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

I've always had a problem with finishing projects. I can't explain why, but maybe it's something I should talk with my shrink about.

Today was the last day of school before Winter Break. Instead of our usual classes, we had a day filled with special activities. It was a lot of fun and the day flew by pretty quickly (although I still felt the need for a Xanax by final bell).

One of the activities was "Jeopardy!" and it reminded me that I had yet to write up the final chapter of my game show experience. Time to break the cycle of unfinished business.......

(Part 1) (Part 2) (Part 3) (Part 4) (Part 5) (Part 6) (Part 7)

Now that I had finished the actual taping of my episodes, I could actually relax. We spent the rest of the day in Santa Monica and then meeting an L.A. friend for dinner and drinks. The next day was the trip back to Iowa. This took a bit longer than expected due to bad weather in Denver (our layover stop). It was around 2 a.m. when we finally crawled into bed at home. Of course I hadn't taken off Friday from school. Whoops. Friday was a very long day. I was exhausted, but all I did during the day was talk to the kids about the trip.

One of the conditions after I finished taping was that I was not allowed to divulge to the media about how I had done on the show. Contestants are told that while we aren't forbidden from telling family and friends about how we had done, that it was more fun to keep it under wraps.  Two months was gonna be a long time to keep this secret.

Over the two months, I did tell friends that my episode was going to air December 26th, and they "might" want to keep the 27th open as well. It was the one way that I could think of to let people know that I did okay.

Word eventually spread that I was going to be on the show and I was contacted by a couple of local newspapers to talk about my experience. I have to admit, it was kinda awesome being famous for a little bit of time. I shared my experience without giving away to final outcome.

As the big day approached, we still hadn't figured out where we were actually going to watch the show. The answer came in the form of an invitation from the ISU women's basketball team to watch the show with the team before their practice that day. Matt and I are big fans of the team and we know the coaching staff very well. It was their first practice following the Christmas Break and the coach's wife thought it would be a lot of fun.  I said yes in a manner of about 1 second.

So to say that watching the show with the team (players, coaches, etc) was nothing short of amazing is pretty accurate. Every year I sat in the balcony and watched in awe at talent these young women displayed on the basketball court.  Over the course of 30 minutes, I saw them give me that same look of awe. When the credits began rolling, the team was stunned at how well I had done. I was a rock star for a few minutes and it was absolutely incredible. For just a little bit, they looked at me with that same look.  I was honored.

After that, phone calls came in from around the country from friends and family who had watched the show.  It was one of the few months ever where I have actually used all of my cell phone minutes.

In April, I received a check in the mail for $24,180 - my winnings minus 7% California state income tax. I put money aside to pay my income taxes the next year and then had some fun. I paid off my car (which I still am driving), bought a computer, and we took a few trips - Cleveland, Washington D.C. and.... Hawaii (to see the ISU women's basketball team play in a tournament).

I hope you enjoyed my 15 minutes as much as I did. Matt likes to tell people that I NEVER get tired of talking about it, even after 7 years. LOL