Clay encounter of all kinds

[Ansamcw]

Please give proper credit to the board and the poster the quote is coming from.

[Ansamcw]

Here is the first hand account of Nicegurrrrl, the lucky Clayfan that got the special UPS delivery from Amazon. Quoted from the Clackhouse.

Well, it was a beautiful day in MY neighborhood! UPS CLAY did a SPECIAL DELIVERY at my house!

I'm still a bit rattled and my daughter has a perma-grin. What an exciting experience! It's probably a good thing that my SPECIAL UPS MAN wasn't wearing the brown UPS shorts or my daughter and I would have spontaneously combusted. What can I say, but he was sweet, charming, witty, and to quote my daughter, more handsome than a man should be!

So where do I start? First off, I had ordered Clay's book and audio book on CD for a home for abused and neglected children here in my town. I loved Clay's book so much, and after reading an article about the home, I thought it would be a great book for the children there to have. I had heard rumors about the Amazon promotion, but didn't read anything on the Amazon site about Clay making any deliveries, so I figured it was just another unfounded rumor.

My daughter just graduated from college and we have been spending quite a bit of time together this summer, so since it's a lazy Monday, lunch out with a little shopping thrown in sounded like a good way to chase away a minor case of blahs. The phone rings incessantly and a bunch of small job details have to be handled, so I get a late start getting myself ready to go out. Around 2:30, as we were getting ready to leave, I hear the UPS truck arrive. It's later than usual, with the normal delivery time being closer to noon. The doorbell rings, and I put the dogs away so they stop barking. I walk to the door, and answer it.

There on my doorstep is a very cute UPS lady, and she asks if I ordered a package from Amazon recently. I said yes, and stared into some of the biggest cameras I have ever seen! She went on to say that Amazon was celebrating their tenth Anniversary with some special deliveries, and didn't I order a book and CD of Clay Aiken's book, Learning to Sing? I said yes I did, and she said, delivering your book is none other than Clay Aiken! Clay comes walking around the corner with the cutest grin, and my eyes about pop out of my head! I honestly can't tell you what I said or did next, I think I said something along the line of Oh my Gosh, I can't believe this! He handed me the package, and I got a big old Clay hug! The man has the nicest hugs!

About that time my daughter comes to the door and says, what's going on? I think I just moved aside and said, look! (LOL, some of the details are kind of sketchy!) She saw Clay and was so excited! He handed her the box, then she said, "can I have a hug?" He said, "Absolutely!" And gave her the nicest hug. (later she said to me, Gosh, he is soooooo tall! LOL). Now, I'll be telling this out of sequence, because the exact way everything happened is kind of a blur! He said, of course, you have already read the book, right? And I said, yes, and I have the audio CD in my car and listen to it a lot! Then he said, it's the best book ever written, right? And I laughed and said, yes, the best book ever written!

Then the production people were busy for a bit, so I leaned over to him and said, the boards are all excited about the press release today! And he said, what press release? So I briefly told him what it said about the tour, and he said, oh, yes! What are they saying? So I very briefly said how happy people were to hear a little about the tour and the artists whose songs he was covering. Then I said that we were looking forward to the tour, even though it wasn't in California *g*. He asked if we were going, and even though we are going to the last five concerts, I could only think of Boston, so that's where I told him we were going, lol. Then the production people starting filming again, and they opened the box and Clay signed the CDs and book for Rachelle. He signed a personal message to her, which was so sweet. I don't think she has put the book down yet, lol. Then they took pictures with Clay, my daughter and I, and Clay had his arms surrounding us. He was so sweet!

After the pics, the production people were figuring out what they wanted us to do next, so we chatted a while about his trip in the UPS truck– he said his door wasn't closed and it was kind of scary! (Then he said, in his snarky voice, but HER door was shut (referring to the UPS lady). I said, Clay, you said on the tour that you were getting to be a daredevil, so the door being opened scared you? He snarked, I only had a seatbelt on! I said everyone was going to be disappointed he wasn't wearing the little brown shorts,lol. He just laughed at that.

While the production people were conversing, I saw my neighbor taking the whole thing in. Clay caught my glance and said that when he was walking toward my house, all the production people were in place and my neighbor was at his mailbox looking at all the commotion. When he got to where my neighbor was standing, he told him that we had won the Publisher's Clearing House sweepstakes, lol. My daughter said, "some people would rather win this!" He snarked, "I think I would rather win the million bucks!" I cracked up at that and said, "Now Clay, money can't buy you love!" He laughed at that.

Then we posed for more pics, and they had us talk about Clay's book. So I told him that I had read it and thought it was inspirational, and the book and CD were actually going to the home for abused and neglected children in my city because I thought it would be a great inspiration to them. He seemed pleased at this, so I'm glad that made him happy. Fortunately Amazon gave us another book and CD to give to the children's home, because I don't think I could pry the signed ones out of Rachelle's hands!

More to come.....

[Ansamcw]

Part two from Nicegurrrrl of the Clackhouse:

Part Deux

I'll try to answer some questions I've read. First, I did invite them in (and the house was clean, dangit!) but the production people chose to do the whole thing outdoors. The camera man said the other videos had turned out too dark when they were filmed inside, and he wanted this one to turn out well.

Apparently this whole thing had been in the works since the day after I placed the order. Amazon chose us as the lucky recipients, and then our information and the initial plans were sent to Clay's people. After getting approval and coordinating the details with Clay and his people, they arranged the time and date. I'm not sure how I got so lucky! But I am so thankful.

There were tons of people here! There were four VIPs from UPS, four VIPs from Amazon, plus the shoot director, and Susan the UPS driver, who was a sweetie, then Nick and Mary; no Jerome. There was also a videographer, his assistant, and a photographer. I mentioned how upset I was that I didn't take any pictures, and the photographer laughed and said, "Well, I got a ‘few'!" They did promise I would get the pics she took. There was a limo parked across the street, and the driver stood outside watching the whole thing too.

During one of the breaks in filming, Clay, Rachelle and I were chatting, and he asked Rachelle if she was still in school. She said, no, actually she just graduated from college. As you can tell from the video, she is very petite, so people often mistake her for a young teen. Heee! I could see him mentally do a double-take as he said, "Oh, really!". He asked Rachelle if she had read his book, and then said, "Oh, of course you have!", which of course was true, but that was him being all cute again, lol.

Rachelle told him that she liked his shirt, and he said, (as Rachelle reminded me afterwards, while smoothing his long, supple fingers over his chest and stomach-eeep!), "Thank you! I've had this shirt a while!" Of course we recognized the shirt, although we are not like some of you who know every single time he has worn it *cough*. I just smiled and said, Oh, yes, its very nice (and truly, it does look really great in person!) I was so close to him that I could count all the threads in the embroidery, not that I would stare that hard. *g*

After some of the filming had been done, the crew went into a huddle and discussed what other things to do. They called Clay over and talked to him, and Rachelle and I wandered to the driveway. Nick and Mary came over and we all shook hands, and they chatted with us for a bit. Nick was very cute and nice. Mary is lovely, and very genuine and sweet. Both Rachelle and I commented later on how nice they both were.

Nick asked if we were going to any tours, and I said, yes, even though they were back east! Nick also asked if we were having fun, and I said yes! I said, this is like an early birthday present for Rachelle. Nick asked when her birthday was, and she said August. He then asked how old she was, and she told him she'll be 21. She had to laugh at Nick's expression, since he was obviously surprised. He asked where she went to school, and as she had told Clay, she said she already graduated. She is a radiographic technologist (x-ray technician) and got notification that she passed her state boards last week. (In fact, yesterday she got a job! Talk about a lucky week!) Nick said that he had never broken any bones, and Rachelle said, well, I can take an x-ray if you get pneumonia too! He said, Really? She said sure! She said that the lungs look cloudy if there is pneumonia, and I told them that there is an infiltrate in the lungs that causes that appearance on xray. So Mary asked if I was a nurse, and I said, yes, I was, and that I am an office manager for a physician's office. ETA: I am networked to my office computer, so I usually work out of my home. The office is less than five minutes away, so I do dress nicely at home in case I am called in for any reason.

We chatted a while longer while Clay and the others were still in a huddle, but honestly, I can't remember all that was said. And although it isn't really any of my business, I have to admit that it made me very happy to see that Clay has such wonderful friends who obviously care about him a great deal.

The production team then un-huddled, and they called us over and asked if my daughter would sing with Clay, and she gave me this look like, OMG I can't believe they would ask me to do this! I have no idea why they wanted her to, but one of the production people asked me if she could sing. She has been in performance groups and sung on children's CDs, so I knew she'd do fine. She and Clay went snarking back and forth about what they should sing, then I suggested Invisible. They walked back up to the porch, and when the camera crew was ready, they started to sing; I thought it was really cute. His shirt tug was a hoot! He gave the cutest smirk after he did that. The little devil SO KNOWS! When they got to the end of the chorus, they both paused, waiting for the other to sing, "Wait, I already am!". Teacher!Clay! said, "Sing the last line!" Rachelle said, "No, you sing it!" they went back and forth a few times, lol, and then Very!Deep!Voice!Clay! sang "Wait, I already am!" while giving her his patented eye-debacle. After we picked ourselves off the ground (whew, that was so very hot!) Rachelle said, "See! It's a good thing you sang that! I couldn't have hit those notes!" he snarked back "that's okay, I can't either!" Funny, funny man! We all just cracked up.

Still more to come....

[Ansamcw]

Final part of Nicegurrrrl's Clay encounter...

Part Trois

Again, I'll start by answering questions. Details about what he looked like: You saw the shirt and jeans. No, he was NOT wearing flip-flops, lol. Exactly what WAS on his feet I couldn't tell you, but I do know it wasn't flip-flops because I would have remembered seeing his toes *g*. He was clean-shaven (other than a few spots he missed, lol) and his hair was really really nice– A reddish brown with subtle highlights. I was glad to see it was growing out from the cut we saw in Uganda. I am all about the mini-mullet. He was gorgeous. I could see freckles. He has the most beautiful eyes, so sparkly and alive. He does smell nice, very clean. He seemed so happy and relaxed, and I loved how sweet he was to Rachelle. He is such a genuinely nice person.

I asked Rachelle for some more of her impressions. She again said she was surprised at how tall he was, but well-proportioned and definitely NOT a rail. She said that she really liked his freckles, and he had really nice broad shoulders. She also said he gives the best hugs.

Someone asked about what Clay and Rachelle were bantering back and forth about regarding the song. They were both trying to get the other to decide what to sing. Clay would say, You choose the song! And Rachelle said, no you choose! Then Clay said, Well you're the one that's gonna sing it! And Rachelle said, You're going to sing it too! Then Susan suggested Amazing Grace and said that she had sung on the way over. I'm not sure if she meant she sang that, or if she just sang. When I suggested Invisible, as that made sense to me that it was Clay's first single off his CD, they both agreed.

After they sang, we talked a bit more. I thanked him for coming, and said it was really special for us to have him deliver his book and CD. A gentleman, as always, he said, "Oh, no, thank YOU. This was fun for me too!"

They then had Clay move to the sidewalk and they taped an interview with him. During that time we talked to the UPS and Amazon VIPs, and learned a bit more about how the process of doing these promotions worked. That's when we learned that we had been chosen on the 7th. We also learned that Susan was from Van Nuys, and she was chosen because she had a good safety record (to which I said, well, that's a good thing!) and it was a way of recognizing her years of good service. Apparently it was a special experience for Susan too! She told us that this was the neatest thing that had happened to her. I would like to hear her story; I'm sure it would be great!

After they had taped Clay's part, he gave us another hug and got ready to leave. As he was standing by the limo, I suddenly got an idea. I asked him if he would mind waiting just a second. He graciously said, "Of course". I had Rachelle run into the house and grab my package from the Clackhouse that I'd received just a few days before. I took out the red Clackhouse pin with his full-length silhouette and handed it to him. He smiled and said, "Oh, I've seen these". (does nothing get by this man?) I said, "This one is yours. You are now an official member of the Clackhouse". He looked the pin over for a moment, then suddenly looked up, and with his eyes all wide said, very snarky, "They took away mah key!" He said it in the same voice he had said on Kimmel, "He hit me with his cane!", very snarky and very accented. I laughed a little at how he said it, and said, "What???" He said, "Mah password to the vault doesn't work anymore! They took away mah key!". I said, "Ah, you probably missed when Eva posted that we needed to re-sign up for our keys". He said, "I don't know, but they took away mah key!" He was being so funny, he was just cracking everyone up with his facial expression and tone of voice, like he couldn't believe that the CH would dare take away his key! I said I'd make sure he got his key back, lol. He said, "Well, GOOD!" The whole thing was such a hoot!

Clay then gave us his beautiful smile, said "It was very nice to see you", then got in the limo with Mary and Nick, and the limo pulled away.

The production company then interviewed us for another five to ten minutes. We talked about our impressions of the experience and of Clay, and they asked questions about the home for abused and abandoned children that the book was to go to. After this interview, they slowly packed up their gear and left.

Today I got another package from UPS, with the book and audio CD. Clay didn't deliver it this time.

If anyone wants one of the shingles on my house that Clay leaned against, check Ebay *g*

[Tina K]

I loved this story. I am so glad these two women got to meet Clay. They seemed like the perfect choice from the description of what happened. Good thing she was home when the truck pulled up! If you see my post ladies I want you to know that I appreciate you sharing your experience with everyone. It means so much more to read it through your eyes than to watch the video.