THE GREEN(wald) HOUSE … (growing rosemary & raising a little wolf)

…..FORTUNE!!!!

I am so excited! I am going to be a contestant on WHEEL OF FORTUNE!

For those that know me, I have said for a long time that I needed to go on WOF because I knew I would be so good and I would win lots of money. Though I was kind of half-joking when I talked about it in the past, my wonderful husband cut out a notice in the local paper when the “Wheelmobile” was coming to town around Mother’s Day this year. I knew I HAD to show up to at least see about becoming a contestant. It was a wet and rainy day, and I stood in line outside (with Sammy in a sling) for 3 hours while Joe and Rosie waited in the car and ran errands.

There were about 200 people in the auditorium once I finally got inside for the auditions (and this was the third round that day), and they were randomly drawing names out of a barrel to see who would make it up on stage to play a practice game. After about an hour, my name was drawn and Sammy and I went up on stage to play. We got our picture taken, and did a short interview with the fake Pat Sajak before taking turns calling letters and trying to solve a puzzle. I didn’t solve a puzzle, but I think I made a good impression. I was enthusiastic and loud when calling letters (as they instructed) and after my turn ended and I collected my swag (WOF fanny pack, duffel bag, t-shirt, baseball hat, and a talking Vanna keychain) I went home to wait and see if I would be invited to a final round of auditions to be held in Detroit in the near future.

After returning home from our France vacation, I was excited to check my email and see that I was indeed invited to the final round of auditions - 2 days after we got home (thank god our trip wasn’t longer). This time I went solo - and there was only about 60-70 people in the room. One at a time, we were randomly called and had a chance to call a letter to try to solve a puzzle. The first time, I called a letter that was the first one revealed in the puzzle, but then my second letter was not there so I lost my turn. The second time I was called, I solved the puzzle - a “same name” puzzle that was “Mickey and wireless mouse” - I won another WOF t-shirt. After everyone had been called at least once - we took a written “test”. We had 5 minutes to solve as many puzzles as we could - each puzzle had only a couple letters filled in. I think I got about 60% filled in and I was a little disappointed in myself, until I saw the guy next to me had not completed a single one.

We then waited for our “tests” to be scored, and then they made a final cut, and about 25 of us were kept for a final practice round. Yes, I made the cut. We were called up to the front of the room in groups of 5 - we had to introduce ourselves (like we would on the show) and we had to pretend to spin the wheel before calling out letters this time. We were told the wheel is really heavy, like 1000 lbs, and were instructed to lean over and really give it a good pull. Since there was no real wheel there, one of the audition coordinators was spinning a small fake wheel on our behalf, and she would purposely make it land on “bankrupt” or “lose a turn” occasionally to keep the game moving and give everyone a chance to play. On my turns, I called great letters, bought a few vowels, and then my spin would land on “lose a turn” before I could solve the puzzle - I think they knew I was pretty good. After we were all on stage at least once, the day was over and we were told that within 2-3 weeks we would receive a letter in the mail if we were chosen to be a contestant. The whole day lasted about 3 hours, and my hands were so sore from clapping basically the entire time.

I got my letter a couple weeks ago! I don’t know what day I will be on the show yet, as they said it could be anytime in the next 18 months. But I am definitely going to be on the show - I am so excited! They have a $1,000,000 prize on the wheel this year, and I am planning on winning it!

I have nightmares about ending up like one of these poor people though…

check out Pat’s face, he can’t believe it - “Seriously? You couldn’t get that, you idiot?”

I have to remember to take my time and speak slowly and carefully and not add in any extra letters and make sure I know the answer before I solve….

Wish me luck!!!!