Today marks the end of my first week as a paid, full-time reporter. *

It has been awesome, and only stressful in the best possible way. So far, I’ve covered the arrest of three men in a credit-card fraud case, a school district giving sixth-graders iPads, a surprisingly heated planning board issue (I know, I know. It surprised me too) and more.

It’s great to be back in the mix of news again, to talk with movers and shakers and try desperately to keep my finger on the pulse of the town and city I cover. It’s been awesome to get back into the swing of chasing leads, making calls, shaking hands and asking questions; I’ve even found myself smirking and chortling as I read through stacks and stacks of police and fire department logs looking for the handful of items that might be worth a phone call.

I already love my coworkers and editor, and know that by working with them I’ll become a better reporter, though for now my goal is just to not have to ask so many questions.

I look forward to becoming a well-oiled news machine.

Keep an eye out for my byline.

*For those of you who don’t know, I left the good people at the Kennebec Journal in Augusta — including my excellent boss and journalism mentor for the past year, Tony Ronzio — to take a job as a reporter for The Forecaster.

In case you don’t live in Southern Maine, The Forecaster is a weekly covering the greater Portland area. It has four editions (Southern, Portland, Northern and Mid-Coast). I’m the new reporter for South Portland and Scarborough, a city and town, respectively, in the Southern Forecaster’s coverage area.