It's been a busy, yet fun week.
Work has been crazy but I've been entertaining myself well.
This week ABC's "Extreme Makeover Home Edition" was working on a home in the area (okay...it was in Casselberry - about 40-60 minutes away from me...but close to my church). I watch the show pretty much every week so I just felt like it was one of those once-in-a-lifetime opportunities to see how it's done (okay...to try to see Ty Pennington 
).
So, Wednesday after work Daysi, Gloria and I drove up to an old Kmart parking lot where the show had a shuttle service going out to the construction site. We waited in line for about 20 minutes or so until we finally were able to get onto the shuttle mini-bus. We drove about a mile or so to the street where you could quickly tell that we had arrived. People were all over the place, the whole area was lit up and cars were packed in the local shopping center lots. It was amazing to see the construction site. People were all over the place wearing their blue "Extreme" t-shirts and white hard hats. The energy and action was just intense. Most impressive thing to me was seeing the catering service. We made our way to an area (where I don't think we were supposed to be...) where Olive Garden was serving the volunteers. A whole crew of people were dishing out the yummy food to the volunteer workers. The tent was lit up and the volunteers - who have been giving their time and energy to the project - were getting fed. I had always wondered how they ate! ...oh the smell of Olive Garden breadsticks!!!
We also got to see "the bus." The one they use to cover up the house...the "move that bus!" bus. They actually use that as the Communications center. Here are Daysi and Gloria by it...
Well, I had fun that first night - it was just fun to do something different and to be able spend time with both Daysi and Gloria. When I got home that night I was thinking about it and realized... hmm... the next day they should be moving all the furniture in. So... the next day I decided to go again...this time with Jewel. We headed up to Casselberry - this time bypassing the shuttle parking lot and opting to risk it and park in a business' parking lot. When we walked up to the site we could hear the crowd yelling and realized that Ty was out there. So in this picture...if you look really closely you'll see Ty in the orange shirt and jeans standing in the street. (this disposable camera takes STINKY pictures!!!) I must say - Ty has a very built body... you could see how fit he is through that tshirt. 
We made our way pretty close to the front and watched as they shot the "We got the keys!" scene. It was interesting to see the way they shoot that and to see the crew they use. They did the same scene several times before they moved on to the next shot.
After watching that for a while Jewel and I decided to walk around to the other side and see if there was anything else interesting going on. When we got back we made our way back to where we were and got a spot right up front. We got to watch the furniture truck roll in and the crew start bringing in the furniture and the bags of Sears stuff. While we were there Paul came around and greeted the crowd - making his way past the barricade and into the crowd. He really seemed like a geniunely nice guy. Here's a shot of him right after I said hello and shook his hand. 
Eduardo (?) - the cute guy with the British accent - came out and gave his apologies for not being able to stay out and sign autographs and such - his project room was still not done. In this picture he's out in the street wearing a green sweatshirt, jeans and tool belt. He's got his hands in the "please, please, please" accept my apologies stance.
Jewel and I hung out there for a while. We got to talk to the Site Production Coordinator and I got to ask him questions about production stuff. They shoot over 800 hours worth of footage... 6 cameras with the crew and 4 fixed getting all the time lapse shots. It is amazing to think production wise of the details, plans, complexities and just plain hard work that goes into putting a show like that together. We stood around for a bit and decided it was time to go. We made our way to the end of the street where there weren't many people and who did we see and get a picture with...
Yup! That's Jewel and I taking a picture with Paul! That happened to be the VERY last shot on the roll.
When Jewel and I got to the parking lot where my car was parked it started to rain AND my car was the LAST car there with the exception of the cop car standing by it. I ran to get cover under the store's awning to look for my keys when I noticed the paper sitting on my windshield under my wiper blade. The cop car drove away and I breathed a sigh of relief and then Jewel said the paper was just a menu. woo....THANK YOU, LORD!!!
Yes, I was a bit obsessed, stalkerish and starstruck this week...but you know what? It was fun! It's fun when there are moments that you know don't come around all the time, that you can just enjoy and live!!!
Well...time for me to go to bed! I just came back from playing like 4 hours worth of hearts. 4 tables of 4 - 16 rounds of the game. It was a lot of fun! It's fun to interact with people I don't normally get to spend time with. AND I always love when I get to meet friends and neighbors of people - it's just a challenge to me to think of ways to open up my home others.
I can't believe it's already March this week...it's been an enjoyable month.
ONE LAST RANDOM QUESTION: Why do the Olympic medals look like CDs? Have they always looked like that???
