Of Goat Barns and TV Stations

I’ll admit it right off the bat, goat barns and TV stations don’t seem to have a lot in common. Goat barns are filled with hay, goats, milking stands and bare light fixtures. TV stations have beautiful sets, top-quality equipment and are altogether viewed as rather… Glamorous. 
So, why in the world do I put the two of them in the same post? Well, because for me they go together like hand-in-glove. I know, y’all are probably wondering if I’m writing this late at night and my brain is turned off. The answer to the first question is yes (12:25 am), but the answer to the second question is no. My mind is actually working quite well. 
Let me back up a bit. Give you the whole story. Then, after you’ve read it, you can form your own opinion about whether the two should be named together or not. It happened like this: 
My adopted* parents were booked at a TV station in Kentucky for August 27th. Of course they invited me along, but it wasn’t until Sunday (the 25th) that I found out for sure that I’d be able to make it. So I went along with them. I knew it would be a good experience to get to watch my dad singing on TV. I had the thought that it would be so cool if somehow it worked out for me to be on the show also (not singing), but then I found out that it was going to be live, so I dismissed the thought. 

From this…
It was pretty cool. We got there around 5:00 pm, and so they took some time to set everything up, do the sound-checks, go over the program, and all that kind of jazz. Then we had a bit of time to wait. Mom and I ended up going back to the green room just to look around and discovered it was actually rather large with what looked like a full-size kitchen. There were a bunch of snacks on the table, so we ate a little bit, then headed back out to the set. 
Dad sang for around 35 minutes, and then another lady (who we had never met before) took a turn singing. I had been having a grand time, taking pictures and drinking it all in. Remember, this is a totally, totally new experience for me to be in a TV station. 
Then one of the hosts came back to us and asked if Mom and I wanted to be on the air for the last fifteen minutes or so of the show. Um, was that even a question that needed answered? Dad jumped in right away and said that I would want to do it, then Mom declined (she’s more of a behind the scenes person).  
So there I was, getting ready to be on live TV for the first time with about 10-15 minutes prior warning, and having no clue what (if any) questions they would ask me. I did what anyone in my place would do: Texted my siblings, cousins, and (other) parents, letting them know my exciting news. And I asked them to pray that I’d do well. 
“Dad says to try and get a movie of it.” My (other) mom texted me back. So I handed my phone to my mom and was trying to ask her to get a video when they motioned for us to come up to the set. After sitting down, they helped me click on my mic. Then I talked to the hostess for a few minutes before the cameras were turned on us (the one lady was still singing), so I got to know her a little bit, which was nice since it was the first time we’d said anything to each other. She was pretty shocked when she found out how old {read that young} I was “Someday you’ll be so thankful for your youthful looks!” and also expressed some surprise when she found out that I was the author of a book (which she was holding at the time). 
And now is where you see how my goat barn comes in. Training grounds, people. Yeppers. That’s right. For years I’ve practiced being interviewed on TV while milking the goats. Weird? Maybe. But it paid off. All those times of sitting up straight and smiling and nodding as I milked really did help. Even though I’m not saying I did an amazing job, I’m convinced I did far better than if I hadn’t prepared. 
To this…
I kid you not (pun intended), during the past couple of years while in the goat barn I would spend 10-50 minutes (depending on how many goats were being milked) a day, although not every day, answering random questions. I wouldn’t always actually even have a question in mind, I’d just talk about my book, my writing, my vision for life. I wanted to be ready whenever the time came, and I knew each little thing I did would help. 
In actuality, when on TV I didn’t say much at all. Yet, when there was a question, I felt fine answering it. (Although there was once when I was like “stupid answer alert” to myself.) And I wasn’t nervous. Not one little itty bit. Of course having my family praying helped with that as well. 
Anyway. If you want to watch the program you can do so here (don’t laugh at how much this meant to me with how little I was on, it was still cool!). I come on during the last 10-15 minutes, I’m not sure where exactly. Oh yes, and I move my hands too much, but that’s totally me. I actually toned down the body movement for the TV. 
So, is there anything that you’re preparing for right now, even though you have no clue when it will come to pass? What is it? How are you preparing? 

*The rest of the post I’m going to leave out ‘adopted’, since this is a post about them. 

9 thoughts on “Of Goat Barns and TV Stations”

  1. Aaron Smith says:
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    That is seriously so cool – training for live TV while milking goats. Somehow, I totally get that. Sometimes when I go walking, I bring a book along and practice reading aloud. Weird? Maybe. But then again – maybe not…

    Very nice post! 🙂

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