Just My Opinion - by Mary Kilen
Another Trip Around The Sun
I celebrated my birthday quietly over the weekend. Dale and I talked about doing a couple of things, but instead we found ourselves enjoying a quiet day at home on Sunday.
Because I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do on Sunday, I got quite a bit of the work I usually do on Sunday finished on Saturday. We allow the birthday person to exercise “birthday powers”. We learned about those from Amanda and her friends. Basically, you get to pick what you do, what you eat and anything else throughout the day. Over time, birthday powers have been known to spread out over a week.
Amanda and Zach and the kids had a busy weekend. That will be the story of the fall with both boys playing football. Carter had a game on Saturday and Abel had one on Sunday, so that meant they were not coming for the weekend. I got to visit with them on the portal in the evening. They are all so busy with so many different activities that Amanda and Zach are kept busy running from one place to another.
I enjoyed the quiet day. I enjoyed the Facebook birthday wishes and the texts from family and friends. We spent the day watching football and enjoying not “having” to go anywhere or do anything.
The girls at the office helped celebrate my birthday on Monday with cake in the morning. They and Dale invited some friends to join us. Birthday cake for breakfast is a tradition in our office!
So, I have reserved my “birthday powers” for when we travel to Las Vegas in two weeks. I have lots of things I want to do while we are there and I just have to narrow it down to the ones that are the most important between now and then.
So, for now, I’m just celebrating another trip around the sun. This year was a “round number”. I won’t tell you what number, but I’m sure there are plenty of people that will be happy to share which one if you ask!
Welcome Erika!
This week is an exciting one at our office. While I have had job shadow and work experience students in my office before, this is the first time I’m actually working with an intern in my office.
It started when Erika Littlefield asked if I would be willing to host her as an intern in my office. We followed up with a couple of conversations and she is now working with me. She’s coming in after school and also going to be with me as I do interviews, cover events and more.
She started about two weeks ago as you read my column. Her first story appears in this week’s paper, as well as an article she wrote to introduce herself to those of you who may not know her.
I am excited to have her join us. I hope that I can share the things she wants to learn as she explores her own journey with journalism. I’m not going to lie. I was a little surprised when she asked about being an intern in my office. Journalism is not always an easy choice, especially in the current climate where media is portrayed so negatively at times. I hope I can help share what I have learned over the years, including that need to look at things objectively and with clear eyes. It is not always easy to tell a story without bias, but that is what we strive to do. Opinions need to be limited to things like personal columns as a journalist, while news stories need to be told as fairly and openly as possible.
She will learn about all the things I do. That includes page layout, ad design, photography, writing and more. It’s not always exciting. It’s not always glamorous. But it is what I do and what I love. I hope that love is contagious and she finds herself one day years from now sharing her experience with the next generation.
Too Many Seasons In 24 Hours!
We knew it was coming. After all, the calendar now says that it is fall. I just wish we could maybe slide into the seasons more than jumping off a cliff.
It was almost 100 degrees across most of the state on Sunday. It was hard to imagine the weather forecasters were right on Sunday night as they predicted a drastic change for Monday.
I woke up about midnight on Sunday night and heard the wind just howling. I could hear our chairs on the front deck hitting the deck railing. I crawled back into bed reevaluating my skepticism.
I got up Monday morning and let Buddy outside and almost had my breath taken away by the cold wind that was blowing directly in my face. I stared at my phone, which was telling me it felt like 40ish degrees with the wind. How? Just how can it be 50 degrees cooler than the day before?
It’s okay, though, the same weather forecasters assure me it will be better on Tuesday. Looking at my phone, though, it doesn’t look like we will be seeing those hot temperatures again very soon. My phone says we’ll be in the 60s for the next week.
Then again, weather forecasting may be the only job where you can be wrong so often and still have a job. Mother Nature has a sense of humor and she loves to show that in North Dakota.
Meanwhile, I’m watching my phone for the forecast in Las Vegas. Temperatures there won’t dip below 100 for a high for the next week. Wonder what it will be like when we get there?