June 3rd

Every time this date rolls around, I think about one of my all-time favorite shows, Gilmore Girls.

A bit of background: June 3rd was the original date of Lorelai and Luke's wedding, but then they called it off. At another character's wedding, Lorelai gives a drunken toast and keeps repeating the date. I searched for this quote online but never found it, so here it is from Season 6, Episode 19 "I Get a Sidekick Out of You," which originally aired on April 18, 2006:

"Hey do you know what date I'm not getting married? JUNE THIRD. Do not save the date. Do you hear me? Do whatever you want on June third, because there's nothing at all happening on that day. If there's anything you need to book or anything, it's totally safe to book it on JUNE THIRD. So, congratulations Lane and Zach. Who else here had 8 shots of tequila? Anybody? Hands? No."

5 Favorites: TV Edition

For today's 5 Favorites, I'm going to share 5 TV season premieres I'm looking forward to in the next week!

Linking up with Moxie Wife (day late, dollar short)

1.

The Amazing Race

I started watching this show a few years back, and I got hooked. It's definitely less catty than other reality shows (sometimes), and I usually latch on to a team to cheer for until they get eliminated--or race to the finish! Plus, I sorta get to 'see the world' with them. (B says that he could never be a contestant because they mostly just see in the insides of airports. He has a point, when you think about it. They do hurry up and wait a lot. But at least we don't have to watch that part.)

Season 23 premieres Sunday, Sep. 29 at 8pm EST on CBS.

2.

The Middle

Y'all, this show is hilarious. It's set in some fictional Indiana town, so of course it hits home. The mom sorta reminds me of my mother-in-law. The best character, however, is the middle child, Sue. Seriously, watch it and you can't help but root for her. Brick, the youngest, is growing on me, and I think he's B's favorite because he loves the 'Brick whisper.'

I've been watching this show since way before we knew we'd be living here in Indiana, but I've now decided that someone in the writers' circle has ties to Fort Wayne. There is a road I drive almost every day that is dedicated to a police officer named Eryk Todd Heck (Heck is the last name of the family in the series), and a former mayor of Fort Wayne was named Harry Baals (an episode last season involved the oldest child campaigning for a politician because he was named Harry Butts).

Season 5 premieres Wednesday, Sep. 25 at 8pm on ABC.

3.

Modern Family

There's a reason this show has won so many Emmy's. It's just plain awesome. The cast is top-notch, and the writing is good. I love some of the takes on parenting, since that's where I'm at in life. My favorite gem, thus far:

Raising a kid is like sending a rocket ship to the moon. You spend the early years in constant contact and then one day, around the teenage years, they go around the dark side and they're gone. All you can do is wait for that faint signal that says they're coming back. 

And BOTH Sofia Vergara and Julie Bowen are beautiful and hilarious, two things I aspire to be.

Season 5 premeires on Wedensday, Sep. 25 at 8pm on ABC.

4.

The Big Bang Theory

I think the fact that B's 84-year-old grandma enjoys this show says everything.

Season 7 premieres Thursday, Sep. 26 at 8pm on CBS.

5.

Shark Tank

Wouldn't it be neat to be one of the sharks (most of them self-made millionaires) and get to decide on new products to invest in? Plus, I just love seeing some of the more wacky ideas out there. This is a perfect Friday night show.

Season 5 premieres Friday, Sep. 20 at 9pm on ABC.

-----
I think I just gave you a pretty good taste of my TV-watching habits. Obviously no crime dramas, no medical dramas, no "train wreck" reality shows. I just like to laugh and learn stuff--and we don't have cable, Netflix, Hulu Plus, or even a real antenna. Two other shows I love that have already premiered are The Chew on ABC and Project Runway on Lifetime.

Are any of your favorites on my list?

Recent Reads

I've finished a few very different books lately, and here are my thoughts on them.

Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns) by Mindy Kaling

This was the first library book I got on my Kindle Fire!  Actually, I had it on hold and it came through while we were in Houston.  I was able to "check out" the book while on vacation!  I'm officially SOLD on fancy technology now.

As for the book, I liked it!  Mindy Kaling is a writer and actress from The Office (she plays Kelly Kapoor).  Her writing was funny but honest.  She reminded me a ton of one of my good friends that I grew up with.  This book gave a look at her past but it also jumped around to her opinions on random stuff.  I loved her views on leaving a party without saying goodbyes (I had to share that one with B, since he absolutely hates that social convention) and about marriage not being "work."  While I have never been much of a fan of The Office, it was both Mindy's character Kelly and Ellie Kemper's character Erin to whom I always gravitated.  And gravitating toward Mindy is a good thing, since she has her own sitcom on FOX starting this fall!  It's called The Mindy Project, and you can watch a preview here.

My only gripe is that she kinda jumps around a lot in this book, going from childhood memory to a present-day opinion on a matter with no transition.  It's a little weird, but it actually kind of works.  Kind of.

Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen

Meh, this book didn't impress me.  B had read it already and has said the writing was like someone who hoped to get a movie deal out of it, not like someone who loved to write.  The book was about a traveling (train) circus during Depression-era America.  There was a naive college dropout and some villains, and of course a love interest.  All of the characters were pretty flat, and I wasn't exactly cheering for the main guy to get with the girl.  The story was also told switching back and forth between an old man in a nursing home getting ready to go to the circus and then him when he was younger actually working as the vet for a circus.

In my copy of the book, there was a "conversation with the author" in the back.  All it basically said was that she did a ton of research and found all of these great stories from traveling circuses back in the day.  Yeah, she threw every single one of them into this one fictional book.  It actually was a bit much.  Aside from learning some new terminology like "redlighting" (throwing someone from a moving train) and "First of May" (circus newbie), this book was not good.

However, since I do own it, and it's been made into a movie (which I have no desire to watch), and some people seemed to enjoy it, I will be leaving this one for Bookcrossing in order to cross it off my 101 list.

Sh*t My Dad Says by Justin Halpern

This was another library Kindle download, that I just sort of chanced upon.  I've never even read the Twitter account that inspired this book (and the short-lived TV series), but I thought it might be funny to just read some quotes.  I was thinking of it like a coffee table book (which I realize now is one type of book these e-readers have basically killed, by the way).  I had no idea I'd be getting the memoirs of Justin and his dad, but that's what sucked me in.

It was a super-de-duper quick read, probably one day for most people (a week of bedtime reading for myself).  Each chapter starts out with a funny quote from the dad, and then the reader learns the context of that quote.  It's through this that you learn a short biography of both the father and the son, and more importantly, the quirks of their relationship.  Each chapter ends with a quote-dump from the dad, usually about five of them.  The dad likes to use a lot of profanity.

This book was okay, nothing spectacular (yet still sucked me in, like I said).  The dad had some decent insights into life, but nothing earth-shattering.  My book expired, so I can't even tell you my favorite quote now, although I think I bookmarked it.  I obviously don't care enough to go dig for it either.  Oh well.


Have you read any of these books?  What were your thoughts?

are you ready?

Are you ready for some FOOTBALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL???

I'm kinda weird.  I don't really care at all about the NFL, but I love me some college football!  I guess attending a college with a stadium that packs out all 92,746 seats for every game just might have something to do with that.

My very own Georgia Bulldogs have their first game tomorrow night, and I'm pumped!  They're playing Boise State in the Chick-Fil-A Kickoff Game at the Georgia Dome (in Atlanta).  I will definitely be watching.

We also get to watch B's alma mater, the ever-popular Notre Dame Fighting Irish, play tomorrow afternoon.  The only issue is that they're playing my mom's college, the University of South Florida.  Oh well, may the best team win! 

I'm ready to camp out on the couch all day Saturday and call the Dawgs!  Maybe one of these days I'll get to actually attend a game in person again.

Will you be watching any college football this weekend?

rock paper scissors lizard spock

In case you haven't figured it out yet, I'm a huge dork. Or maybe I'm a nerd?

Either way, my tendencies led me to a little show on CBS called The Big Bang Theory.  I love this show!  I only started watching it regularly about a year ago when B was deployed.  I have since borrowed both the first and second seasons from the Pensacola public library, and B and I watched them straight through together.  Now I love it even more.

Dr. Sheldon Cooper (played by Jim Parsons) is my favorite character, and sometimes I sit there and equate everything he does to Asperger's.  It's never been said in the show--they just call him an "anal nutbag"--but someone brought it up to me once as a possibility and now I can't stop thinking about it when I watch.  I also love most of the female characters.  It started out with just wannabe-actress Penny, but now they've brought on some other strong females that really give the boys their match.  Did you know that the girl who played Blossom is on this show?  Yep, Mayim Bialik, who in real life actually does have a PhD in Neuroscience, has been playing Sheldon's 'match' since the end of last season.

What's a rambling post about a great television show without clips?  First of all, the title of my post was inspired by this game:




And if you ever meet another fan of the show, they'll probably mention the wonderful lullaby "Soft Kitty":

Yep, definitely singing any future babies of mine to sleep with that one.

Also, the theme song was done by Barenaked Ladies (remember them?).  I think it's delightfully catchy, and every time I hear it I sing along . . . but only to one line:  "We built the pyramids."  That's probably one of my weirder quirks.  Yep, such a nerd.

If you've never seen it and want to give it a try, a new episode is on tonight at 8/7c on CBS.  Or you can watch it online tomorrow at the CBS website, like I have to do because it conflicts with choir rehearsal.


Anyone else out there love this show? 

all dressed up: channeling Rachel Berry

Anyone else out there love the show Glee?  Okay, yeah I thought so.

I got this dress off the Old Navy clearance rack a few weeks ago for less than $5!  Maybe it's so "last year" or something, but I think it's still cute.  And I totally feel like Rachel when I wear it, just without being Jewish or having two gay dads.

Dress: Old Navy

Shoes: Nine West

Necklace: Icing

Bracelets: from the streets of Italy

Watch: ??

Linking up today with No Model Lady

EM:HE tips and myths busted

Tonight is a big night!  The episode of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition filmed here in Pensacola that I helped with is airing!  Check it out on ABC at 8/7c.  In the meantime, I present you with some myth-busting about the show, followed by some tips for volunteering.

Myths disspelled:

• The on-screen personalities spend a lot of time actually building stuff for the house: FALSE.  Everything they did was planned and scripted.  They grabbed some of us blue-shirt volunteers as extras, and told us what we should be doing (sweeping, pretending to measure something, NOT looking at the camera, etc.)  I'm no stranger to being an extra (see my blog post from a few months ago), so this really didn't phase me.  But we were in big crowds for it, so that was new for me.  I did learn the term "cinema veritae" as a few people were asking about the whole "don't look at the camera" deal.

• The scenes are shot in order:  FALSE.  We shot what the production crew calls the "Braveheart March" (lots of volunteers running in to start working on the house) on Day 3.  The house already had windows, drywall, and a roof at this point.  We did the March up the street.

• Ty is talking to the family directly via live-feed satellite when using the Ty Cam:  FALSE.  We did a few scenes of Ty talking into the Ty Cam with us in the background, and while it is a working videocamera and I'm pretty sure it was on for some of it, he definitely was not via satellite with the family at Disney World simultaneously.  Ty is close to a one-take wonder, but not quite.  All of the on-screen personalities were pretty good at ab-libbing though.

• They only film one location at a time, and Ty and the crew are around it the whole time:  Probably FALSE.  I'm pretty sure Ty flew to another location on either Day 3 or 4, to be back in time for the reveal on Day 7.  Also, in some of the pictures I took of him with the megaphone, I could hear him yelling into the camera addressing a different family than ours.

• The family really doesn't know they were chosen until Ty shows up to surprise them:  SORTA TRUE.  I believe the family knows that they're "finalists" for the show.  Nobody in town knew which family or the location of the build until it was officially released, but rumors certainly abounded!

Wanna get in on the action?  Here are some Tips for volunteering:

•  Pay attention to the news and the ads on broadcast TV in your area.  If the construction company has even a slight clue what they're doing, they should be putting the word out and running ads a month or two before the scheduled build date.  Once you have the company's name, take to the internet and see if they have any volunteer info up.  

• Try the middle-of-the-night or super early morning shifts.  This really is a "round the clock" build, so spare hands are needed any time of day or night.

• Don't expect that all (or any) of your volunteer hours will be spent actually working on the house.  There are so many other ways they need help, and the house is pretty much built by professionals (subcontractors, professional roofers, electricians, brick layers, etc.)  The most I really did on site was pick up trash and move some bricks.  Otherwise, I was just in the way.  Expect a lot of standing around and waiting.

• Bring a camera, put it in your pocket.  Take pictures, and try to find a celeb without being to intrusive.  But if the television cameras are rolling, keep it in your pocket.

• Don't be afraid to be a walk-up volunteer.

• If you are a skilled construction worker, let them know and get on a crew.  Most were sent by their company, but random drywallers did show up to do that part.

Enjoy the episode and look for me!  I'll be wearing a blue shirt and Santa hat, just like everybody else :)

are you watching it?

I am in LOVE with this show!

Being a singer, this is obviously my cup of tea!  I've been in love with a cappella music since high school, when Noteworthy, the women's group at UGA came to my high school and gave us a concert (our student teacher was a member).  I was hooked!

And since I know you're gonna ask, YES I did audition for the group in college.  Twice.  And twice for a relatively new co-ed ensemble too.  My voice is decidedly "not a pop voice."  Even B hates it sometimes when I sing along to the radio because I have to go up in my head voice and it just doesn't sound right, even though I'm hitting all the right notes.  I have come to terms with my "classical" voice, although I'm still a bit scared of karaoke.  While I know I can't belt out some Beyoncé like some of the fantastic talent on this show, I also know I can bust out a darn good "Ave Maria."  Even though I never got into the groups, I was still a huge supporter of the Athens a cappella scene and went to the concerts whenever I could, especially Noteworthy (they were in Women's Glee with me . . . and they were the best). 

One of the greatest aspects of a cappella, especially on the collegiate level, is the hilarious (and punny) group names.  Like Pitch Slapped.  Or Nothin' but Treble.  Aural Pleasure.  Gentleman Callers.  One Note Stand.  The Logarhythms.

As for The Sing Off, if you missed it Monday, you should definitely tune in tonight on NBC!

day three with Extreme Makeover: Home Edition

This is the third in a series about my days spent with Extreme Makeover: Home Edition back in October.  This post can stand alone, but the other ones are pretty cool.  Here are the preceding parts: day one and day two.

As I said on my previous day, it was for Day 3 I decided to pick a different shift.  My goal was to have a lot less standing around and a lot more doing.  I mean, that's why I was volunteering, right?  So I got a very SMALL taste of what my husband's submarine life was like.  And by that I mean that I had a 6-hour shift and then 12 hours 'off' and then a 6-hour shift again.  On Day 2 I finished at 6pm and woke up at 5am to get there at 6am the next morning.  Obviously doing this for ONE day was a lot better than doing it for 180 DAYS.  At least I didn't have to sleep under my coffee table.  Yeah, I don't think I'm cut out to be a submariner.

Anyway, once I arrived it was still dark out.  And there was nobody manning that sign-in table.  No numbers waiting to be called, no formalities.  My altered shirt that worked so great in the Florida noontime the previous day wasn't quite cutting it for me this particular morning.  I was cold!  So I grabbed the smallest shirt on the table (size XXL, I believe?) and threw it on over my other one.  Much better, except now I was wearing a Muumuu.

Since there was no one telling me I couldn't go down there, I went straight for the house.  There were some other friendly volunteer faces that I recognized, standing around waiting for something to do.  The skilled labor was busily working in and on the house.  We soon got asked to move some bricks and devised an easy system for doing so, finishing in no time.  After that, we were all called over by some bigwig or another and told we were taking a "field trip."  We were gonna go help renovate a gym!  Hooray!  And the gym was only a few miles up the road, so that was a nice bonus.

The basic premise of why we were renovating a gym is that the guy the house was being built for was being given a job at this gym.  You'll have to watch the episode to get all the ins and outs of why -- I do know that they were moving him to Pensacola from a farther-away town because the city donated the land.  Anyway, all that to say we got to go move a bunch of beams, roll up some floors, and jump in the foam pit!

If I ever did that during my gymnastics heyday, you can rest assured it wasn't intentional.

Gymnastics was my activity of choice during my elementary school days, so this gym brought back loads of memories.  It took every ounce of willpower not to jump up on the bars and start swinging to see if I still "had it" (my guess is not).  I also learned just how complex a gym floor is!  We took up the top three layers, down to the wood.  There were springs underneath that and who knows what else.  The gym owner was there along with a few employees, and we got to talking and I learned that a gym floor costs over $10,000!  (A mental note has now been made to not whine about the cost of a future child's gymnastics lessons.)

The wood part of the floor, which is underneath a bunch of foam and at least one layer of carpet

We did everything the gym owners wanted us to do, and we were done by 9am.  (Yes, our crew was alive, alert, awake, enthusiastic, to say the least!)  Around then, a guy from the show crew told us that the film crew would be coming at 10, so we just had to sit around and wait (ugh!).  The worst part of the waiting is that I was HUNGRY.  I'd eaten some cereal at 5am, but that wasn't cutting it at 9.  The show guy had said that the crew would bring food, so I was crossing my fingers.   What was really awful was that I KNEW there were doughnuts at the other site because there were always extra ones around that I saw during the afternoon shifts.  I had bummed a ride to the gym.  If I hadn't done that, I would've hopped in my car during our wait, drove back to the site, and snagged a few boxes.  I'm sure they wouldn't have been missed.

Besides my hunger-induced crankiness, the rest of the day was gold.  We sat around and watched a morning talk show while waiting for the crew, and one of the young guys laid in the foam pit.  When the crew showed, we carried some tables for them, setting up the place to eat lunch.  But, um, NO FOOD.  Not even one measly doughnut.  Gahhh.  I soon saw on-screen talent Johnny Littlefield, so I pretty much knew we were about to get put to work with no food in sight.

We were given Santa hats for our construction helmets once again (although during our actual work in the gym, we definitely did not wear the hats!).  We also got out the gym's assortment of Christmas decor and were told to "stampede" into the gym carrying our decorations.  We had to do it about three times, and it was actually pretty fun!

Me with my holiday gear.  Not sure if the hat stayed up during the stampede!

We then did a couple more shots helping out around the gym - unloading wood, cleaning mats, carrying stuff, etc.  They did actually need more help, but by that point it was past noon and my stomach had some fightin' words for me.  I had planned on a six-hour shift anyway, so I called it quittin' time.  A lot of people stayed, and they hopefully got fed a nice meal.  Before I officially walked out, I made sure to get this:

Johnny Littlefield and me!

I never got to see the fully renovated gym, so I'll be watching this Sunday night (Dec. 12) to see it!  Oh, and to look for myself, OF COURSE.  I'll be blogging some myths busted and tips and tricks for volunteering later this week to lead up the episode's premiere.  And next week after it has aired, I'll hopefully be able to post some screen shots of my pretty little face on national television!

day two with Extreme Makeover: Home Edition

This is a continuation of the account of my three days spent on the set of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.  You should probably read about the first day first, which you can find here.

So on the second day, I showed up at the same time as the first, right before noon.  There were a lot more people this day, and I noticed that the tent had switched to handing out numbers instead of calling names.  Just another day at the DMV, it seemed.

The morning of I had decided to alter my giant shirt down to make it fit.  I did it really quickly and realized I had lost my bobbin cover, but hey, it fit.  When I got up the counter to get my number, the volunteer coordinator asked me if I had a shirt.  I replied, "Yeah, I'm wearing it."  Then I added, "I made it fit" to a few chuckles from nearby volunteers drowning in their size-XL's.

My "fitted" shirt and I in front of the house on Day 2

Since there were more people and still not too much need for unskilled labor, we waited around A LOT.  It took over 45 minutes just to get our numbers called to go to the site.  But once we got down there, only a few people were needed for something.  The gals I found myself with were a few I had met the day before and they were determined to resume their post as lunch-servers.  I followed them to the cafeteria/warehouse thing, where we found a group of other ladies taking labels off of water bottles.  We immediately joined in the fun.

No free advertising for you, Wal-Mart!

Why water bottle labels?  Well, I'm pretty sure the water bottles given to all the workers and talent on site were donated, but not by the actual company who produced them.  Most of them were Wal-Mart's Great Value brand, and we needed to take off all the labels as to not give them a free plug on television.  So armed with a plastic butter knife, there we we found ourselves with a task.  It was also the cause of my only casualty from this EM:HE adventure.  On my second bottle, before I had really worked out a system, I cut my thumb with my plastic knife and drew blood!

My "construction" casualty, a day later.

Since there were quite a few of us, we finished the water bottles pretty quickly.  And I wasn't one of the "chosen ones" to serve lunch, so I got sent out to the "sit around and wait" tent.  We were all getting pretty frustrated because they had us waiting for quite a while.  I decided then to come back for the early morning shift (6am) the next day so that maybe I'd actually get to DO something.  But it was during this time that I met an Army guy who told me about how his aunt was the recipient of the previous extreme home built in Mobile by Heritage Homes and EM:HE.  He missed all of it due to boot camp, but it was nice to chat with him and hear how it really did help his aunt.  And she hasn't had to sell it because she couldn't afford taxes on it, which is one of the biggest criticisms of what this show does.  He mentioned their "multimedia" room with like 6 flat-screen TV's a few times, so it's apparently still impressive a few years later.

After waiting around for a while, seeing neighbors walk by with their "Neighbor" lanyard badges and giving water to the goose next door, we were all called to go up the street and participate in "the Braveheart March."  We were so excited about this!  And on our way up, we got some pretty good views of Ty standing next to the bus shouting into his megaphone.  I have a hunch I heard him talking to a different family - I'm pretty sure they tape more than one show simultaneously and he travels back and forth.

Holy cow, it's Tyyyyyy!

Gotta love the megaphone!

As for "the Braveheart March," we were handed Santa hats to put on over our construction helmets (Christmas special, that's us!) and led farther up the street.  The director in charge of our crowd gave us pretty explicit directions about not looking at the camera and cheering and stampeding and not having our cameras out to take pictures of Ty.  He also had this ridiculous Boston accent and was trying his darndest at a Southern one.  And failing miserably.  Until someone told him to say the words "sweet ass tea," which he really enjoyed repeating.

We did the March twice, and the highlight of the first one was watching this refrigerator of a woman firefighter completely BITE THE DUST as she tripped on a root going down the small hill we all had to run down.  I knew she was a tough woman, and her firefighter friends helped her up (I knew my 110-pound frame was helpless in this situation), and all I could do was laugh.  She was laughing too, I promise!  I'm pretty sure that's gonna end up on the cutting room floor, but I hope the editors enjoy it.

The firefighters being cute with their Santa-hat-helmets

After we marched down to a certain area, we were instructed to form a "doughnut" around the 4 members of the design team.  While we were in this formation, Ty did a few of his "Ty cam" scenes where he "talks" to the family on their vacation and lets them know what's going on.  The "Ty cam" is a real handheld video cam, and yes it was on, but not for all of it.  And I'm almost 100% positive it wasn't being live-fed to the family (in Disney World for the week), the way it is portrayed to be happening on the show.

In the scenes we filmed, the one I remember the most was when Ty had the people who nominated the family speak out why they did.  It really was just as heart-warming as it is on TV!  (I didn't expect this at all because there's a lot going on in the background during shooting and everything just seems so . . . staged.)  But I think Ty really did sorta choke up as touching things were said about a family that nobody else in the crowd really knew.  It was also nice having all 4 members of the Design Team in one place, because I think that was the only time that happened (not sure who was there for the reveal since we didn't go).  It took us over 3 hours to get all those scenes, and it was definitely quittin' time by the time we were done.  But I did get a good picture of Tracy on my way out!

She's really pretty when she's not making this face

Be on the lookout soon for my account of the third (and best) day of my adventure with EM:HE Pensacola.

day one with Extreme Makeover: Home Edition

I had the great fortune last week to volunteer on the site for Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.  You know the one, the ABC Sunday night TV show starring every lady's favorite carpenter, Ty Pennington.

I found out they were coming to Pensacola about a month ago, so I did some digging and found out how to volunteer (which, in all honesty, should just be "walk up" but I did actually get to sign up for some shifts through the builder).  I would call Heritage Homes the real champion behind the family.  They really did provide everything from skilled laborers to volunteer coordinators to donating materials and getting the community involved. 

Since Heritage Homes had done an Extreme Makeover home in Mobile a few years ago, I was expecting a really well-oiled machine.  But while they had worked out some kinks I'm sure, there was still a lot of rumors flying, miscommunication among various volunteer coordinators, and volunteers standing around waiting for something to do (namely, ME).

They really do keep the build a secret until the last possible moment.  From what I could tell, the family knows they're "in the running" but they don't know they're the chosen ones until Ty comes a-knockin'.  Which is kind of hard when you're a volunteer because you don't know where you've signed up to go until the day before (or the day of, for some folks).  The builder's Facebook wall was seriously exploding with speculations and rumors of the locale on the day of the announcement.  I was slightly paranoid it would be over an hour's drive for three days of volunteering.  But it turned out closer than I expected, so that was nice.

Here's just a blow-by-blow account of Day 1:

The first day I showed up I had to sign both a liability waiver and an image release form.  We waited around in the check-in tent for a bit, and then they finally called about six names.  Once my name was called, I was handed a way-too-big blue t-shirt and a white hard hat.  Then we were led down a path toward the house.  I'm no stranger to a construction site; I spent my year in AmeriCorps working with Habitat for Humanity on a site every day.

It was technically still Day 1 of the build, and the foundation had been laid at 4am that day (with apparently a special quick-drying kind of concrete).  When I saw it at noon the whole house was already framed with treated OSB on the exterior walls and trusses being taken up to the roof.  [There was no demolition for this episode.]  Even though during my AmeriCorps stint I had actually built a house in a week at a build-a-thon in Gulfport to help after Katrina/Rita leveled the place, this kind of pace blew my mind.  In the 5 days I spent in Gulfport, we only finished the exterior, siding roof, nothing on the inside but the studs for the walls.  So I have to hand it to the pros here--this is amazingly quick!

This was actually taken the next day, but you get the point

Once we were brought down to the site, we were told to go to yet another white tent and stay there until someone gave us something to do.  After about 10 minutes, a woman working on the site came over looking for water.  We had none.  Just some tables and some chairs.  Eventually, a guy came by asking for "one or two mechanically-minded people who can read directions."  Another gal named Eva and I jumped at the chance to actually do something.  He took us back to a shed not too far from our tent, and asked us to set up some industrial lights.  We opened up the boxes and soon realized we actually needed some tools (namely, a wrench and possibly a screwdriver).  So the guy went on and found someone's toolbag.  We got our wrenches, but a Phillips-head screwdriver was nowhere to be found.  We improvised with a pretty tiny flathead, and we had those lights together within the half-hour.  They looked like this:

Not the hardest thing I've ever put together

When we emerged triumphant from the shed, the rest of the people in our tent were gone, and we saw them on site pulling nails out of 2-by-4's (so the pieces could be re-used).  They were kinda crowded over there, so my new buddy and I decided to stay away and were soon handed a bucket and told to just go around the house and pick up trash. That took no more than 20 minutes, and then we decided to walk around the whole scene and take it all in.  We found the VIP tent (which we were not invited to) and a bunch of stuff going on at a formerly-abandoned warehouse across the street (the house being built was on a corner across from a sewage lift station in one direction and this warehouse in the other - no wonder the county donated the land!).  We stumbled into a makeshift cafeteria, where we saw lots of people eating lunch, including the guy who had asked us to build the lights.  He told us he had forgotten about us back there.  How nice.

We got to eat some lunch there (thank God, because I had forgotten and was starting to get hungry) and grab some ice cream.  All the food was donated, so thank you to the local businesses!  We left the cafeteria, and saw some volunteers we recognized from earlier.  They were standing on the other side of the warehouse in front of the other entrance.  The big Extreme Makeover bus was pulling around the site into the area.  It was a pretty cool sight.  People were starting to come off of it, and of course we just stood there looking for the TV stars.  We saw Michael and Tracy walk by, and Michael smiling the whole time (yes he smiled at ME!).  By standing there, we eventually all got to help set up their green room in the warehouse.  It was all junk food, I kid you not.

the infamous BUS!

We eventually saw Ty get out of a pickup truck, and I tried to take some crappy pictures on my phone while making a mental note to bring make sure my real camera was in my pants pocket the next day.

We did a lot of odd jobs for the rest of the time - including decorating the design tent for Christmas!  Yes, it was October but you gotta film this stuff early!  I somehow ended up in the house very briefly while Michael was doing a spiel.  They told me to pretend like I was measuring, but the measuring tape in the room didn't even have TAPE in it.  So I held up a board and pretended to be busy.  And then a bunch of us carried wood from one side of the house to the other and then BACK a few times as filming continued.  When this episode airs in December, I'll make sure to let you know if I see myself!

Also taken the following day - it's Michael's profile and the back of Tracy

Mind you, this was all Day 1.  The next two days were actually MUCH better from a "this is what I did today" perspective--and hopefully not nearly as LENGTHY, so tune in later for my account of the Bravehart March and other fun stuff!

thursday 5

I don't usually participate in this one (have you noticed my lack of consistency in pretty much everything?), but I think it will help sum up my feelings today. So here are things that make me feel . . .

Giddy

Jubilant

Ecstatic

Thankful

Giggly

I'm Giddy because I emailed out ONE résumé this morning for a part-time but still career-ish position with the base newspaper, and I ALREADY got called back for an interview!  I felt very drawn to apply for this one, even though I thought I would never want to work at a desk job again.  It sounds like a win-win, but we shall see Monday morning at 10am.

I'm Jubilant that I found my keys after looking for them for an HOUR.

I'm Ecstatic that "The Big Bang Theory" is back on tonight.  And B is on a 'business' trip, so no one is gonna fight me for the remote!

I'm Thankful for all the people who have given me bloggy "awards."  I would hazard to say that I'm not playing very nicely along with other bloggers, since I never re-post and pass them on.  However, it's my blog, and I pick my own content, and it's usually not what I want to blog about.

What I WILL do today, though, is say thanks to these bloggy friends:

  Many Waters 

Tales From a Sailor's Soul Mate

Raising Roscoe

Flip Flops and Combat Boots

The Young Retiree

You should definitely go over to their pages and go check them out!

I'm Giggly because I got free museum tickets for Saturday!  And you should too!  Check out what's free in your area for Museum Day at http://microsite.smithsonianmag.com/museumday/  (Consider this my first giveaway!)  B doesn't know it yet, but we'll be spending Saturday at the Pensacola Historical Museum.  It's sure to be a hoot and a holler, all for less than a dollar!  (And if my ridiculously Southern turn of phrase didn't make you Giggly as well, you may need to re-evaluate your life.)

free is better than good, and then you grow up

We finally joined the new millennium and got a fancy TV that broadcasts HD.  It's one of those flat-screen numbers that almost every other member of the Navy blew their entire first paycheck on.  But not my husband, of course.  And I'm okay with that, because I am ridiculously frugal.  For the past few years (decade?) each of us (especially me) seemed to be living by my old AmeriCorps mantra of "Free is better than good."  And sometimes free stuff IS actually good, so the other mantra was "If it's free, it's for me!"  We applied these ideals to food, clothing, events, really anything.  I've been slowly progressing to actual adulthood and getting all these size-XXL t-shirts out of my dresser and into a donation bucket . . .  

First, let me take a minute to mourn our old television, a free handout from another Navy wife (thank you!!).  The bunny ears were also free, as I got them at one of those white-elephant post-Christmas re-gifting parties.  Yes, I actually "stole" them from another person, and amazingly, no one else wanted them!  So they have followed me around for the past 4 years, from Jax, to Virginia Beach, to Norfolk, now to Pensacola, sometimes tucked back in the closet (when I worked for Cox Cable and got everything really cheap), but then sitting proper and pretty on top of the TV since B moved into his solo bachelor pad back in 2008.

Oh grandma, what long ears you have!

Can I just tell you how much I loved the 2009 digital transition?  Yes, we had to buy this little box because the free TV wasn't compatible (government coupon FTW), but there's no "snow" any more, and a super clear picture!  Our old TV is now our guest room TV, so our visitors can enjoy all 10 channels that it picks up (less than Norfolk, but oh well).  In addition, we moved the VCR in there (also free), because B was embarrassed that we had one and didn't want it on display in our living room any more.  But it was way cheaper (did I mention it was FREE?!) than re-buying all my Disney videocassettes!  I'm not embarrassed one bit.

Even with the new television, we still refuse to pay for cable, so enter our new antenna.  Yes, we pull HD right out of the air, and it looks amazing!  Although this new antenna looks effing ridiculous, and we have the "ears" fully extended (we're a bit far from the towers -- they're all in Mobile).  We watched a few football games on our new TV this weekend, and I'm impressed!  Our one issue is that we don't pick up FOX, so I guess I'll have to watch "Glee" on Hulu (or just read the spoilers all my friends will post on Facebook). 

Didn't George Jetson have one of these bad boys?

But after our little shopping spree where we bought some other big-sticker items, I was humbled once again by this Sunday's mass readings.  If you missed it, the ending was a nice reality-check of "You cannot serve both God and mammon" (Luke 16:13).  So I'm turning off the television for now and gonna go finish the book of Genesis.

guilt-free television

I know I blogged about television yesterday, but I just wanted to share something about my completely guilt-free hands-down favorite show EVER.  It's won a gabillion and one Emmy's, and it really is the best reality show out there. I'm talking about The Amazing Race.

But I'm not just gushing today, I'm really sharing the news that one of the most popular vloggers on YouTube is gonna be on this season!  B first introduced me to KevJumba a few years back, a cute little Asian teen from Texas who makes funny videos.  People must love him, since he has over a million subscribers!  So he just announced yesterday that he and his dad (who is in most of his videos and already has an iphone app!) will be running the race!  Hopefully I can convince B to actually watch the show with me this fall, so we can cheer on our TeamJumba.

If you've never heard of him, here's one of my favorite videos of his:

top 10 tuesday: guilty tv pleasures

We're back (for good this time) in Pensacola, and luckily had no major travel issues this time around. Already loving our stay at Navy Gateway Inn better than our 2-week stint at the Navy Lodge here, even if we don't have the stovetop or a "breakfast-to-go" bag every morning.  Now I need to figure out what to do with my time while B works.  Maybe I'll even make my momma (and my alma mater) proud and look for one of them job-things.

But in the meantime, here are my Top 10 of My Guilty Pleasures on Television:

10. Say Yes to the Dress.  I used to watch this to justify how much dough we spent on my wedding dress (drop in the bucket next to these girls), but now I like to watch it for the family dynamics and the fashion.  And now there's an Atlanta version with prissy southern gals that reminds me of college.

9. Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? with Meredith Vieira. Love me some quiz shows, especially while working out.

8. Sid the Science Kid. I don't have kids, and I didn't discover this show with the help of a child. I needed some background noise, didn't have cable, and this comes on PBS. And I totally learned who Ignaz Semmelweis was thanks to Sid and his grandma!

7.  19 Kids and Counting.  They may have taken things a bit to the extreme, but you have to respect a gigantic family with no debt at all and well-adjusted kids.  Plus, I love Johannah.

6.  WordGirl.  This is one of those kids' shows that adults can watch and pick up on jokes that kids don't get.  Fun for the whole family, and your kid will have the best vocab on the block after watching.

5. Ace of Cakes. I hate the taste of fondant, but I love seeing what you can do with it.

4. What Not to Wear. 10 years ago, I would've been a good candidate for this one. I especially like when the nominee is a dude.

3.  Cats 101.  I love cats, and unfortunately, my husband is allergic.  But I can live vicariously through this show on Animal Planet which showcases different breeds.  

2.  Man vs. Food.  It's a game, it's grub.  So that's two of my favorite activities, and a dude who can actually win most of the time.  I can't even win the Saltine Challenge (6 Saltines in 1 minute, no water), but it sure is fun to try!

1.  Wipeout.  It's the same spills over and over again, yet I just can't get enough.  And the more I watch it, the more I want to be a contestant on it!

follow friday: jersey circus

We're headed down to GA today en route to my parents' house for the weekend and then on to Pensacola to actually LIVE there for 2 years (yikes!), but I thought I'd share a HILARIOUS website with you on this #ff!

Today I present you with . . .

Jersey Circus!

Name: Jersey Circus
URL:  http://www.jerseycircus.blogspot.com/
Tagline: at last, Jersey Shore and Family Circus finally come together.

It's exactly what the tagline says it is!  Family Circus panels with ridiculous quotes from Jersey Shore in place of the original caption.  Genius!  I'm sure Snooki and The Situation are very proud.

If you like these, you may also enjoy Garfield Minus Garfield.  And if you know of any other sites that take advantage of popular comic strips, let me know in the comments!

"no man is an island, but this woman is"

One of my favorite television shows of all time is "Gilmore Girls."  I actually own all 7 seasons on dvd (the only tv show that I actually own), and decided a while ago to watch them all through in order.  When I moved to Virginia almost three years ago, I started from episode one.  I have at last made it to the final season, and I think I'm on track to finish it before B gets back and we move.

I love the witty, intelligent, fast-paced humor of the show, and I think every fan has a love/hate relationship with the character of over-achiever Paris Geller.  But whichever side of the fence you're currently standing on, you gotta admit that she has some GREAT lines.  Something about the combination of sarcasm, condescension, and impeccable timing really grows on you after a while.  Everything out of her mouth is said with such severity that it can only be comical yet always possesses a large chunk of truth lurking behind it.  The actress who played her (Liza Weil) actually auditioned for the part of Rory, but she didn't get it.  Instead, they wrote the part of Paris for her, which I must admit is a pretty awesome form of flattery.

Here are a few of my favorite Paris Geller quotes (in addition to the title of this post):

"You don't fall in love with people that make you want to crap your pants."

"Well, how nice it must be to be you. Maybe someday I'll stumble into a Disney movie and suddenly be transported into your body, and after living there for a while I'll finally realize the beauty in myself. "

"Hey, you know, not everybody can be smart. As my mother always says, 'somebody has to answer the phones.'"

"If you need love, get a hooker. If you're having a bad day, find a ledge or a way to deal."

"I can't even read my own handwriting. What does this say? Whoever wrote this should be dressed in a clown suit stuffing bodies under their porch!"

"I can scare the stupid out of you, but the lazy runs deep."