Sunday, January 4, 2009

Day #4 Baby Steps



1 load of laundry
2 hours of church & traveling to & from
2.5 hours spent with family
1 hour addressing & mailing b-day invites
1 hour packing
45 min cleaning off fridge (see before & after)
20 min reading Mrs. Piggle Wiggle & snuggling
20 min picking paint colors for new house

Saturday, January 3, 2009

Day #3/ Busy Bee



Got a lot of little projects done today that I have been procrastinating on for a long time. Son went to a b-day party and I was like a little tornado.  Went through an old photo album that has been falling apart for years.  Took all the pics out and put them in a new album in chronological order no less.  I don't know how all those type A personalities keep on top of everything so well but, I seem to struggle with this stuff.  I mean I have been meaning to do that little project for about 3 years.  Also took a pic of hubby's deceased paternal Grandfather to the frame shop for a new frame.  It's all the little projects that I walk past everyday and think "I should do that," that really drive me crazy.  After a couple of years, it turns into "my God woman you have been meaning to do that for 3 years now, what is your problem!" It gets depressing to see all your little failures repeatedly for years on end.    
Side note:  hubby has been watching football most of the day.  It is driving me insane.   At least when I was watching TV I would do stuff @ the commercial breaks.  He seems to think that in order to watch a game he must sit on the couch for 3 hours straight.  I'm running around packing(moving @ end of January) and getting stuff in order and he's sitting on the couch for 6 hours out of the day.  Maybe it's just his biological male inability to multitask or maybe I'm a nag.  I love my husband, I love my husband, I love my husband.  He tells me I'm pretty several times everyday and cleans the snow off my car and I have to be careful what I say b/c if I mention I like something even in passing he'll buy it for me.  He's a good guy but, there are some days when I think he is an alien.   

Day #2 Success

Yesterday was very busy.  There was totally no time for television but, I know I probably would have made time before my little experiment started.  I went to job #2, cleaning houses for 3 hours,  arranged and hosted a play date for my son, played a full game of Zooreka w/son & hubby and snuggled with my husband for a long time (rare occurrance some weeks sadly).  I feel like I didn't get very many items done today but the things I did were useful and I didn't do anything that was a major time waster.  
Had an argument with hubby though during bathtime b/c of the TV being on.  He watched the college football games all day on the first and he'll watch all the games on Sunday and then I was watching football last night.  The thought of 2 full days of football being on all day is making my nauseous.  Just the sound of hours of television annoys me probably b/c it's my nasty little habit that I hate in myself so I also hate it in him.  Also, we grew up in different kinds of TV families.  In his family the television is on all day, well at his mother's house.  That doesn't necessarily mean anyone is watching it all day but it is on in the background.  In my family the television was on for small periods of time.  We watched cartoons on Saturday mornings, sometimes on weekday mornings, and we watched a movie at home maybe once a month.  Other that that the TV was mostly off in the house I grew up in.  One of our funny family stories is that one time we(my 3 siblings & I) were watching TV when we weren't supposed to and our Mom cut the cord with a scissors while it was still plugged into the wall.  Thank God she wasn't electrocuted.  
Anyway I'm realizing we need to set some clear TV boundaries for the family as well. Son doesn't watch much maybe 1 hr/wk but, hubby watches all the sports stuff and some weeks it's 10 hours on the couch watching all the games.  We need to set some parameters.  I'll have more to say about that in the future I'm sure.  

Thursday, January 1, 2009

Things I did instead of watching TV



-5 games of Sliders  Sorry w/son
-3 games of Trouble
-2 loads of laundry
-2 boxes packed
-2.5 hours setting up blog  spot
-15 min. reading Perez  Hilton
-30 min. vacuming
-30 min. play-doh project facilitator
-15 min dusting
-15 min. reading Mrs. Piggle Wiggle
-15 min.+/- giggling
-Cleaned front door dump zone(see before & after)



January 1st 2009


So, it has occurred to me lately that I waste entirely too much time watching television or shows on the internet.  I constantly feel like I don't have enough time for just the basic things I need to do in my life.  I started thinking about what I do with my time on a daily basis.  I spend my time cleaning up after my son and husband(don't get my started), working 2 jobs: 20-30 hours/wk, driving my son to & from school, going to son's activities, doing pilates or running(could do that more), cooking, spending time with freinds and watching TV/internets shows(this is at least 1 hr/day usually more).  It seems to me that my time waster is the TV.  
I didn't have a TV for about 5 years and it was great.  During that time period I did a lot of planning and felt less chaotic.  People were always trying to give me their old TV's b/c they thought it was weird but, it was great.  I used to tell people that I didn't have time to watch TV and I didn't.  I don't have less going on in my life now than I did then. So, why am I spending all this time(At least 7-10 hours/wk) wasting my life away and rotting my brain w/meaningless crap? 
I am going to stop watching television for 1 year and see what happens. I could just get rid of the TV but, my husband would be pissed. So, that means, no more Rock of Love, Rock of Love Charm School, Celebrity Rehab,The Hills, Real chance of Love, I Love New York, I Love New York II, New York Goes to Hollywood, So You Think You Can Dance, The Bachelor, The Bachelorette, Life, Office, ER, America's Biggest Loser, Law & Order, America's Next Top Model, Project Runway, Super Nanny, Intervention, Dr. Phil, Real World,  Real World/Road Rules Challenges, Exiled,  Kitchen Nightmares, Extreme Home Makeover,  How I Met Your Mother(that one hurts), Survivor, Big Brother, The Mole or any of the other meaningless garbage that rots my brain.  Things I do not consider to be TV/internet shows are the following:  movies in the theatre or at home(0-3 hours/wk spent doing this), short clips on Perez Hilton(10-20 min/day on fav gossip site).  I will allow myself to do those things this year. 
I can't wait to enjoy all my free time in 2009.
*Yes my punctuation and spelling are horrendous.  If you want to read a blog with extreme attention to these two items, find another blog to read.*