From The Whole Nichols Family:
All the best to you and yours! See you in the new year!

As is the case in many families, we take a holiday photo of the kids...aiming for something Norman Rockwell-esque. We've done it every year and now have a wall full of memories. That's not the same thing as a waffle of memories although I did have a Belgian Waffle once at a Madison, Wisconsin Perkins that I still recall with great fondness. When I was little, a friend of the family snapped a black and white shot of my three brothers and I in front of our fireplace. My brothers look okay but, of course, I'm adorable! To my knowledge we never took another such photograph. It is possible that they still took one each season but forgot to tell me. Perhaps my brothers' fragile egos couldn't handle being so routinely overlooked as friends and relatives "oohed and aahed" over the cute little angel in front.


There is another holiday photo of me sitting on Santa's lap...warily. On the town square of Baraboo, Wisconsin, they used to set up Santa's Workshop in a little half-trailer. You'd stand outside in line waiting for your turn. In my photo-op with the big guy, I'm wearing a very fashionable pale green snow-suit, red stocking cap, mittens and boots. I was 18 at the time. No, that's not true. I must have been about four. I don't look at all comfortable with Mr. Claus. I'm not crying but the look on my face does seem to indicate that I'd feel more at ease in this negotiation if my lawyer had been present.

As for the pictures my wife, Jessica, and I have of our own kids, the first one is, naturally, of the first one. Just little Alexander in a red & white striped jumper. He looks like a candy cane on steroids. The next year he was joined by Taylor who looks totally un-enthused by the whole process. Interestingly, Taylor gets the same look on his face at picture time nowadays. The first couple of years, their mom would drag the kids to some local store for the bit of photographic magic. Then, a co-worker at Channel 9 offered to snap the shot. This person came to our house two years in a row and took the boys' picture. In one, you can see a giant claw mark on Taylor's face...the battle scars of brothers. Well, after two years of wrangling the boys, my co-worker made a point of telling me, in July, "I just won't have time to take the picture this year...or ever again. I'm going to be very busy every single day...from now on. Sorry." I don't think I can really blame the behavior of the boys. I suspect my co-worker just didn't want to spend anymore off-hours time around me. Well, you just gotta respect that.

One year, right after Harrison was born, we had the family photo shot by one of the Kansas City area's finest photographers. We all got dressed up and went to his studio. After the shoot...that's what they call it in the biz...as my wife and I were making our order, Taylor took up residence underneath a large table in the middle of the room. This was a unique and, clearly expensive, piece of furniture. It was all-natural with a tree-like base, complete with bark. Well, Taylor, being part beaver, started to peel the thing. We found him, looking quite content, surrounded by strips of wood. The photographer was gracious and told us, through clenched teeth, "Oh, no problem. No big deal. How cute. I'll send the pictures. Please, don't come here and get them." We gathered up Taylor, before he could build a dam on the leather sofa, and bolted.

We went the store route again for a few years after that...including one where the photographer was really squirrely. You can see it in the eyes of the kids in the picture we ended up purchasing. Alexander is smiling nervously. Taylor appears to be looking for an exit. Samantha seems to be reaching for a can of mace and Harrison has clearly decided he's done with this whole thing as soon as the flash, flashes. After that experience, my wife took over.

Jessica has gotten great shots over the years. One year we set the kids up outside the Nelson-Atkins Museum. The one we used feature Taylor doing or saying something which made Harrison appear to be shocked and appalled. We have shots of the kids down at Crown Center and looking out over the skyline from the Liberty Memorial. Another was taken at Union Station and you can see poor little Samantha's cast on her broken arm. It was decorated with glitter for the holidays. We have taken our fair share just around the house. We had a very pretty one taken in Wisconsin with a snow-covered lake in the background. It is interesting how each kid's personality shines through in the photos.

Alexander is always trying hard to smile naturally. He wants to please!
Taylor almost always looks a little tired of the whole process. World-weary and not even 20!
Samantha strikes a pose. Always a big smile and shining eyes.
Harrison looks completely at ease. His self-confidence is obvious. There is a bit of mischief in his eyes, too.

This year, Jessica had a great idea. She took pictures as the kids put up the tree. Then, when it was all done, had them stand in front. The card covers the whole process. The final shot was actually the brain-child of Samantha. After a few "stand-up-straight-and-smile" attempts, Samantha said "Let's hold Harrison up in the air." And, so they did. The final choice turned out to be the three bigger kids hoisting the littlest one...who's not so little anymore...off the ground. It gave Alex his best smile ever. It even made Taylor look like he was having fun. Samantha looked completely lovely and, Harrison? Well, he looked like he had the world on a string...as usual.

If Norman Rockwell had used a camera instead of a paint-brush, I think he'd have been quite pleased!

It was 15 years ago this very morning! Kris Ketz, now a regular member of the FirstNews zombie squad, was filling in for Maria Antonia. Around 6:15 a.m., the phone on the set rang...a rare occurrence...and it was my lovely wife, Jessica, telling me that baby number three, Samantha, was on the way. As I mentioned in this silly spot just a few weeks back, Mr. Ketz insisted I get going. Jessica and I were pretty calm. After all, it was number three and we knew how lurky babies can be. Still, mostly to ease the mind of Mr. Ketz, I left in mid-show...something viewers have been hoping for ever since.

Samantha shares her birthday with her Great-Grandma Myrtle on my dad's side. Myrtle was born on December 14, 1902. Unfortunately, Samantha never had the chance to know her birthday-mate. However, Samantha also shares a middle name with her great grandmother on my mom's side, Ann Christine Wheeler, and the two of them did have many happy times together. In fact, Samantha still makes sure a little green stuffed teddy bear from that Great Grandma is safe from the rest of her bedroom, about which you will hear more below. In addition to a name and memories, Samantha also resembles her Great Grandma Ann in temperament: ready for anything and, almost always, with a ready smile.

I'd like to tell you that we named her, Samantha, because of an obscure but lovely Cole Porter song featured in the movie High Society. That sounds kind of classy. But, in reality, I think it really came from Bewitched. When the boys were little and we didn't have cable, we watched a lot of old sitcoms. Who am I kidding? We still do. I always call her by her full name. She used to insist that she wouldn't let anyone ever call her Sammy or Sam. Then, her Uncle Mark started calling her Sammy. Well, she kind of liked that but ONLY from Uncle Mark. Now, I come to find out she goes by Sam a lot of the time around school. Oh, well. I will only really get perturbed when it comes time to change her last name! That I may have to fight, tooth and nail. That saying, "fighting tooth and nail" goes back to around 1576 and has to do with biting and scratching so I guess I'd better do a better job flossing and get a combination manicure and pedicure.

Of all four kids, I think my wife would agree, Samantha was the easiest delivery and most agreeable baby. She slept almost all night...in her own bed...from the time she got home. As a little one, she rarely cried to let us know she was awake. Usually, we'd go in and find her smiling in her crib. When she got to where she could stand, you knew she was awake because you'd hear the "thud" of toys being hurled from the crib to the floor. That should have been a warning. Her room still looks like things have just been tossed from somewhere else. We have three boys and one girl. I am here to tell you that the one girl's room is in far worse order than the boys' places. We sometimes have to call in Haz-Mat teams just to wake Samantha up in the morning.

Samantha visited Channel 9 quite often as she grew up...often on those Take Your Daughter (later Child) to Work Days. The first time, Maria Antonia gave Samantha an inflatable flamingo. I'm not sure where it came from or why Maria had it on her desk...and I don't really want to know, frankly. But, she was nice enough to let Samantha drag it home. Every visit since, Samantha will ask if she's going to receive an inflatable bird of some kind. She's quite an ornithologist, specializing in birds of the latex variety.

That rubber bird is one of Samantha's fondest memories. Now, she's been to the Rockies and Nashville and DisneyWorld and Washington DC and Gettysburg and Branson and, of course, Wisconsin. She's had lots of good times and opportunities. Still, in addition to the flamingo episode, when you ask her for a favorite time past, she'll talk about a day when just the two of us went for an outing. She was very little at the time. Her brothers were in school. Our first stop was the bank. The teller at the window couldn't see the little sweetie in the backseat so I made a point of asking for a lollipop. Samantha remembers that. We went to FAO Schwarz and Samantha picked out one little doll. Samantha still has it...somewhere in that room of hers! Then, we ate at a place called Canyon Cafe. Samantha could tell you what we both ordered. It was just a day. Nothing too exceptional. No plane trip or pony or anything like that. Still, she always brings it up when her birthday rolls around.

Her remembering of that day, is the gift she gives me every December 14!

Happy Birthday, Sweet-Pea.

You're looking at the title of this bloggy, thinking "Well, who could blame his wife? She should probably make him sleep on a hammock in the backyard...preferably somebody else's hammock in somebody else's backyard." But, this is not a cry for marital help. Well, not on my part, anyway. This is just an answer to a couple of viewer inquiries and it goes back to our stormy Tuesday.

When it started to look like the weather was going to be tricky for Tuesday, I decided to drive in on Monday evening. I'm from Wisconsin so I learned to drive in winter conditions. However, that was mostly snow. Ice is a whole different situation. Back in the Ice Storm of 2002, I remember driving home from work in pouring rain, grabbing a couple of suits and goodies, then going back downtown for the next three days or so. In the days of our 1049 Central location, we were allowed to stay at one of the beautiful hotels right across the street from the station, if necessary. Our new building does not have a hotel or motel that close...so, when I got in, I figured I'd just camp out somewhere quiet and dark.

I got to the station at around 6:00 on Monday evening...which gave me ample time to annoy people I rarely get to see. Of course, before going in the building, I had to get the various court orders temporarily rescinded so I could do my job. (That darn Jim Flink is such a stickler!) It was great...for me...to say hello to people like Len Dawson and Marcus Moore and Martin Augustine. Martin told me about the new baby in his household. Marcus told me about his new house. Mr. Dawson said "Aren't you a little old to be the new intern?"

Sometimes, at the old building, I would sleep on the foam cushions and mats we used for the JellyBeans obstacle course. JellyBeans was KMBC's kids' show back in the late 80s. It was pretty comfy but I didn't appreciate the green slime that automatically fell from the ceiling whenever I made a move. In the new building, we have no green slime but we do have a green room. That's the place where guests wait to go on the air. There are lots of possible reasons they call this waiting place the "green room." One idea is that it goes back to Shakespeare's day when actors would stand in a room filled with plants, thinking the moisture from the greenery was good for the throat. At Channel 9, someone told me they call it the Green Room because that's the color guests turn when they think they may have to see me. Anyway, there is a sofa in there but it was taken. As was the floor. So, I headed for the lobby.

Now, KMBC's lobby is exquisitely decorated with big designer pillows and modern-art looking furniture. There are fancy-schmancy TV screens hanging there. Well, I made myself at home on one of the davenports. I like the word "davenport." Sounds classier than sofa or couch. My mother used to call it a davenport. Nowadays, you say that and people hand you a map of Iowa. Davenport was actually the brand name of a company that made things to sit on. Over time it became a synonym for sofa. Like Kleenex is for tissue or Dockers for pants or Nichols for doofus.

Anyway, around 9:00 p.m. I hunkered down in the lobby and tried to get a little shut-eye. I must have slept a bit because when I woke up there was a night-time drool stain on the designer pillow. It looked like a silhouette of Richard Nixon eating a kumquat. After turning the pillow over and cleaning up the crumbs from the peanut butter sandwich I had been eating when I dozed off, I picked up my shoes and sneaked out. I sure hope they don't have a hidden camera in there anywhere.

So, to answer the question: I slept on the couch in the lobby of KMBC. After this week, I'm thinking of opening a small Bed & Breakfast on the front lawn of the new station. Maybe out among the giant satellite dishes. If you sleep near those radioactive plates often enough, you can become your own nightlight.

Comments: Thank you to those who have taken time to let me know you actually read this cyber-silliness! It is great to know you're out there. The little tale about holiday commercials got some of you walking down memory lane, too! One viewer mentioned the Hallmark ads that made her misty-eyed. Another mentioned that she, too, was a non-coffee drinker in a family of java fans. She mentioned that "coffee" is actually a line item in her church budget!

Please, keep the e-mails coming and thanks, again, for reading this stuff.

Coffee: Speaking of the "Nectar Of The North," our day at Starbucks was fun and educational. You practically need to be a physicist to get all the right ingredients in the right amounts! Kris Ketz was on pastry patrol for a time. Even when he was saying "Cranberry bliss?" he sounded authoritative and anchorman-esque. "This just in: Cranberry Bliss? Or Cranberry Miss?" Donna Pitman had the most difficult job. She was actually in charge of putting everything together and getting the right size cap for the cup! Not as easy as it sounds. Of course, I was there to heckle. My job? I was in charge of squirts. That is, putting the right flavorings in the cup before Donna added the coffee. I got mint mocha all over myself. Eventually I just started to add random flavors. They put these letters on the side of the cups but it started to cause flashbacks of Romper Room when I couldn't identify the various letters before Miss Frances moved onto the next one! Well, we made it and didn't cause too much damage. Thanks to all who came in and said hello while supporting The Children's Miracle Network.

Crazy: That is the adjective that works for my schedule the rest of this month. Since TV folks are not allowed to take off during certain "ratings" months, everybody has to pile into the remaining opportunities...like December. So, I may not be writing as often as usual. That is my holiday present to all of you!

Have a safe weekend and THANKS for everything!

The title, above, is not the position I have aspired to...some are born flaky...some have flakiness thrust upon them. According to a sizable number of viewers, however, I do hold that exalted place: First Of The Flakes! No, that is not what I'm scribbling about. (Can you "scribble" in cyber-space!?) I am talking about all of us having flakiness thrust upon us, today.

It should be a fairly gentle, light snow deal through the day...manageable. Still, it is the first of the season so take it easy. The National Weather Service has issued a Snow Advisory. This is one of those things that still makes me scratch my head. Of course, to be fair, so does the prospect of tying my shoes when I get dressed for work at two in the morning. Anyway, this is the kind of thing that we never felt was important enough to actually name. It's December. It's cold. It may snow. Who really needs advice about that? Anyway, just be ready to drive through some mostly light snow this afternoon.

Speaking of driving in the winter, Thursday morning on FirstNews, the newest member of the FirstNews family, Jana Corrie, told us about road crews using beet juice as a way to keep the streets a little less slippery. Being a native Wisconsinite, where our license plates declare we are America's Dairyland, (During a contest to rename the state license slogan, I, among many, suggested "Wisconsin-Smell Our Dairy Air!" It didn't make the cut.) I thought immediately of such a sweet concoction enticing cows to the roadways. One of Jana's guests said that the beet juice is sometimes used to sweeten up the hay and goodies for livestock, so it was not a totally out-of-whack idea. In fact, several viewers chimed in via e-mail on this very subject. One was concerned about deer finding it tasty as well! Not a good thing. Another wondered if it meant hunters would set up their blinds along the highways, now. One said she figured the FDA would soon issue a warning that the added sugar is making our streets and highways obese! Later she sent an e-mail suggesting the way for these chubby byways to lose the extra girth would be with the weight-loss plan called CURVES! Another viewer called to say he was worried that the deer and cows will get out on the roads, lick the surface and get frozen in place. Like the old tongue on the pump problem! A whole new traffic hazard for Johnny Rowlands. "We have some standing cows about to become ground beef out on 71 Highway so get off at the Vegetarian Drive exit." Finally, a viewer told me to MOOOOO-ve on and quit talking about cows. He also mentioned that he will not eat beets! He had too many as a youngster.

Well, watch out for the flakes, the beet juice and the very confused cows.

Remember that movie? It starred Karen Valentine and John Davidson...both of whom have become sometime residents of our town thanks to The New Theatre Restaurant. Karen Valentine was on after*words once, many years ago. When she asked where the restroom was I said, "Down the hall and to your left. It's Room 222!" Fortunately, our camera operator, Betty, was able to convince Ms. Valentine to stay and chat. Anyway, the movie of the same name as this bit of bloggifery, had to do with a stewardess (that's what they used to call them) with two husbands. That's not what this thing is about...although Channel 9 management often encourages me to seek some other employment...especially something that would take me thousands of miles away from here. Actually, this bit of cyber-fluff does concern my taking a second job...sort of.

This morning, Wednesday December 5, from around 10:00 until 11:00, or until they throw me out...so maybe, in reality from 10 until 10:05...I will be serving coffee at the Starbucks on the Plaza. A portion of the money will go to support The Children's Miracle Network. I won't be alone in my efforts. Kris Ketz and Donna Pitman will be there, too. It is a little unfair. Both of them actually know what all those ventis and grandes and mochas and lattes are...they can afford 'em and they drink 'em. I am not a coffee guy. When I go to a Starbucks with my wife, she orders me a hot chocolate, then makes me sit at a different table.

When I was a kid, coffee was coffee. Most of the houses I visited were divided between Folgers and Butternut. Cronkite or Huntley-Brinkley. Ford or Chevy. Plain or Star-bellied. Oh, wait. That last one had to do with Sneetches, not neighbors. Although, there was this one family I had questions about. Anyway, we didn't have all the fancy stuff. One Christmas, a guy did go door to door trying to sell "What Fell Outta Santa's Beard Mocha Blend" but he was arrested. If you took cream and sugar in your coffee, even that marked you as someone to be viewed with caution. Coffee was taken black. Period. Juan Valdez was about as exotic as we got. It seemed like every home had a coffee pot on the stove. Not a coffee-maker! Sorry Joe Dimaggio! A coffee pot! I loved those old tin pots. When I was a kid you could make really cool spaceships out of such things. I well remember my mom keeping me busy by letting me sit on the kitchen floor and play with the coffee pot. Sometimes she'd let it cool down first. To this day, when we're back for a visit, and she's had about enough of me, she'll slowly take the old coffee pot and some Tupperware out of the cupboard, put it on the floor and I'm amused for hours.

Anyway, just about everyone drank coffee in my hometown. Except me. I never developed a taste for it. I loved the aroma but that may have had more to do with living in a house with three sweaty older brothers and a dog. My wife and her family are coffee experts, too. So, when we married she tried to interest me in coffee. I tried but it didn't take. My lack of coffee intake means a couple of troubling things:

*My behavior can't be blamed on too much caffiene.
*When I go somewhere for coffee...I don't have coffee. This is not too big a deal since I am never invited out or over for coffee.

Well, if you're near the plaza Wednesday morning and want to see Kris Ketz and Donna Pitman perform their barista duties flawlessly and me stumble around with Gingerbread Latte, Peppermint Mocha, or Egg Nog Latte, come into the Starbucks. You'll be helping lots of great kids...even with hot coffee and a muffin in your lap.