Leanne's Life

So long Shawnie

July 28, 2009 by Leanne

Right now my mom is home crying her eyes out. Just hours ago her lovely cat, Shawnie, died of kidney failure. Shawnie was an absolutely beautiful cat with pure white long fur and magical blue eyes. We got her from the humane society the summer of 1990 – just days after my dad had been diagnosed with kidney cancer. She was actually his companion and kitty buddy for the remaining few months that he lived. He died in September that year.

Shawnie 1990 - 2009

If there was ever the “sweetest cat ever” – that title went to Shawnie. She constantly purred and loved sitting in laps. She was never sickly and lived a very long, happy life. Nineteen years is a pretty long time – we were lucky to have her for so long.

My mom is obviously taking it very hard. For the past five years or so Shawnie has been at moms side – sleeping next to or on top of her every night. I last saw Shawnie yesterday and it was obvious her time was coming. She looked awful and was having a hard time walking. I’m glad I got to say good-bye yesterday. She is in a good place now.

Shawnie & Mikita sharing dinner

Category Family | Tags: Animals,Cat,Family,Mikita,moms | 1 Comment

BlogHer 09

July 24, 2009 by Leanne

BlogHer ’09 is underway and the power of woman is in full throttle. I’ve heard many, many women today say – “This is exhausting!” And I agree. I think it’s because we feel like we are constantly “on”, as in at your fullest potential.

We are constantly meeting new people and at the same time being judged by them. It’s human nature. We all do it whether we admit or not. I think women are especially guilty of sizing each other up. Getting past that, the great think about conventions like this is that it brings people together, often for the first time. It was very much that way for me.

Today I finally met in person, women whom I’ve had only an online relationship with for the past year or two. Yet today, we met face-to-face for the very first time. The coolest thing was, we recognized each other from across the room without having to say “Hi, I’m Leanne.” We waved at each other and hugged as though we were long lost friends. ..and that was so special! And while I have no pictures to share of these moments, the two that come to mind are Amy of @resourcefulmom and Kelby of @typeamom.

My 24 hours in Chicago have been a whirl-wind trip!

I arrived late yesterday afternoon – getting to the hotel around 6:30pm. This gave me time to unload my bags in my room and walk over to the convention hotel which was about a 10-minute walk. I pre-registered for the convention, looked around surveying the land and then headed out to stock up on bottled water for my hotel room. (Come’on. Why pay $6 a bottle for water when you can buy it down the street at Walgreens for $1.50 bottle.)

I am proud to brag that I completed the BlogHer 5K on Friday morning! Yes – woke up at 6am – to meet in the hotel lobby by 6:30am along with about 50 other die-hard fitness enthusiasts. I must confess… I did not run the 5k.. but super fast-walked it with Maria Bailey of BSM Media. She is fabulous.

My view of the Chicago skyline.

Megan, Kelby and Renee at the panel discussion on Bloggin Tribes

SRO at most of the Mom Blogger conferences

So happy to catch up with Renee (@cutybootycakes)

Margaret, Jodi and Bret of the WDW Moms Panel reunited at BlogHer.

Me and Maria Bailey

Shelli (@militarymom) helping keep things in order

Category Social Media | Tags: | No Comments

Jackson Funeral Stats

July 9, 2009 by Leanne

thriller-michael-jackson Here are the statistics on viewers for Michael Jackson’s funeral this week.

(From Cynopsis)

Michael Jackson Memorial Coverage US Results:

Nielsen reports 31.1 million US viewers watched coverage of Michael Jackson’s public memorial service on Tuesday. The event was carried live from approximately 1p to 4p ET on 18 broadcast and cable networks with a combined household rating of 20.6. The participating networks were ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX, Telefutura, Telemundo, Univision, CNN, Fox News Channel, MSNBC, HLN, BET, E!, MTV, VH1, VH1 Classic, TV Guide Network and TV One. Michael Jackson’s memorial coverage in the US trails that of Princess Diana’s 1997 funeral which totaled 33.2 million and Ronald Reagan’s funeral in 2004 with 35 million viewers.

Worldwide Michael Jackson Coverage also achieved stellar results:

In the UK, approximately 6.3 million viewers on average watched Michael Jackson’s memorial on Tuesday over five channels with BBC2′s coverage garnering the highest share with an average of 4 million viewers. The overall viewer number did not come close though, to the 11 million UK viewers who watched Michael Jackson tribute shows over six channels on June 26.

And per Variety:

In Germany, an estimated 20 million viewers watched over numerous channels with ProSiebenSat. 1′s N24 drawing the most viewers with its all-day coverage.

Mediaset’s Italia 1 channel in Italy posted a 15.7% audience share or 15 million viewers.

Spanish channel Cuatro delivered an 11.7% share and 1.1 million viewers with its special on Michael Jackson.

In France, the memorial aired live on TF1, France 2 and M6 totaling a 51.2% audience share.

Category Misc | Tags: Funeral,Michael Jackson | No Comments

New Citizens @ Magic Kingdom

July 3, 2009 by Leanne

New Citizens Waving the

Since I’ve been working for Disney I’ve been fortunate to be a part of many wonderful, memorable events but nothing as emotional as being there when 1,000 immigrants were being sworn in as new U.S. citizens. Today at the Magic Kingdom, more than 1,000 immigrants representing 100+ countries took the Oath of Allegiance to become U.S. citizens. In that number were 35 Walt Disney World cast members.

Walt Disney World has hosted this ceremony for a number of years, on and off. In years past, the ceremony was held at Epcot but two years ago moved to the Magic Kingdom.

This year was spectacular and emotional in every way. The pride on the faces and the anxiousness in the motions of the new citizens was so special to see. As the immigrants stood when their homeland country was announced, a chill came over me watching them beam with pride, waving their US flags and listening to their families cheer them on. Actor Andy Garcia gave the keynote address speaking about his Cuban heritage. After the 45 minute ceremony, the new citizens and their families were led by Mickey Mouse in a short parade to the Hall of Presidents attraction to see the re-imagineered show featuring the addition of President Barack Obama.