Break out the Rabbit Ears

Monday, January 5 in our house was "The Day the Cable Died." As a few of you know, about a month ago, Cliff and I made the joint decision to suspend our cable TV for awhile. With Cliff taking graduate classes toward his doctorate, we have some tuition to pay and thought this would be one expense worth getting rid of for awhile. It was Cliff's suggestion, and I will admit that I drug my feet before getting on board (Cliff would most likely tell you I drug my feet a lot! What can I say--I do like my TV!). It's not so much that I watch TV that much anymore with 2 kids in the house; it's just that most of the things I like are on cable. I did, however, come around. As most of you know, Cliff and I have a penchant for roller coasters, and when Cliff mentioned that a few months of cable would more than pay for our amusement park fix this summer, I was more open to the idea. The thing that's funny is that we were scheduled to be disconnected on December 17, but for some reason (the holidays? all of our snow and ice?), they didn't get around to actually turning us off until Monday. So, I had gotten a little spoiled by our few bonus weeks. I must admit, it broke my heart a little when the cable guy arrived Monday afternoon .....:-)

Alas, my great husband wasted no time in getting the antennae hooked up so we could at least watch networks. Also on Monday, our government converter box coupons arrived in the mail; then, later that day on the news, they announced that the government was out of money for this program and anyone applying for coupons from now on would be on a waiting list. So, I guess fate intervened in the timing for us! I got our first box at Target the other day, and it works great---crystal clear reception! It's actually been an educational experience learning how it works. Also, less channels means less mindless surfing--an opportunity to finally read some of those books that sit on my shelves and mock me! :-) I will miss my guilty pleasure shows, though--no more "What Not to Wear"!! At least HGTV streams most of their shows for free online!

Gina