Two significant things happened to me last week:
1. Mike and I went on our last baby-free va-ca.
2. I was a guest on Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me!
Item 1 took us to the Homestead Resort in Hotsprings, Virginia, about a 4 hour or so drive through some pretty beautiful country. I was a bit anxious that it would be a little too much like Dirty Dancing, but without Patrick Swayze. And there was definitely some DD undertones, but no talent show or tackiness to be found. Our activities were limited to walking me around - I now take myself for walks, rather than go on walks.* But it really was lovely. In between summing up the courage to forego the elevator and walk up multiple flights of stairs, we managed to go on a beautiful gorge hike, hit the spa (at least I did), and get in some major pool time. Relaxing was had. We met some nice folks at the overpriced** Labor Day buffet who gave us some tips about surviving our first East Coast winter. And while getting some ice cream, a sweet older lady told me that I “really didn’t need any.” So it was good times all around! And for the record, ice cream is 100% required to maintain sanity and promote fetal development during pregnancy.
Item 2: still can’t believe I was actually called back from Wait Wait. I was sitting at my desk at 6ish on Wednesday night, my cell phone rang***, and I actually answered it,and it was Emily from Wait Wait, asking little old me if I wanted to be on the show as a contestant, the following evening. Unfazed by my bumbling, slightly psychotic answer, she let the offer stand, despite my hemming and hawing about the fact that I was chosen for Bluff the Listener (why me? the universe apparently does give you what you deserve!). See, Bluff the Listener is clearly the hardest segment on that show - for all those unfamiliar, you have to pick the real news story out of 3 very improbable ones. Other segments on the show include the A Casual Encounter with the Week’s News and the aforementioned Limericks (or the Not My Job celebrity host plays for you). So the first one is a bit intimidating if you get it wrong, because you don’t want to embarrass yourself for not paying attention to the news in front of the other NPR listeners, but Peter Sagal (the host) often sort of helps you out, and my track record with this segment is pretty good. I’d give myself a B, B+. Limericks, on the other hand, I get an A in; you just have to pick a rather obvious rhyming word. And for both of these segments, you just need to get 2 out of 3 right - totally manageable!
But Bluff the Listener on the other hand, you get 1 and only 1 chance. So hard! And I have about a D- track record. But I carpe-diemed my way onto the show, because when NPR knocks, you answer! And, despite having Mike next to me and attempting to decipher my nervous chicken scratch writing so he could Google the 3 stories and give me a thumbs up on the right one, our dynamic duo still lost. Moral of the story: cheaters never prosper, and they certainly don’t get Carl Kassal’s voice on their home answering machine.
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*Note the distinction: once I started waddling, I started referring to myself in the third person when referring to physical activity.
**(but tasty - they had legit fresh donuts that came off the little oil bath conveyor belt! Do I detect a donut fetish in this blog??)
***(which is rare given the bad reception in the office and my penchant to not have it close by)
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