A Letter To Daytime Talk Show Hosts

Dear Oprah, Ellen Degeneres, Regis & Kelly,

Hi! I am writing this letter because I really love your shows, but never get to watch them but for the occasional day off.

I, unfortunately, have a job working as a nurse for a busy neurosurgeon. Our office does have a TV set that we leave on for the purpose of patient privacy, but it really is pretty hard to actually watch the individual segments with anything but a passing glance and usually a guess as to the topics.

I have thought about taping your shows, but that is just not possible due to time limitations and stress of having so many shows “to watch.” I have been off most of this week due to the flu, and have been able to watch more of your shows.

I got to thinking that it would be a thrill of a lifetime to actually be a member of your audience (especially on Oprah’s favorite things show), or win some of the fabulous prizes that you give away (like when Ellen gave away some fabulous musical instruments), or be able to compete in your contests, or even submit things to your weekly features. I realized that competing in some of the contests requires ability to answer questions from previous shows, so that kinda leaves me out on those.

I also realized that I don’t fall into any category that sometimes seem to be the benefactors of your largess.

I will tell you a little about my life:

I have a great life, get along with my husband of 33 years, have 3 great boys that are now wonderful men, have a beautiful baby grandson (that could have competed in the baby of the year award on Regis & Kelly’s show recently, had I only known about it).
Here are some pictures that I might have submitted:

I very fortunately don’t have any hard-luck tales to share. I wouldn’t qualify for extreme makeover shows. I am not rich, but not poor, have health insurance, fairly good health, have a nice home, transportation to go where I need to, and a job I love. But mainly I have a great family that is close and whom I love very much.

One of “My favorite things” is getting together for Sunday dinner and just family time. We love sitting around watching the “grandson show”, which is where everyone in the household sits around and watches the baby play, or learn to crawl, or pull himself up.

The uncles both enjoy having some baby time, too. .

Along with grandma and grandpa:

The boys also manage to squeeze time into playing their instruments in the basement. I call their “band”: “Wasted Talent in the Basement” but they call themselves the Owens Brothers Band. (They are pretty good, even though I’m their mom, and they never play any of my requests.)

We hold a yearly barbecue that we call the Owens Backyard Bash or OBB that includes a combination of the boy’s friends, our neighbors, and coworkers and we have the Brothers band for entertainment.

We make a pretty wicked hot dog for the OBB!

I have to admit that I am a reality television junkie and have not missed a season of watching survivor , American Idol, or dancing with the stars.

I have thought it might be fun to try to compete on one of those shows, but I probably wouldn’t do that well.
Not from lack of trying on my part.

I don’t feel I’d be a great survivor contestant because:
1. I would end up looking like the anorexic girl they had last season, because I have one of those great metabolisms that lets me eat just about anything I want-(again a blessing for me).
2. I don’t like bugs.
3. My husband would say I am too opinionated and wouldn’t be able to keep my mouth shut when I should.
4. I would work myself to death around camp and be bad at the challenges, due to fatigue, because I am one darned hard worker and love to clean! (Hence the nickname from my middle son of the “terminator cleaner”.)

I don’t think I‘d make a great contestant on dancing with the stars because:
1. I’m not a celebrity.
2. I’m not that great of a dancer, even though I like dancing, can keep a beat, but would probably pass out doing turns!
3. My husband says I like to lead and he vows we will be taking no more dance lessons until I learn that the female does NOT lead!!

As for American Idol:
1. I don’t sing.
2. I’m too old for the competition.
3. I spend way too much time comparing the contestants to my own sons and saying “our boys could compete on that show!!” (I know this is the mother in me, but they definitely would not be in those outtake reels!!)

And even though I don’t watch Amazing Race, I wouldn’t be a great competitor because:
1. My husband and I would end up divorced trying to accomplish the goals. (You just can’t have a person whose internal compass is totally screwed (me) working with a logistics specialist !)

Anyway, the point I would like to make, is that I am just like the millions of people who watch your shows with the hopes and dreams of “wow, wouldn’t that be great to do that” or “win that” or “travel there” or “also help those people.” I sometimes feel slightly jealous about all the free gifts, prizes and such that your shows give away….Why can’t that be me? I feel like I am totally deserving! But you know what? I really wouldn’t trade my life for any of those great perks, especially if it requires some of the adversity that we have seen and heard about on your shows. I guess I'm just one of your average viewers but I don't feel "average".... I feel pretty Blessed!

I will continue to catch glimpses of your shows, continue to religiously sign up for HGTV’s dream home, publishers clearing house sweepstakes, have my husband buy the occasional lottery ticket (you know… when it gets really high and gets a lot of attention), look for my favorite “I’m going to Disney World!” commercial that runs after the Super Bowl and wish that it was me going to Disney, and continue to wish I could see your shows more often. I will probably lament that “ I never win anything.” But that’s ok.

Maybe one day in the future, I’ll be like that stay at home house wife that was surprised that she was chosen to dance with Derek, from dancing with the stars, on Oprah. Maybe I'll win a trip to Disney, or get a chance to travel more, but until then, I know I will continue to dream, be thankful for all I have, and enjoy my life!

Sincerely,
A devoted TV daytime talk show fan that unfortunately has to work during daytime viewing hours.

IT"S Not the Big One!

IT’S NOT THE BIG ONE, so take a deep breath!!!…IT”S JUST ME WRITING A BLOG!!
I almost hate to ruin my family’s running joke about my blog writing absence!
Jeffrey, in particular, may have to come up with a new standard answer to questions from the “this is my question, mom!!”

Most of the conversations go something like this:
Me: “ I need to ____ “- (Here you may insert any appropriate activity such as: clean, read, take bath, go to Walmart, watch TV, etc.)
Family member: “You COULD go write a blog.”
They have been pretty relentless about wanting me to post something.
I’m not sure they were all that interested in my thoughts before when I was blogging on a more regular basis, but I appreciate that they seem to have missed me writing.

I can’t really believe it has been so long since I sat down and wrote anything!
If I think about why I haven’t blogged, I would have to say it probably is because I didn’t feel like I could adequately describe the wonderful experience of waiting on a new grandbaby to make his appearance and then the reality of having a new grandbaby.
I was discussing this problem with Cara, “my blog mentor”and the person that introduced me to the blog world. (Admittedly, this conversation took place about a year ago!) She said that when the subject is emotional, she sometimes just posts pictures. That made perfect sense to me but I still felt like I should be writing something incredible about the baby! .
Teddy is just the most adorable baby and it has been GREAT being grandparents and watching him change so quickly.

It seemed like forever while we were waiting for him to make his appearance but it was so exciting when he arrived. It only took one look and it was all over ….we all fell hard for the little guy!
We can’t seem to get enough of him! It seems like each picture taken of him is cuter than the last! (I know that I am totally biased on this subject…but he really is the cutest baby ever!) Below is a sample of his adorableness!!!!:

You can see his new teeth in this one:




He loves his tongue...that is totally a grandpa and mom trait!


I confess that I show off pictures of him to my co-workers pretty frequently and must admit that they have been pretty good about not groaning when they see me dragging out the new pictures. (BTW-That bragging and picture showing is allowed in the grandmother’s rule book!) The doctor I work for is not as enthused about the baby pictures and sometimes gives me a hard time about all the pictures, stories, etc about the baby. He is a big hunter and loves to show his deer pictures and elk pictures and tell stories about them. I told him that everytime I have to look at dead deer or elk pictures, then he has to look at baby pictures! It seems to be a good balance!!

The mystery Blogger has done a wonderful job posting some adorable pictures of “the-adorable Theodore” in my absence and I really appreciate the “substitute Blogger” stepping in and assisting with the big events going on around here. I hope he will continue to ”Share” this blog. He actually has some good stories in him and I would love for him to write a few more!

There always seems to be a lot of “things to do” and as I’ve mentioned before, writing really isn’t one of my favorite things… I much prefer sitting around reading, watching cooking and decorating shows ( or reality shows, you know). And basically now, TEDDDY TRUMPS ALL Things!!

Having the family over is like a big treat and we really look forward to our weekend get togethers. We love having the “firebug” over.( This would be the daughter-in law that loves to mess with starting a fire and “tending it”. ) There is nothing that beats good food, nice cozy fire on a winter’s day, and all the family over…and of course TEDDY!!!! It usually ends up being the “Teddy show” and we all sit around and watch him play, learn to crawl, eat and do all those baby things that seem like such big deals!!

During the week, it has been a little quiet around here since the youngest went back to college. We really miss having him deciding what’s for dinner!!! (Just kidding, we miss him for other reasons too!!! But if he is reading this: What’s for Dinner?)


Well, I have been composing this little blog for several months ( even though it doesn’t say much), and I really need to post it . I hope I will be inspired to write a few more blogs in a timely fashion, but I’m not promising anything at this point!!