01 02 03 The Dayton Houghs: Our Little Getaway...part II 04 05 15 16 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 31 32 33

Our Little Getaway...part II

34
Brian and I pulled into the parking lot of a building that looked nothing like what we had imagined a TV studio would look like. In fact it was just a warehouse, but when we entered the building we saw where the TV magic happens. We were immediately greeted by Janet, Dr Ray's audience coordinator. She looked familiar and Brian realized why first. She is one of the "regular" audience members on the show. She was so welcoming and sweet. There were about 20 or so other people in the room waiting to be told what to do. There were older couples and younger couples. There was a young couple with their two children and another family of 9 with children of ages ranging from 12 down to under a year. I was feeling slightly guilty for not bringing the whole gang. To be honest, in this environment of other Catholic families, I felt kind of naked without all of the kids. We were finally in an environment where we wouldn't be looked at as weird or crazy. We would just be a normal large Catholic family and instead of the 11 of us it was just Brian and I. A very weird feeling. I sort of felt like I had to justify the fact that we were alone. Kind of let everyone know that we had a lot of kids, we were just enjoying a little break from them, but even that felt wrong. Why should we need a break? Don't we want to always be with our kids? Don't we love our kids? Surrounded by these beautiful families, I began to miss mine. Of course we love our kids and yes we love to be with them. But I also love my husband and to have some uninterrupted time with him and only him was a very rare treat, so I pushed my guilt and insecurities aside and settled in for the ride.


 A peek into the studio...

Janet asked all of the people in the room if anyone had a question for Dr Ray for the question and answer segment at the opening of the show. Brian and a few others raised their hands. Janet wrote down their questions and took them to Dr Ray for him to look over them. Brian's question was one of the ones that they decided to use! Because of this we were one of the first people seated and we had really good seats right up front! They seated all of the other audience members and gave us a few instructions and told us what to expect and then the filming began. It was really neat to see all of the behind the scenes things that go on. The studio is much smaller than it looks on tv. They were constantly moving people around to make the audience look "fuller" depending on where the shot was. I was also surprised by how much of the show is filmed just on the fly. Dr Ray was so engaging. He had all of the audience members so involved that you really forgot about the cameras. There were a few times when he would interact with the kids in the audience, claiming that he was a "trained professional." We were there for the taping of two shows. In between shows, they fed us lunch and we had a chance to mingle with the other audience members again. For the second show, I got picked to be the microphone holder. I held the microphone until Dr Ray needed to give it to an audience member to talk into. Oh yes, hold your applause please! If you see that episode, you might recognize my hand. Well, actually you probably won't. My normal hands look like a mother of 9 hands. My nails are short and stubby with a coat of clear polish that is at least two weeks old. My "romantic getaway" hands had beautiful (read fake) french manicured nails that were long (read "short/natural) and flawless. Yes, they lasted about a minute once we got home from church on Sunday. Come on, I couldn't even button my pants with those stupid things. Anyway, if you see beautiful  manicured nails, those would be mine! lol 



Here we are with Dr Ray at the end of the taping.

So now that we are famous and all that, we are available to sign autographs or whatever. Just talk to my agent...Anyway, Brian and I had such a great little getaway. From beginning to end, it was amazing. It was the best 36 hours that we have had in a long time...over a decade to be exact! 
35 36 37 38 The Dayton Houghs: Our Little Getaway...part II

Wednesday, May 21, 2014

Our Little Getaway...part II

Brian and I pulled into the parking lot of a building that looked nothing like what we had imagined a TV studio would look like. In fact it was just a warehouse, but when we entered the building we saw where the TV magic happens. We were immediately greeted by Janet, Dr Ray's audience coordinator. She looked familiar and Brian realized why first. She is one of the "regular" audience members on the show. She was so welcoming and sweet. There were about 20 or so other people in the room waiting to be told what to do. There were older couples and younger couples. There was a young couple with their two children and another family of 9 with children of ages ranging from 12 down to under a year. I was feeling slightly guilty for not bringing the whole gang. To be honest, in this environment of other Catholic families, I felt kind of naked without all of the kids. We were finally in an environment where we wouldn't be looked at as weird or crazy. We would just be a normal large Catholic family and instead of the 11 of us it was just Brian and I. A very weird feeling. I sort of felt like I had to justify the fact that we were alone. Kind of let everyone know that we had a lot of kids, we were just enjoying a little break from them, but even that felt wrong. Why should we need a break? Don't we want to always be with our kids? Don't we love our kids? Surrounded by these beautiful families, I began to miss mine. Of course we love our kids and yes we love to be with them. But I also love my husband and to have some uninterrupted time with him and only him was a very rare treat, so I pushed my guilt and insecurities aside and settled in for the ride.


 A peek into the studio...

Janet asked all of the people in the room if anyone had a question for Dr Ray for the question and answer segment at the opening of the show. Brian and a few others raised their hands. Janet wrote down their questions and took them to Dr Ray for him to look over them. Brian's question was one of the ones that they decided to use! Because of this we were one of the first people seated and we had really good seats right up front! They seated all of the other audience members and gave us a few instructions and told us what to expect and then the filming began. It was really neat to see all of the behind the scenes things that go on. The studio is much smaller than it looks on tv. They were constantly moving people around to make the audience look "fuller" depending on where the shot was. I was also surprised by how much of the show is filmed just on the fly. Dr Ray was so engaging. He had all of the audience members so involved that you really forgot about the cameras. There were a few times when he would interact with the kids in the audience, claiming that he was a "trained professional." We were there for the taping of two shows. In between shows, they fed us lunch and we had a chance to mingle with the other audience members again. For the second show, I got picked to be the microphone holder. I held the microphone until Dr Ray needed to give it to an audience member to talk into. Oh yes, hold your applause please! If you see that episode, you might recognize my hand. Well, actually you probably won't. My normal hands look like a mother of 9 hands. My nails are short and stubby with a coat of clear polish that is at least two weeks old. My "romantic getaway" hands had beautiful (read fake) french manicured nails that were long (read "short/natural) and flawless. Yes, they lasted about a minute once we got home from church on Sunday. Come on, I couldn't even button my pants with those stupid things. Anyway, if you see beautiful  manicured nails, those would be mine! lol 



Here we are with Dr Ray at the end of the taping.

So now that we are famous and all that, we are available to sign autographs or whatever. Just talk to my agent...Anyway, Brian and I had such a great little getaway. From beginning to end, it was amazing. It was the best 36 hours that we have had in a long time...over a decade to be exact! 

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