Extreme Makeover Home Edition

Yesterday we took a little trip to see the local house being redone by Extreme Makeover Home Edition.  We drove down to the Civic Center and took a shuttle bus to the property which was the only way to get through.  This episode will air in March.  This is a picture of the girls in their Extreme Makeover Hats.  

It's amazing to see the orchestration on the site.  So much coordination down to notifying neighbors, ordering materials, construction schedule and feeding volunteers.  We knew one of the neighbors from Jae's class.  She said they were notified weeks ago that their neighbor could be picked for the makeover, they were offered to stay in a hotel for a week and other compensation for their trouble.  The spectator position and transport was coordinated well also.

Here was our one celebrity sighting of the day, Ed Sanders in the beige hat, brown shirt.  He was nice and waved to everyone from that position.  Rumor was that we missed Ty Pennington by about an hour.  

This morning we saw the house on the news and couldn't believe the progress that was made overnight.  It had a roof, electrical and plumbing already.  Mary Ann Riojas, the lucky recepient of the makeover, is very well deserving.  While being handicapped (born with no legs and only one full arm), she finished her education, is raising four children on her own, and amazingly works to place people in homes.  She had very poor handicap access in her former home.  We can't wait to see what she comes home to.

Yesterday was my birthday and we had a fun day out.  Walked to Starbucks in the morning, visited the Extreme Makeover sight, caught an afternoon movie - Bride Wars, enjoyed some sushi - yum, and home to open some surprises.  It was a good day.