THE PRICE IS RIGHT!

I have been DYING to blog about this since March 8th when we actually got onto the Price is Right. But they threatened me and said that I would get my prizes all taken away if I didn't keep it a secret so I've been holding in the BEST secret ever for far too long!

Here are all the great details.

Zac's PT class at school all decided that they wanted to go to the PIR (price is right) together during this semester. I decided that I would just stay home with Teagan so Zac could go, but then decided I didn't want to miss out last minute so we got a babysitter for the day.

Some of the girls from his class made all the matching T-shirts and they even made one for me. Keely, the one in charge found out that usually if you have a group over 20 you are guaranteed to get someone picked from your group. SAWEET! We had 22 I believe. Here is a picture of some of the ones there, we were a little excited if you can't tell. :)

We showed up and waited in line from 12pm until 4:10 when they opened the doors. Everyone in line is crazy. We were all wired and hyper and it was super entertaining. The time passed by quick! While in line they give you your name tag and you have to fill out a little card. You have to write why you think you should get onto the PIR. I wrote something along the lines of:

"I am an AWESOME math teacher and I HAVE to get onto the Price is Right to show all my students how important math is!!! PICK ME because all my students will be watching!!!"

Then, near the end of the line they do an "interview." They basically take about 15 or 20 people at a time and go down the line and ask "what do you do for fun" or "why are you here today" to each person. You have about 15 seconds to sell yourself to the guy who hand picks the contestants.

I had an unfair advantage because I was with a bunch of PTs who all had similar stories. They all are poor, starving students who do high adventure activities in their spare time so it was hard to stand out. Then you have this super nerdo girl in the middle of them all who is begging to win a fancy calculator and acting a little crazy. Needless to say, I got picked which was VERY unexpected. I didn't think I'd get picked since I wasn't really part of their group, but I DID!!!!!!

This is a few minutes before our interview.

Then we watched an episode of the PIR before they let us into the studio, there was a LOT of energy in that room, let me tell ya! The lines for the bathroom were ridiculous. I started waiting in line because I had to go, but got to nervous that I'd loose my spot because they were about to open the doors so I just decided to hold it....big mistake, details to follow.

Once we got in there things started happening really fast. They gave us some explanations about what we were supposed to do and not do and then it started. They had HUGE cue cards in the front that had the names of the people being called to "Come on Down." It was SO LOUD in there that you could hear a word they were saying so we all just stared at the cue cards hoping that our name would appear when they flipped the card over. Mine was the second name called, it was INCREDIBLE.

As I was watching myself on TV I have to admit that I look much more calm and collected than I felt. My heart was racing SO fast and my brain was working even faster. I was so nervous. I totally overbid on the first item, I was just freakin out and not thinking clearly.

The next item to win was the camping gear. I knew I was guessing last so I would have my best chance of getting up on that one. My plan was to either bid $1 if everyone overbid or $1 more than the highest bid if they were low. When it got to my turn my mind went blank and I forgot everyone's bids. PANIC ATTACK! So I asked what the girl's bid next to me was and went $50 higher. I was so shocked when I WON because I thought I'd TOTALLY BLOWN IT!

I was so excited on my way up to stage, I have to admit I peed, just a little...ahhahaha! All the excitement and jumping up and down was a bad combination with my resolve to "hold it" through the show. What was I thinking!

For the camping gear I just get cash for the worth of those prizes which is awesome because it will help pay for the taxes on everything else!

The first prize was a little bit of a blur. I was bidding on 2 dune buggies that were pretty dang sweet! I listened to what Zac told me to do, but he was listening to his class and we both went against our better judgement and lost.....so sad! We were ONE number off, they were supposed to be 7995 or something. It is SO hard to concentrate and think straight when everyone is screaming and you're in an out-of-this world experience!!! Oh well, I knew I still had the wheel so all was not lost.

The wheel will go down in history as my most embarrassing moment EVER!!!! Watching it was much worse than experiencing it. I don't know that I even have an explanation. I spun the wheel and got 5 cents. My mind starts working, "what do I need to get to beat this other girl? How hard should I spin the wheel? Is it going to land on my number." The intensity and anxiety of that moment is CRAZY. Then Mr. Drew Carey comes over and starts asking me these light questions. So do you want to say hi to anyone? NO, I am concentrating!!!! is what I thought I replied something like "ya hi to all my family, all million of em." Dumb comment, but forgivable. Next question: "so how much more do you need for a dollar" I thought he said "what are you gonna do with with a dollar" but I repeated his question so I must have really been in another world or something because I replied "just add a couple zeros and I'll pay off my husbands student loans" Disgraceful....don't know what I was thinking. I hope everyone laughed REALLY hard and that they rewinded it over and over to get the full effect of my moronic reply....that will make me feel better to know that people were at least entertained. haha!

But it doesn't matter, BECAUSE I WON THE WHEEL SPIN! The rest of the show I spent strategizing, running through different scenarios in my head trying to figure out how to win the showcase showdown. You can see me when one of other contestants ( the cute marathon girl) gets called to "come on down" in the front right area. I have a blank stare on my face and everyone around me is going crazy....kinda funny.

So the showcase showdown. The guy I was with was SO nice, I wish we both could have won, but oh well. He passed over 18 sets of legos, a 7 day trip to San Diego, a 5 day trip to NY and a 5 day trip to Denmark to me and I bid 18,500 and was about 5000 off. He bid on 2 scooters, a mac desktop set up and a new car and bid 28500 and was like 15000 off so I WONNNN!!!!!! I was SO excited I peed a little more and danced around on stage for a while, it was INCREDIBLE! I have never felt that much anxiety and excitement in my life before. As I walked out is was SO surreal. I just won almost $25000 in cash and fabulous prizes on the Price is RIGHT!!!!!

So I went home, changed my pants and started waiting. They said a travel agent would contact me for the trips and that my prizes could be delivered between 10 days after the tapping and 90 days after the air date. WHAT!!?!?! The tension was too much! Then on Tuesday I got the phone call. I still have the message saved. "Hello, this message is for Melissa Daniels, this is CBS studios and we have some prizes we'd like to deliver to your home, please call us back at..." I put Teagan down for his nap SO fast and called him right back. He let me choose when I wanted them delivered so I of course told him I wanted him the next morning.

Sure enough, a member of the Price is Right Stage Crew delivered all these HUGE boxes to me Wednesday morning at 10 o' clock sharp. It was SO INCREDIBLE! They left the ones put together that were on the actual Price is Right, funny!



The three of us had a LOT of fun opening all the boxes and pulling out lego set after lego set! I think it was even more fun to go online and figure out how much they're all worth. You're looking at $2250 worth of legos right now my friends. Those Star Wars ones are $400-$550 each! I haven't decided what to do with them all yet. One part of me says "sell them on ebay and use the money to cover the 10% tax on all your winnings." The other part of me says " You LOVE legos and you will have so much fun with these forever. When will you ever spend such ridiculous prices to get legos again??!?!" I've already put together two of the Toy Story ones for Teagan. It is SO fun, I am a huge lego fan now. I think we'll sell a few sets to pay for food and some entertainment on our trips and keep the rest for fun!
The trips have to be taken within one year of today so have to get started ASAP. Especially since there is a very good chance I'll be pregnant before that year is up and I don't want to be 6 months pregnant trying to get through the streets of Denmark!

Zac has a break the week before the fourth of July and we want to take our Denmark trip that week. His parents said they will watch Teagan, but we still have to figure out how to get him to them or them to him and lots of other details.

We wanted to take the New York trip during his break at the end of this month, but the travel agent hasn't contacted us yet. I talked to a lady in charge and she said that the travel agent sends a letter out right after the show airs. If NY doesn't happen this month, which it probably won't, then we might try for this fall when Zac's school isn't as crazy.

The San Diego Trip is kind of funny since we live here, but we've spent hardly any time in down town San Diego and we've never been to legoland so I think we'll still have fun. Zac wants to wait to take that trip until after we move away so that we can come back and enjoy this great city! I want to take the trip right when we move. I thought we could pack all our stuff into one of those unit deals that you can keep for a month or what not. Move out of our apartment. Stay on the beach in San Diego at a fancy hotel for a week and then head to wherever our new home is.

Whatever we do with our cash and fabulous prizes I can guarantee that this year is going to be SOOOOO FUNNNNNNNN!!!! Legos everyday and trips to amazing places in between. I feel like the luckiest girl in the world. I owe a HUGE thank you to Zac's class for putting it all together, especially Keely! And thank you for helping me bid on everything, BLUE CLASS ROCKS!!!!!!

Wow, I feel just as excited after writing about it as I felt after actually experiencing it!