The Closet

I saved the worst till last and finally tackled the one thing standing in the way of a successful move to a smaller home.  My closet.  As a former News Anchor,  part of my job was to be a clothes horse, and I must have been pretty good at it, because I have a closet full of suits that I don’t plan on ever wearing again.  Ok, that’s a lie.  I’m keeping every one of my St. John suits because they always look good at a wedding or funeral, but the rest, I’m storing in case bad luck befalls me and I have to get a full-time job again.

That’s the good news, because that cut my need for hanging space in half.  Yep, I have that many clothes.  The rest of the clothes, which means all the clothes I wear now that I don’t have to look like a professional news reader, I also cut that pile in oh…..half.  I may have had 50 tank tops hanging in the closet but honestly I wear five of them.  I decided there is no reason to let clothes I hate take up closet space, so they’re off to goodwill.  Wear them in peace dear friends.

Then there are the shoes.  Same thing, I was so proud to have a closet full of shoes, even if I would rather be seen barefoot than wear some of those toebusters.  I finally decided even if that one pair of shoes looks good with that ONE outfit I have, and only wear once every three years…..it doesn’t deserve a 365 day parking space in my soon to be much smaller closet.  Bye Bye ugly, uncomfortable, worn out, or just plain hated SHOES.  They’re vacationing at Goodwill too.

I was almost done, when the last little dittie standing in the way of a clean closet was my jewelry drawer.  Yeah, I think the only thing news anchors buy more than blazers are necklaces.  I split them into two piles, one that I will bury in a storage room for when I need a necklace the size of Texas, the other the smaller pile, the ones that are actually made of real gold, have some dollar value or may actually be worn, those will be tucked into a box and be transferred to the soon to be completely edited Anita Cochran closest.  I can hardly wait to see how it looks, and better yet, how long it will take me to honestly believe, I have NOTHING to wear, even though the closet at the new house will be jammed pack. I give it two maybe three days, MAX.  I’m Anita Cochran, and that’s what I really wanted to say.

 

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Who Says I Don’t Have Talent?

I was afraid Wednesday might be a total loss, I rolled out of bed, got on the iphone and had a message from one of my tweeps to check out this link.  I’m not posting the link because I never read that blog, on purpose.   I don’t get  why someone like me would, then again I don’t get why people cut themselves with razor blades either.

This link goes to a blog that’s all about local Wichita TV news, and the guy HATES HATES HATES me, always has always will.  I should have just ignored it and went about my business, but I didn’t.  So let’s just say I started the day in a less than upbeat mood.  Just as I was starting to believe that I was the worst thing that happened in Wichita TV news history, the BFF & I decided to get busy.  We were going to paint my chest of drawers, and three night stands.  We used to pride ourselves on always paying to have stuff like that done.anit

Let me just say doing something with ones own hands really does result in a good feeling. My Mom was the kind of person who could fix anything.  She’s the one we went to when something broke and I used to always think, she has enough money to pay someone else to fix it, why doesn’t she? Now I know why, because it’s cheaper and more satisfying sometimes to do it yourself.

So we spent the afternoon knee deep in primer, and paint and sanding blocks, and darn if I didn’t feel like Picasso when we were done.  The best part is, I didn’t have to pay 12-hundred dollars for a built in in the new closet.  I saved myself 12-hundred dollars today, oh, and I painted away any doubt in my mind that I’m a decent person with at least some talent…..so Mr. I Hate Anita Cochran, I can only hope someone out there is writing about your daughter the same crap you wrote about me, because YOU my friend, deserve it.   My name is Anita Cochran, and that’s what I really wanted to say, but I have the guts to put my name on, you Mr. Anonymous, do not.

 

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My First Free Day

After 20 years as a TV news anchor and four months as a self-employed whatever I am, I had my first FREE day.  A day when the kids climbed on the school bus, and I had NOTHING on my schedule.  Well, nothing until 4:30 when daughter number two gets home, then 5  when I pick up daughter number one, and then 6:00 when daughter number one needs to be at guitar.  Anyway, it was a SLOOOWWW day.

I spent my normal time at Starbucks then Melissa and I ran around checking out saloons for her impending move closer to home base.  We made a couple stops at Woodard’s Mercantile, and Lowe’s doing last minute house things, then she had  lunch plans and I decided to run  a few more errands.  I kept thinking, so this is what people talk about when they say, “I could NEVER work, I’d be bored.”

I wasn’t bored, but I was feeling something.  I felt like I was cheating, like I was going to get caught and be reprimanded.  I was getting things done, on my own time, and I almost went to the pool one last time, but I couldn’t do it.  Why?  Because someone somewhere along the way must have made me feel bad that I decided to jump off the fast lane, and live a different life.  I’m not sure who it was, and I don’t really care, but I want that person to go away, and stay away.  If I’m going to be broke, I’m going to be happy and I’m loving having nothing hanging over my head, except this “crazy guilt” that maybe I should be doing more.  The only MORE I could be doing, is making MORE money.  I’m busy enough, happy enough, and peaceful enough, I don’t understand why that “guilty” feeling won’t go away.  I guess deep down I don’t believe I deserve a better life.   I think I might need therapy because even I know, that sounds just plain CRAZY.  I’m Anita Cochran, and  as weird as it sounds, that what I really wanted to say.

 

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My New Life

Okay, you’re always asking me, what are you doing now that you aren’t on TV anymore. My answer, I’m working on “My New Life.” It actually holds true in more ways than one.
My New Life, personally, includes finding a way to make money on my time, and with my talents, with people I enjoy and projects I love. Yes, tall order but so far it’s so good.
One of the first projects I started working on hooked me up with the folks at IMG with IMG Pictures here in Wichita, you can look them up, they do all sorts of video, graphic and movie work. I hosted one of the 30-minute TV projects they were working on highlighting the Kansas composite industry, and encouraging kids to look into that as a career option. Boy did I learn a lot.
Well that puppy turned out pretty darn good, so we’re taking it to the next level, with a TV series called, you may have guessed this, “My New Life.” Right now we’re working on the funding to turn this into an entertaining reality-based series that highlights Kansas people, job ready educational programs and the new lives so many of you are going after and FINDING.

We started last week with an on-line webisode that introduces you to the idea. My New Life Online, is a few of us sitting around drinking coffee and tea from Mead’s Corner talking to people who said hey, “My New Life!!” I found one, and outlining how they went about getting it. I’m the one decked out in Pink Saloon garb letting the doves fly, trust me, look up the video just to see what’s up with that, and stay tuned, I’m Anita Cochran, and I’m certainly not the only one looking for “My New Life,” and I promise I’ll be the one to tell you all about the ones we find….because these days, that’s what I really wanted to say!

 

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Easter Egg? In August?

Yes, my family is hilarious, so funny in fact I’m going to tell an Easter story in the middle of August, because their jokes live on long after the holiday is gone.

I’m not even sure how many Easters it’s been since we hosted the annual Steckline egg hunt at our house, but there’s lingering evidence it’s probably a good thing for it to be held elsewhere next year.  During the recent inspection of our home, before we can sell it and downsize, one of the things the new buyers requested we fix goes like this.  Have heater/air conditioner serviced, remove easter egg from vent….Um, what?  Yes, that home inspector found an easter egg shoved up a pvc pipe outside our home.  Seems to me I faintly remember someone saying it was stuck during the hunt, but I didn’t realize it had been left there indefinitely.

Luckily, the heating and air guy tackled it first and by breaking the plastic egg inside the pipe, he then managed to suck it out with a vacuum.  In case you’re wondering the Bunny left a jaw breaker inside.  While it’s a little bit embarrassing to tell someone you need an egg removed from your heater exhaust pipe, the memory that egg really brought back is worse.

My brother-in-law, Doug Wewe, a farmer from Pretty Prairie chose that year to be particularly funny …..why we let him play Bunny and hide any eggs is beyond me but we did.  Not only did he apparently shove that one up the pipe, in several of the eggs he removed the candy and left a little something else behind.  It was funny the first time an egg was broke open and dog poo was found inside, but considering my baby, six years old at the time, ended up with three poo filled eggs, it wasn’t so funny in the end.  To this day Tanza isn’t real eager to open Easter Eggs….but I’m happy now that she’s the one who found them.  Just think if all this time instead of a jaw breaker melting in my heater exhaust pipe, it had been poo…..Now that would have been a stinker.  I’m Anita Cochran, and that’s what I really wanted to say.

 

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Dress Me Baby

I know most of us don’t want to follow the herd, but then again do we really want to be the only heifer out there not wearing something stylish this fall?  That’s what I thought so as you know, my undying devotion to Pink Saloon and owner Brooke, has me looking for the scoop.  While I’m keeping all the good stuff for myself, let me just share some not-so-secret tips with you if you haven’t done your seasonal shopping yet.

First rule of thumb, when it comes to your legs, cover them….with leggings.  The most Gosh Awful patterns and colors are all very cool this fall, so don’t poo poo anything until you’ve at least worn it out and been made fun of.

When it comes to the pointer finger looking for jewelry, pick the pearls.  Lots and lots of pearls.  Actually that’s an old trick, even Mrs. Bush new how to rock the pearl, but its back so drag all yours out and wearing them, preferably all at once.

From what I can tell, the place to spend your money is on the denim.  I know 172 dollars is more than I can afford right now for a kick butt pair of jeans, but my butt looks a whole lot better in the True Religions I’ll be wearing for my next photo shoot.  I’m thinking about selling a couch or two when we move to finance a pair, because I’ve found you buy the best pair of jeans you can for the season, and you wear them everywhere.  Trust me, you can buy a cheap pair too, but as long as it’s your favorite you’ll want to wear it every single time you get dressed, so at least you can justify the more expensive kind, IF and only IF, they make your butt look better.   As luck would have it, I’m Anita Cochran, so of course, it’s gonna take at least 172 buckeroos to make my butt look anything but kickable.  And that’s what I really wanted to say.

Best job ever!

• Monday was the first day of the rest of my life.   When I left TV News last spring, I was so busy making the transition for my family, and then summer came, and my freelancing jobs kept me at shoots and meetings, and  blah blah blah, Did I mention all the time I spent at the pool, well let’s just say even if I was with the kids, I’ve really had very few “Mom” days.  The days when the kids are at work, and I’m at home.  My first one flew by.

The BFF and I starbucksed, yes, I do get credit for making that a verb….and while I really wanted to go back to bed, we’re moving in two weeks so we did a little gravel shopping, a little tree shopping, and then I had to grocery shop, by the time I got home, got the groceries put up, ran to pick out a light for the new house, stopped by the new house, came home got the chicken on for chicken noodle soup, cleaned the kitchen and sat down to do MY work on the computer I have only an hour left before Lexy gets home.  I MUST be done before she gets here.  The one thing I had always missed out on was that after school blabbering about what they did all day.  By the time I got done with the news at 7, they no longer remembered what they did.  So I’m writing this at the speed of light, and looking forward to tomorrow.  I have found the best job EVER, I love being a Mom now that I actually have some time to do it right, I’m Anita Cochran, and that’s what I really wanted to say.

Hermit Tendencies

I’m staring at a blank page, thinking I can say anything I want.  Oddly enough, I don’t want to say anything.  Sometimes, I don’t even want people to see me.

I joked before leaving TV news that I was going to become a hermit and live out my days on the beach.  At the time, me going anywhere alone and without an audience seemed almost impossible, now I’m starting to worry that it looks better every day!   Not that I’m thinking of escaping my home life, I wouldn’t want to do that….but there are times where I just want to be alone, all alone.

I couldn’t find a soul to lay with me in the sun yesterday, so I went alone and it was delicious.  I thought what the heck is wrong with me, here I am alone and quite enjoying it.   Maybe I am experiencing hermit tendencies after all….too bad, I don’t have enough money to be a really good one like Howard Hughes, or enough talent to disappear like Johnny Carson did and be missed by millions, I guess a hermit I’m gonna be pretty mediocre.  Unless of course, you never hear from me again.  I’m Anita Cochran, and that’s what I really wanted to say.

 

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I Get It NOW!

For the longest time, I just didn’t get it.   When I’m goofin around and cracking jokes, honestly, the kind of stuff normal people would laugh at, my 12 year old daughter Lexy merely glares at me and says, “You’re soooo embarrassing.”    Earlier this week, one of her friends had my back, and said, “Lexy, I don’t know why you think you’re Mom’s embarrassing, she’s cool!”   I’m like, yeah….LIKE SHE SAID.

I proved both of us wrong when we toured the new Maize South Middle School where Lexy will be a Cheerleader, Go Mavs.  I’ve already been in the building three times, so I really wanted to take advantage of the tour night, and catch all the highlights, didn’t plan on a low light, but I got one of them too.

Need to set this up for you, for it to make sense.  You know how in an airport restroom, you can walk in because there is no door, and you can go to either side, and find a line of toidies…..well, I saw the Women sign, and thought, cool, this place is huge, and instead of making a sharp right I went around left.  Dang if there weren’t urinals hanging on the wall!

Worse yet, my BFF and her family, watched me do it, and told my kids to just let me go.   So when I came out, going, what the heck, why is the men’s room labeled WOMEN, they’re already laughing their arses off.     I will bet MONEY, I’m not the only one who will do that, because the next hall I went down, same no door entrance, but the women’s side was on the OPPOSITE side, so again, creature of habit, I would have been close to an arrest had I gone on the side I expected to be the WOMEN’s.  One things for sure, whoever designed that bathroom thing might want to rethink the no door entrance idea.  Afterall, if someone as smart as me can end up in the men’s room, don’t you think some 13 year old chick will too?   That said, when Lexy said, “You’re so EMBARRASSING.”  I got it, and while it isn’t what I really wanted to say, I will admit, I have to agree with her.  I’m Anita Cochran.

 

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I Want SHORT Hair

I think every woman has a story of when they decided they wanted SHORT hair, only to cut it off and feel like the only way they would have said that was if they were on illegal drugs or had a gun held to their head.  Several years ago, I discovered something even worse.  That’s when your four year old daughter says she wants SHORT hair, and afterwards, didn’t mean THAT short.

Tanza was in preschool the first time it happened to one of my offspring.  Let’s just say, I took her shopping afterward, and she hid behind my legs because she didn’t want to see herself in the mirrors that when you get your hair cut seem to be EVERYWHERE.  When my husband came home that night to see the new do, Tanza was hiding behind the chair.

Fast forward five years later, for her 9th birthday, I let her get blonde highlights and a new do, because after all my BFF is a hairdresser, and the price was right.  I have to say, I knew we were in good hands, but I was still so  scared, much more than Tanza was,  scared that baby girl of mine might cower in the corner, and that it would have been me that failed her once again.

I know there are worse things in life that you can do to your child, but the fact that I didn’t protect her from that first shocking cut was my real introduction to motherhood.  One that I will carry with me always, so the fact that Tanza wheeled around in that chair today, and said, I LOVE IT somehow made me feel like my Mom card wasn’t going to be revoked.  Granted it should have been five years ago, but this time, we did okay, and Tanza you look MAHHHHVELOUS.   That’s what I really wanted to say!

 

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