Missing the TV

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Against all odds, Blair and I have stuck to the "no TV" rule we put in play in January. We now record two shows each week - The Big Bang Theory and The Biggest Loser and watch them when we can skip over commercials. We're also allowed to watch movies as the point was to reduce the mindless clicking from channel to channel that ate up hours of our time. 

The first two months were great. I was amazed at how much TIME I had on my hands with no TV. Plus, we seemed to be using our new extra time productively, getting to long put off chores or doing extras like painting my writing room.

The buzz has tapered off however, and recently I find myself longing to fling down on the couch for a mindless two-hour TV session. Part of it is the quiet. I'm home alone all day working, which is fine. I have no desire to watch TV then. But once Blair comes home and we've eaten and chatted, we might each settle in with a book or laptop and then the quiet gets to me. I want noise. Conversations. Even if they're not my own. I want to watch people interacting and laugh at the contrived situations a show's writer has come up with. I want to be engaged in something that doesn't require me looking at a computer screen. I am an avid reader but a little variety now and again would be nice.

I think what's needed is a new "to do" list of activities. We made a list when we started this endeavour and I have no idea where it now resides, if that tells you anything. I do remember we had "play chess" on there. It's been over 2 months and so far the chess set has been dragged out not once. What is happening is that we're going to bed earlier. I don't think the point of no TV should be to get bored and turn in early. That's just sad. 

What can we do instead? Off the top of my head... 

  • Go for a walk. Yeah, it's cold. So what? Suck it up.
  • Work out with weights. Another New Years resolution fallen by the wayside.
  • More sex (We're married. It's allowed.)
  • Play games. It doesn't have to be as mentally consuming as chess. There's cards, Trivial Pursuit, and a host of board games in our cabinet.
  • Go out or have people over. This is admittedly a challenge as we live so far out in the boonies. But it wouldn't kill me to drive in to Winston to meet Blair for dinner, or find a mid-week play to attend.
  • PHOTOS.  We have, let's see, I'd say about a BAZILLION digital photos that need organizing. Sorted into categories on the computer, bad ones deleted, good ones printed out. I also want to start a photo wall in our hallway and we need to select photos for that as well.
  • Home repair - one of the never ending joys of living in a historic home is that something is always falling off, falling down, or in need of a good nail or two.
  • Kitty Time. For as much as we love our girls, sometimes they get the short end of the stick attention wise. A rousing 2-minute game of "Chase the Laser Light" each night would likely be welcomed.
  • Questions. I love things like The Book of Questions that stimulate far-ranging conversation. Blair, while not as big a fan as me, is at least usually willing to play along. 
  • Brainstorm for things such as new fund-raisers for APSRC. Spend time on APSRC related activities.

Okay, I'm tapped out for the morning. But please, please, post your ideas on how we might spend our time. I think this craving the TV is but a momentary lull. Help us get through to the other side! =)

Finally! Snow...

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There's white stuff on the ground that, if my Mid-Western upbringing recalls correctly, is called "SNOW." We haven't had a real snow here in my part of North Carolina for almost 5 years. Yesterday Blair and I were reading in the library with a hard rain outside and suddenly--POOF. It was snow falling instead of rain. I walked around the house, staring rapt out of every window, reluctant to miss a minute of the fresh beauty. When the kids next door ran outside to jump on their trampoline, sending snow flying, I considered joining them and frankly am mad at myself that I didn't. 

It's not a hard enough snow to keep Blair home for the day, although you wouldn't know that from the frantic broadcasts of the local media. They're playing up the "danger" aspects of the snow for all it's worth. Still... I have power which makes it easy to be smug. A couple of friends are 10 hours plus w/out power and I suspect not enjoying nature's miracle as much as me.

OliviaRight now I'm ensconced behind my writing desk at the front window, admiring the wisps of snow that flurry the air whenever the wind blows. The snow is untouched in front of our house except for tiny kitty paw-prints from the aptly named "Snowball," our neighbor's cat. Celine Deon is singing in the background, Lucy_Cat is sniffing the radio where Celine's voice is coming from, and at last sighting, Olivia was passed out upstairs. 

I hope the snow lasts. Once every five years just isn't enough.

The Cleansing Flight of Bees

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Did you know in the winter that bees venture outside the hive to take a "cleansing flight" where they release bee poo all over fresh fallen snow? I didn't either.  But now that I know, I'm thinking of having some sort of bumper sticker made.

I'm all about bees these days. A character in the middle-grade novel I'm working on is a 11-year-old girl who keeps bees. It didn't long for me to realize I know little to nothing about bees other than, "they're yellow-ish" and "they sting." I ordered some books about bees from Amazon and am fascinated by what I'm finding. A few quick facts:

  • A queen bee can lay 2000 eggs a day
  • Even if fed and given shelter, a bee will die if isolated. 
  • You can tell a bee's age by the condition of the wings
  • If a bee can't be an asset to the colony she is expected to kill herself or be kicked out / killed by other bees.

I have to admit that while reading about bees I'm thinking, "Hm. Wonder if we should keep bees?" The fact is though, I'm terrified of them. I've never been stung and have mentally worked that possibility into being along the same catacylsmic line of "rattlesnake bite" or "thermo-nuclear war." 

I'm off to read more now. There's a whole world of cleansing flight information just waiting to be discovered.