THE CANADIAN BABY SEAL SLAUGHTER

I get an email like this every year from the Humane Society. It is about the opening day of the Canadian baby seal slaughter / clubbing. Turns out that the Canadian government will not issue permits for journalists to cover it. What could they possibly want to hide? It sickens me. Sorry to be "Debbie Downer" on a Friday, but if you are interested, please let your voices be heard.

"Dear kim,

Just before dawn this morning, the annual hunt for baby seals began in Canada.Over the next few weeks, 275,000 harp seals will be brutally clubbed or shot for their fur. Incredibly, though, many people believe that Canada ended this hunt in the 1980s. But it's still happening, right now. That's why the sealers don't want us here -- with our cameras rolling.For four years, The Humane Society of the United States' ProtectSeals team has stood its ground as Canada's extraordinary harp seal nurseries are transformed each spring into bloody killing fields. The sealers have rammed our cars, smashed our boats, and brandished the very same clubs that they use to kill baby seals -- all in a vain attempt to intimidate us.
Then yesterday, Canada's government took an unprecedented step: It refused to issue hunt observation permits to our team -- and to journalists -- in time for us to document the slaughter this morning. This means that sealers, if they have reached the seals by now, are killing baby seals without witnesses. Which is exactly what they want. Watch our video to see what we're up against. It's hard to watch (and you can skip it if you prefer). But it shows why we'll remain here, steadfast, until Canada ends this barbaric hunt for good. Exposing the hunt is the surest way I know to stop it forever.It's heartening to know we're not alone -- because you're standing with us. As one of our most committed supporters on behalf of seals, you have been crucial to our campaign to end the hunt.As another year's slaughter begins, watch our video now -- and then please make a donation to sustain our team on the ice and end this hunt once and for all. The seal hunters don't want us here, but with your support, we'll continue the fight until the cruel hunt ends.

Sincerely,
Rebecca Aldworth
Director of Canadian Wildlife IssuesThe Humane Society of the United States "

MY FAVORITE DENTIST

I'm human. I don't enjoy going to the dentist. But honestly? I have found a dentist that *really* goes out of his way to take the anxiety (and pain) out of the process. YIPPEE! I'm telling ya, these pearly whites? They take / took a lot of work over the years. Some people eat what they want, brush occasionally and never get a cavity. I get a cavity just thinking about a gumball (Okay...so I can't walk past ANY gumball machine without buying one...and if I don't have a quarter? I have no problem asking a stranger for one...that was an exaggeration, but you get the point.)

The only drawback with a dentist constantly checking with you to see if you're feeling any pain is that he usually asks while there is a bunch of tools in your mouth and it is difficult to answer. I'm not sure how he distinguishes a mumbled "no" from a mumbled "yes". I guess most people just say "no"!

Since it is Spring Break, his ADORABLE little girls, Sloan & Cameron, were hanging out with Dad in the office. I had a nice little chat with the star TENNIS players...Watch out Wimbledon!

Thanks Dr. Morra!

ENGAGED!

With SPRING comes a new beginning: On March 21 I got engaged to my soul mate, Ben.

!!!!!!!!!

I still can't believe what happened to me this morning. Care to take a trip back in time with me? The day started out not all that unusual: the alarm went off at 2:10 am. I rolled over and had my usual bout of "I hate this...I'm so tired...I just want to sleeeeeeeeeeeeep" and convinced myself that it was Friday after all, and that it would be okay, with the weekend just a hop, skip & a jump away. Under the bright flashlight in the sky (the full WORM moon -- eeeeewwwwww!), my Pryus sparkled in the moonlight on my trip into Broadcast House. Little did I know that at this early hour, Ben was still my boyfriend -- FIANCE had not entered this meteorologist's lexicon quite yet.

Our shows moved along as usual, but we were missing Mike terribly (please see his blog about his mom and his family's circumstances). Andrea, Angie & I delivered your news, traffic and weather. I got a bit distracted later in the morning, during the Early Show, by poor Angie's unfortunate bridesmaids dresses fiasco. (2 weeks until her big day and the dresses she ordered for them looked nothing like the picture - stay tuned to Angie's blog about *that*.) I was helping her rework an email to the boutique which gladly took her money, but offered her little in customer service.

Before I knew it, the 9am show was in action. Two forecasts, a travel weather segment, and a cooking segment later, I found myself over with Angie and Andrea at the cooking set wrapping up the show. I hadn't noticed the time. If I had, then I might have suspected something was up as we had waaaaaay too many minutes to go and not much to fill those minutes. Meanwhile, hiding in a corner cubicle across the building, Ben was emerging from his "safe place" and making his way towards the studio.

The director and camera operator cleverly had the robotic cameras clumped more together than usual, effectively creating a visual wall to the studio entrance. It wasn't until Ben appeared from around the side of camera 3 that I saw him -- tall and handsome in his TUXEDO and heading towards the cooking set !?! What on earth was Big Ben doing here? Then it all unfolded - he got down on bent knee and expressed his love and a marriage proposal was happening before my eyes.

I couldn't believe it. I wanted to cry. I wanted to scream. But it was so strange because while "inner Kim" was going haywire, "TV Kim" was vaguely kicking into autopilot, knowing that I was still "working" and subdued my emotions. I guess when you work in TV, you get used to things breaking in at the last minute and you are trained to emote calm (as best you can) for impromptu situations or what-have-you.

My true love proposed to me today. I said yes. I got to share that special moment with a lot of special people. My family (all located in other states), through the magic of technology, all got to share in the joy that same day -- Imagine the scene: my sister takes her lunch break and meets my parents at Panera Bread where my mom pops open her laptop. Within minutes they click on the video of the proposal at WUSA9.com. I think my Mom is still at Panera Bread, watching the video over and over. In fact, that's why the video is ranked currently as "most popular" on our website...

Did I mention my TRUE LOVE proposed to me today? Pinch me. I said yes.

"MARTY MARTUCCI" Dog, the Pug Named After Me ?!?

How could I possibly be offended?

When Janice and Brenda emailed me that the latest addition to their family, little Marty, was named after me, my initial reaction was

"Great -- a DOG is being named after me -- what does that say???"

But look at this ADORABLE Pug!

Turns our Brenda and Janice name their dogs with the letter "m". "Martucci" - Marty for short - joins his older brother, Max.

Here are a bunch of pictures of Marty, who was born in Cave City, Arkansas on 1/28/08. It looks like this little stocky guy can hold his own in today's windy weather (gusts to 40mph). How about preparing for that wind chill, huh? No problem for Marty-dog. He most certainly is dressed appropriately in his new blue sweater.

I am fond of the one where he is sleeping with one foot out of his doggie bed. That is tied for the one where he is on his back with his little belly screaming for a rub. "RUB MY BELLY!" I guess Max doesn't mind him literally tagging along -- snuggling right up against his hind quarters.

Okay, there is another dog in my life that I need to tell you about. I'll save my post about "Buddy" for another day...soon. Welcome, Marty, to the 9 News Now family. You make a great mascot. BUT, our team colors are RED. We'll include you on the memo next time...

RACE DAY HAS ARRIVED: MY VIDEO BLOG OF THE SHAMROCK MARATHON, VA BEACH

The sea was angry that Sunday morning ...(I feel like being poetic) From the pre-race chat on the hotel balcony to the sprint at the finish line underneath the watchful eye of the NEPTUNE statue, here is my video blog of Ben's first marathon on race day, Sunday 3/16/08. Special thanks to Steve and Logo Man for supporting Ben with me! (Handing out Gatorade and Power Bars, catching stinky discarded clothing, AND ringing the COW BELL! I've got a fever...)

While at the starting line, we met Chris from Arlington who recognized me. Here is his picture. He was also clumped with the 4 hour pace keepers, like Ben. Nice meeting you Chris!

FINAL STATS:

117 our of 201 men age 30 -
34

1093 out of 2293 runners that
finished

Official Time: 4 hours 14 minutes & 53
seconds

GOOD JOB BEN!

1 DAY TO GO UNTIL THE VIRGINIA BEACH MARATHON!

Tomorrow's Ben's BIG DAY!

Make that: BIG BEN'S BIG DAY


He's been training and training and training for his FIRST MARATHON and Sunday, March 16th IS IT. He and about 3000 other runners will be hitting the Atlantic Avenue pavement for 26.2 miles here in beautiful Virginia Beach for the Shamrock Marathon.

This morning, I shot some video on my way to his 8K race. (BTW, doing this kind of "pre-race" before the BIG DAY - known as the "Whale Challenge" - doesn't quite jive with what the author of the marathon training book says to do. But, it was part of the race festivities weekend and Ben decided to do it. SIDE NOTE: He walked most of it -- at a 12 minute mile pace (5 mph for those keeping track, on the tread mill. And ran the last mile.)



I cheered him on at the finish line, but he didn't see me. We met up after the race (I snuck into the post race area on the beach so he could get his Yuengling and stew --honestly, how bizarre is that? Does a runner really crave beer and stew after running a race???) and his first stop was at the port-o-potty - he wasn't expecting this picture, but his big green bow matched the port-o-potties...TMI???

Then we had a nice stroll back up the beach. I enjoyed the cool Atlantic water on my toes. It felt so good to have the sand underfoot. Have a look for yourself! I'll let you know how Ben's big day turns out ... Still working on that forecast. At this writing, the rain is supposed to be over by race time. Phew...but those winds...Here's the official NWS forecast: Mostly cloudy in the morning...then becoming partly sunny. Windy and cooler with highs in the lower 50s.


Northwest winds 20 to 25 mph with gusts to 40 mph.

PICKLED WATERMELON RIND & CLOSET ENVY in WILLIAMSBURG

Another weekend, another road trip.

Target: Williamsburg VA, The White House Inn (see pic to the right --the Roosevelt room rocks!)

I haven't been down this way since I was a little girl. (Yup, forever mistaken for a boy.) I distinctly remember my family piling into my Dad's Volkswagen Rabbit. The price of gas was as high as I could remember and for years afterr this trip down to Virginia Beach, I would hear my folks bragging about how we made it from "north Jersey to Virginia Beach on one tank of gas!" (It was a diesel.)

The other strong memory I have about that trip was trying Peanut Soup. I knew it was in Colonial Williamsburg, but beyond that, I didn't remember the restaurant. So I had a mini-mission to find that Peanut Soup.

(Side note, prior to this trip, Ben had heard me go on about how much I like peanut soup and had actually made some for me from a Colonial Williamsburg cook book that one of our 9am show guests had given to me. It came out SUPURB.)

In the video below, we came across the King's Arms Tavern. It was our shot at my childhood peanut soup...1982 never tasted so close!

What I loved about this restaurant was a few things. First, our server, Drand, was phenomenal. I used to wait tables. Two things would drive me nuts when working at the Park Ridge Diner: people who ordered any kind of ice cream sundae (took way too much time to make for little in tips) and people who shared dinner (I'm trying to make a living for crying out loud!) So when, Drand, learned that Ben and I were not terribly hungry and preferred to share a huge entree and salad, he didn't mind a bit. In fact, it almost seemed like he went out of the way to make us feel uber-comfortable. He was the best waiter to serve us dinner that we have had in a long time. Ben was careful to take "care" of him in the tip.

Secondly, we ate our dinner with other guests as it got dark out. And, in keeping with colonial times, we ate strictly by candle light. LOVE THAT! For the sake of poetic license, I like to re-tell the story as

"We cheerfully coaxed our corn relish onto our knives to the cadence of the fife player in the room."

Doesn't "fife" make it sound so much more colonial? Well, upon further debate with Ben, we decided that the fife player was, rather, a "recorder" player -- just like the same recorder I played in elementary school in the not-so-colonial-1980's. Sigh. Bygones. The video below has the audio of the recorder player and you can see just how dark it was, save for the lone candle on each table.

And here's another favorite: One of the things we got was an assortment of small dishes that were popular during colonial times: Ham Relish, Corn Relish, and

PICKLED WATERMELON RIND

????WHAT????

Yup, that's right. I have never been a melon fan. Period. When I eat cantaloupe, for example, it is usually with a fork full of pineapple (the pineapple drowns out the taste of the melon.) So the thought of eating the melon's RIND (of all things) and then PICKLED on top of that? My thought bubble was nothing shy of

YUCK-A-DOODLE-DO

Those colonial types...always "curing" their stuff because refrigeration wasn't around. (Ben quickly purchased "The Colonial Williamsburg Tavern Cookbook" the following day.) In that
book it says

"Portuguese traders took watermelons from Africa to
Europe before the first English voyages to the New World. Early settlers carried
watermelon seeds across the Atlantic. The fruit was growing in Virginia gardens
by 1615."

Hello? This pickled watermelon rind was DELISH! "Ben, promise me you'll make this!" Sure enough, he bought the cook book...

How could I possibly top off Pickled Watermelon Rind? Clearly the answer was to revisit the store who's glass enjoyed my nose pressed up against it the day before when I sadly realized it had closed for the day. No doubt, CLOSET ENVY could top off my Williamsburg visit AND my Amex card.

It didn't take long before I spotted this must have MARIA BIANCA NERO number. Cha-ching. How did I justify it? Of course, I positively have nothing to wear to Angie's wedding...not any more!

That's all for now...Next Stop: VIRGINIA BEACH

It looks like rain for Ben's marathon. Let's see if his meteorological girlfriend can intercede on his behalf. I've got Mother Nature's number on speed dial.

A WEEKEND IN CUMBERLAND

My LoVe AfFaIr with Cumberland continues...

CLICK ON THE VIDEOS AT THE BOTTOM!

Over the weekend, Ben and I travelled to Cumberland to mingle with the IN crowd at a soiree thrown by my friends, Kelly Moran and Pam Reynolds (you can read about Pam HERE, in the Hill Rag.) I have come to really enjoy these trips west. If you haven't been, Cumberland is *an historic town nestled in the mountains of Western Maryland. It is filled with historic homes and a CHARMING down town with cool shops and great places to eat. It is about 2 hours from the District. But Frederick residents? You've got it even better, only about an hour and 15 minutes.


We kicked our heels up at the Bruce House Inn. The proprietor, Pam, moved from LA last year and decided, after one trip, that

Cumberland was right where she wanted to be.

She completely renovated this historic building that was once a boys Catholic school and turned it into a charming B & B. Our room was the "monks room" where, obviously, the monks used to live. The Bruce House Inn is an easy walk to the pedestrian-friendly Baltimore Street.

I ran into a favorite, Ed Mullaney, the Downtown Manager. Ed's a hoot and reminds me of a character right out of the movie "It's a Wonderful Life" - in love with his charming city.

One fashionista I had my eye on was Gracie Macy. Turns out, she's the owner of Monkey Business, one of the HIp boutiques you can drop a mini fortune in, looking for fab finds from NY to LA. The next time I'm in town, I'll be strolling over to Monkey Business to see if she really *does* carry fashions larger than size 2 OR if it's just MONKEY BUSINESS!



Saturday night we checked out Cumberland's newest and only cigar and billiards establishment, RED'S. Ben was kicking himself for leaving his darts at home. So, he and his buddy, Steve, had to duke it out for Dart Supremacy with the house set. Red, as I got to see in person, is the owner and indeed has red hair (he was tall, too!)



We capped our weekend off with an ALL-YOU-CAN-EAT brunch at the Rocky Gap Lodge. I was spotted by Joseph Erwin and his wife Nancy. They live up in Needmore, PA. Nancy, GET THIS, commutes to Arlington! It *does* help that she has kids with a place in Montgomery county where she can crash. Phew...Hey Joe, next time you see me piling on the all-you-can-eat-shrimp, say "hi" to me in person!

Thanks Cumberland -- LOVE YOU!

* WHAT'S UP WITH PEOPLE WRITING "A HISTORIC" INSTEAD OF
"AN HISTORIC"? DOESN'T "AN HISTORIC" FLOW BETTER?

BLOG ISSUES...THIS IS A SCARY TEST FROM THE 80s ...

GUESS WHO!

Okay, since Sunday, our "blogger" technology has been acting up, not allowing us to post pictures or video to our blogs. I have this HUGE Cumberland weekend blog all ready to go, but first I have to edit it, insert pictures, and video. That may take a little while, but I hope to have it up by Tuesday night. In the mean time, I thought I would do a TEST picture posting...Evidently, it works. Have I ever mentioned that I was mistaken for a boy a GOOD CHUNK OF MY CHILDHOOD? Hmmm...wonder how that could have happened? THANKS FOR THE GREAT HAIR mom!


BTW...Those little guys are "Snuffy" and "Snoopy", but not necessarily in that order...

WHAT'S IN YOUR BAG? THE VIDEO!

Did you take the quiz from my last blog entry? Are you ready to find out who carrys what food, drink and other odd things in their purse? The 9 News Now Morning Team takes you where cameras normally don't go.

Cue the over-dramatic music, Dim the lights, ROLLING:

WHAT'S IN YOUR BAG?

We women know.

Our purse is that mysterious place. A place where a frantic hand can instantly identify some White Out sitting in that seldom used inside right pocket. Or, perhaps it's Hollywood Tape you need, your fingers feel for the smooth outline of the box. Emergency? You know the one I am talking about. The scene: your co-worker creeps over to your desk with THAT LOOK. That P - L - E - A - D - I - N - G you-have-to-have-one LOOK. No worries, my dear girlfriend, the purse will save you. All discretely tucked away in our safe haven, everything has a home in

OUR PURSE.

And while I'm (briefly) on that line of thought, have you noticed how men are kind of, well, scared of our purses? A new persona emerges, when asked to fetch something out of that feminine mystery bag. Have you noticed that? Rather than delve in to get that badly-needed pen and god-forbid-something-else, he will dangle your purse, hanging by its straps on his index finger, arm extended, waiting for you to just-grab-it-already-and-get-it-for-me-because-there's-NO-WAY-and-I-mean-NO-WAY-I'm-going-in-there.

I thought the stuff I hauled around EVERY DAY with me in my bag was kind of odd (Do I really need box cutters?) And recently I got to gabbing with my 9 News Now girlfriends, Trenice & Angie, about the strange stuff we carry in our

increasINGLY larGER puRSES.

How about a little QUIZ first, shall we?

This young woman is carrying some specific paper in her purse. Is it:

A) A receipt to Target
B) An autograph from Barry Manilow
C) A coupon to one of her favorite stores

Who is it?

A) Angie
B) Trenice
C) Kim

Are you feeling stressed? Then visit this woman's purse for a "gel stress mask". Who is it?

A) Trenice
B) Kim
C) Angie

This person actually told Mike Walter that if he needed to borrow her nasal spray, he could. He'd just have to get it from her purse. This overly-friendly co-worker is:
A) Kim
B) Angie
C) Trenice

Planning a trip to Presque Isle? How about Moosehead Lake? Well, drop those "r's" and warm up some Lobster Bisque while you read this chick's Downeast magazine (of course it is stuffed in her purse!) Who is it?

A) Trenice
B) Angie
C) Kim

Angie gets thirsty, so she keeps some of this in her purse. Is it:

A) Crystal Light
B) Bottled water
C) Hot Chocolate packet

Trenice carries her breakfast in some Tupperware (why not?) around. What was Trenice's breakfast this morning at O-Dark Hundred hours?

A) Grits
B) fruit-on-the-bottom yogurt
C) spinach

Coming up later tonight...

I'll have the NO-HOLDS-BARRED VIDEO, taking you behind the scenes AND in our purses. You will be able to see how you did on the quiz...STAY TUNED!

Kim Martucci's Blog: CHANCE FOR A SHOWER -- A *BABY* SHOWER, THAT IS!

Kim Martucci's Blog: CHANCE FOR A SHOWER -- A *BABY* SHOWER, THAT IS!

CHANCE FOR A SHOWER -- A *BABY* SHOWER, THAT IS!

I'm nervous.

You know that book, "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs" that I like to read to school children that I visit? I could probably read that book, in Chinese, standing on one foot more comfortably than I could put together a BABY SHOWER. (I don't speak Chinese; I hear it is difficult to learn.)

Meet my girlfriend, Lyndall (find out how her name was "invented" in the second video below), and her wonderful husband, Dominic. I like to boast that I knocked some sense into Lyndall's head when, after receiving an amazing bouquet full 0f flowers and the Oklahoma State Flag that had been flown over the OK capital from Dom, that she'd be CrAZY not to date this thoughtful, smart engineer! Obviously, she SAW THE LIGHT. Phew.

Lyndall and Dominic actually PROPOSED TO ME at my good-bye dinner in Wilkes-Barre. HUH? Yes...it's so cute: Dom came over to my chair (I was sitting next to Lyndall) and he knelt down, between us, on one knee and said "Kim Martucci -- Will you marry us?" and slipped the most beautiful CZ I'd ever been seen right onto my finger! You can just barely see it in the pic to the left.

So maybe it is marital obligation that took over me in the video below:



BUT,

I am NOT ALONE.

My good friend, Diane Lee, has agreed to take on this "task" (for lack of a better word -- it's not bad, RATHER, it's just my "fraidy cat" talking) with me. Diane, Lyndall, and I all worked in beautiful NEPA (Northeastern Pennsylvania) and we are still close friends. Diane is now the morning anchor at WXXA Fox 23 News in Albany. Here's a picture of Diane to the right, while at Lyndall's bridal shower. As the picture indicates, Diane is CHOCK FULL O' PERSONALITY and HAS THE SMARTS to match. I'm a good team player, as long as I feel confident that someone *ANYONE* in the group

KNOWS WHERE THE ROCKS ARE.

Dear Diane, she's our experienced hiker. Woo Hoo! I'll leave my compass behind!!

Here's some video of momma-to-be, Lyndall, in all her pregnancy glory!

Now, here's where *you* come in. I would like to ask you, find reader of the Weather Kim blog, for any ideas wrt throwing a baby shower. As you saw in the video above, Lyndall is expecting a BOY. She is not fond of making her guests play a ton of games. But, if there is something in particular that you think would be a hoot -- please let me know!

Some Lyndall and Dom facts:

• She's from Oklahoma (loves the OK State Cowboys) and is a TV anchor
  
• He's from NEPA and is a civil engineer / Penn State grad

Please feel free to leave me a comment. If you prefer to keep your ideas private, you can give me a shout at weatherKim@yahoo.com.

Hope to hear from you!