Oprah!

My brother Kip is a HUGE Oprah fan, he records the show every day.  When I told him that I was invited to be in the audience by my super friend Betsy C.  he was dumbfounded.  He has tried for years and years to get tickets to no avail.  And I mean for crying out loud he works in the movie biz, how did I get tickets first?  When I explained the dress I was going to wear to him, he paused.  One of those pregnant pauses where you can feel the other person thinking, "Oh NO, you are NOT going to wear THAT?"  But instead of feeling like the dress was not the appropriate choice, instead I thought, I just didn't explain the dress correctly because this dress is perfect.  It would be what Oprah would want.  For sure.   

One of the things I was most excited about was having the opportunity to hang out with Betsy for the afternoon something that happens far less than I would like.  It was also amazing how the few days before the event, everything just rolled right off me.  Anything that on another day might have caused me to go into "Oh boy, I've really messed up.  I'm a bad mom."  Made me think instead, "I'm going to OPRAH!!"  It was an outstanding feeling not to take things so personally, but to instead just know that all was well and would indeed work itself out whether I felt bad about it or felt good about something else.  And it was fabulous to have something other than medical things to phone about. 

We discovered that being in the Oprah audience is a whole lot like being an extra in a movie--a LOT of waiting around.  You are herded from one line to the next and then into a large waiting area.  It is really really well organized and the staff, for the most part, was friendly and helpful.  As we were waiting in our first line, it sort of felt like entering another country.  The whole experience was enhanced by the airport like security,  we went through the metal detectors and had our bags searched.  Then we waited and waited and waited in the upstairs waiting area that had lots of HUGE pictures of Oprah with various guests.  We had no idea how long we waited because our phones had been confiscated and who wears a watch anymore? (No offense if you are in fact wearing a watch right now.)  I started out wearing my Tiara from my coaching program because I really felt like Oprah would get the whole Tiara thing.  Some of the security guards really liked it and would call me "your highness" as they ushered us through.  I sorta lost my nerve after I signed a waiver saying that I would not be advertising anything on the show.  I liked my sister's response to the whole thing, "You wore it at the perfect time."  Loved the feeling of confidence that statement made. 

Finally, they started calling the people to sit in the front rows (guests and guests of the guests plus some special audience members.) 
We were number 274, so we were the last group to be seated.  One of the most exciting parts was moving from the waiting area to this dimly lighted hallway to the studio, that was when the excitement was really building for me.  Then suddenly we were there and looking for seats.  A woman came out and interacted with the audience for maybe a good half hour, finding out who was there with their moms, who had an anniversary, etc.  The other thing that I liked the most was the feeling of the audience, it was like everyone was cheering and excited for everyone else there.  The energy and excitement in the room was palpable.  Then, the camera people started moving around and suddenly it was time for Oprah to make her appearance.  The thing Betsy & I noticed was how she walked out, just like a woman ready to do her job.  Of course the entire audience stood when she came out and clapped.  Oprah immediately said "I love you all that much too, I really do."  And you really believed her, feeling the love in the room.  She did seem shorter than I expected and it seemed like she was having a really hard time walking in her extremely high heels.  The set up on stage was a table with high backed chairs.  The stage actually rose once Oprah sat down.  Everything felt much more orchestrated than when watching it at home.  Oprah came read the prompts, showed a video, had a couple of different guests join her on stage.  At the end of the taping Oprah wanted to re-do the ending because she wanted one of the guests to be in the closing shots.  Apparently one of the crew did not want to re-shoot it and Oprah told him (and the audience) you know it is the name "Oprah" on the show so  let's do it again.  Yes it was a bit snotty, but what I liked about it was that it was REAL, she was having a moment of frustration with a co-worker like all of us do.  Then we re-did one other segment where her mic was covered by a book (that we received called Half the Sky).  Then it was over and we went back outta Oprah land into Chicagoland. 

 The show will be aired on OCTOBER 1.  I do not think you will see me in the audience, but it was a terrific topic nonetheless.