Here's to 2007

Ah, the blog ideas have come slim lately, obvious from my sporadic posting but it just wouldn't be right to let 2008 dawn without some blog resolutions.
I vow to take on more serious issues in my blog. First up? The economic impact of Leprino Foods bringing their mozzarella plant to Greeley. So much for that awful Greeley stank.
I vow to be more supportive of city of Brighton ideas. A giant bouncy castle at the north end of Main Street? Count me in.
I vow not to question the sincerity of office sympathy cards anymore. Yikes, I didn't know you cared!
I vow not to post any more pictures of people barfing. Sorry that grossed you out, honey.
I vow to make my blog more Mom-friendly. Look for my November shout-out to holiday food and gift festivals.
I vow to make my blog more fire-chief friendly. We're going to start a fire photo of the week section. Even if it means photographing my burning toaster streudel.
I vow to learn how to spell streudel.
I vow to make my blog more boss friendly. No nudie pictures, kids.
I vow to seek out all the videos of laughing German midgets I can find.
I vow to write 100 times on the blackboard that I won't use Camden Farmer's name again.
I will offer more conspiracy theories of Dora the Explorer.
I will post a picture of MacGyver every week along with the proper sequence for building a spaceship out of a diaper box.

Calling all cars

We normally don't do it this way but if you didn't slide off Highway 85 between Brighton and Fort Lupton yesterday, we'd love to hear from you. You, my friend, are one of the few!

This means war

Are you scared to go to the zoo now? Yesterday's San Francisco Zoo tiger rampage on top of the Denver Zoo zoo keeper getting killed earlier this year makes me awful nervous. The animals are pissed about being locked up and they're coming after us. I swear PETA told us this was going to happen. I can't run the risk of my daughter getting slapped by an angry penguin. The answer? Complimentary tranquilizer guns at the gate. Yes, you heard me right, it's time to arm the zoo visitors. If a coked-up elephant is charging for me, I need something other than a souvenir drink cup. Either that or we put all the animals (Yes, I'm talking about you, cute polar bear cub) in Hannibal Lecter-esque contraptions. I think it's also time to get these animals some anger management counseling. Obviously, this animal had some issues. I'm also hearing Tatiana the Tiger left behind some bizarre videos indicating she was motivated by the Columbine killers and that she also was on Ambien.

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas to you all. See ya next week.

This is a sham

It's a rare double blog day if only to spit some venom at the city of Greeley. I begrudgingly paid my parking ticket yesterday (earned while I covered a trial up there earlier this month). I overstayed my welcome in a two-hour parking spot. Court proceedings are notoriously slow. I don't know how many minutes have ticked off my life clock in the past year waiting for a court hearing to start. Sometimes, a judge will call a 15-minute recess just to sneeze. And courts also work on different time schedules. For an instance, a 15-minute recess is actually a 30-minute recess and a court hearing scheduled to start at 2 p.m., actually starts at 2:45 p.m. So what evil minion in Greeley decided to stick it to people by putting time parking outside the courthouse? Asinine, completely asinine! If the city of Greeley is that hard up for money, call the Monforts and get a loan!

The things we learn

Not all the things you learn as parents are earth-shattering – some you already know but conveniently choose to forget. I had always been warned to steer clear of the Chuck E. Cheese pizza but there I was chowing down yesterday as we celebrated my daughter's second birthday. It was delicious. Then last night, it was Chuck. E's revenge. I get the message – next time I'll give the pizza the ol' Casa Bonita nod. Some lessons we learn as parents are more important. In the Dec. 26 Brighton Standard Blade, we'll share the story of a Brighton family who nearly lost their 3-year-old daughter to a severe cold. As I move up the food chain at MetroWest (now slightly above ferret) I don't get to write as much as I like but I'm glad I got to take this one on. I'm especially excited because my sister, a talented, young photographer, took the photos for the story. It's fun to work with her. She has great vision. The story itself came from a news tip. I can't stress enough how important it is to hear your ideas for news and features. We need to be in your homes (preferably around dinner) to hear your stories – this is your paper.

Hate mail

Brighton is a city on the rise – growing residential areas, big box retailers and the crappiest, smallest most cramped spot for a post office you've ever seen. Why do I need to walk six blocks after I finally find a parking spot all to just buy a stamp. Out of the all things we have now here, why can't we get a big post office? And, despite the hard work of the cashiers, the only time the place doesn't have a line is when they're closed. Arrggh, Brighton so big, yet so small.

Tribute

It's a shame that the week before Christmas brings sad news but we are mourning the loss of a friend today. Brad Bradberry, the former publisher of the Evergreen branch of our newspapers and a former regional manager, died last night following a courageous battle with cancer. Much of what MetroWest is today is a credit to Brad. He took the helm as we transitioned management several years ago and then hand-picked a new management team, including our publisher, Karen Lambert, to lead us in a new direction. It was always a pleasure to have Brad stop by our office. I looked forward to his warm handshake, his encouragement and maybe a little doting about his beloved Georgia Bulldogs. It's a shame he won't get to see his Bulldogs come to Boulder in 2010 to take on the Buffs. Brad touched a lot of lives and many more than mine but it was pleasure to know him and work with him. God bless Brad's family in this difficult time.

Hey, Mr. Wilson

I'm sure many of you sports fan are eagerly awaiting the release of the George Mitchell (pictured right) report today. I'll end the suspense, it will find, among other things, that Mitchell's son, Dennis, is a menace and caused an exorbitant amount of trouble for their next door neighbor, the elderly Mr. Wilson. The report will also find that Dennis had a disturbing and ceaseless lack of interest in girls – repeatedly rejecting the overtures of one Margaret Wade.

Note: In the accuracy of history, I must disclose the name of the character was actually Henry Mitchell, not George, thus invalidating this whole post. But, having found a way to equate Dennis the Menace with not only the steroids investigation but a possible alternative lifestyle, I don't have the heart to remove the post.

Nothing?

Yikes, I thought yesterday's post would garner at least something more than a yawn. Already burnt out on the new bad teacher scandal? Then what was I doing in court today? Are maybe you've just heard it all before. Moving on to more funner stuff, I will have to dig my inflatable Frosty out of the snow today for the second time in three days. Looks like we're in that December weather pattern – pretty frequent snow. I don't mind the snow, I mind the side-streets which are already in mid-winter form. How can we put a man on the moon but we can't plow the road out of my neighborhood?

Somebody's on the naughty list

Hey, kids, it's great to be back after a week of courtroom watching (not Judge Judy) and sick kid watching. And I bet you're just salivating at what I think of the latest scandal at the Brighton Collegiate High School (where we treat kids the old fashioned way). Well, I can't give you much especially since I'll be contributing to our newspaper's coverage of this year's naughty BCHS teacher. Innocent until proven guilty is a fading concept. However, at this rate, we've almost convinced our corporate office to fund a position solely to report on these yearly incidences. I will say this: Once can perhaps be passed off as a bad apple, twice as a coincidence but a possible three times with teachers messing with the merchandise and you have to wonder. This has to stop.

Duty calls

I'm on assignment this week – covering a trial in Greeley. Use this time to get caught up on Christmas shopping.

No greater love

You might have heard about the tragedy yesterday involving a 19-year-old woman who drowned trying to save her dogs from a Buffalo Run Lake. I'm awed by her love for her animals that she would give her own life. Could you do the same? Should you do the same? I'd love to hear your thoughts.