A Royal Mess!

It's been a few weeks since I brought Princess Kate home, so I thought I'd give you an update. She's crazy!

Since Princess Kate (P.K. for short) moved in, I've had to have the fence in the backyard reinforced twice. I've also spent hours looking for her then chasing her down after she dug out of said fence - twice.

She's not good at sharing. When my other dog Shelby tried to get a toy that was really hers to begin with, a fight ensued. Shelby ended up at the vet with 4 puncture wounds. She came home with antibiotics and pain meds.

The door in my guest bathroom will have to be replaced after she chewed an inch and a half off the bottom. I'm also down one chair cushion.

She did help be "break down" a card board box to fit in the trash can. I didn't even have to ask!

I'm not giving up on her yet! I just know she's got potential. We're looking into obedience schools. I'll keep you posted!

Princess Kate is a Rascal!

I am an animal lover. I always have been. I really wanted to be a veterinarian when I was younger but I was terrible at science and knew I'd never get through vet school. So I set out to save animals the only way I knew how - by giving them a home. I love my pets. They are great company and for the most part pretty well behaved. That is until Princess Kate moved in.

Yes, I've adopted a new dog. She wandered into the station last week. Animal control picked her up and no one ever claimed her. I just couldn't bare the thought of this sweet and beautiful animal being put down. So here I am - the owner of a three year old, solid white, shephard-husky mix.

She's quite regal looking actually, thus her name. Her eyes are icy blue. But she's a rascal. The first day she moved in I left her in what I thought was my secure backyard. When I returned on my dinner break she was gone. I drove around for two hours before I had to head back to the station for the 10pm news. As I was driving down S.14th, there she was - prancing along like she had somewhere to be.

It turned out that she had found a rotten spot in the wood fence, knocked a few boards loose then dug her way to freedom. Yesterday I had the fence fixed and the hole she dug filled. Before I left for work today she'd already started digging a new one. It was hard to be angry when she looked up at me with those eyes, covered from head to toe in dirt. Her expression said something along the lines of, "What... what'd I do?".

Now, she's inside quite a bit, but I have a small house and she and my cats don't really get along yet, so I need to be able to leave her in the backyard from time to time without worrying she'll disappear again.

If you've got a "digger" I'd appreciate any ideas on how to keep her from destroying my yard and setting herself free again.

Meanwhile, I've chosen not to think about the fact that she's not happy with her new home and wants out of here!

Family and Fun Filled Weekend

What a great Presidents' Day weekend I had. My brother John, sister-in-law Ginger and nieces Madison and Caroline visited from Louisiana. Madison is 11 and Caroline is 3 and they had a ball in Abilene. They're ready to come back!

We started things off at the Abilene Zoo. Madison is an animal lover and couldn't wait to see every resident at the zoo. It was hard for her to choose a favorite, but both girls really enjoyed feeding the giraffes. Caroline loved the flamingos. I think their pink coloring is what caught her eye. That and the hot pink flamingo souvenir bottle she brought home. Me, I was mesmerized by the lion cubs, who aren't so small anymore.

After the zoo, Ginger wanted to check out some antique stores. We toured a few before she bought a beautiful old cabinet that barely fit in the back of their suburban. I found an old silver tea service that I'll be polishing up this weekend. While were cruising around downtown Madison insisted we stop at some of the outdoor art displays. She loved the giant cows head along S. 1st.

John is a farmer and wanted to visit some of the western stores in town. He ended up getting a new pair of boots.

I didn't do a very good job of planning ahead. I saved the Children's Museum at the Grace and the NCCIL for Sunday, but they are both closed on Sundays. Unfortunate, but now they have a reason to come back!

Instead on Sunday we ended up at Nelson Park. The girls absolutely loved the Camp Imagination playground. They didn't want to leave, but we finally pried them away for lunch and Caroline's nap.

Next up... Primetime! I had never been, but what a fun place. We played games in the arcade for a long time. I can't wait to go back to bowl and play laser tag!

We had a late reservation Sunday at Perini Ranch. Michelle Ashworth and her boyfriend Larry joined us and what a treat. Everything we ordered was delicious! And we didn't really save room for dessert, but we ordered it anyway!

It was a fabulous weekend. I was so sad when they had to leave Monday morning. But I know they had a ball in Abilene and will be back to visit again soon!

Mom's Recent Visit

It's been a busy few months for me. First the holidays, then covering the Hailey Dunn Case and then the February Freeze! But I finally got a small break last weekend and was thrilled to spend it with my mom!

She and her husband have an R.V. and they love to use it! In the fall they head to Baton Rouge seven weekends out of the year to cheer on the LSU Tigers. In the winter, spring and summer they take trips to different lakes and visit kids. This weekend was my turn!

Pedicures and some shopping were on the agenda and a great dinner out at Lytle Land and Cattle. On Saturday afternoon we drove to Buffalo Gap and toured the Abilene State Park, which looks like a great place for camping. (Picture above was not taken in Abilene!)

It's fun showing off the Big Country. My brother, sister-in-law and nieces are coming for a visit soon - a perfect excuse to experience the Big Country through the eyes of a child. I'm thinking the zoo, The Grace, The Center for Children's Illustrated literature and maybe Frontier Texas. There's so much to do here for kids! Let me know what you think we should do!

Who is Hailey?

If you live in the Big Country and haven’t heard about the Hailey Dunn case, chances are you’ve been living under a rock. She’s been the focus of our newscasts for 3 weeks. Her face is on billboards and fliers statewide. Hundreds of people are looking for this 13 year old girl.

It dawned on me the other day that we’ve been so focused on the search, the investigation, the specifics of the last day she was seen and the only named suspect in the case Shawn Adkins, her mother’s live-in boyfriend, that we may have lost sight of who Hailey Dunn is.

By all accounts, she’s your typical teenage girl. One look around her room shows that. Pink walls, pillows that say “princess”, memorabilia from school tacked up on the walls.

It’s not a secret she is a cheerleader. She’s wearing her uniform in the picture on those billboards and fliers. And she loves to cheer.

But she also loves to play basketball, softball and volleyball and she's first chair saxophone player in the school band.

Her teachers say she’s a good student and very popular at Colorado Middle School.

Like most teenage girls, Hailey has a best friend, Heather. She loves having sleepovers. Heather says they like to stay up late listening to music and watching videos on YouTube.

We don’t know where Hailey is, but we know she isn’t doing any of the things she loves. Not cheering. Not playing basketball, watching videos.

She should be spending her evenings doing homework, playing with her siblings and friends, picking out what she’s going to wear to school tomorrow, practicing her cheers.

We all want answers. We are all praying for Hailey’s safe return. And if something bad has happened to her, we want the person responsible to be punished.

But mostly we just want this little girl to be able to be the fun-loving teenager we now know her to be. Every child deserves that.

If you know Hailey and want to share some stories about her, I'd love to hear them.

Big Country Christmas

I’ve mentioned before how much I love the holidays and I’ve been having so much fun spending my first holiday season in the Big Country. What stands out the most is the generosity of the people here. I have a few examples.

I’d heard about Santa’s Helpers when I first got to KTAB and how full the studio would be of toys during the holidays. It sounded like so much fun! But I had no idea just how many toys we were in for!

When I walked to the set Wednesday, there was literally a small path I had to maneuver to get to the desk. The rest of the space was full of toys, games, dolls, bikes, balls - you name it. Everywhere you looked or walked there were toys!

We’ve been reading letters to Santa from the children in the agencies and what was really neat is seeing some of the specific toys the kids had been asking for. It warms the heart knowing that they’re truly going to have a magical Christmas.

Last weekend the KTAB crew participated in the annual Bell Ringing Battle with our sister station KRBC. We manned the Salvation Army Red Kettles in front of the entrances of the southside Wal Mart. My ears are still ringing!

But it was all for a great cause and I think everyone who shopped that day stopped to donate! Many people gave all the change they had. Others dropped in bills, some of them big. By the end of the day our kettle was completely full and we had to fold the bills into tiny squares just to get them in!

By the way, we won the battle!

So a big thank you to everyone who donated this year, not just to Santa’s Helpers or the Salvation Army, but to whatever charity you helped. It truly makes a difference in so many lives and that’s the best gift of all!

Room To Run At Camp Barkeley

If you’re a dog owner, you and your four-legged friend are in for a treat at Camp Barkeley! Abilene’s first dog park opened over the weekend and to rave reviews! Shelby and I got a sneak peak on Friday and we both loved it!

Dog parks are aplenty in Denver, where we lived before moving to Abilene and we made frequent visits so Shelby could run, frolic and meet up with friends. She didn’t get to do a lot of that in our townhome with no yard!

What’s great about Camp Barkeley is it’s size. Two whole acres are fenced off for large breed dogs. Another acre is next door for smaller pooches. Shelby’s about 30 pounds, so she could probably visit both. We’ll have to see which one fits us best.

There are benches for humans to lounge while the dogs run free, a water fountain for people and the canines and plastic bags and trash cans for easy cleanup.

Another great thing about dog parks is getting to meet other animal lovers. It’s fun to get to know the owners and their dogs and the pooches really seem to enjoy making friends.

Shelby and I are already set to meet up with friends at Camp Barkeley. I think we’ll visit a lot. Hope to see you and your pooch there!