Where to begin?

Today marks the last day of my One Week TV Challenge. I am slightly proud to say yes, I did it. I succeeded. And really, I can’t say it cost me anything. It was as I had remembered - nice to have some quiet.

I have learned a few truths over the last week. Some less notable than others.

Hubby and I had a really good time playing board games. I can say that because I won both of them. But really, I laughed hysterically - almost to the point of annoyance. And apparently, my Hubby is really funny when he is losing. Really funny. Who needs alcohol to see what Jean would be like drunk - just have Brian tell a joke. I’m not sure he enjoyed the experience as much as I did. But that’s just it - I enjoyed it. Happy wife, happy life I always say.

My stomach is obnoxiously noisy most of the time. I remember in college I would always try to go to church without eating breakfast and then spend the majority of the service with my arms folded in a death grip around my mid-section. As if my arms could muffle the rrrrRRAAARgggg emitting from my empty tummy. Pfff. Never worked. So there I would sit - my stomach croaking away its own awful music through the service - much to the amusement of my friends sitting nearby. Nothing has changed, really.

Relatedly, there are several extremely loud birds that live around or near my house. On several occasions I was forced to make the rounds - looking out each window to figure out just what on EARTH made that sound - only to find some conspicuous looking black bird squawking away at his friends. I no longer jump when it sounds like a raven has just entered my kitchen.

I have the capacity to grow sick of the radio. This is horrifying for me to admit, but I can actually even grow tired of my CDs. Some of you just fell over dead, and for that I do apologize. I am apparently capable of hearing “too much” music. I didn’t think there was such a thing. However, if I’m brutally honest, I think this just means I need to buy some new CDs.

Television has been greatly inhibiting my guitar practicing. You would not believe the amount of time I spent practicing that instrument this past week. Seriously - its almost shocking. We’re talking hour long sessions. When I first started playing...oh somewhere around 3 years ago...I was told that it would take a while to “get my fingers in shape”. Which really means that it takes time to build up these thick little callouses on your finger tips. Until you do, playing guitar FRIGGIN HURTS! I thought that I had crossed that point and built up callouses long ago. But no. This week, I played so much, my calloused fingers hurt. My callouses now have callouses. This all sounds rather gross so I’ll just move on and say this: I am actually looking forward to showing my guitar teacher how hard I worked this past several weeks.

I’ve known this to be true, but Reagan is really a great deal more entertaining than any television program. If she weren’t so stinkin’ cute it might be easier to ignore her and just do housework...but I’m a sucker for her little blonde head, her squeals, her giggles and her running from room to room. All Saturday-naughtiness aside, she’s been really fun lately. I’m enjoying her more.

I’m forced to be more selective about what I let into my house when I limit myself to one hour of t.v. per day. Last night, I got my wires crossed somehow and missed a show I was going to watch. So I decided to watch Law & Order: SVU instead. What an unpleasant episode that was! Ugh! I said to Hubby when it was over, “What we have learned from this is that prison is a nasty nasty place!” I also managed to make some really good selections - like the premiere of The Office (awesome!) and Diane Sawyer’s interview with Randy Pausche (inspiring!). But as I critically examined the t.v. schedule I found myself asking the question, “What is really worth my time here?” The answer is most often, “Not much.”

Someone asked me this week if I would continue to limit my t.v. after my one-week was over. At the time I wasn’t sure. But the more I think about it, the more I think I will limit it - at least for a while. I didn’t miss it much because I didn’t really lose anything. To be completely honest, limiting it benefitted me in almost every area of my life. The real loss would be to have life happen all around me while I sat glued to a program I would forget by the next morning.

And while I don’t adhere to this philosophy too strictly, (because I still love Grey’s Anatomy and Desperate Housewives) I don’t see a point in watching a program where people behave horribly when I would never consider allowing anyone in my home to act in such a manner.

Bottom line is this: I used to wake up and wished I hadn’t spent so much time watching t.v. the night before. I haven’t woken up once this past week and wished I hadn’t missed a t.v. program.