Taking Vacation Home

Yesterday, my friend Mike commented that "perfection is just living to be in the moment" and I love that.  Carpe diem ... so true!   I was thinking today that when I am on vacation, I try to make every moment last forever and savor each minute that goes by.  But once home, I fall into the everyday madness, wishing my days away thinking of things I need to do and places I need to be.  I sit at work wishing for 5 o'clock, counting the moments to the weekend.  I write dates on my calendar... PTA meetings, Girl Scout meetings, my next vacation.  I plan and anticipate a future point in time that seems so far away.   I wonder how the kids grew up so fast and realize how many moments I have not stopped to savor.  I, yes I, am making time slip away.  So, here and now, I am setting a goal to take that vacation spirit home with me.  When time takes off at a sprint, I will remember to slow the pace and breath.  Breath in and breath out.  Feel the moment and remember where I am and savor that moment.  Carpe diem.  Thank you for reminding my friend.

How do you slow down and embrace the moment when life spins out of control?

Define perfection

I am sitting here thinking that everything is perfect... the cool pool water surrounds me.  I look out at nature's pallet, the vibrant greens of the grass and the palm trees contrasts the cool blue of the sky with fluffy white clouds emerging here and there.  The warm ocean breeze is blowing in from beyond the sand dunes and I close my eyes to feel it brush against my skin.  But I am wrong about perfection.  I do not realize what is missing until I hear the sweetest giggle of a child.  Ah, now perfection. 

Tell me about your definition of perfection.  What makes you sigh and feel the warm embrace of peace in your heart?   

CATB - Jammies and John

Sunday, a day of rest and relaxation. Well, actually, in our house it's a day to catch up on laundry and cleaning and bills and PTA and Brownies... you get the gist. And I admit it, I am dirty when I clean. Wait that came out wrong. What I am trying to say is that I just don't see a need to take a shower and get all primped up to clean the house. June Cleaver I am not. I usually just put on my chic Mickey slippers and muddle through the house in jammies that consist of comfy pants and a tank top. Yes, I am the image of beauty I am sure.

So it was Sunday and I sat very comfortably at the computer with my jammies on. Coffee in hand (of course), I was taking a breather from the bounty of laundry baskets waiting to be freed of their clean contents. In the distance I heard our dogs begin to bark. "Probably our neighbor walking his dog," I thought. But no, each one, tall and short, bounded in the house and straight to the front door. They didn't bark, but did that small whimper like someone was about to arrive but not yet there. I asked my husband in a bit of a panic to see what was going on since I was still not quite presentable for the general public. Hubby walked over to the door and peered out the glass. His exact words were "holy shit, John Gidding is standing in our yard." And there I was...in my jammies.

"Go outside and greet him, and I'll.... I'll get dressed." I thought that this would definitely be the last Sunday that I don't get all dolled up to fold boxers. Danny stepped outside and I quickly found jeans and a sweater, pulled my hair back and threw on some foundation so I wasn't too scary. Great first impression. As I walked out into the yard, I met John and his assistant.

Now, you know how there are people that look good on camera but just don't quite live up to the hype in person. Well, John is NOT one of those people. He looked as good if not better than he does on TV. He was wearing this stylish sock hat and scarf and looked, despite the cold, like he had just walked off the cover of GQ. Wow.

We introduced ourselves and talked a bit. He was there to sketch our home to begin the creative process. How unbelievable. Seems that we were the only home chosen outside the Perimeter and it was a bit of a journey out there. Unfortunately they could not locate the Starbucks, so I quickly offered up some coffee (good thing I had just made some). Now, I don't make great coffee, but let's just say the cups came back empty so either it was good enough or they poured it our in our bushes. Either way, they were very grateful and we let them be to do their thing.

Now my husband did take one opportunity to stalk them, um... I mean disturb them, when he saw them walking out by the neighborhood sign. You have to understand that this thing in our yard that is suppose to be a sign welcoming people to Callanwolde looks like someone took a giant 4 foot flower pot, turned it upside down and then put stucco on it. Next to that is a stucco rectangle with a worn wooden sign that says Callanwolde. I am sure John and his assistant were thinking the same thing we do every time we see it, "what the hell is that suppose to be". Danny explained that at one time it was suppose to be a lighthouse and that Kilkenny and Callanwolde (we were told) are places on Ireland's coast and supposedly the inspiration. However, we have since discovered that Kilkenny and Callanwolde are nowhere near the ocean. But I digress. To our happiness, John mentioned possibly having the sign as one of the mini makeovers with the help of neighbors. I pictured smashing that flower pot in my head and smiled.

After that, they wandered and sketched and we would peek out every once in awhile just to remind ourselves it was real and he was really there. And I have to say that John Gidding is as amazingly nice and genuine as he is talented. And the man is talented.

So my lesson for you all is to always make sure you are clean when you clean because you never know who may show up in your front yard.

CATB - We get the call

About two weeks had passed and we were trying to convince ourselves we didn't make the show, just to be ready for the let down. We waited for the call saying, "so sorry, your yard needs way more than $20,000 worth of work. It is just too ugly." We were pleasantly surprised when they called that Friday to tell us they were coming out to take measurements the following Monday, just to check for zoning and permit needs. That had to be good news, right?

I arranged to work from home on Monday. Set up my laptop, had my cup of coffee in hand and patiently waited, had second cup of coffee, waited, had third cup of coffee, and waited, deciding against the fourth cup because I might scare anyone away at that point, and waited.... I started to think the whole thing was a dream or maybe they had called the wrong people. I mean this wasn't really going to happen anyway. What were we thinking? But I had forgotten about mother nature. The crew was apparently flying in from LA where they had been meeting with HGTV and were delayed almost a full day coming home. They would be out Wednesday, but no need to stay home this time. So maybe it wasn't such a big deal.

The day came and went. And we thought for sure they would decide our house was just too much trouble. Or maybe we just totally bombed the video audition. I mean they had just returned from meeting with HGTV to review the videos and we never saw the playback. Maybe we were so energetic that it came across as just plain crazy. They would watch us and think, "there's the crazy suburban couple with the ugly yard that needs more help than we can provide!" Sigh, oh well, hunker down for more waiting.

Thursday afternoon, I sat at work with Curb Appeal the farthest thing from my mind. Tax returns, debt schedules, and A/R Agings... oh my! I watched the clock, only 30 more minutes to go. Ugh! My boss called and we had our usual afternoon chatter. Suddenly one of my co-workers came to my door, "you have to get off the phone now!" Okay, very odd considering she knows I am on the phone with the big cheese. I hung up the phone and looked out my office door to see my husband and kids standing there. Not the emergency I was expecting.

My husband had a sly grin on his face. "I just got off the phone with someone named Avelino Pombo" he said. I recognized the name, but from what. Well, it was fun to say, I mean say it "Avelino Pombo." How fun is that! My husband looked like I should have had some sort of response and when I didn't, he continued, "Avelino Pombo, from Curb Appeal." Okay, no way, this couldn't be it...then he said the words... "we're on the show!"

CATB: Aliens really do exist

For those of you that know my husband, you know he is very Type B personality, laid back, easy going, not the type that would walk up and introduce himself to you at a party. He leaves that to me, Mrs. Type A to the hilt.

Taping day was here and as the doorbell rang, my pulse went crazy. I said a prayer, not asking that we would make the show, but just asking that I wouldn't make a complete and utter fool out of myself. Colin, the Producer taping us for the CATB audition, introduced himself and gave us a quick run down on the process. Colin could not be on the video at all, it could only be us. So he would communicate by giving us hand signals. A thumbs up meant more energy. I gave a sideways glance to my husband and giggled since energy isn't exactly one of my problems. Let's just say I am a little hyper, which is why his mellow is the perfect offset. Then it struck me, they want interaction and lots of it. I pictured it. I would be a complete chatter box and out of control and my husband would be looking at me wondering what ever compelled him to marry this woman. Don't panic, don't panic, just stay calm.

In our first scene, we had to bust out of the door and proclaim "Hi, we're the Carlsons and welcome to the ugliest yard on our block." Colin went outside, the door shut, we waited a few seconds and then burst through. It was at that moment, that this alien life form took over my husband. I had never seen him so animated to in my life! I suddenly wanted to throw myself at him and tell Colin to come back in about half an hour.

Surprisingly, the taping went smoothly. I thought I would be nervous but something about my husband's energy was actually calming my nerves, as strange as that sounds. After the tour of the yard, we stood in front of our house and taped a few Q&A pieces. It was oddly comfortable being there and talking with my husband to this inanimate object. And in the end, we both felt good. Who knows if we would get picked? But at least we did know that what was going to HGTV was us, nothing fake, nothing phony, a little more energized than normal, but the real us. And we liked that.

The interview ended, and Colin told us we would get a call in about 2-3 weeks. The tapes would be reviewed by HGTV and they would have the final say. Even if we didn't get picked, the experience was exciting. And to top it all off, I now have proof that aliens really do exist.

CATB, the Producer calls

So no big deal, we were pre-selected. Maybe it was kind of like those pre-selected Mastecards you get in the mail. They send those to everyone. We went about our business and back to school after a long winter break. Old man winter had a fun week in store with snow and ice. After a day of being stuck at home, we made the difficult trek out on Saturday to Gwinnett for our son's robotics Super Regional tournament. One of our friends calls the parental roll in these tournaments "competitive waiting." All I know is that Coffee and Diet Coke were my best friends.

About mid tournament I saw hubby dart out of the gym like Julia Roberts at the alter in that movie Runaway Bride. 15 minutes later he came in with the kind of smile he has, well, let's just say it is a good smile. He said with a shiver (afterall he was talking on the phone outside in 20 degree weather without a coat), "I just got off the phone with a producer from Curb Appeal." He left it hanging there... "And???????" I replied. "They are coming out Tuesday to film an audition tape." Okay, not the answer I was expecting. So soon! Excitement ran though my head and then moved quickly to the typical female thoughts... what was I going to wear? how did the house look? could I possibly loose 40 pounds in 2 days? Oh well, who cares...we are who we are. And maybe that might be just what they are looking for.

As if the day wasn't already exciting enough, the kids rallied in the end and won the Super Regional! I felt like I was at the end of a movie and the credits were about to roll. That is always when real life comes back to bite ya. But it didn't. Maybe the credits weren't quite ready.

CATB: Episode 2, Casting emails back...

Twas a few days after Christmas and outside the house, not a creature was stirring... because they were all too embarrassed to be caught gathering nuts or making nests in our ugly yard!

So, the email was sent and while we had visions of sugar plums dancing in our heads (or more like paint samples and concrete trucks), we weren't expecting a response any time soon. We knew casting was going on through January 13 and thought if we heard anything at all, it would be after that.

Yet, much to our wondering eyes did appear, an email in our inbox .... December 30th, there is was and it read...

"You have been 'pre-selected' for HGTV's "Curb Appeal; The Block" $20,000 makeover Show!

We want this to be a FUN and ENJOYABLE experience for you and your neighbors so your participation is important to the show. We also want you to be 'open minded' to design, COLOR and materials- you get a FINAL say to what happens to your house. We also want to make a great TV show that entertains and educates viewers on proper design and architecture through your experience.

-->Here is the web page for more info on the show and makeovers
http://www.hgtv.com/curb-appeal-the-block/show/index.html

Its important for your block/street to have a story- if your street or block is known for an event or ritual, please tell us about it so we can work it into our story. (example: Monthly cookie swaps, progressive dinner parties, block cook-outs, matching house number plaques, or a tradition you would like to start, etc).

**The final step is to have one of our producers meet you in person and film your audition in front of your house. This is very easy and takes about 20 minutes. We will send your audition video to HGTV for Final Approval. They get the final say if you make it into the show or not. We have 13 spots available for the season.

If you get selected you will get a $20,000 makeover! AND 2 of your neighbors will also get $1,000 -each for their own yard. Typically, we choose your next door or across the street neighbor(s) to help increase YOUR property value.

WHAT YOU GET:
1. A professional design plan from architect/designer; John Gidding that you agree to prior to work beginning.
2. A professional licensed team of contractors, carpenters, landscapers and painters.
3. Typical a two week Makeover! Instant. Weather permitting.
4. No hassle for you; Project Managers/Producers who will handle everything (from schedules to coordination)
5. Most homeowners have an increase in their property value after makeover is complete.
*You realize that if your house gets selected - your home WILL be painted- that includes brick homes.

YOUR participation will happen on camera (and off camera) and are pre scheduled with times and days you agree with. We are VERY flexible.

If you agree to the above please reply (via e.mail) with I AGREE then you will receive a call from one of the producers to do a 1/2 hour video audition very soon.
Thank you!"

Wow! But then again, maybe they send this to everyone that emails? We decided not to get too excited because it could mean nothing at all. But oh, man, it would make a very merry make over for all and our yard such a good sight!