Dear friends,

Reality shows are all the rage these days, and we haven’t been able to get on any of them. We feel left out. It’s so unfair! We want to be in a reality show. Let’s recap the year and see if we can fit in with one of these entertainment gems.

• Survivor – Barry finished his four-year council term by running a campaign against a fellow incumbent. You can see the carnage for yourself at www.savelomita.org.
• Pawn Stars – Well, we did buy yet another old trombone.
• Dinner Impossible – That’s pretty much every night. “The challenge: will the boys have eaten the ingredients before the parents get home.”
• Amazing Race – The goal is to see if Alex can get all his college applications done Thanksgiving weekend without having to stay up all night. The roadblock is a surprise snow storm at the cabin. Makes for a fun ride down the mountain.
• Nanny 911 – Uncle Mark “babysat” while Margie and Barry took a trip to Boston.
• 18 Kids and Counting – Sorry, those people are just freaks.
• American Idol – Forget the judges, Alex and David are in the LA All City Band again with 350 of their closest friends. They’ll be in the front row as the band marches in the Rose Parade on New Year’s Day.
• One Big Happy Family – To show how tough we are, we had a Waite Family reunion and a Hayes family reunion in the same week almost a thousand miles apart. Both were a lot of fun. No, we mean it!
• Ace of Cakes – Well, we did have really good scones at the reunion. Those are sort of like little cakes, aren’t they?
• Little People, Big World – Since Alex is over 6’ tall and David is approaching that, we’re just too big.
• Extreme Makeover Home Edition – We put a new exhaust fan in the bathroom, does that count?
• The Dog Whisperer – Monster is now 14 years old and goes through over $300 a month in heart medicine. Woof!
• Dancing with the Stars – hmm… We don’t dance.
• What Not to Wear – David paints shirts, but they are cool and don’t belong in the “not to wear” list.
• Myth Busters – How do you get skunk smell off a dog? Nicks gave us three chances over just a few weeks to find out. It’s no myth, we confirmed that Nicks is truly stupid.
• The Apprentice – The summer youth program at Barry’s office got 180 kids jobs thanks to federal stimulus funds. Yes, your tax dollars actually did something useful.
• Fear Factor – Alex got his driver’s license while David got his learner’s permit. We fear our insurance bill.
• Pimp My Ride – Thanks to “cash for clunkers,” Barry finally got rid of his 1991 Explorer.
• Wife Swap – Forget that, why would we swap? Barry asks nervously as Margie looks over his shoulder. Moving right along…
• Disaster House – We hired a cleaning lady since there is no way Barry and the boys are going to overcome their slovenly ways. Margie still expects them to clean up after themselves. Can you imagine?

 On second thought, we seem to have plenty of reality as it is. Hey, maybe we could be on a game show: “Look at all these fabulous prizes just waiting to be won…”

 As always, we’d love to hear from you, whatever version of reality you choose to participate in. Drop us a line at waite@earthlink.net, 310 325-6389 or 25041 Feijoa Ave., Lomita, CA 90717. Have your people call our people. We’ll do lunch.