March 11, 2016- Wrangler Day- Part 2

We were able to get into the 2^nd taping thanks to the 2 girls behind us, a little lie, and the niceness of the staff. We hadn’t realized that we were on the regular line of people with tickets and not the standby one.

   The one girl had an extra 2 person ticket that she gave us. Neither of our names were on their list since we hadn’t actually signed up for this but Sally made it seem like we had. They made an exception, thank goodness.

   This was the taping of Meredith’s last show ever. There were a lot of flashback and farewell clips. The only guests were Mario Cantone and Joy Behar; neither of us were thrilled about this.

   I wish that one or more of the 4 that had been part of a clip segment that was made to seem like a live part of this show had been there. Three were from the Today show- Willie Geist, Hoda Kotb, and Kathie Lee. Regis Philbin was the other one.

   There is a panel segment with 4 other hosts besides her but I only knew one of them, Lance Bass who used to be in the group NSYNC. Sally told me that this part hadn’t been added to the 2^nd season and that she didn’t really care for it.

  Meredith’s cute little doggie was roaming around the studio during part of the show. He got close to us at one point. I wish that I could remember his name and that I had gotten a picture of him. You were only allowed to snap shots before and after the taping.

   She came up into the audience at the end of the show and was hugging people. Both Sally and I received a hug from her. I think that she might have even given me a kiss on the cheek. That seemed sort of surreal. She seems like a very nice lady.

   I did a lot of walking with Sally which was kind of tiring but what was even more exhausting was the socializing that I did. Naturally, I felt anxious and also like I was putting on an act during this. It is so pathetic that something so basic is always hard for me to do.

   Amy and Sharon would say that I did a good job of this. I can semi-agree with them. The day certainly turned out to be fun and also different from what I had expected. I am glad that I was able to motivate myself into going into the city.

   I still can’t help being mad at myself for not catching the earlier train though. I know- I have to try to let that go. I am dreading checking my email because I had entered to win a VIP pass for this special Wrangler event. I will be even more upset if I had indeed won this and could have been really close to him.

   I wish that I hadn’t been too afraid to go see Wrangler one or more other times, especially when he was a puppy. Amy is just going to tell me not to do the “if only” thing. That is so difficult in many cases particularly because of my defective brain problem.

   I didn’t get home until around 5:07. I was feeling so nervous when driving from the train station because there was already a lot of cars on the road. I prayed that I wouldn’t get into an accident.

   Mike was asleep on the couch. He woke up shortly after I ate my dinner. I showed him my photos and told him about the Meredith hug. We watched some of the Indian Wells tennis tournament. His constant talking, my tired brain, and wandering thoughts made it hard to focus on this though.

 

 

 

 

 

March 11, 2016- Wrangler Day- Part 1

I almost didn’t go into the city to see Wrangler on his last day at the “Today” show yesterday. He will now be starting his formal training as an assistance/guide dog.

    I kept coming up with reasons not to do so- my head hurt, driving and social anxieties, not wanting to deal with the noise and crowds, feeling ugly and like too much of a loser to be out in public, and the thought that “It’s just a dog- I don’t really need to see him” (that is what my brother says even though he likes Wrangler too.)

   My desire to take a mini-break from my family managed to overpower all of this which was pretty surprising to me.

   I only wish that this had happened sooner. I was up by 4:15 and settled into my normal early morning routine of watching TV while eating my breakfast. It was after doing this that I quickly got ready for my adventure. I didn’t even brush my teeth or wash my face.

   I arrived at the Plaza by about 6:55. There was already a good sized crowd there so I wasn’t able to get close to the area where the hosts briefly do the show 2 times during the 8:00 hour. It was disappointing that I would not get to be close to Wrangler.

   Carson did bring him swiftly around the whole Plaza area for a victory lap so I got to see him a bit then. Only a couple of my photos of this adorable pooch came out good. One was from a distance; the zoom on my camera isn’t that good. My 3 shots of Roker came out better. I would rather have more great shots of Wrangler!

   An employee was handing out standby tickets for the “Meredith Vieira Show”. I don’t usually watch that but I liked her when she was on the “Today” show. I was lucky enough to get one. This was after I had moved up closer to the broadcast area.

   Sally, the girl who had been standing next to me earlier but was now in a different spot, had also gotten one. I met up with her again as I was walking to 30 Rock. We hung out together then. I hadn’t really said much to her before this.

   We were not able to get into the first taping but were told to come back and try for the second one. Sally wanted to go to the Disney store so I showed her where it is. We went to the bagel place that she said was voted the best in the city afterwards. I got one to take home since I had brought my lunch with me.

   I am fairly certain that Sally is from Ohio and is originally from upstate NY, somewhere near Albany. I hate that I have such a craptastic memory. She has an English Springer spaniel named Lucy. I told her that I love spaniels and used to have a cocker named Buffy Willow.

   Often I feel some sadness when seeing doggies because this makes me think of her and how she would have been in our lives longer if only we had taken better care of her and had gotten a second opinion about that damn steroid allergy med. She wouldn’t have had 12-15 months of such suffering also.

   I told Sally that I like country music. She said that she enjoys some of it too, including Rascal Flatts. I think that she also mentioned that her daughter used one of their songs at her wedding reception.

Wrangler

Al Roker