Early Childhood Extravaganza, pharmacies, and more!

Thursdays are always the start to my week. You see, when you work in newspapers, deadlines and what have you generally shift things. So a typical "Monday" experience for most people might actually be what Thursday experiences are for me. They kick-start the next paper period and I start the process all over again.

I think I kicked this one off pretty well, considering I conducted several interviews downtown, got pictures and video of the Early Childhood Extravaganza, assigned story leads to my employees, had a productive meeting with both our Heritage president and our staffers, and managed to cook a steak at the end of the day. Good times.

The Early Childhood thing was pretty sweet. There were a lot of booths, like with most informational fairs. Plus the Masons were doing the Michigan Identification Program things with help from high school NHS members. It's basically a spit swab, dental mold, photo and fingerprint all saved on a CD in case one day the parent needs that information (should something happen to the child). The Lions were doing vision testing for various eye issues. Free clothes lined several cafeteria tables, and the local girl scouts were babysitting in the play area. Oh, and there was a popcorn machine! Love popcorn!

I also met with an employee of the Flower Garden, as well as the regional manager of Manchester Pharmacy. First, the pharmacy is NOT closing. Apparently there are some rumors going around that the pharmacy is going out of business, which is actually starting to negatively affect their business. I would encourage those who are unknowingly spreading the rumor to stop doing so. Also, the Flower Garden is downsizing into the back portion of the pharmacy. Starting on March 21, the Flower Garden can be accessed from the back, or at the glass doors at the back of the Hallmark portion of the pharmacy. It will be a nice little union, and a more manageable situation for the Flower Garden owners.

I managed to shut my cat up by getting her a heating pad. I have a new kitten, which happens to be a Savannah (17% serval), and she has some new aches and pains. I woke up like a startled, terrified mother the other day at about 7 a.m. when I thought I heard her choking in the next room. She wasn't choking; she was grinding her teeth. Apparently she is teething. Great. But I noticed that she only does it when she isn't playing, eating or sleeping. So I play with her until she can no longer stand, then I put her on a heating pad so that she'll sleep forever. It seems to be working.

Also, our coworker Lisa Allmendinger got the star of the month award from our publisher and president Jim Williams today. She is a bit of a go-getter and super energy charged in the journalism field. It was nice to see her get some recognition from her peers. She sets the standard very high for the rest of us.

On a less work-related note, I cooked steak tonight. After stocking up for the week at the grocery store (I love to cook and have some excellent meals planned for the week), I managed to cook some prime, garlic bread and broccoli for dinner for BOYFRIEND and I. I realize you probably don't care about any of this, but the reason I'm mentioning it is because they have some pretty good sales on meat right now. It might not be a bad idea to check out the local grocery stores, because they probably have some decent beef left over after St. Patrick's Day.

Tomorrow I'm going to post a movie review. I was going to tonight but I'm tired now and it has to be perfect. Otherwise that 13-year-old movie critic will appear to be better than me, and I can't let that happen.