I'll Take "15 Minutes" for $1,200 Alex - Part 4

(Part 1)
(Part 2)
(Part 3)

I had aced the audition, or at least in my mind I had. They told us not to, but of course I hurried home every day after work to check and see if there was any messages on the answering machine.  Alas, none. For the first few days of work it was at least fun to tell everyone about the experience. But with the new school year starting, I had other things to occupy my time, new kids, new student teacher to supervise, and I was officiating volleyball.

After a few weeks, I hadn't really forgotten about the audition, but it wasn't the first thing on my mind. It was mid-September and volleyball season was in full swing.  After school on a Monday I had a match that I was officiating in B.F.Iowa and this was before cell phone towers were everywhere. I had to stop back by my building to pick up some stuff that I was taking to a conference the next day.

Running way behind on time, I called home to let Matt know I was on my way. He asked me if I had checked the messages on the machine. I responded that I hadn't.  He said that, "well there was a message from my doctor checkin in about a sinus infection I was recovering from, and that, wellll.  Oh heck, JEOPARDY! CALLED!"

Matt was originally going to let me find out when I got home, but thought I might have a shot at reaching them before they left.

I was in shock. Matt told me the name of the coordinator to call and gave me the number. I called, but they were gone for the afternoon. Leaving a message, I told them that I would be at a conference. I gave my cell phone number and told them to "please, please, please feel free to call me at any time."

Was this really happening? It was a fast 30 minute drive home where I listened to the message two or three (or 10) times, making sure to write down everything just in case.  The educational conference was almost an afterthought to me. And really, I got little to no sleep that night.

The next morning I picked up my student teacher and a co-worker and drove down to Des Moines for our conference. I shared with them why I wouldn't be "focused" and we had a great time talking about all the "what ifs". Oh if only I knew what time to expect a call?! Knowing that the people at the show probably wouldn't be in until mid-morning (oh those Californians), I wasn't expecting my phone to ring until at least 11 or so.

I honestly can't tell you what happened at the conference. All I can recall is me looking at my phone trying to make it ring (doesn't work btw). I also made a list of the categories that I would love to see and the ones that I would hate seeing. After a few hours of my mind being elsewhere, we finally broke for lunch. It was a beautiful day, so we ate our box lunches outside. Over turkey sandwiches, chips and cookies, my cell phone rang!

Nervously I said hello and on the other end was a coordinator from the show. We engaged in a bit of small talk, "how's the weather, how's the school year going?" etc., then he got down to business.

"Well, we'd like to invite you to be on the show."

"Ok." (Huge grin on my face)

"Just have to ask if you know anyone from Channel 13, or these two firms?"

"Nope"

"Okay, then we're in the clear. We would like you to come out on Tuesday, October 24th for the taping. A package will be arriving in the next couple of days for you explaining the details."

"Thank you.  I can't tell you how excited I am."

"We look forward to seeing you next month. Congratulations."

Okay, that is just a truncated version of the call, but you get the picture. I hung up and my co-worker, student teacher and I all shared a celebratory hug. I called Matt and we figured that we would take five days for the trip. The 24th was only a couple of days after my birthday, so we figured to make it a birthday trip.

Finally, I called my boss, hoping that the substitute who was covering for me that day would be able to fill in for me in October. Andy got on the phone and I told him that I was gonna need 4 days off. When he asked why, I gave the following response which said it all....

"They called."