Turning 33 in the Big Apple

Monday I turned 33 and what better way to celebrate than with a trip to New York City!  Erica's friend, Jessica, is a traveling nurse and invited us to stay at her place in the Upper East side of Manhattan.  With the city only six hours away, we jumped at the chance!

Of course right before the trip, all of us got sick...and Erica and Emerson ended up in the emergency room (two different occasions on two different days...).

Fortunately we all recovered and had a great time in the Big Apple.


Here's some highlights:

- Erica dropping me off at Dr. Oz and then driving through the streets of Manhattan during morning rush hour to find where we were staying.  No GPS.  No maps.  Just a tough mama and little lady in the back seat!  

- Erica finding on-street parking directly in front of the place where we were staying...then getting a $65 parking ticket 10 minutes later.  It ended up being much cheaper than a parking garage!


- Seeing a taping of Dr. Oz with my cousin Allison.  We learned how to lose 10 pounds, why we can't stop farting, and how to get rid of chronic pain.  Our free giveaway was a probiotic that's guaranteed to reduce gas!




- A two hour behind-the-scenes tour of Fox News.  A few weeks ago, one of their meteorologists started following me on Twitter.  I randomly decided to reach out and ask for a tour of FNC...and she said yes!  She was out of town but arranged to have one of her colleagues show us around.  He was awesome, answered all our questions, and everyone LOVED Emerson.

- Spending hours in Central Park on a beautiful Saturday.  So many interesting things to do...so many cool things to see!

- Resting at the LDS Church building/temple in Manhattan.  In the middle of one of the world's busiest city's, we stopped at a quiet church and took a nap.  While there, we ran into a family whose son served his mission for a few days in Richmond while waiting for his VISA to Sweden.  Small, small world.

- Getting an hour reflexology foot massage in Chinatown.


- Eating delicious pasta in Little Italy.  We sat next to two ladies who adored Emerson...and several people stopped to squeeze her little cheeks!  

- Eating yummy $1 slices of pizza almost every day...and devouring incredible waffles from a food cart in Times Square.  We've been craving them ever since we got home!

- Hanging out with cousins Peter and Allison and celebrating our birthday's with 16 bean soup and a Kit-Kat ice cream sandwich cake.  So fun to see them again!

- Delicious breakfast, lunch, and dinner every day...and tasty snacks everywhere we went.  We are seriously having food withdrawals...big time.

- Spending my birthday morning with VIP passes to Good Morning America. We watched the entire show from inside the Times Square studio and then were part of "GMA LIVE" afterwards. Robin Roberts is so incredibly nice and spent time talking with us (she liked my spiky haircut). Even after she took a picture with us that didn't turn out, she came back over and posed for another one. She is as genuine in person as she is on TV. Zooey Deschanal was a guest and threw a mini-tantrum before air. She loudly told a producer she would NOT answer a particular question and warned that they better not ask it! 

- Exploring all the fun stores in Times Square.

- Not having to pay money for an expensive hotel because a kind friend let us crash at her place (even with a crying baby waking up every few hours). -  Having an incredibly patient, loving, and terrific wife and daughter endure hours of walking to create lifelong memories!  

A Millionaire's Table

Last week I was assigned to cover an estate sale.

The man died and his family was selling everything.

My photographer and I showed up at the house, walked in, and quickly realized this was no ordinary sale.

No...the owner of this home had been a senior VP of Sony Music...and you could tell!

Andrew Piretti lived in New York but kept a house in Richmond and after he retired, he moved here for good.

He never married, lived alone, and enjoyed collecting unique and expensive stuff.  He owned well over 5000 CD's and most were still in brand new packaging.

Most of his third floor was filled with musical memorabilia.  He had met every artist that ever worked with Sony and had an autographed photo or poster to prove it.

Among personalized notes from U.S. Presidents, photos with Pope's, a $50,000 piece of artwork, and $700 shower curtains, the most sought-after items were in Piretti's Michael Jackson collection.

An original Michael Jackson jacket from his "BAD" tour.

The auction company told me that a woman from Paris wanted the Jackson stuff so bad she called 18 times to make sure it would be hers!

A few days later, Erica and I went back to see what was left in the house.

We were surprised that the dining room table and chairs were still there.  The owner probably paid at least $10,000 and you could tell.  The table had drawers under each place setting for silverware and each wooden chair was uniquely carved with a hand-stitched seat cushion.

This photo doesn't do the table justice...but it's the only photo we have.

The auctioner was asking $2400 for the table and chairs (not bad) but told us he'd sell it to us for $1000.  WOW!

As tempting as the offer was, we don't really need a new table right now so we said no. 

On the way out, Erica dropped a silent bid of $500 into the bucket.  We knew we it didn't stand a chance but we figured we'd give it a shot.

A few hours later, out of the blue, the auctioner called and said our bid had been accepted!

WHAT?  Seriously?  A fancy table with 8 chairs for $500?  

Wow.

The auctioner told us we had to pick up the table the next day (Sunday) so we frantically called around to find a truck.

Our good buddy Daniel came to the rescue and we agreed to meet up the next day.

That night we cleaned the house, moved our old table into another room, and started making plans to sell it on Craigslist.

The next day, as we were getting ready for church, the auctioner called Erica.  

"Your offer was for the table upstairs on the third floor, right?"

Uh...no.  That table - the white plastic set - was not worth anywhere near $500.

The auctioner responded, "We're asking $2400 for the dining room set.  $500 is not an acceptable offer.  Have a good day."

Gee...thanks.

Our dreams of getting a fancy dining room table and chairs from the former VP of Sony Music were dashed. 

Ah well.  We did end up with about 30 of his CD's.  They're for sale on Amazon right now.  Wanna buy one?

WRIC Richmond News and Weather -

The Commercial that Everybody is Talking About

Have you seen the latest viral video that everybody's passing around?

No...not the dancing woman at the bus stop (that one is good)...or the singing dogs...or the talking babies...

I'm talking about the video released on September 11 from a telecommunications company in Thailand.

It's called "Giving" and the three minute ad is one you won't forget.

The "Large" News Man

The other day I ran into Home Depot to grab some stuff so we could stain our deck.

I purposely went to the self check-out line so I could quickly get out and avoid talking with anyone (Erica was in the car with our sleeping baby and the missionaries were waiting at our house to help).

As I was scanning my items, the worker comes over and says, "Are you Nate Eaton?"

I told her I was.  She replied:

"I watch you every night and wow!  You really have put on some weight since you got married!  I say that every time you come on my TV!"

Serious.  Her exact words.  Word for word.

I wasn't quite sure how to respond so I said, "Uhh...yep...I sure have!  And I think I've gained a little more weight since we had our little girl three months ago!"

She told me she couldn't wait to get home and tell her daughter that she had met Nate Eaton (the fat one) and I went out to the car and told Erica what happened. 

Hey - it's that fat reporter from channel 8 interviewing the Richmond Police Chief.

We laughed...but the truth of the matter is...

Our wedding day - 20 lbs. lighter

She's right.

I have gained almost 20 pounds since our wedding day in 2011.  Erica is an incredible cook and makes delicious dinners and treats...but she's not to blame.

I find myself eating more potato chips, donuts, and buffalo chicken dip...and drinking more Coke, Dr. Pepper, and Cheerwine (that stuff is good!).

Many people gain weight after they get married...or when they have a new baby...or when they're stressed...

But not many people make a living as they show themselves to hundreds of thousands of people on television every night.

 

Have to keep the blood pressure in line

So I decided I need to do something.  Although I run several times a week, more is needed to shed some of these pounds!

I got with my friend Jesse and asked if he could design a training program for me.

A few weeks ago we met at Gold's Gym and he worked me.  Hard.

He put together a personalized work-out that I printed and downloaded to my phone.

Since that day, I've been back to the gym consistently and check in with him almost every day.

I have a long way to go and that's why I'm writing this blog.  

I'm committing to you and the world that I will lose weight so viewers won't call me fat anymore and so I look decent on TV (oh...and so I can feel better and have more energy and be sexier and all that).

I know this is a battle many, many, MANY people face.  How have you been able to lose weight?  Resist junk food?  Look slimmer on TV? 

I'll keep you updated on my progress...and promise I won't be one of those crazy obsessed people that's always talking about weight and calories and how much I lifted and my six-pack.

Tomorrow morning I head back to the gym.  The Gold's next to Martin's...ya know, the store that sells the delicious chocolate iced glazed donuts.

I'll be there around 8.30.  Hope you can join me!

I'm back!

Time to dust off the old blog and get back to writing!  I have a bunch of unfinished posts written since January that I could publish...but I think I'll start fresh with what's been happening in the life of the Eaton's!











In March, I sign a "senior reporter" contract with WRIC TV8.

A week later, we buy a brand new house!  It's five minutes from our apartment, in the same

LDS ward, and closer to work.  The builder asks more than we can afford...but we low-ball an offer AND request a new driveway and deck.  We're pleasantly shocked when he says "YES" to everything!



We move in and begin painting, decorating, and getting the nursery ready.  I swear we have everything a baby girl could possibly ever need.
















Because our little family is expanding, we say farewell to my Honda and buy a Jeep Liberty from some friends down the street.  I'm a little sad to see my Civic go -  it's been with me since 2006 and carried me across the country to Virginia.  I get over it quickly - as I don't have to worry about the Jeep overheating every time I turn on the AC.

Erica and I enroll in "hypnobirthing" classes and spend an hour every week under hypnosis.



We learn skills that will help Erica have a pain-free, relaxing labor and birth experience.  Did it work?  You'll have to read her blog to find out...






With birth classes out of the way and a house, car seat, nursery, crib, diapers, and boxes of wipes ready to go, all we need is a baby!








She's supposed to arrive May 26.  We throw a birthday party - complete with a "Happy O birthday" cake and pizza.  She doesn't show.



Memorial Day comes.  We buy 15 bags of mulch and spend hours working in the yard.  Erica hopes this will help baby along.  She doesn't show.

We go to the doctor.  An induction date is set - Monday 10 June at 8am.

No need for that though!  

The Friday before we're watching "The Rainmaker" and Erica starts to have frequent contractions.

We try to go to bed and get some sleep.  It doesn't happen.

Erica labors all night.

At 5am we go to the hospital.

Jennifer, the midwife, meets us there.

For the next 11 hours, Erica endures the most painful experience of her life.

Finally, at 4.02pm on 8 June 2013, I catch Emerson Lily Eaton in my arms and put her on my incredible wife's chest.

 8 pounds even.  20.75 inches long.

We are speechless.

 We are in awe.

We are grateful.

 Now Emerson's three weeks old.  It feels like we've known her forever and she's always been a part of our family.

 She's changed us so much. (Will we ever sleep again?)  I had two weeks off work and didn't want to go back!  It's hard to leave the most beautiful girls in the world to go report on murders, fires, scandals, and crime...but thank goodness I get to come home to them!

 So now we are parents.  Weird.

 Erica is a mom.

I am a dad.

Me.  A dad.

Uh....that just doesn't sound right...but hey, if I'm gonna be a dad, I want to be Emerson's dad.

Ya know, I knew I would love her.

I just didn't know I'd love her this much.