Steve Thomas Visits BHB

So, we've been having this horrible stretch of 95-100 degree days here in the greater Boston area. It's been just miserable. In the midst of this we hosted two open houses (one for neighbors long wondering what on EARTH was going on at #11, and the other for folks from work) as well as the film crew from the Discovery Channel's new show "Renovation Nation", hosted by Steve Thomas.

The day began at 6:00am (yes, it was already hot - 80 degrees) since we had to have the kids up, dressed, and fed by the time the crew was scheduled to arrive at 7:30. As it turned out, we all had to change our clothes once they got there due to the fact that two of the kids had brand logos on their t-shirts, I had a t-shirt that had what LOOKED like a brand logo, and Susi's tank top wouldn't easily conceal the body mic she needed to wear. (Actually, she was allowed to keep the tank top in the end , but I think the guy who rigged the mic had fun getting it situated JUST right. Hmmm....) Anyway, we got all set and were told that Steve would be arriving at the front door in a minute. We waited. Presently there came the sound of heavy footsteps up the front stairs, and then Steve appeared at the door, knocked, I opened, shook his hand, said hi, and invited him into BHB. Then we did it again at least three times. (I think one of the re-takes was due to Caleb making fake belching noises and jumping up and waving into the camera lens. Hmmm....) Eventually Steve had all the kids imitating their favorite barn animals; for the denuoement he had them all hopping around on the floor like frogs. This is going to be quality TV action. Be sure not to miss the episode.

Oh, and I forgot the guns. In classic Asher and Caleb fashion, while my back was turned and as Steve was walking up the stairs, these two had grabbed their cap guns and rushed out caps blazing to hold off the assault of the evil camera crew villains. The cap smoke was thick in the air when I rushed in to avert disaster. Steve was pretty amused. Probably will make the out-takes. As I was disarming my eldest son, in frustration he lamented to me: "Dad, I thought this was going to be a COOL tv show!" Hmmm...

As we made our way through the house over the course of the next five (yes FIVE) sweaty hours, there were a number of great moments. Steve Thomas was charming - funny, good with the kids, open-minded about our project, encouraging. He seemed to genuinely like what we had done and had much to offer by way of advice. Anyway, some of the other highlights included:
- Susi, Steve and I crawling into the girl's bedroom loft (which is only about three or four feet tall), cameraman outside the tiny "hatch door" that connects the girls' loft with the boys', and laughing about how much the plasterers must have hated doing that this space.
- Steve, after asking whether the netting in the boys' loft would hold their weight, FULLY leaning back into the netting and putting three times as much stress on all the little screws I had fixed it to the studs; I held my breath the whole time and tried not to imagine the host of the show plummeting to the floor below.
- The basement detour. Oh my GOSH he HAD to go down there! I had promised to Susi that there was NO WAY they would go into the basement. Who wants to see the basement? Steve says, "What's behind this door?" I say, nervously, "Oh, that's just the basement..." Needless to say that what followed was a full-on tour of the basement with the camera man, sound man, producer, Susi and me. Oh well. It's all part of the story, right?
- Over the course of the filming Steve also managed to find the other two major caches of JUNK - both in shower stalls with curtains artfully drawn closed. We made sure these were featured prominently in close-up shots.
- Steve throwing his hat into MY corner TWICE by saying that he liked the unfinished OSB walls downstairs and the bare plaster walls. Go Steve!


All in all, even though it was a hot, sweaty morning, we all had a ball. I have no idea when the episode will air, but I will keep you posted. Check in at the "Renovation Nation" website from time to time. One of the producers took a lot of shots of the filming which he said were for the site. Stay tuned.