2:51 p.m. Central We're live, ticking away the final moments of 'Across The Nation' with host Bob Dunning, discussing Obama's nomination. Lino should be on in about five minutes to promote the Maureen's final show. Here's what we do know about what kind of show it will be:

• We will have the winning entry from the "Write Maureen's Resignation Letter" contest.
• Yesterday, Maureen said that the last day would be like the last day of school, with no actual work being done, so she might not answer any phones today.

That's really all for now. We'll find out soon!

2:57 p.m. "This is the big goodbye show," Lino said during the promotional portion of Dunning's show. "Pray for her soul." Indeed we will.

3:03 p.m. "Some sad bittersweet happenings here," Lino says to start the show. "Our producer Maureen McMurray who is with us right now is quitting...you have to do the next three hours of the show, you can't just leave." Lino just said we should be taking a lot of calls today, so it should be a call-filled show. And then, just Lino and Lou.

3:05 p.m. Lino has just promised many special guests. We'll probably be saddled with Gus though, or some of the regulars. Can't see a big name dropping by today, except for maybe Tom Falcone or Jim Breuer. Rulli also just stated that the goal at the end of the show today would be to make Maureen cry, so we should be getting some sweet sendoff. "Could pull hair out of your eyebrows until you cry," Lino said.

3:09 p.m. Looks like Danny and Maureen have dinner plans after the show. Any chance for a proposal? I say no, but hopefully we'd still find out, despite McMurray's departure tonight.

3:12 p.m. Maureen is reading some of the entries to the aforementioned resignation letter contest. One stated, "I'm going to be sittin with satan at the public radio station," and had a bunch of rhymes. Another one said gave some basic number stats, Mastercard commercial-style, followed up with "Hearing that you and Lou and our listeners are going to miss me? Priceless ... Thank you for letting me believe that just Jesus rolled the stone away." Lino also had Maureen yell anything she wanted for recording purposes, with Maureen dropping a bunch of lines on him. We should have the spirit of Maureen live on for quite some time.

3:19 p.m. Looks like U.S. Army Sergeant Paul's rosary made it, and by the description, it sounded really nice (the rosary was made with precious stones from Afghanistan). Hopefully Lino lets us know how you can contact Paul, so maybe you could buy a rosary from him yourself. "This is gorgeous," McMurray said of Paul's wonderful gift.

3:27 p.m. One listener, Shawn, sent T-shirts from the New Orleans Jazz Festival, along with a picture of himself and a Bishop, so we wouldn't think he was a weird person. Man, I wish I had thought to send a gift. Looks like Lou got a gift, addressed to "Stud." The anonymous gift was a supply of Jones Soda (great soda), to which Lou informed us that he got into a argument with a listener about the existence of Jones Soda. Wow, we have good memory spans.

3:28 p.m. Lou just went to get the promised first guest. They joked earlier, and brought out nobody, a reference to Maureen's birthday, when no guests showed up. As to who the guest is, Maureen had no idea, although I think they are actually serious about having someone this time.

3:30 p.m. Maureen begrudgingly guessed that "A family member" was the guest. After Lou took his sweet, precious time, Lou brought back ..... Nobody. Ouch.

3:35 p.m. Wheel of News time, with Maureen's great intro. It almost reminds me of the scene from Waynes World, where the show went corporate with Noah's Arcade, and they had some lame Michael-Bolton esque rocker singing "Waynes World! Wayne's World! Party time! Excellent!" I hope someone picked up that reference, otherwise, I've just shown myself to be an incompetent, out of touch guy. After further thought, I just described myself to a tee.

3:47 p.m. Dr. Dario, who won an award for bedside manner during college, agreed with Lino that men should get engagement rings back after broken relationships. As a formerly engaged man, I have to agree with him. But part of me is thinking now, if everything is lining up for Maureen to get proposed to on the air? Reading a story about engagement rings from the wheel of news, joking with Maureen about having a guest..maybe it's just me, but i could see them "joking" about a guest coming in, Maureen not believing them at all, and Danny, who is already supposed to meet her at studio after the show for dinner, pops in early and proposes. I think that would be a great way to send Maureen off, and I could see Lino and Lou, out of the goodness of their hearts, setting that up. We await with baited breath.

4:04 p.m. Lino still promising special guests. But having delivered nothing twice, my hope for Danny proposing is dwindling. However, with Lino keeping at this, I can't believe that he would not deliver at some point today, even if it's late in the show after so many disappointments.

4:10 p.m. Gus's song was replayed, with the gem of the line "At least old Lino, he never kissed you, Oh Maureen, we're gonna miss you."

4:11 p.m. The special guest is Ron, the program-director! Didn't think she'd get to say goodbye to him, but Ron came through after so many disappointments of his own. "It's been nice to see her here every day," Ron said. Ron gave Maureen a Proclamation of Gratitude, complete with a stamp! Ron read the proclamation over the air, which part of it read, "do hereby declare May 7 to be forever known as Maureen McMurray day."

4:18 p.m. Ron expressed his gratitude to Maureen. After a holy hug and kiss, he said, "You have been a really important part of this channel from day one, and you will be missed...On behalf of the Holy Father himself, who just called off the air, we wish to offer you the best in your new job ... NPR is very lucky to have you."

4:25 p.m. Maureen nailed all seven sacraments in first question of The Inquisition, besting Big Guns Jack. Major props to Maureen for nailing this one on the last day. I couldn't even get all of them.

4:40 p.m. We're on to question six, and Maureen is ahead by one. I really hope she wins this one.

4:46 p.m. We're really into this one, with the score tied up between Maureen and the listeners. and my Sirius radio keeps losing signal. Even though the antenna is actually sitting outside, in the open, with no structures hanging over it, it still loses signal on occasion, which is irritating. Wrangler John just got hung up on, and for some reason, that's my favorite part of the show. For question nine, Melanie from Texas has to figure out how many books are in the Old Testament. (39 is my guess, although I could be really wrong, like that time I moved to Pittsburgh). 46 was the correct answer from Maureen, with Melanie throwing her son under the bus, saying that 54 was his answer, not hers.

4:54 p.m. Maureen took the game, besting the listeners 5-4! She did get the last question wrong, concerning the brothers of thunder (the listener said Macabee, she said Andrew and James). "Crazy, I can't believe it," Maureen said of her victory. I'm so glad I'm keeping up with this, instead of building B-section pages, wondering why BluMunkee hates me.

4:58 p.m. It's time for another very special guest. It would be great if it was Breur, just for the randomness and the fact that Jim's show ends at 5, but I don't know if this is another joke or not. As Lou opens the door slowly, it's .... nobody. C'mon Lino, give us Danny and a proposal! Regardless, we're down to one hour of TCG show, with Maureen's crying being on top of Lino's list of things to do. We've also got the contest winner set to be unveiled. It should be a great hour of Maureen after the break and the news!

5:05 p.m. Apparently Lino Rulli is a cheapskate, because he didn't pay for Maureen's breakfast this morning. I think this signifies that something big will happen in this final hour. Maybe I'm being too optimistic, but Lino will do something really nice for Maureen by 7 p.m. eastern, 6 p.m. central. Maybe Lino should have paid for breakfast. It's disturbing and sad!

5:12 p.m. It's the late Tom Falcone! Agnostic Tom showed up to surprise Maureen, and now Lino is cranking out the charity factor. There was also a sympathy card thrown in for Maureen, which should get the tears cranking out. Hopefully we'll get pics of those tears streaming down her face. It also got Maureen to call her mom back, which she did to gripe about Lino not paying, and apologize for Lino being a cheapskate (I still think he should have paid, but I guess I am not forgiving enough).

5:20 p.m. We've got momma McMurray on the show, who found it in her heart to forgive Lino for being a cheapskate over the $11 breakfast. Mom also said that Maureen always defends the faith at home, even wishing that Lino was there to help defend the faith. We've also got many mentions of linofans.com, none of which insult lazy Dan! We're definitely making progress.

5:24 p.m. Danny is in the building! Oh please give us a proposal!

5:28 p.m. Apparently Danny was privy to Lino's cheapskateness earlier in the day, receiving a text message proclaiming such (Lino is apparently taking Maureen and everyone out to dinner tonight and is paying, so he's really not a cheapskate). Danny does have a great sense of humor though, joking around with Lino ('I thought the show was all about you' he said to Lino after Lino said the show was all about faith and forgiveness).

5:38 p.m. "You've seen the pope 3-4 times in person...and you were mad I didn't pay for an $11 omelot," Lino told Maureen. The group of people Lino gathered today was a nice send-off... Tom, Ron earlier, Danny ... they all make for a nice last show with Maureen. One caller had a brilliant idea: "The Catholic Guy" with Lou, along with Maureen the producer and Tom answering phones...and no Lino to be found. I'd compare that to the Bulls after Michael Jordan retired, but that might be giving Lino a little too much credit.

5:44 p.m. "May the Lord bless you and keep you," Deacon Joe blessed Maureen on the way out. Nice. Then he got hung up on. Nice.

5:45 p.m. 15 more minutes. This depresses me to no end.

5:53 p.m. Poor Maureen...she's starting to cry due to guilt from not thinking anyone was going to do anything for her. But regardless, I don't think we're going to get that proposal, but maybe tonight at dinner? Can't wait to find out tomorrow.

5:56 p.m. Maureen's final words: "When I first got this job, I had no idea what it was going to be ... I did learn so much from this show and channel, and yes, I don't know what else to say because I'm going to start crying." And from Lino: "My first real gig in radio ... the success of this show, the show wouldn't be successful without you."

6:00 p.m.


That's midnight striking on the best producer saying goodbye to us. God bless you Maureen.
We will always have a special place in our heart where we love you. Thank you.