My PrimeTime Debut – Maybe

Eric, Edward and Kimberly Moore, after Elliott went to bed, November 2005

Last December, I went home to North Carolina for not one, but two television appearances. My first was on the local Fox morning news about starting your own business with MerriMail. The second show, well, was a bit more tricky. So I am a little nervous about what I said about my dear friend, who I love! Do you hear that, Kimberly?

Meet the Moores. I first met Kimberly when I was working at DoubleTake Magazine in 1998. She was pregnant with Elliott at that time and had stepped into the chaos of a dying magazine. (Or so we thought.) She joined as an editorial assistant, but she always rushed off to her second job. It took us a while to realize that she also taught English classes at North Carolina Central University. I should have known then that Kimberly is always busy. That didn’t really sink in until the summer of 2001, when we reunited at UNC’s campus. I left DoubleTake for Mebane Packaging the in the Spring of ’99. I remember receiving a birth announcement, but not a lot more about Kimberly until a few months after our wedding.

We instantly hit off and became fast friends once again. We served on the board of The Scrap Exchange together. I recruited her right in the nick of time. Frustrated with a small working board, the Executive Director and President were just about to sell the van and put an end to the whole shi-bang. But we voted no and pushed through. Now the Scrap is celebrating its sixteenth year. We somehow made it through the trauma of countless community and board meetings, along with interviews of new staff members. And this was all while Kimberly had a job and was working on her PhD in Public Relations. I remember her taking naps around 10 pm to wake up at 3 so that she could finish a paper. There was no cut-off time to call Kimberly, unlike all of my other friends. Quite simply her life was not sustainable. I had no reason to complain about time when Kimberly was around.

So when she told me about Time Makeover, a new reality show on the Fine Living channel, I was intrigued. The filming took place last fall and I kept asking her about all of the different activities they were covering with her time management expert Molly Gold. She just kept saying, you have to meet Molly. You have to meet Molly. Unfortunately, I missed Molly. But I was interviewed for the show. I am hoping for diversity’s sake that my interview won’t hit the cutting room floor. But you never know.

The outside light was fading fast, so we moved around the house trying to catch the sun. A leaf-blower and a overhead jet created a race with the setting sun, as determined by the boom-mike operator. Finally they started asking questions. I told the story about the time we went to New York, and I just had this feeling that Kimberly would be three hours late. And I stood (semi-)anxiously in the hotel lobby not able to reach her cell, relieved when I saw her roll up three hours later. I might have said that Kimberly is like trying to catch a hurricane. When they asked if she was ever late to meet up, I told them the story about our trip to New York, but beyond that, I only try to see KImberly by driving to her house and visit when I know that she is there.

I did receive a few gasps when I started talking about a time when I was back in NC and wanted to visit. Kimberly needed a babysitter, so that worked out perfectly. None of my comments struck the producer until I said that Kimberly told me one thing to fix them for dinner, and then Eric told me another. The producers began to whisper. Finally something worthy to include? So I told Kimberly all of this just so there weren’t any surprises.

There is something a little strange about talking about your friends on camera. You never know how you are going to sound, how you will be edited, or how clearly you express your thoughts. So I will be quite nervous to see what we the show has in store. I do hope that the producers are able to capture Kimberly’s dynamic personality. She is so full of life and has a wonderful spirit. Whenever you are finally with Kimberly, it is certainly worth the wait.

Check out The Moores on Fine Living:
AIR TIMES:
• November 15, 2007 9:00 PM EST
• November 16, 2007 1:00 AM EST
• November 17, 2007 8:00 PM EST
• November 25, 2007 8:00 PM EST

The Moores
Kim and Eric Moore have two careers, two children and no time. As a public relations manager, Kim works almost 60 hours a week, and she travels more than 75 days out of the year.

With all the unexpecteds in life that she juggles from week to week, there is one thing that remains constant: Kim is always late. And her bad habit is hindering one important aspect of their family life: dinner together. Time management expert Molly Gold is about to come into the Moores’ world to see how she can streamline their lives…and to get them to the dinner table together once a week.