February, 2011

Most would say my Valentine’s Day sucked:
- my valentine was 1,000 miles away
- I spent most of the day with the school board
- in between shifts, I went to a matinee of the Natalie Portman/Ashton Kutcher rom-com. So did one other guy, which made laughing a bit awkward.
- I came home to half of the young couple above me standing outside with her parents and two police officers. I don’t know what happened to cause the situation, but the husband locked the wife outside and refused to open the door, even for the cops.

Lovely. After that, I was more than happy to sit in a school board meeting for 3+ hours.

Then again, every day last week gave me something to love.

Tuesday: Firemen were called to break out the husband. He had rigged some wires in between the front door and the door up the stairs. They didn’t pay their rent, so they had until Friday to move out. And now they’re gone and I don’t have to hear their baby crying at odd hours of the night. I love sleep.

Wednesday: Reporting road trip! I traveled down to Elk Mountain, a tiny town off I-80 in between Rawlins and Laramie, for two stories: one for business and a food story for the Live Well Wyoming magazine we publish quarterly. A photographer, videographer and I were treated to the best meal I’ve had in Wyoming: venison wellington, duck, salmon, samosas, hummus and white chocolate bread pudding. I love food. And getting out of the office.

At the Elk Mountain Hotel, suited up for chopping duty. [Feb. 16, 2011]

Thursday: My friend Cat bought tickets to visit Wyoming for my birthday in a few weeks. She’ll be my 11th visitor! I think a snowshoeing trip in the Wind River Mountains is in order… I love Cat.

Friday: I finished writing the mainbar and editing three national stories for a package about federal education stimulus funding. I had forgotten how much fun editing others’ work can be. I love what I do.

And I received my last v-day card from my first valentine, my mom, whom I obviously love.

If the point of Valentine’s Day is to send red cards and eat chocolate and tell people “I love you,” mission accomplished. If it’s to experience joy and feel loved, mission accomplished.

Legislative and government reporting accounts for about 10 percent of what I do.

Since this session began, that amount has quadrupled.

Tons of education bills have been introduced, and I covered most of them from the front end with individual stories or a 70-inch legislative preview. From Casper, 2.5 hours away from the Capitol. Now that they’re working their way through both houses, I’ve had more difficulty and had to pass the baton to our statehouse reporters.

But that doesn’t mean I’m done with it. On Monday, I wrapped up a story about national interests lobbying state lawmakers and the public. I broke news on Tuesday after listening to Senate debate through a live audiocast online. I spent much of last week working on two longer pieces — a profile of a teacher/legislator and a bigger take on “teacher tenure” in the state.

When I interviewed for this job, the editor warned me it requires a great deal of reporting via telephone. Good thing I got over my fear of the cold call a long time ago because almost all of my state reporting is done on the phone.

Today’s stories certainly reflect that — records received over the phone,  e-mail and fax machine (!), long chats with a profile subject while he was driving, multiple sources hours away in Cheyenne and Cody. Most of the color came from first-hand observation during committee meetings and my trip to Cheyenne two weeks ago.

Whew, my name fit on the badge. [Wyo. Capitol, Jan. 31]

I happened to be driving through Cheyenne (from my weekend in Colorado) on a Monday morning so I stopped at the Capitol, listened to testimony during a committee meeting, did some interviews and wrote a story before continuing on to Casper. I never thought reporting from Casper was hard, but being in the building where everything happens made it feel so easy. Instead of waiting hours for a lawmaker to return my call, I could send a note to the floor and wait outside.

The capitol reporters are there for the day-to-day stuff, and I’m able to work on more in-depth stuff like today’s teacher-legislature package:
- Tussle over tenure: Few Wyoming teachers challenge dismissals
–> Teachers speak in defense of tenure
- Profile: Harshman teaches, leads in Legislature

A source thanked me last week for doing “more investigative stuff.” I said thanks, but I really owe it to my editors who take an interest in the stories and give me the time and support I need to pursue them.

All the Rosie O’Donnell fans out there will get the reference. The rest of you — don’t worry about it. Worst. Movie. Ever.

I did ride the lift with my sister several times last weekend on a last-minute trip to Keystone. I met Sam in Fort Collins, we picked up our parents from the airport and drove west to the mountains. I can’t remember the last time more than three of us have skiied together — 10 years?

The plan: Ski as much as possible before Sunday night. We did alright. Night skiing on Friday, skiing from open to 2 on Saturday and from open to noon on Sunday.

I brought my board for Friday night. And I did good! Driving up to Hogadon on weekend mornings has paid off. But runs in Colorado are at least three times as long as the runs in Casper. I started to fall more toward the end as I got more and more tired.

The switch to skis felt natural, like swapping stilettos for broken-in running shoes. The snow became icy in a few spots, which was much more manageable on skis.

I’m glad I made the 5-hour trip. I didn’t get to see family during Christmas and don’t know when I’ll see them again.