When I spotted the film crew parking on the street, I reached for a beer to calm my nerves.

How would my debut on reality television go?

All my husband and I wanted was a new driveway and a fresh look to our house. And now it hit us that we were going to do it all on national television.

But since appearing on "Curb Appeal" on HGTV in July, things look a lot better, with our new landscaping, paint, shudders, porch and faux-cobblestone driveway.

No longer will I be embarassed by mothers who have to push their strollers into the street to avoid the rutted sidewalk in front of our house. That embarrassement was one of the reasons Joe and I didn't hesitate to sign up for the show, which helps homeowners update their home's exterior.

We had been talking about redoing the front of the home since I moved in with Joe in April 2005. He bought the 1920s craftsman-style three-bedroom in 2002.

When Joe and I found out the show was going to film in the Washington-area, we immediately submitted an application that included a picture highlighting the disrepair of the driveway. We enjoy watching home improvement shows, so appearing in one didn't seem like much of a stretch. We knew the work wasn't entirely free -- some of it was donated and some was simply discounted -- but we wanted the expertise of a designer and a deadline that called for the job to be finished in a matter of weeks. Otherwise, we could have been at these repairs for years.

A few months after sending in our application, we were selected.

On that first day of filming, Joe wasn't nervous at all. At least one of us wasn't. I tend to get shy in front of cameras. But after several days of shooting, I got used to it. By the end, I barely even noticed the camera was there.

Although the 30-minute episode makes the work look like it was done overnight, the remodeling actually took place over six weeks in August and September 2005. Crews appeared every few days to film the work. They followed us on trips to buy furniture for the front porch, and they cataloged Joe's and my debating the merits of shrubbery at a local nursery.

After all the work was finished, we taped our big final day known as "Beta Day." The host flew down from New York, and they had a writer there to try to make sense of the story line. She gave us lines, some of which were quite corny.

For example, at the beginning of the episode, the host says to Joe, "Gee, your house sure needs a makeover." Joe was made to say, "Does it ever!" but wished he had said, "You just got here five minutes ago and you're already busting on my house?"

Also, I don't sew, but they wanted homemade pillows for the swing on the front porch. So they paid someone else to make them and filmed me pretending to sew. While doing this I had to say "Grandma would be so proud." That was slightly embarrassing.

But all in all, it was a great experience and one year later, we're still happy with the result. Because we paid for much of the work, we had a lot of control over what we did.

And it's a good thing we had this done when we did as I'm expecting our first child in a few weeks. Now I won't have to struggle to maneuver the stroller on our driveway and sidewalk.

The host may have had a hand in this. He asked at the end of the episode when our home would have the "pitter-patter of little feet."

By the time the show aired 10 months later, the answer would become: Very, very soon.

Any chance TLC wants to film "A Baby Story" here? Just kidding.

___

asap contributor Rachel Landau works for The Associated Press in Washington.

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