One of the questions I get most often when I'm talking to people about First News is: "What time do you go to work?" The answer is 3:30 am. Their jaws drop. Then I add that I get up at 2:15 am to make sure I'm at KMBC on time. The response: they shake their heads and say, "I don't know how you do it." I don't either sometimes.

But if you needed any more proof that I'm a little off my rocker, I actually enjoy the early shift. I really do. This is the second time I've done it, and thankfully, I've got a pretty good system down. I'm in bed most weeknights by 7:00 pm. That's right, my four-year-old son tucks me into bed. I've found that's the only way to survive the crazy hours.

That doesn't mean I don't experience some severe sleep deprivation from time to time. It happens. That's just one of the realities of working the morning shift. But I'm also home early every day, which means I can spend a lot of quality time with my family. (At least, I hope they consider it quality time.) Since both of my kids are young, we have the whole afternoon for hardcore "Sorry!" games and trips to the pool and the park.

Ironically, I never considered myself a morning person before I started doing morning news about five years ago. I was a bit of a night owl. Boy, do times change. One more interesting note: I'm not a coffee drinker, so I do all this without caffeine. I think both Donna and Joel are thankful that I'm decaffeinated. The thought of me with a "caffeine boost" scares them.