Breaking News – I'm Broke!
Follow along as former news anchor Anita Cochran downsizes her material life to upsize her spiritual life.
You can take me off TV, but you can't shut me up!
So, I’ve had it up to hear with all the “Win an Ipad”…..”I made 10,000 sitting at my computer last week”…..and all the other wonderful crap we read online but this time…. We mean it. WE really mean it. Wichita Funds For Schools my newest project is going LIVE September 13th but RIGHT NOW, you could honestly win $1,o00 dollars for your school district, and better yet a grand worth of the deals we’ll be offering JUST FOR YOU .
I know what the deals are and I’m buying most of them the first two weeks, so I PROMISE you will want them. Do yourself a favor (and me), go to the website stick in your email and you’re in to WIN. The contest is weighted so that EVERY school district has an even chance of winning (though Newton has gotten the word out so quickly they are running away with it). (Email it to EVERYONE, The more of your friends who pick your school the greater chance you’ll be getting something new in your district!) By the way, once you’re entered all the deals come straight to your email box, love it….buy it, if you don’t DELETE, it’s really that easy.
And, I’m not supposed to say but I’m going to give you a hint, the first deal September 13th, is something you eat, something that’s sweet and frankly even I can afford this deal!! Hmmmmm…..what will it be?? Just because I love pictures I’m throwing this one in. It was taken during the KSN interview for our FFS (Funds for Schools) story. I look like a goober, but check out my sandals. LOVE them! (Half price in Vegas when I was there for Jewelry market.) In this picture is Nathan Meyer, Wichita Funds For Schools, Josh Witsman, KSN Weekend Anchor, Anita Cochran (MOI) and Kyle Gerstner, Green Zebra Concierge who will be offering up a deal in the future. Ooops, I’m giving away trade secrets. I love that I have a big mouth but I’m not sure if the guys I work with like that about me. Oh well, let’s find out.
Well, it’s not that we ever left BROKELand, but now that school is back in session it seems we moved into a NICER more EXPENSIVE part of the community. Our summer spending caught up to us when I started handing out money for clothes, and books, and lunches, (why exactly did God decide we needed to eat???) and apparently we can’t get by without a clarinet for my budding musician. UGH. So broke means BROKE. Even as I lay awake at night wondering do I just go back to work full-time, God keeps giving me answers……this is what my 10-year -old brought home from school Friday. I never got one of these when I worked round the clock and was a “News Goddess.” So BrokeLand, put out the Welcome sign, we’re staying at least for a few more months.
Remember that bargain of a summer bedspread I scored at Target? Today as we’re back to school and it’s almost fall, it looks like a million bucks. Luckily for me, one of my best friends is a seamstress extraordinaire. Sally Rogers and I go WAYYYYYYY back. We met while I was temping at Koch Industries (Koch Carbon Division I believe) during the old college days.
These days, Sally is married, a mother of two and cranking up her business efforts to make custom Drapes, Pillows and Bedding. (Look at her wedding picture some 20 years ago. I was the Maid of Honor…..She made her dress, her flowers, my dress, my flowers, her veil……did I tell you she’s incredibly talented? )
Now, back to my bedroom. Here’s what she did in my room. Remember I started with just the lime green quilt and two shams (bought for less than 30 bucks at Target.) I added the two white pillows I was already using, and found some great Ralph Lauren Towels at TJ Maxx. So Sally turned the towels into pillows and created a one of a kind bejeweled pillow for the front. I LOVE it. And I love her.
I have letters from Sally while she and her hubby were stationed in Germany. At the time, I was stationed in Hays, Kansas trying to become a news anchor. Looking back, I know I would have never made it through those TOUGH first years without her and those letters. These days she has put the pen down and picked up a needle, and her love letters are now spread all over my home in the form of pillows and drapes and dare I admit it, patched clothing!! Maybe this love letter wasn’t really about the bedding after all, it was about the seamstress. Either way, I’m the lucky one, and I know it.
Oh, and if you have something you want Sally to make for you, she’s for hire. (Though she has to get my projects done first.) Contact her at sallyrogers27@gmail.com.
On this my baby girls 10th birthday, I spent the entire day reminding myself how to edit videotape. (And since it’s now not really tape, and a whole different editing world than when I started 20+ years ago, I mean ALL DAY.)
We just got back from a trip to Los Angeles. Our dear friends Ron and Renae Ryan bought Tanza an opportunity of a lifetime. She was able to take a voice lesson with Hannah Anders and then have a recording session with Producer Daniel Ford. Those two days were incredible and I just wanted to share with you a little of what Tanza left with. This is one of her three original songs. Yes, she wrote the music and lyrics. She played the guitar and her loving family got to do some back up vocals, listen carefully.
Tanza I couldn’t really do you justice, but at 10 years old you are already the star of your first movie/music video! Momma loves you. The rest of you, enjoy.
In my mind, it was a perfect moment with my daughters. A little peach picking on an August morn would only make them love me more. NOT. Okay, I was a farm girl because my dad told me I was, but there’s no amount of telling my city-dwelling girls that they will love farm life. They HATE all of it. Today was no exception.
It was all my idea. I have such fond memories of my family growing up going on adventures to pick peaches and strawberries, but I’m not sure if I enjoyed it at the time or only enjoy it now, looking back. So I made the girls get up early and met Papa and Grandma Carla for the drive to Harper. The Beal Orchard isn’t where I went as a child, Blood Orchard probably doesn’t exist now, but Steve Beal has it all figured out and there were more peaches out there for the picking than I remember even being POSSIBLE in Kansas.
The only hitch in this years peach harvest, if you can call it that is some pest problems. I would spy a partially eaten peach and say, “What the Heck has been chewing on that??” Turns out, grasshoppers are the culprit, I even caught one in action. I can’t really say it was much of a problem though, maybe three of all the peaches I touched had even a blemish. (Yeah, Steve!!)
Because one of my favorite parts of picking ANYTHING is being able to eat as much as you want out in the field, I brought a knife (I hate peach fuzz) and peeled the peaches right there…..so did Dad. Turns out the peaches he picked were the biggest and best….Should I have doubted that the farmer in him, would show us all up? He did!
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My girls did a really good job. They only screamed once. (Lexy HATES spiders, and they grow BIG ones in Harper.) They only started griping about how hot it was when we were a full hour into it and nearly done (and the sweat was dripping off each and every one of us at 10 am!). I’m proud of them. I didn’t make the memory I had from my childhood, but I made one nonetheless, and they will never forget how miserable they were picking peaches one hot Kansas summer day. I, on the other hand, will never forget that sometimes the best part of being a parent is repeating what your parents did, just to say you did it. And this time, for me, it was peachy.
So we made a quick trip to Los Angeles and there’s one thing I can’t get out of my head. Okay, there’s more than one, but this one really bugs me. We’re walking along Santa Monica Beach on a gorgeous night and people are everywhere. It really was sort of magical, except for the smell…and the trash.
I managed to get my picture perfect photos of the girls and the sunset and the pier, but I snapped this one too.
We ought to be ashamed. I know I was.
Maybe it’s the Indian blood in me, (Cherokee and Potawatomi) but I couldn’t believe the same people who were out here enjoying the beach’s natural beauty were also careless enough to leave their crap on it on their way out. Maybe a whole new generation needs to see my all time favorite commercial. The one of the Indian shedding a single tear over the littering of his native land. I probably need a spanking I should have picked it up but the smell was gagging me……..so while Santa Monica was lovely look at and delightful to phtograph, the smell left me hankering for my homeland. Flat, hot, dry and smell free Kansas (Unless you’re in Southwest Kansas XXOO to my friends out there!)
I am a freakin’ genius. Summer just officially started and I’ve finally figured out how to hit the pool in a bikini and rest assured no one is staring at my boobs that are too big, or my cellulite that is too obvious. Here’s the great part, should you have those problems…..YOU can do it too.
It’s called distraction. I hopped in the tub to do the shave thing, (Blonde hair glistens in the sun and though it reminds me of diamonds, I’m pretty sure it doesn’t turn anyone else on!) and noticed that I finally had something to offer a horrified crowd BESIDES my 46-year old carcass…..take a look.
No I’m not looking for compliments here, though I have always heard my chicken legs were one of my best assets (I think Stephanie Bergmann was the first to tell me they were chicken legs!!) look a little closer at my incredible COLOR. I mean colors, and I’m not referring to the tan. That whomping bruise happened a few days ago, but just appeared TODAY. The one day I have pool time. I have been complaining about the pain of the damn thing for days, but every one looked at me like I was pathetic because it wasn’t very impressive, until now. So how did I do this? I slipped in the bathtub. Really, I had one leg in and one leg out and BOOOM smashed the side of my leg into the tile edge…..I cried inside then whined to all my friends how I couldn’t even put my legs together (please refrain from commenting)….I mean at night I couldn’t lay on my side because it would press on my hemmorhage.
So today, as I hit the pool with my friend Jennifer Sebits (KSN fans would remember her as Reporter Jennifer Pruitt, now a stay-at-home mom) and her kids I’m gonna flash that bruise like a badge of honor, knowing fully well I have all of about 10 seconds to lay my fat fanny down before the gaze shifts to my other “areas”. But I’m not worried, I can do a lot in 10 seconds and WAIT, I just found I have something else to offer if you’re into scabs….apparently I was shaving with an old razor. Okay, I guess genius was stretching it.
Okay, so some of you want the recipe for the Cucumber dip…. You’ll love me and hate me for this. First off, you’ll love me because it is sooooooo darn good. I like to describe it as refreshing and I can remember the first time I had it at Grand Lake, out on the boat, a beer in hand, surrounded by friends…..I kept saying, “What the HELL is in HERE?????” I couldn’t for the life of me figure out. Now even though, I know, I still think the same thing whenever I eat it.
Now I have to admit, in this picture it looks a lot like throw-up, and trust me, the time I didn’t put the lid on and went to put the bowl in the fridge…..it REALLY looks like throw-up when it is sprawled all over your hard wood floors. I know because on Father’s day I did just that. Luckily I had enough left over that it wasn’t a total waste.
Another reason you may not be singing my name, this recipe is one I can only remember by ingredient. I don’t measure ANY of it. So if yours doesn’t taste like mine, it’s because your TASTEBUDS don’t work like mine. I keep tasting it till I get it right…but here goes. Good Luck, and if you have a problem, let me know.
Typically I use 5 cucumbers….but those of you who have seen my dad’s work know he’s a SUPER farmer, so sometimes I only need two!! Yep, they can get that big.
Peel the cucumbers, deseed them and chop the little buggers up. I use one of those handy Pampered Chef choppers that basically you slap silly. The harder you hit it the smaller the pieces are. Yes, it is kind of therapy for someone like me.
Next Chop up 1/2 to a whole onion. I like a lot, but then again, I buy BIG onions. (I’m starting to think I like everything big EXCEPT my butt.) Set the bowl aside full of chopped cukes and onions.
In my Kitchenaid Mixer, GOD I LOVE THAT THING….put in a pkg of cream cheese. Do not use low-fat, or fat-free it must be regular CREAM CHEESE. Trust me, I’ve gone against that advice and got cuke soup. (Really gross by the way.) Add about a cup (I use a scoop of my pink spatula) of Mayonnaise. (Again NO low-fat, fat free…..must be real mayonnaise or you get MUSH). Mix that till smooth then comes the tricky part. You salt, pepper and Garlic Salt that goop up till it tastes good. When it’s tasty toss in the cukes and onions, and ENJOY. I love it best with Wheat Thins ( And yes, I do the reduced fat on those but you can eat it with almost any cracker.
It’s cucumber season. I am celebrating with more cuke dip than a person could possibly stomach! We eat it as lunch or dinner and I take it to friends, a meek attempt to floor them with my cooking prowess. I actually stole the recipe from Steve Schmeidler in Hays, but I’m thinking he probably won’t read this so why am I giving him credit anyway? So, since I have cucumbers on my mind, it is kind of coincidental that the “Cucumber E-mail” is making the rounds. If you haven’t seen it, let me know, I’ll e-mail it to you. It’s a list of like 1,000 things to do with a cucumber (and none of THOSE made the list sicko!) I just really exaggerated there, the list is only 13 things long. Oops.
In keeping with the theme, I decided to try the humble cucumber for the problem plaguing me most right now. Yes, how did you know my shower door had water spots all over it? Well, somewhere in that list it said the cucumber would stop squeaky hinges, and could keep your bathroom mirror from fogging up, so hey……..why wouldn’t it shine shower doors. And just think of the PHOTO OP!
Turns out it does a pretty darn good job. I hacked off a piece of cucumber last week to try a portion, and everytime I got in the shower, I was like, “WOW, that cucumber part sparkles.” So I sent Kent to the grocery store (all of the cukes I get from my dad are homegrown and way too precious to waste on cleaning) and I hopped in to see if I could repeat the polish. My doors aren’t perfect, but then neither was my technique. As you can see by the picture, I tried it the long way, and kept having to cut the end off when the cuke got smooshy. If you do this I suggest cutting it down the middle and using it like a soap bar, you can cover a lot more glass in a lot less time.
The moral of the story isn’t that the cucumber is the best cleaning tool ever, it’s just that sometimes you have to think outside the box. It’s fun for a change of pace to take a boring task and spice it up. For me, the cucumber did it. In fact, the best part of the whole experience was yelling at my 13-year old daughter to come take my picture with the cucumber.
I also like to use my cucumbers for normal things….like cucumber/orange water!
Hi I’m Anita, and I’m a facebook freak. (This is where you say, “Hi Anita”…..at least I’ve heard that’s how it’s done.) Anyway….if you visited me over there you might have noticed these days I’m often at my 5,000 friend limit. (FINALLY!!) I’d like to say “I’m NOT proud of it, it just HAPPENED,” but, I’m PROUD of it. I LOVE that I have 5,000 friends or at least NAMES that when it comes down to parting with some of them, well….I just can’t do it. I mean a lot of these people are former KSN fans, twitter friends, and while some of us have never met or even really corresponded, we’ve seen each others names now for a year or two, so it feels like I know even THOSE people. The word “Friend” sort of needs a new definition.
So, I have a waiting list of people who want to be ”friends” and some of them I really already KNOW. They are my friends…..I just don’t have room for them on facebook. Here’s where it gets tricky. Because of the dumb rule that one can only have 5,000 friends, I am having to drop people so I can add new ones. One strategy that works well is to talk about me. Two dudes got really pissed when I did that the other day and they dropped me, the comment was….”Man all you ever write about is YOU.” (My response….”SEE YA” ) I got to add two more people who actually wanted to read what I had to say about myself, and not to be vain, but isn’t that what a personal facebook page is about?? The person I mean. Trust me, whenever I look at YOUR facebook page, I expect to read about YOU!!
So anway, back to the list. I’m trying like hell-o to get a couple of my OLLLLLDDDD friends on and I let people drop me, then add a few new ones every day, but it’s not happening fast enough. Enter the Anita Cochran/ Public Figure facebook page. I made up this new page where ANYONE can “Like” it and thus be a “Liker”, I guess that’s almost as good as a friend. This though allows all LIKERS to join in which I’m all for. Now all I have to do is figure out how to make both pages ALL ABOUT ME, and man I won’t have any friends, any likers, and I’ll have a heck of a lot more free time. Then again if I could figure out how to hack into my own Facebook Public Figure page I could change Like to Lick. I just want to see if anyone would admit they want to LICK me See I am a FREAK.
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Just because I love pictures I’m throwing this one in. It was taken during the KSN interview for our FFS (Funds for Schools) story. I look like a goober, but check out my sandals. LOVE them! (Half price in Vegas when I was there for Jewelry market.) In this picture is Nathan Meyer, Wichita Funds For Schools, Josh Witsman, KSN Weekend Anchor, Anita Cochran (MOI) and Kyle Gerstner, Green Zebra Concierge who will be offering up a deal in the future. Ooops, I’m giving away trade secrets. I love that I have a big mouth but I’m not sure if the guys I work with like that about me. Oh well, let’s find out.
Now, back to my bedroom. Here’s what she did in my room. Remember I started with just the lime green quilt and two shams (bought for less than 30 bucks at Target.) I added the two white pillows I was already using, and found some great Ralph Lauren Towels at TJ Maxx. So Sally turned the towels into pillows and created a one of a kind bejeweled pillow for the front. I LOVE it. And I love her.
