wordful wednesday and my date with the mcgraws

THREE guesses as to where i am and what i'm doing!?!?!?!

before i left on my recent trip, i organized to be in the DR PHIL audience

this isn't as hard as you might imagine

in fact they BUS large groups to the show

ELLEN on the other hand, is VERY difficult to get tickets to, but i do love DR PHIL and i was thrilled to be a part of it.

not wanting to miss out - i arrived just after 7.30AM and was 12th in line!

the vending machine wouldn't take my dollar bill (do they EVER!) so it would be a very long time before i finally made my way to the griddle cafe as recommended by kevin and amanda!

(that's another blog post!) 

on this particular morning, there were TWO show tapings

the first was titled [something like] my wife, my kids, and her 5 multiple personalities

i personally thought she was FAKING, as she was conveniently able to 'draw out' two of her personalities, one being a 10 year old girl who just happened to know who dr phil was!

the woman sitting next to me was a psychology teacher who had brought her students, and she was skeptical also.

i kept stealing glances over at ROBIN, and i thought from her body language that she didn't believe her either!

for the second taping (they take you back to the break room then re-seat you

I GOT TO SIT NEXT TO ROBIN McGRAW!!!!!

ok - but one next to her (she always has someone sitting on her left)

she is as cute as she can be in person and immediately extended her hand and introduced herself and started handing out these DR PHIL coffee mugs - weeeeeeeeee!!!

you see, i had the chance to get up earlier and dance on the stage for a free coffee mug, but didn't think my moves were worthy of an audience (white girl, no rhythm!!!) but i needn't have worried, because i got a coffee mug in the end anyway!

the 2nd taping was titled 'WORST HUSBANDS IN AMERICA?'

and you can imagine how that went down!

it's quite surreal to see the guests being brought onto the stage while the tape piece is playing

it makes you realise that these are real people with real problems.

i imagine that i'll end up being in some shots, as they 'cut' to robin several times as she expressed shock at the behaviour of some of the husbands!

they also brought back one couple who had been in the dr phil house

i am only seeing these shows now on tv in new zealand, and watching the shows, i'd never believe the happy couple that i saw in the flesh on the follow up segment.

that dr phil is a miracle worker for sure!!!