Extreme Home Makeover

I just finished watching the most recent "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition," featuring our family friend Carrie Prewitt. Amazing. It was incredible seeing Coach Prewitt again, and extremely heartfelt to see her get the home she deserves. Admittedly, I normally don't watch this show (some parts are too sappy for me), but I definitely set my recorder on to tune in to this one. Some highlights of the episode that hit close to home:

1. Seeing clips Middleburg High School

Even though I didn't attend Middleburg High School, I basically grew up there. My parents both worked at the school (I think they worked there a combined ridiculous amount of years... I want to say 70-some total years), and my older brothers both graduated there. In the summer time when I was younger, when we didn't have a babysitter, I would hang out all day in my dad's office while he worked. Members of MHS became part of our extended family, including Coach Prewitt. I remember my dad taking me to volleyball matches to support the team (yeah, if you couldn't tell, there wasn't too much to do in the little town of Middleburg...), and I remember watching games when I was as young as 10. My dad was a regular at the volleyball games, both home and away. He loved Broncos volleyball - and he was Coach Prewitt's No. 1 fan.

2. Seeing a clip of former MHS players

As a kid, I looked up to Jenny Manz. That name probably doesn't mean too much (not compared to feature guest Misty May-Treanor who made a nice cameo on the episode), but she was an all-star in terms of Middleburg High volleyball. She graduated along with my eldest brother in 1996, and she was the first person I remember seeing who could spike a ball at a 30-degree angle. Jenny and the entire volleyball team came to my elementary school when she was a junior and demonstrated a quick volleyball clinic. After seeing her spike one ball, all the elementary girls (myself included) idolized Jenny. She'd later become a highly recruited player, eventually settling at the University of Florida and coached by another volleyball great, Mary Wise.

The home Coach Prewitt ended up with is so remarkable, and something that's so fitting for her - Zenlike, with personality, and warm. If you've ever traveled through Middleburg, you'd know there's no such home that rivals the one Coach Prewitt now lives in. Middleburg's a small town, small enough to know most everyone in town, their brothers, sisters, children, parents and cousins. I lived there for nearly 20 years, and I remember one of the biggest happenings in town was when Publix was being built there. (And then that got bumped by the more recent opening of Wal-Mart.)

No doubt this Extreme Makeover has superseded every one of those occurrences. Congrats to Coach Carrie Prewitt and the beautiful family she is raising. We all love you.