone started calling Scott Scotty.  That’s been his name ever since.

     Scotty is our robotics operator.   He’s the person who sets up our camera shots during the newscast.  The joke during commercial breaks today was that we’re going to have a party at Scotty’s parents home (that’s where Scotty lives since he recently graduated from college.)  The only thing is Scotty’s folks don’t know about our spur of the moment plans.  We’ve already decided it’ll be a pool party.  The only glitch is Scotty’s parents don’t have a swimming pool!  So, during the 4th commercial break we came up with Plan B.  Peter Kunisch is going to bring his never fail fun Slip N’ Slid!   Donald and I both have inflatable water slides so THE RACE IS ON!!!!!  Woo-hoo!

     I hope Scotty’s parents don’t mind us taking over their backyard.   Thanks Scotty for volunteering your parents home! 

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     How often do you eat lunch at 7 am?  Yes, that’s right, I said LUNCH.  No, I’m not delirious.  We, on the morning show, usually eat lunch right after the show.  We get to work at 3 am so it’s natural for us to want lunch approximately 4 hours later.  

     Anyhow, lately I’ve been on an oatmeal kick.  Donald on the other hand brings in heavy home cooked meals that his lovely wife Janice makes the evening before.  (It smells like he had lasagna this morning.)  Bill doesn’t eat much for lunch.  He’ll usually bring fruit.  What makes his lunch so interesting is his lunch bag.  It’s not your typical lunch bag.  We could all learn from him….he’s being eco-friendly.

     So, without his knowledge for three days I took pictures of his lunch.  Take a look.

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     Bills been talking about his home grown tomatoes on air for months!  Finally they matured into beautiful, red fruit.  Trust me….Bill lovingly nurtured his tomoatoes. 

     Being the sweet friend Bill is, he brought in some for us to taste test.  Needless to say, we had a good time during the show with them.  We did everything from marking the tomatoe we wanted by licking it….to finding pecular poses with our tomatoes.  Take a look at these photos. 

     My favorite is “Tomato Head Bill.”   Which one is your favorite?  Mmmm.  Juicy!

     Again, just another fun day on the TODAY show set.  Now I can’t wait to eat my tomoto.  Woo-hoo!!!  Thanks BILL!!  Check out Bill’s blog to track the growth and his tomatoes and other interesting topics at On The Rehdar.

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     One of the many things I love about working with our meteorologist Bill Reh is his sense of humor and his ability to feel free to express himself.  For example Bill loves his holiday ties.  When Christmas is near he’ll don his Charlie Brown Christmas tie, or how about the tie decorated with colorful Christmas lights.  Or, if it’s 4th of July he has to be patriotic…nothing less than red, white and blue.  Since Bill recently bought new ties he’s been trying those out so we may see less of his “interesting” ties in the near future.  However, he’s still pulling on some of his “interesting” socks.  Whenever he gets tired of the usual blue or black dress socks he’ll pull on his argyle. 

     Everytime he wears them we talk about his choice in socks.  And everytime we bring it up he asks, “Oh, are these not in style anymore?”  As we chuckle he says, “Well, I don’t care.  They’re perfectly good socks.  It matches my tie, doesn’t it?”  We share laughter and shake our heads thinking, “Oh, that’s our Bill.”  We wouldn’t change his free spirit for the world.

     But wait!  It gets even better.  Check out Bills socks in this picture!  My co-anchor Donald decided to join him in the “interesting” sock challenge.  OK, OK, in Donalds defense, he was about to head out to a cycling event right after the broadcast.  So, he wore his racing socks.  I tell ya….those are my partners.

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    While you were more than likely fast asleep, snuggled up in your sheets on 4th of July morning…Donald, Bill and I were going through our normal routine of waking up to the sound of an alarm clock at 2 am…driving into work with hardly a car in sight…then once at the studio preparing to anchor the morning news. 

     At 5 am on the dot…our floor director Rhiannon instructs “stand by.”  I take one last glance in the mirror to make sure my hair isn’t sticking out and one more sip of coffee.  Donald glances down to make sure he’s standing behind the piece of tape marking where he’s to stand.  Bill is feverishly typing up his weather graphics for the show.  “In three, two, one.”  The show open is potted up.  We’re on.  “Hi there, thanks for joining us for NBC17 Today.”   That was just the beginning my friends of a wild and crazy ride.  Keep in mind it was a Friday morning and at that point we were already on our second cup of highly caffeinated, dark coffee (not Bill, he doesn’t drink coffee) AND it was a HOLIDAY!  The madness started early.  Trust me, commercial breaks are ALWAYS “interesting.”  Here are some behind the scenes pics courtesy of Erica Bustamonte. 

     Check out the pic below.  Bill and I were just having a normal conversation (as I use the word normal loosely), but little did we know Donald was giving us bunny ears. 

     And, how about my co-anchor Donald Jones’ tap dancing?  When he was a child he wanted to learn how to tap dance, but never took classes.  To this day, ever so often he’ll grace us with his wanna-be-moves (smile).  Take a look.  Oh, make sure to check out the facial expression of our floor director Rhiannon.  Also, check out Donalds socks!  After you watch the video I’ll explain why he was wearing those.

     Not bad, huh?  It almost sounded as though he was wearing tap shoes.  As for the socks, on a regular workday he wears dress socks, but after the newscast he was heading out to a cycling race.  You can read more about it on his blog Donalds Daily Draft.

    
Here’s kind of a serious moment.  Bill is at the weather wall during the newscast.  In the next picture Donald and I are waiting our turn.  If you look closely at the third monitor behind our heads you’ll see Bill on TV.  Then, Bill joins us at the anchor desk so we can chat about the weather before we toss to traffic.  Ah, just another day at NBC17 Today.  What a great job!

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     I was on vacation last week so I have a lot to catch up on!  Where did I go you ask?  Well, it was kind of a hodge podge.  I’ll get to that in a moment, but first…isn’t it outrageous how much it costs to go on vacation?  Everything from airline tickets (never mind paying to check a second bag or paying for an isle seat) to paying for gas if you travel by car!  This is insane!  I mean, come on!  People are struggling to pay for gas to travel to and from work never mind going on a vacation.  Sad.  We spent about 200 dollars on gas alone just to travel to the beach and back (includes a little driving around while there).   

     That’s where we went for the second half of our vacation.  The first half of the week I spent up in beautiful Manitoba Canada.  The weather there was absolutely divine!  No humidity and in the mid 70’s…and the daylight lasts FOREVER in the summer.  The sun is still setting at 11 pm!  So, you can imagine how for a child it’s wonderful when your parent says, “be home before it’s dark.”   By the way!  Yesterday was Canada Day (July 1st)…so I hope all you Canadians out there had a wonderful holiday.

     So, back to how expensive it is it travel!  Are you giving up a trip away from home due to the economy?  If so, what are you doing instead and do you feel cheated from your well deserved “break away from it all”? 

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     Hopefully you were able to see Raleigh Little Theatres “Intimate Apparel” several months ago.  If so, then you know I acted as Mayme in that play.  Now, the ultimate honor…I was recently informed that I was nominated for a Cantey award…”Best Supporting Actress.”  What is a Cantey?  It’s RLT’s version of an Oscar.  Cantey is named after RLT’s founder Mrs. Cantey Venable Suttonand and has been awarded every year since the 1949-50 season.

     What an honor to be selected out of 11 plays.  The awards dinner is set for Sat. June 28th!  I’ll keep you posted.  Best of luck to the other three nominees.  For a list of all 2007-08 nominees head to www.raleighlittletheatre.org.

     TONY UPDATE:  Our eyes were peeled to the Tony Awards last Sunday since my brother-in-law Paul Tazewell was nominated for Best Costume Design of a Musical (In The Heights).  He got beat out by Catherine Zuber for South Pacific.  Congrats to Paul…what an honor to receive such a recognition.

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     Yesterday evening I had the honor of representing NBC17 at the Rolesville Chamber of Commerce Business Expo.   Embarq hosted the event held at The Factory in Wake Forest.  Along with help from my fellow co-workers we showed off NBC17’s new rolesville.MyNc.com website channel to community  members.  I met so many wonderful people and after mingling through the expo I learned a lot about different businesses in Rolesville.

     BTW…be sure to watch the Tony Awards Sunday evening at 8.  My very talented brother-in-law Paul Tazewell (an amazing costume designer) received his 3rd Tony nomination.  This year it’s for  Best Costume Design of a Musical for Broadways “In the Heights.”  Last year he was nominated for The Color Purple…and prior to that Bring in ‘Da Noise, Bring in ‘Da Funk.  Good luck Paul!  We love you and are so proud of you!!

http://www.tonyawards.com/en_US/nominees/index.html

http://ibdb.com/person.asp?ID=25200

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   Imagine waking up at 2 am to head into work for 3 am.  Yes, you read right…2 am!  Well, that’s what Donald, Bill and I do Monday through Friday.  That said, we usually try to catch a quick nap in the afternoons to rejuvenate for the remainder of the day.   

   Yesterday I blogged about travelling to Canada for a quick weekend.  Let me tell ya, that trip hit me hard in the afternoon.  My tired body (combined with triple digit heat) hit the pillow like a rock!  My normal 45 minute nap turned into 5 and a half hours!  I can’t remember the last time I napped that long.  So, how do I feel today?  I feel like having another 5 and a half hour nap.  AHHH!!!  How about you?  Do you find you want to sleep through this heat?

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    I went to Canada this weekend and WOW was the weather a shock to the system!  After one day of extreme heat in NC (nearly 100 degrees….105 with the heat index) I headed north to Canada where they were experiencing abnormally COOLER temps.  I arrived in Canada this past Sat. at 12:30 am and the instant I stepped outside my breath was taken away.  It was as though I jumped into an ice cold swimming pool and forgot how to breath for a moment.  Imagine going from 105 degrees to 38 degrees!  Ouch!

   Well, after a day of getting use to a high of 54 degrees in the great white north, I returned yesterday to Raleigh where I was greeted with 101 degree weather.  Yet another shock to the system!  Oh, COME ON!!  Are you kidding me?  I thought, “Here we go again!”  According to our meteorologist Bill Reh we should expect low 90’s in a couple of days.  It sure is sad when we think of the 90’s as relief from the heat.  So, if you can’t stand the heat…you may want to consider Canada? 

   How did you beat the heat this past weekend?  Oh, BTW gas prices in Canada average $5 a gallon!!!  To Canadians, our $4’s a gallon sounds pretty good.  Sad isn’t it? 

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     You may remember several weeks ago Bill Reh passed along Friendship Bread batter to me.  After following the instructions very carefully for 10 full days, it was time to bake my bread.  OOOOOO, was it ever good!!!  Of course I brought in one of the two loaves for my co-workers.  I ended up using brown sugar since I didn’t have enough white sugar.  To be honest, I think that added to the recipe.  I also sprinkled brown sugar on top which tied it together.

     Anyhow, as the instructions go, I had to pass along some of my Friendship Bread batter along to two people.  I chose my producer Carey (she wasn’t too excited about that) and our NBC17 Today Reporter Shirley Min.  She REALLY was not excited about that.

     Anyhow, their 10 days have come and gone…this is all that’s left of Shirley Mins bread.  And Carey went over the top by adding caramel and cinnimon toppings!  Mmmm.  Everyone devoured hers before I got a chance to take a picture.

     They did a great job!  Woo-hoo!

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   I had a flashback during the newscast while we reported on the 81st Annual Scripp’s Spelling Bee.

   As the words rolled off my lips, my mind wandered off to 3rd grade when I got elimated from a spelling bee.  It was early on in the bee and obviously to this day the sound of  “THAT” word brings back terrible memories.  I vividly remember my teacher saying, “Spell color.”  I thought to myself, “What an easy word!”  I quickly responded “C-O-L-O-R.”  She said, “No.  That’s incorrect.  Go sit down.  The correct spelling is C-O-L-O-U-R.”  Huh?  We lived in South Dakota…the U.S. version is generally COLOR!  That’s what we were always taught!  The British version is COLOUR, but NOT IN SOUTH DAKOTA!  I thought to myself, “What was she trying to pull?”  I wish I could have looked at her book to see how it was spelled.  To this day I still believe she intenionally tried to sabotoge me.  I think she gave me that word knowing that she would say the opposite of what I said.      

   Neadless to say, everytime I write the word COLOR, I second guess the spelling.  How were you taught to spell it? 

   I wonder if my former teacher in South Dakota is reading this?

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     The other day I returned an item to a local store.  The clerk handed me my refund…cash.  With the cash in my hand, I went to my car and before preparing to drive off I counted the money.  The clerk gave me an extra 5 dollar bill!  Instantly, without hesitation I walked back inside to return the extra cash.  As I was walking towards the entrance I thought of how the clerk could get in trouble for his drawer being short money at the end of the day.  Two women were in line…I went up to the clerk, “Excuse me.  You accidentely gave me too much money back.”  I handed him the 5 dollar bill.  He looked stunned.  In disbelief he said, “Huh?”  I repeated myself.  He extended his arm and took the cash.  At that moment one woman said, “Bless your heart.  Bless your heart.”  The other lady whispered, “Wow.”  The clerk never said thank you.  I think he was so shocked he didn’t know what to say.  As I was about to walk away, another clerk yelled, “OK Miss good samaratan TV lady.”  I responded, “I guess a lot of people wouldn’t return it.”

     As I walked through the parking lot to my car I realized how unfortunatally a lot of people would have driven away with the cash not even thinking about the clerk who probably would have been deducted $5 from his paycheck.  With the way the economy is right now and high gas prices, they may have looked at it as “their lucky day!”  I, on the other hand didn’t even think about that until after seeing everyones reaction of SHOCK!  Interesting. 

      I asked my co-anchors what they would have done.  Donald said he would have taken it back inside.  Bill, honestly said he would have looked at “Honest Abe” on the $5 bill and thought about it for a moment, but in the end he too would have gone back inside to return the money.  What would you do?  

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     I tell ya, what a pleasure it was meeting so many wonderful NBC17 viewers at last weekends NBC17 Health and Fitness Event.  They truly made my day!  Everyone from the Wrights in Fuquay Varina to Jennifer from Raleigh….and everyone else inbetween.

     We even convinced several people to yell a “WAKE UP CALL” which airs on our morning show!  Look out for those.   http://blogs.wncn.info/wakeupcalls/

     Donald and I started the day with the ribbon cutting, pretaped a couple of introductions and tags for the evening news and even grabbed a couple of jump ropes and skipped behind Peter Kunish during one of the morning show live shots!  We probably weren’t suppose to do that, but Donald and I get a little wacky sometimes and felt the urge to show it on air.  Peter was really shocked when we started skip roping in front of him.  He didn’t miss a beat!  Kudos to Peter for putting up with our impromptu, sporadic moments.

    If you missed the story shot by NBC17’s photojournalist Rod Baker, here it is.  We look forward to next year and we hope to see you there! 

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     Have you ever heard of Amish Friendship Bread?  Despite having Amish roots, it was new to me.    Earlier this month Donald brought in a loaf of Amish Friendship Bread and tossed Bill a baggie filled with batter.  The friendship batter had been passed on to Bill.  Now, it was up to Bill to fulfill his friendship duties and follow through with the instructions that came with the batter. 

     10 days later, Bill brought in a loaf of Amish Friendship Bread and tossed ME a baggie filled with batter!  Woo-hoo!   He picked me!  Bill picked me!  Now, I carry the burden…oops, I mean honor of following through with the instructions. 

     Let’s just say, our morning crew has been quite friendly.  So, the question is….in several days WHO will I toss a baggie filled with batter to?  Hmmmmm.  Stay tuned.

     Here’s the recipe… Amish Friendship Bread

- Do not use metal bowl or spoon for mixing o not refrigerate

- If the bag fills with air, let it out

- It is normal for batter to thicken, bubble and ferment

DAY 1:  This is the day you receive the batter.  Do nothing.

DAY 2-9:  Squeeze bag.

DAY 10:  Combine in a large bowl the batter, 1 cup flour, 1 cup sugar, 1 cup milk.  Mix well with wooden spoon or spatula.  Put four 1 cup starters into large zip-lock bags.  Keep one starter for yourself and give the others to friends with instructions.

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   Ask any theatre goer if they’re familiar with Raleigh Little Theatre and the answer would no doubt be YES.  Thriving since 1936, RLT is one of the countries oldest continuously running community theatre in the county.   Plus, no other theatre in North Carolina produces as many shows as Raleigh Little Theatre…11 each year.

     Last weekend I had the honor of emceeing one of RLT’s biggest fundraisers of the year…called DIVAS!  As RLT volunteers performed, audience members voted for their favorite contestant by donating money.  At the end of the concert, the performer who made the most money was crowned DIVA 2008!  All of the money goes to RLT.  The audience members were so generous, almost $30,000 was donated to the theatre that night.

     Here’s an interesting fact:  It costs about $70,000 to cover the costs of one show.  RLT produces 11 each year.  The community theatre relies solely on contributions, sponsorships and grants.  A huge thanks to the community for their support and to RLT volunteers committed to bringing professional quality theatre to our area!    

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     Bikini!!  OK, it’s not really a bikini….it’s a tankini!   For those of you who don’t know what a TANKINI is, here’s the definition:  a women’s two-piece swimsuit with a bikini bottom and a tank top; also a tank top worn with a bikini bottom.  Sounds harmless, right?

     Anyhow, trust me, this has been a HUGE topic of discussion during commercial breaks.  Here’s what happened…all in the sake of not embarrassing my tween daughter by wearing a bikini…I sought out a “modest” swimsuit.  So… I checked out Victoria’s Secret website and came across a MODEST swimsuit that I that was absolutely adorable!   I know, I know…that’s exactly what Donald and Bill said, “A modest swimsuit from Victoria’s Secret?”  I’ll let you be the judge.  Anyhow, I was a little apprehensive about ordering a swimsuit online, but I was caught up in the moment!  WELL…when it arrived…the top fit great, however when I held up the bottom….I couldn’t tell the front from the back!  What!?!?!?!  Are you kidding me?!?  So much for a MODEST swimsuit.  Sure the description mentioned the bottom was a tanga…but how was I to know what a TANGA was?!?!?  What was I supposed to do with that “little piece of string” they call a TANGA?!  I couldn’t possibly be seen wearing that on the beach (or could I)? 

     Of course the fella’s got the biggest kick out of my story.  Ha, ha, jokes on me this time around.  But the question remains….”Did I send it back?”  Hmmmm…..let’s just call it, “Sharon’s Secret.”

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     Peter Pan at Raleigh Little Theatre was AMAZING!!!  Another quality production by RLT, directed by the very talented Ms. Linda O’Day Young.  The play consisted of several child actors who did not disappoint.  Aside from knowing their lines, they had to sing, dance and fly.  Did I say “FLY?”  Yes, FLY!And they did it flawlessly.

      My personal favorite actors were Captain James Hook (Scotty Cherryholmes) and Smee (Timothy Cherry).  They played off of each other marvelously. 

     As you can see from the pictures, the set and costumes were top of the line, as always.

     Well done RLT!!!!  I can’t wait for the next production.  Oh, that would be the one I’m in this Saturday called 2008 Divas!  I look forward to seeing you there.  www.raleighlittletheatre.org

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     I love the theatre.  I am fascinated by how words on a piece of paper can come to life on stage.  I love it!  I have dabbled with theatre throughout my life.  My most recent encounter was Fall 2007 when I appeared in Raleigh Little Theatres production Intimate Apparel. 

     You can find more pictures on their website www.raleighlittletheatre.org

      A great supporter of the arts, we’re going to see Peter Pan tonight.  It’s their last weekend, and apparently the remaining shows are sold out.  I’ll tell you all about it Monday.

     Next weekend I am emceeing RLT’s Divas!  It’s the theatres biggest fundraiser of the year.  There’s still time to buy tickets on their website…I’d look forward to seeing you there!

 ”I saw the angel in the marble and carved until I set him free.”  - Michaelangelo

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     I tell ya, we found another reason to celebrate!  It’s Donald’s Birthday today so Bill and I put our heads together and decided to surprise DJ (Donald’s nickname) with a cake and something else (bananas).  I know, bananas?  Well, I figured since we were eating a sugary cake we could offset it with something healthy.  Anyhow…it was fun.   Donald must be getting old because he made the comment on air that I’m like a big sister to him!  HE WISHES!!!  He’s almost as old as my mother!  OK, that’s a stretch, but I had to get back at him somehow.

     HAPPY BIRTHDAY DONALD! 

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     It was Arts, Research, Technology and Sports Career Fair Day last Friday at East Millbrook Magnet Middle School in Raleigh.  I spent several hours teaching 6th graders about Broadcast News…the good and the bad.  Yes, the bad too!  My belief is to tell prospective journalists the truth about our business…it’s not always peaches and cream.  However, I did stress the wonderful feeling we get when we tell a story that promotes a positive change.

     Let me tell you about these students!  They are so inquisitive and had tons of questions for me.  I just wish I had more time with each of the four classes.  Thank you East Millbrook for inviting me to share my TV world with you!  Remember, study hard and keep striving to reach your goals.  You can become anything you want be…you just have to work hard for it.  I’m only a phone call away if you need me.

     Here’s the video clip we showed this morning on NBC17 Today.

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