Episode 1 - Meet The Squad!
So just who is this crew of Madison Mom's that makes up the Squad? We find out when Krista introduces you to Shanna Powell, Corrina Crade and Dr. Jasmine Zapata. Plus Krista reveals who would be devastated to be kicked out of the library, which mom may buy too much juice as well as which Mom Squader is best suited to survive the Zombie Apocalypse when Krista puts the Mom Squad On The Spot.
Lanette’s Lazy Taco Stuffed Shells
What do you get when you mix tacos and pasta?? A delicious LAZY recipe that everyone loves! Get the recipe and see a picture here.
Lanette’s Lazy Teriyaki Chicken Casserole
Who knew Teriyaki was so lazy!
For more of Lanette's Lazy Recipes, click here!
Back To School Photo Winner
Magic 98 knows this year, going back to school is a little different so we want to have some fun and help out with the cost of school supplies. Every parent loves taking photos of their kids on the first day of school! Whether you’re sending them to learn at school or at the kitchen table, we're so glad you shared them with us!
See our winner below... Nala, who is in third grade (class of 2030!) at Chavez Elementary. Nala and her mom, Yee, win $200 Visa Gift Card, thanks to Smart Motors!
Listen: Thank You Thursday Shout-Outs
Right now, there's a lot to be thankful for. We're especially thankful for our local doctors, nurses and other healthcare workers, teachers, grocery store staff, first responders, truckers, and delivery workers... the list of people working to keep our community healthy and strong goes on and on. Maybe you're thankful for a complete stranger that helped you, or the kids who made you smile with their sidewalk chalk art. It might be someone who fulfilled your online grocery order, or a neighbor who left hand-sanitizer on your porch.
Thank You Thursdays celebrates the people we have to be thankful for... listen to shout-outs we did during the COVID-19 quarantine in 2020 below...
Melissa thanks her sister, Tracy
Dean thanks the Magic Crew, for keeping him company
Chris thanks Tracy, for her trust and support
Kristine thanks Jim from the Verona Lions Club
Paul thanks his mom, Mary, for making masks for her community
Donna thanks Laurel and Lisa from Our Redeemer Lutheran School in Madison
Laurie thanks Kate who's started a fun pay-it-forward group in Columbus
Lori thanks Karben4 Brewing for the "Drive Thru Tap Rooms" that she looks forward to each week
Terie wrote to us about Deb (pictured below) who is working extra hard to keep her staff safe
Kim gives a shoutout to her neighbors who have been helping her, help others
Cindy thanks Kurt who went out of his way for Teacher Appreciation Day
Theresa shares a thank you to long-term care providers
Kris wrote in to thank all our mail carriers
Diane thanks Dee, who is answering the call for face masks and kindness
Laurie thanks Julie from Julie's Java House in Columbus
Mari thanks Jeremy from Summit Credit Union
Amanda and Kristine work at Festival Foods in Verona
Thank You Thursdays is a token of our appreciation for all of those who are going above and beyond to take care of one another, from Magic 98! Nominate someone with the form below...
Lanette's Blog: Grace
Grace. It’s a beautiful name. It’s even better as a virtue. It’s a word that has continually popped into my head over the last month. Emotions are running high no matter where you go… and you can sit and try to define everything. And look online to find out just how to treat these new found problems and issues. But it all comes down to one word… 'grace.' Give it, take it, offer it, smoosh it all around like peanut butter on bread. (Great…now I’m hungry.) Because, life is just one big decision-making process. And you can go with your emotions, or you can go with grace. And by choosing grace… that doesn’t mean that you’ll always just magically fall into that beautiful place. (That place that it looks like everyone else has figured out how to get to based on their perfect pictures on social media.) Sometimes you’ll have to work through emotions and make wrong decisions before finding grace… but it’s a destination worth the trudge, I’m told at least. I’m still working to get there, too.
Hear Lanette Hansen on the Magic Morning Show, weekdays from 5:45-10! Get in touch with her and read more of her blogs here.
Jim's Blog: Tips for Working From Home
I have expertise in a lot of stuff very few people care about, so I'm not used to having expertise others might find useful. But I have worked mostly out of a home office since 2003, and my wife has worked at home since 2012. We have some tips that might help you deal with the new reality of working from home.
Get dressed in the morning. You don't have to dress like you would if you were actually going to the office, but get out of your pajamas and shower. You'll feel more like your working self.
Stick to a schedule. If your employer doesn't care when you work as long as you put the time in, that's great. You can vary your workday to accommodate a spouse, kids, or whatever's going on in your life. (Word of warning: once you get the the flexibility to set your own schedule, you'll have a hard time giving it up when things get back to normal) But try to get to your workspace at a designated time as much as possible. This is easy for Ann to do, as she is required to punch in by 7:30 every morning. I'm more flexible, but I generally try to be dressed and at my desk by 9AM. Take a lunch hour—away from your desk. Take a coffee/smoke/sanity break in the morning and afternoon.
When you've made your work schedule, do your best to stick to it. This can be really difficult. You'll be tempted to take 10 minutes in the middle of the morning to load and fold some laundry, and before you know it, you've spent an hour doing chores. (This is me, all the time, even after 16 years of working from home.)
Respect work time and workspace. At our house, Ann works downstairs and I work upstairs. But not everybody does. The daughter of a friend of mine has a 452-square-foot apartment in New York City that she shares with her fiance. They've hung up signs labeling their their bedroom as “Conference Room 1” and the kitchen as “Human Resources” just to create a sense of normalcy. If only one of you is working but you're both at home, the one who isn't working has a responsibility to respect the other's time and space. If you wouldn't call your spouse at the office to ask where she put those new socks you bought last weekend, don't stomp into her home workspace to ask.
Related to this: if you're using your home computer for work and you receive regular alerts from Facebook or other social media, you might want to turn those alerts off. There's software that blocks social media entirely or limits your access to it, if that helps.
Prepare to adjust to isolation. If you are used to a busy office, working alone or nearly alone in your house will be distracting at first. Listening to the radio (we're still here and are always going to be) can be helpful. Some people turn the TV on just for the sound, and Ann listens to books on Audible, but those might not work for everyone. If you have colleagues who are working in their homes and you need to stay in touch, don't just text or e-mail back and forth. Call them, webchat, or Skype with them from time to time. You, and they, will welcome that kind of contact.
Schedule time away from your spouse and family. Somebody observed on Twitter the other day that your drive home from work is decompression time, which allows your brain to transition from work life to home life. His advice was to schedule a walk after work, or some other thing that helps you draw a line between the parts of your day. But beyond that: no matter how close you are to your spouse, or how close you are as a family, 24/7 togetherness will get old, and probably pretty soon. So schedule some time apart. Give the other person some space. If you have a dog, you don't have to walk it together. If you have a TV in the basement, it's OK for one of you to spend the evening down there—or even sleep down there now and then.
All of this advice comes with a caveat: Ann and I don't have children, and having kids at home will certainly make some of this stuff more difficult. If you have some tips for working at home, let me know. My e-mail is jim.bartlett@magic98.com. I'd be happy to share some of your ideas in a future post.