I picked up two awards at the annual Nebraska Press Association banquet last month. Here’s the story from the Bellevue Leader.

Published Friday
April 29, 2005

Leader captures awards at state press banquet

The Bellevue Leader has been named the state’s best weekly newspaper in its class.

The Leader was presented the prestigious General Excellence Award sponsored by the Nebraska Press Association at Saturday’s convention in Kearney.

The award came in Class D, the largest circulation class for weekly newspapers.

Judged by the members of the Kentucky Press Association, the Leader picked up first-place awards in the following categories:

– General excellence. Judges commented, “Strong design, appearance, reproduction throughout and solid writing. Consistency of layout, design and writing inside makes the difference.”

– Feature series by Margaret Stamp for her three-part series on children with developmental disorders. Judges commented, “Nice photos and good writing elevated this effort.”

– Youth coverage that was judged on Wendy Townley’s stories about the Bellevue East High School chess club, the Outreach Program for Soccer for children with Down syndrome, and twin artists Matt and Mick Glebe. Judges commented, “Lots of good entries in this category.”

– Use of computer graphics created by Jason Keese for a front-page depiction of the “tools” worn by Bellevue police officers. Judges commented, “Great idea, well-executed. High relevance to readers. I was certainly interested.”

– Sports section under the direction of Sports Editor Eric Taylor. Judges commented, “Very visually appealing.”

– Photo page by Tony Miceli of last year’s Sarpy County Relay for Life. Judges commented, “This was easily the winner. Great use of a dominant photo supported by a handful of other solid photos. This was the best packaging of all the entries.”

– Use of Color in the news section. Judges commented, “This paper just kept getting better.”

– Super Sarpy Classifieds section (which also earned second- and third-place awards). Judges commented, “Very easy to read. Design keeps the readers’ attention.”

Second-place awards went to Taylor for sports columns, Ron Petak for sports writing, and the Leader’s editorial page.

Third-place awards went to Townley for personal columns, Keese for spot news writing, and Keese for news writing.

I didn’t have time this weekend to read what other Mac users are saying about Tiger; that’s on the to-do list for this week. I hope to get my hands on a copy of Tiger sometime in the coming months. I’m lusting after Dashboard like no other.

Went to the Y this morning after a week’s absence. I’m down to 124 pounds. I feel great!

I think I’m going to do a little jean shopping over my lunch hour today. My Gap jeans have both salt and bleach stains. And, to top it off, they’re falling off me. Even with a belt, the jeans are a big too saggy for my taste. My sister had a cute pair from American Eagle. I may slip on a few pairs of AE jeans later today.

When Google and Snoop Dogg became friends, the world was blessed with Gizoogle.

“You betta run and grab yo glock.”

It’s Friday already and I still feel as though I have projects that needed to be completed on Tuesday. Oy!

Last night, the School of Communication at my college, the University of Nebraska at Omaha, celebrated its annual awards dinner. Scholarships were presented, as well as the Best of Gateway awards. Despite the evening running well past three hours, it was fun. One of the speakers said it best when he described the evening as more of a reunion.

Today will certainly be catch-up day at work. I also have a number of free-lance articles I need to wrap my arms around before next week.

I’m falling behind on my issues of The New Yorker. I can only “blame” the new job. But they’re all still here, neatly stacked on my bookshelf, waiting to be read.

My sister is in town from California this weekend. Tonight, we hopefully will head to The Homey Inn. Champagne, anyone?

Unlike yesterday, I was able to fall back to sleep after Matthew awoke at 3 a.m. to be at work by 4 a.m. I feel much more rested and refreshed this morning. I didn’t, however, awake in time to make it to the Y this morning.

Have I mentioned how much I love my new Web site?

After months of hard work and decision making by my good friend Jonathan Patton, the new and improved shaggy-money.flywheelsites.com is alive and well!

I am literally in love with the layout and design. Everything is right where it should be.

After a few minor glitches are taken care of, the site will be at full strength.

Hooray!

Today I have eaten a peanut butter granola bar, a blended lemonade from Starbucks and a handful of honey wheat Wheatbles crackers.

Matthew, hurry home! I miss your cooking!

What a weekend. Let’s begin from the beginning, although I’m not quite certain Friday evening qualifies as the weekend.

Anyway…

My friend, Brian, and I picked up my new desk from Nebraska Furniture Mart. [Note: This photo is taken from the manufacturer’s Web site.] We then decided to grab a bite to eat, since both of us were pretty hungry. Oh, but had we only known what Omaha’s restaurant scene is like on a Friday night! We made stops at three different restaurants because the wait was at least 45 minutes to an hour at each establishment. No thanks. After a 10 minute wait, we dined on Zio’s pizza. Good stuff. We headed over to our local watering hole for a few cocktails where we were served by a lackluster waitress. She was friendly, just not very attentive. And when it came time to get our check and get the hell out of there, we were forced to wait for 10 minutes because she was chatting with friends and selecting songs on the juke box.

Oy.

Today, my dad and I emptied and moved the water softener in my basement, which evolved into a two-hour ordeal. I spent my afternoon at a new mall in West Des Moines, about two hours east of Omaha. What fun! After drooling in the Apple Store and J. Crew, I made my way to Forever 21, where I snagged a handful of oh-so-spring items, both for work and play. I love that store, although I’m 26 years old!

I purchased a ticket to tonight’s M. Ward concert, but am just too darn tired to go. I’m getting so old.

While watching “The Apprentice” earlier this evening, I saw the most recent Old Navy commercial. You’ve probably seen it: It features a trio of young women singing the praises of the tunic. Matthew and I saw this commercial earlier in the week. I remember, because Matthew asked, “What’s a tunic?”

Apparently, Old Navy knows its target exactly.

Me, as a female, knows what a tunic is. While Matthew, as a male, doesn’t have a clue what a tunic is.

A fiftyish woman was at home happily jumping on her bed and squealing with delight. Her husband watches her for a while and asks, “Do you have any idea how ridiculous you look? What’s the matter with you?”

The woman continues to bounce on the bed and says, “I don’t care. I just came from having a mammogram and the doctor says I have the  breasts of an 18-year-old.”

The husband said, “What did he say  about your 56-year-old ass?”

“Your name never came up,” she replied.

It’s 9 o’clock on Wednesday night. You know what that means: “Sex and the City” on TBS. Sure, I’m about 10 years behind this great show, since I’m cable-phobic. Sue me. I’m at the point where Mikhail Baryshnikov is Carrie’s love interest. Good stuff. I never thought he’d be such a good actor.

“Charlotte emailed me his photo. Hello, 60.”