Today's new outlet for procrastination...

So I'm trying to become this super fit professional triathlete, right? It can be difficult when your wife tries new concoctions like chocolate chip cookie brownies. No, not chocolate chip brownies. Nope, not those chocolate chip cookies that come in bricks like brownies. Chocolate chip brownies. Just look below at the deliciously unhealthiness that is my new favorite dessert.

 

First you take a brownie pan. Fill it with brownie batter... mmm... then you take chocolate chip cookie dough and plop it in the brownie batter... MMM... Then you bake it. But wait folks there's more!

Then you make this chocolate sauce from cream and butter and chocolate chips, and you pour it all over the top! I know right. Freakin' delicious, let me tell you. So delicious I was actually eating it just moments before racing at my swim meet this weekend (as were several of my relay team members). Awesomeness all around.

ANYWAY... we consequently have a large sum of left over cookie dough sitting in our refrigerator. If we had a TV, I would have procrastinated on doing my workouts for the day by picking up the bag of cookie dough and proceeding to have eat an unmonitored quantity daily as I zoned out in front of the TV after work. The bag might have lasted a day or two. It's now several days later and there is still about half of the cookie dough still sitting in the fridge (I'm so healthy... not really). Well, maybe on the counter... because without TV, I just found a new way to waste my after school time. 

PAN FRIED CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES. That's right friends, take some cookie dough and put it in a non stick pan... see what happens... I did. The first one burned... pretty badly on the outside, but was still gooey in the middle. How do I know? Well despite the charred outside, I ate it anyway of course. No sense wasting perfectly good cookie dough. The second cookie was much more successful. It's a rather slow cooking process, but the result was almost worth the wait. It took about as long as it takes to bake a cookie in the oven, but yielded two crispy sides instead of one. If you like your cookies crispy it'd definitely be something to try. I'd show you a picture, but I only made one and I ate it already. I tried finding a picture of it somewhere online, but would you believe it... I found no recipes for pan fried chocolate chip cookies. Deep fried, sure, but not pan fried! I guess this not TV thing has my creative juices flowing.

Anyway, time to go work off the cookie dough. That's all folks!

Today's temptation rating: 6.5

Days without incident: 49

Monday, Tuesday, Crappy Days...

Get it? Like the opening song to Happy Days, except that I replaced "hap" with "crap"... you get it. Anyway, that's the theme song for the start of this week folks. I had a swim meet this last weekend - and despite it going pretty well, I'm freakin' exhausted. That coupled with the fact that it might quite possibly be as depressing outside as anyone could ever imagine, and probably a few other factors have made yesterday and today two of the more depressingly crappy days on record.

You might have noticed that I haven't been blogging so much lately. Well, like I told a concerned student this morning in class (that's right, someone other than you actually reads this, Mom! :-)) I've just been filling my time with things to do more. TV has, in large part, been replaced by real life. Success! But today... oh boy. Today is what my students might call a "life fail".

Back in the days when I was watching TV, if I had a crappy day, I would just watch, watch, watch... show, show, show. Sometimes if I felt reeeeaaaallly validated, I would be in a slightly better mode as I went to bed having done nothing else. But sometimes, I would just sulk in the crappiness of the day in front of the TV all afternoon/evening, and not get anything else done. This would of course leave me feeling guilty that I didn't do anything with the day, and I would then become disappointed with myself, and thus even more depressed about how crappy the day was. I figured without TV as that outlet on crappy days, I was safe from sinking myself further into those already crappy and depressing days. As it turns out... "la, la, la... I'm no superman." :-)

Those days are just bound to happen, and there's nothing I can do about it. Today (and yesterday) was one of those crappy days. Yesterday really set the stage. Exhausted from the meet this weekend, my emotional state has been pretty fragile - I'd say. The rain doesn't help. Especially since, without a car, I have to go out in it. Rain or shine, I had to ride my bike up to the pool for my swim workouts. So yesterday I got to ride up to the pool. (When I got there, there was a guy standing under the awning, talking to someone on his phone for the sole purpose of complaining about the fact that it was raining buckets and that his car was 100 feet away. He said this as he watched me ride in from the rain, completely drenched head to toe. So... I guess I could have been in a bit more of a sulky cranky mood - but don't worry... I'll get there soon enough as the story is not over.) The ride up was ok, I guess... but on the way home - I rode through a puddle (word to the wise - if it's raining AVOID PUDDLES ON YOUR BIKE), right into a huge pot hole that stopped me dead in my tracks. I got a flat tire... 2 miles from my house. That's right. So in the pouring down rain, I had to get off my bike, and change a flat tire, and then continue to ride home.

Today, I was supposed to ride up to the pool again. This time to swim and run - both indoors because it is yet again, raining like a banshee. I had a little extra time though - which turned out to be just enough down time before my workout to fall asleep. That was about 4 hours ago, and I woke up about an hour ago. So today, instead of going out in the rain, I fell asleep for about 3 hours. Didn't do my workouts. Made a sucky dinner, which my poor wife will have to eat when she gets home... all by herself... Why? Because I'm a bad husband that's going to bed without her, because despite sleeping an extra 3 hours this afternoon, my eyes are doing this weird shifty thing that is making me dizzy, and difficult for me to finish typing this blog entry. Is that from not watching TV anymore? Who knows!

Bottom line is this - as it turns out - those really crappy days that I thought were crappy in part because of TV might have just been days that were bound to be crappy regardless. Oh well - the sun will come out... tomor--oh wait, no it won't. The sun will come out... the day after tomorrow, the day after tomorrow, bet your bottom dollar that ... the day after tomorrow.... there'll be sun. In the meantime - let the crap-fest continue.

Today's temptation rating: 7.6

Day's without incident: 48

PS - I sincerely apologize if I depressed you a little with this post. :-)

Some unexpected rest...

My hamstring has been sore from running the last week or so - so yesterday my coach told me that instead of this week being the last of 3 hard weeks of training, it is now a recovery week. I took yesterday off, and the next week will be lighter workouts. It was nice to have some time at home to myself yesterday, but I definitely had a TV attack amidst all of that unscheduled time. The temptation rating was through the roof!

Today's better. I've got plans all day including... wait for it... PIZZA! :-)

I can't tell you how excited I am for this dinner. It's going to be fantastic. Not only do I get to enjoy it in the company of my new friends Ian and Anna, but ... well... it's pizza! I mean who doesn't love pizza right? I think I'll get "the Joey special." What's the Joey special you ask? Two pizzas of course! Oh Joey... I'm actually waiting to post this until I get home so I can include a few incidences with Joey and pizza for your enjoyment.

Recovery and pizza... all we need is for the clouds to part and this would be the perfect day - who needs TV!

Today's temptation rating: 3.8

Days without incident: 42

(OK so I didn't get a chance to embed some videos from youtube, and it is now the following morning. Oops!)

Blowing through 40 days...

Well so much for posting every day! I guess it's a good thing in a way. I feel as though I've run out of thoughts on TV worth posting about. So maybe it's fading into the background a little more. I'm finding more to do with my time that involves real life and real people. I'll continue to post, but I think I'll start to space it out a little more...

In any case, I wanted to post this morning because I've now given up TV for more than 40 days - a duration of biblical proportions... :-) Biblical in the sense that 40 days is often a measure of time that is used biblically, not in the sense that my sacrifice is so groundbreaking that it belongs in the bible. Given the time of year and the number of days I've now gone without TV, I thought it would be fitting to reflect just a little on one of the church's most time honored traditions, Lent.

I think the purpose of lent is often confused with the purpose of New Year's Eve. For a lot of people lent is identified as the 40 day period leading up to Easter where you have to give something up. I didn't give up TV for lent, I'm giving it up for life - it's just coincidence that I started right around the start of lent. So as we approach Easter, we've now surpassed the 40th day since I've sat on my couch and watched one of my favorite shows.

It's interesting that I really don't feel like I have much to report anymore. I guess I'm not thinking about it so much anymore. Maybe I really am kicking the habit of watching television. Don't get me wrong - I have my moments where I really miss it, and there are moments (like this evening) where I REALLY want to watch it, but denying myself the privilege has - to some extent - become habit. Success! If this were a New Year's resolution, I'd be among the 8% of people that claim to successfully keep their New Year's resolution (I don't even believe that stat, but that's what it says on the interwebs!). And it's a big one too! This isn't something vague like eat healthier or temporary like lose five pounds - this is significant and permanent! Anyway... I digress upon my high horse. OK, maybe one more little digression... :-)

Lent. Lent, lent, lent... Lent is not just a time to give something up and it's main purpose is not to make resolutions for self-improvement. In fact, that's only a fraction of what we're supposed to do with lent. Lent is (as my dear illegitimate source, wikipedia professes) a period intended to prepare a believer for the commemoration of Christ's death and resurrection via PRAYER, PATIENCE and ALMSGIVING... oh and self-denial (the focus of sacrifice that people seemed to have picked up). Well, what happened to those first three?

It seems to me that when you reeeeallly think about it, self-denial is actually the easiest - especially on the level at which people I know participate. Just don't do something. It's actually an act of inactivity. No action required. But I think that sincerely remembering what the Easter seasons is all about is a very active process. So now, whether the temptation to watch TV is behind me or in the forefront of my mind, I'm considering it my act of self-denial, and I'm going to use my extra time to do the other 75% of the actions of Lent: pray, practice patience (however I do that), and to give charitably of my time and resources.

Today's temptation rating: 9.3

Days without incident: 41

New ways to escape...

As I sit back down at my desk here at school, I see that everything I escaped for a day is right here waiting for me. It saddens me a little. The sick day was nice though - it really was. I'm feeling well rested and refreshed. Without TV, I did get a lot done. I cut my hair, did the laundry, made an omelette, took a nice long nap, and got in plenty of time off my feet. It was a different kind of sick day than I was used to, but it was still an escape.

Even Jesus would retreat from time to time. Everyone needs to escape. I imagine that Jesus' escapes were a bit different from mine though. I imagine him sitting quietly in earnest prayer with the Father - if you caught a glimpse you could practically see him glowing with the restoring energy of the spirit just filling him up. Almost like he plugs himself into a wall, and powers up his battery. Like I said - mine aren't like that.

Sure I'd love to have that kind of powerful rejuvenation, but I don't... never did. When I watched TV it WAS my escape. No other means for retreat. I didn't plug into a wall and start glowing. I just plugged into a glowing TV set, tuned out the world, and that was it. I don't have that anymore. Now I spend time with Emily, I spend time napping, I spend time talking to friends and family on gchat. On a daily basis, I feel about the same as I did spending A LOT more time watching TV. As if plugging into other people were a higher voltage form of rest. I don't need to be plugged in as long to feel recharged. And that extra time has allowed me to do things like laundry mid-week, or cutting my hair, or cooking more dinners.

So I'm learning new ways to escape and recharge... better ways I think. GROWTH!

Today's temptation rating: 4.3

Days without incident: 38

Sick day productivity...

Oops! Yesterday I ran a little too hard - my hamstrings are SOOOOORRRE. There's so much standing and walking around with teaching, that sore muscles often feel more stiff and irritated at the end of the work day than the beginning. So, as a precautionary measure, to avoid the same disaster I endured last triathlon season, I'm taking a sick day to lay off of my hamstrings and let them recover they way the need to.

This is the only sick day I've taken in the last month, so it'll be the first one without TV. Were I still watching, I could guarantee you that I might get one, maybe two things done over the course of the day. Maybe a load of laundry, maybe I pick up around the house a little. However often times, the house and my life are in the same condition at the end of the day as they were at the start. And honestly, those activities will be so drawn out by the distraction of Michael Weston's latest client or Abed and Troy's latest shinanigans (scenes above and below are actually older shinanigans since I haven't seen their newer shinanigans... ....shinanigans :-)), that I'll actually get a lot less rest than I could really use.

Today will be different. No TV here! I've made a list of tasks that will keep me off my feet (mainly grading tests) plus a few brief walking around tasks to keep it loose... there's a nap in there... it's gonna be awesome. And this time, when the day is done, despite being off my feet, I'll actually have something to show for it!

My only concern is making sure that I have enough discipline to actually keep from watching TV...a whole day at home... new, unseen episodes on Hulu calling out to me all day long... God, help me!

Today's temptation rating: 6.8

Days without incident: 37

It's Bedtime!

I love going to bed at a reasonable hour. That probably wouldn't have happened yesterday if we watched some TV.

On the other hand I skyped with my friend Gered and with my mom and both of them watched a HIMYM (How I Met Your Mother) episode last night, and asked me why Barney Stinson was fat. Yes, I was able to answer, and no I have not watched it recently - it was a re-run of earlier this season when Barney and Robin were together. I DO miss HIMYM though... ah well.

Today's temptation rating: 5.4

Days without incident: 36

What to do with a rainy day...

If you live on the east coast, you're probably wet right now. Sure you could be inside, but if you were outside at any point, you're probably still saturated by the relentless rain that's been falling for three days now. I've been inside for all but about 4 minutes today, and my toes are still wet from those 4 minutes. Sad for my toes. Anyway - it's the kind of rainy day where you just want to call in sick, put on your sweats, grab a blanket, some popcorn, a hot chocolate, and watch movies all day - never setting foot outside. Unfortunately, that's not the road I took this morning, nor will it be a path I'll take when I get home. Sadly, I will definitely be getting wet this evening...

Sadder still, I can tell you that were I still watching TV, I probably would have stayed dry this evening. This is EXACTLY how today would have unfolded were I allowed to watch TV:

1. I would have walked in the door, took off my wet shoes and jacket, and turned on the TV.
2. At some point shortly thereafter, I would have gotten some popcorn, and a glass of chocolate milk.
3. I would have sat there watching all kinds of new and old episodes of my favorite shows.
4. 4:30 would roll by, 4:45, 5:00... at which point I'll begin to contemplate not swimming today (I have a bike ride and a swim this evening).
5. 5:30 will roll around, and I'll realize I don't have enough time to both bike and swim, so I will officially "decide" not to swim (though the TV would have made that decision for me).
6. Probably right around 6:00 I'll decide to get on my bike, which will take about 30 minutes because I'll get set up while watching TV.
7. My ride would be mediocre at best because I'll be distracted by watching whatever it is that I'm watching, and I'd probably stop early anyway, because... well I would be disappointed with myself for (A) skipping my swim workout and (B) riding poorly.
8. I'd get done around 7:50, but whatever I'd be watching wouldn't be over for another 20 minutes, so I'd  stand there and pseudo stretch (pretend to myself that I'm stretching, but not really doing anything) until it's over.
9. Get in the shower around 8:15 and get to making dinner around 8:45 - incidentally, that's about the same time I'd get home from the pool and start cooking anyway.

Instead I will start my bike ride promptly at 4:30, get done around 6:15, ride over to the pool, swim with some buddies, get home by 8:45, start cooking, and be a lot more satisfied with my time... Well hey! I guess I don't need to figure out what to do with a rainy day. Seems like I've got it all figured out already! Glad I'm not doin' that other thing!

Today's temptation rating: 6.4

Days without incident: 35

The greatest sandwich in the world...

Alright folks, this entry might be a little on the longer side, but I promise it's got some good stories and funny clips. I would like to offer a little bit of philosophical insight with regard to my movie going experience last night after a month without TV. But to do that I need to tell you about a sandwich.

When I was 11 or so, I had the stomach flu. It was crazy - I remember it hurt really bad. I went to the doctor's office, they made me poop in a cup, it was crazy. I even had to stay in the hospital for a night. The worst thing about it though, was that there were a couple of days in there where I could not eat. I think they let me eat Jello in the hospital, but that was it, and the fun of a kid getting to eat nothing but Jello wore off pretty quickly - I wanted some real food.

On our way home from the hospital, my mom stopped at a deli (which I only found out recently is short for "delicatessen") to get me a sandwich. It was a simple sandwich - white bread, turkey, butter, and lettuce (and a little salt and pepper in there for good measure of course). I was telling Emily about the sandwich last night, and she didn't even think it sounded very good. It still sounds pretty good to me. But what you have to understand is that upon eating this sandwich after several days without food, I was confident that it was the greatest sandwich in the world. I mean I though the guy behind the counter of the deli was some sort of undiscovered culinary genius! I felt - about this sandwich - much like Joey did about his in these three little friends clips...







Oh Joey you are crazy, but I think I'd have to agree. If I did know where to find the best meatball sub in the world, I think I might dive to protect it from a car backfire too. Anyway, I don't think that this story is actually all that relevant to mine, but when I talk about how I thought my turkey club was the greatest sandwich in the world - it brings back the memory of this very funny moment in the world of Friends. I thought I'd share.

So back to MY story - About a month later after a reasonable amount of begging my mother, she took me back to the deli to get the turkey sandwich again, and it was a grand disappointment the second time around. Why? Was it that the switched out the boar's head for some other brand? Was it soggy lettuce? Was it too much butter? Not enough salt and pepper? What? That was when my mother explained to me the delicatessen's theory of relativity. "Maybe the sandwich was so good las time because hadn't eaten any food in a couple of days." The sandwich was probably mediocre the first time around too, but because I hadn't eaten in so long, it tasted fantastic. Any other day I would have thought nothing of the sandwich, but relative to the circumstance, I probably could have picked that sandwich out of the garbage that afternoon and thought it was the greatest dumpster find ever.

Enter last night's movie going experience. Cop Out is the greatest movie in the world. And I say that with the utmost sincerity. Tracy Morgan, Bruce Willis, and Seann William Scott are three of the funniest men on the big screen. I was laughing the whole movie - enjoying every second. I say this aware that had I watched Cop Out a month ago, I might have only rated it as so-so. But the month I've spent without TV has definitely heightened my appreciation for the motion pictures. I'm ok with that.

When I was in college I would drink soda like water. Seriously, every now and then I would go to Costco and get a couple of cases of soda. I probably went through 3 or 4 cans a day. I drank so much Dr. Pepper in college that I no longer enjoy it! Now Emily and I don't buy soda. If I want something sweet and bubbly, I mix cranberry juice with seltzer, and vuala, a slightly more healthy substitute. When we go out to eat however, I am allowed to order soda. It's awesome. I love me some restaurant coca cola! I went out for drinks with some of my fellow teachers on one or two occasions. They all look at me funny when everyone else orders a beer and I ask for a Coke. "I have beer at home," I explain, "but soda - well soda is my treat!"

So I guess movies are becoming like soda to me, I guess. My heart was already fond of TV/motion pictures, so I think it's safe to say that the absence of TV cannot make my already too fond heart grow fonder. But absence has definitely given me a greater appreciation when I do get to visit the theatah!

Today's temptation rating: 4.9

Days without incident: 34

Busy Day!

Yikes! Got up at 5:30, at some breakfast and took a nice little morning walk with Emily, did some laundry, biked, ran, ate, napped, swam to the pool (on my bike in the torrential down-poor), swam AT the pool, swam home (also on my bike - SO WINDY!), ate a snack, and here I am. I'd love to write a little more, but I've gotta go make dinner - salmon and some crazy veggies that Gered made me buy - and then Emily and I are off to SEE A MOVIE! Despite the lack of recommendations for a movie (thanks Mom and Dad for your input) I was able to decide on Cop Out.

All this business has kept me from any real struggle with TV today. Admittedly, I did want to turn something on when I get back from the pool, but then I realized all I had to do before Emily got home! 

I do want to give a shout out to my friend Dan, who has officially decided to give up TV with me (with the exception of The Office on Thursdays). He's about a week in, and stayin' strong. He texted me this morning to tell me that despite his own personal TV with direct TV cable on his JetBlue flight to Chicago, he did NOT watch it the whole way there! Go Dan!

Today's temptation rating: 2.1

Days without incident: 33? Yeah, that sounds right.

"The Theatuh" (spoken all snooty)

Well folks, it's been a full month now. I insisted that for the initial detox period, I was not allowed to exercise one of my two exceptions to the rule of no TV. That being that I am allowed to go to see movies in "the theatuh." I've been pronouncing it this way lately as a way to convince myself that the theatuh because when you say it in a snooty tone, it sounds less like watching TV and more like a culturally enlightening experience. (Even though there is a solid chance that tomorrow night I'll be going to see "Cop Out" - the poster speaks for itself.)

So I could spend my time this morning reflecting on a successful first month of surgically removing the TV from the position of Lord over my life, or I could put take a quick poll on what movie I should go see. Ummm... I think I've reflected enough over the last 31 days. Let's pick a movie. :-)

So there's Cop Out, which has Bruce Willis being Bruce Willis, and Tracy Morgan as what I imagine to be some variation of Tracy Jordan (his awesome 30 Rock persona). Sounds like great fun all around, but I probably couldn't refer to it as an experience at "the theatuh."

There's Valentine's Day, which promises more movie stars than you can shake a stick at. It does make me wonder if there are just too many cooks in the kitchen that is this movie for it to be any good. Regardless of how good or bad it may be, I'm sure it'd make Emily happy, and I could always see my funny boy movie some other time. On the other hand, she is the one that keeps saying that this is MY first movie after a month without TV. Hmmm...

Other movies in the running include: Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightening Thief (yes, I love kid's movies - especially the cartoon ones) and Green Zone (really a guy movie - maybe another time). The other option is to wait until next weekend when The Bounty Hunter (one that both Emily and I would probably really enjoy) and How to Train Your Dragon (yes, another kids movie - and this one IS a cartoon) come out, but I think we all know that this is happening this Saturday.

So what do you think? I invite your recommendations/votes!

Today's temptation rating: 4.9

Days without incident: 32

Little reminders...

Last night, I made one of my favorite comfort foods for dinner - orange chicken and broccoli. Mmmmm. I had my third really difficult workout in a row yesterday, and I was BEAT afterward. I thought it was well deserved. But, interestingly, as I began to plot my comfortable and relaxing evening, I (almost instinctively) thought to myself, "I'll have some chocolate milk, I'll stretch, I'll have some orange chicken on the couch, I'll watch some TV, and then I'll go to bed!" It took me a couple of seconds to scratch out number four on that list.

When I finally realized that my plan for the evening included watching TV, I was a little disappointed. A little more so when, as Emily and I sat down to eat, she said (jokingly), "Oh, let's watch some TV." I guess it's all part of the grieving process. You know when you break up with someone, and you see something that reminds you of them. It takes time to get over those little reminders. Like in the first season of "Friends" when Ross is all depressed because it was an anniversary of his with his ex-wife (a lesbian that was currently pregnant with his baby). He got all mopey on the sidewalk because he saw a peach pit on the ground. I don't want to equate giving up TV with divorce or death or anything as serious as that - certainly not on the same level - but you get the idea.

It has been a month now - and I'm noticing that these little reminders are coming fewer and farther between. Moreover my response to them his a little less dramatic and ridiculous each time. I no longer make the sad puppy dog face with the big bottom lip... PROGRESS!

Today's temptation rating: 1.9

Days without incident: 31

A solid run, some conversation, a cheeseburger, a chocolate banana milkshake and an early bed time

These are all the things that happened last night INSTEAD of TV.

It started with a good run around Jamaica Pond. Two laps + the out and back portion + a little detour to avoid stopping at a light = 6.7 miles in 40 minutes. That's a 6:04/mi. average pace, which included about a minute of walk/jogging that followed each of two 10 minute intervals. On the first I averaged 5:37/mi. on mainly flat terrain,  and on the second - mainly uphill - interval I averaged 5:52/mi. BOOYAH! If you read this blog for it's commentary on TV, I apologize for this digression, but it IS what I did with the time I wasn't watching TV. Plus I was really proud of myself, and I felt like bragging a little to the world. :-)

Then I went down to b.good. for a delicious conversation and some stimulating cheeseburger, I mean... you know what I mean. I'm hoping that my friend Dan and I started a Tuesday night (or maybe some other night) ritual of cheeseburger eating and catching up. Mainly for the cheeseburger part, but Dan's great too... JOKING :-) (He'd probably say the same thing if you replaced cheeseburger with Bertucci's.)

Then when I got home, I made myself a chocolate banana milkshake that was promised to me (by my wonderful wife) upon agreeing to go through with what I knew was going to be a very painful run early that afternoon. I'm pretty sure she also agreed to allowing a milkshake after a cheeseburger because she was feeling guilty about the butterfinger she ate at work - not a little "fun" size one - a whole butterfinger! Anyway, I reclined on the couch and gave that milkshake the full attention it deserved... ohhhhh.

And in bed by 9:45 with a little ice on my achy knee joint, and sleeping by 10:15! What about time with my wifey, you ask? Well since we're getting up at 5:30 every morning, we got to snuggle on the couch this morning whilst enjoying some oatmeal with brown sugar and yellow raisins (though we did find a regular raisin in there).  Again this morning, no TV.

Today's temptation rating: 2.1

Days without incident: 30!!!

Too much changes...?

You'll have to excuse the cobwebs in my brain this mornings. I'm maybe a little bit under-sleeped. Emily and I are trying to train our bodies to wake up early without the alarm clock. She found this article somewhere: http://stronglifts.com/how-to-wake-up-early-the-definitive-guide/. The key component is to set your alarm for the same time every day regardless of when you get to bed, no snoozing. We set ours for 5:30. Are we stupid? I'll tell you what, if we aren't I'm definitely feeling a little stupider this morning - man I could go for a nap!

This all makes me wonder if maybe we're taking on too many changes at once. I gave up TV, we're trying to eat a little healthier (today's lunch: leftover polenta with white beans and kale), we're trying to figure out how to rest better (which this little experiment is meant to be part of), and now this 5:30 rule? Oh, I want my snooze button back (he whines like a five year old girl)!

Actually, as I was looking for a picture to go with this blog, I found this little diddy of an alarm clock... Get this: when the alarm goes off, this little helicopter takes off. You have to catch the helicopter and plug it back into the alarm clock. That's the only way to turn it off! That'd probably wake me up pretty good in the morning times. What do you think, should I get it? It's only 13 buckos on amazon!

One thing's for sure - this is it for life changes for now - please God let this be it for life changes right now.

On the upside, throwing no TV in with all the other changes makes it a lot less tempting... at least at the moment!

Today's temptation rating: 2.4

Days without incident: 29

Flirting with the enemy...

Does that title sound a little adulterous? For the record - TV is "the enemy" with whom I flirted.

No, what this refers to is last night, when I got back from my run to find that Emily was trying to finish her last netflix movie: "The Invention of Lying". Sounds like a funny movie - I saw the preview before we had put it on our netflix preview (this of course was before I stopped watching TV), and my parents saw it about a week ago, and also said it was pretty good. It's a little sad to know that I'll probably never see it... c'est la vie. :-)

Anyway, when I got back from my run, the computer was sitting on the kitchen counter, and windows media player was open and frozen. Emily seems to think that when I walk in and she's just paused a movie that it some how incriminates her, even though I really don't care. "I was just gonna watch a few minutes, but it keeps freezing!" She's cute. Without waiting for a response, my days as a computer repair guy kicked in and I closed the frozen application and tried to restart it for her before I got in the shower.  Hazaaah! Fixed it lickity-split. And there was the movie's main menu, right there in front of me, the play button just waiting to be clicked. Emily said, "Oh! Thanks!" subtly hinting that I should, "step away from the TV." (Imagine a police type voice blairing over a cop car speaker for that second quotation.)

Being the model of self-discipline that I've been these days, I walked away. That's what I'd like to say - if we were in the movie I did not get to watch, I could say that, and you would believe it. (See the preview and you'll understand.)  No, I clicked play first, and then walked away. Why did I do that? I could tell you that it was the computer repair guy in me just wanting to make sure that it wouldn't freeze again once trying to play the movie, but that wouldn't be true. The honest answer is that it just brought me a little closer to the movie I knew that I didn't get to watch. This is really such a ridiculously tiny lapse in discipline amidst what I would call a fantastic success so far, but it just makes me wonder - why is it so hard to let go of things?

In Romans, Paul says, "We know that the law is holy. But I am not. I have been sold to be a slave of sin. I don't understand what I do. I don't do what I want to do. Instead, I do what I hate to do. I do what I don't want to do." I hear ya loud and clear Paul - though I have some reservations about the word "hate" in reference to TV, because I actually love it.

Today's temptation rating: 5.1

Days without incident: 28 (FOUR WEEKS!... If I started on February 1st, I could say it's been a whole month!)

A quality time do-over...

Last night, instead of watching TV, Emily and I had some real quality time together. We tried being strict about observing the sabbath last night, so she finished her school work for the night at around 7:30, and we went for a walk up to the grocery store for some bread and salad fixings. A light dinner of salad and bread made for very little preparatory work. We sat on the couch out some bread and salad and just talked.

Riveting right? The kind of story worth writing a blog, wouldn't you say? Well, it may not be a great and entertaining story to tell, but we had some really meaningful conversations about our future, and the ways we plan to serve God and challenge ourselves over the coming months. Really good stuff. The kind of conversations that are responsible for starting multi-billion dollar organizations - not really - but we definitely discussed some big ideas, hopes, dreams, etc. All of which had nothing to do with television.

This morning I got up and went to the pool, and Emily when to the pastry/coffee shop down the street to study. When I got back, she said she had some really good study time. She felt rested, relaxed, and very able to focus on her work. She wasn't stressed about all there was to do in the day, or anything - just a peaceful, joyful morning. I like that. My morning was fine too... but coaching is always fun.

Anyway, that's that I hoped would happen with the time I used to spend watching TV, and last night/this morning, I finally got to see some success!

Today's temptation rating: 3.7

Days without incident: 27? (As a math teacher, I really should be able to count this high without trouble.)

Old habit in new ways...

So one of the reasons that I dropped TV like a hot potato was because there were many nights where Emily and I would watch TV instead of catching up on all the time we spend apart. Particularly Wednesday's and Friday's because they're really the only times during the week that we should have a chance to check in with each other and see how the other is doing. That time often got lost watching TV. We'd put on a show while we ate dinner... one show would turn into three... and then it was bed time. I was hopeful that with no more TV, we would spend more of that dinner/after dinner time catching up with each other.

Sadly, last night we got a little distracted. You see, I actually have another blog (teamscrappy.blogspot.com) that I share with my friend Gered. Dissatisfied with the types of triathlon teams available in our areas, we decided to start our own. We thought it'd be a good idea for each of us to start building exposure as we achieve pro status with triathlons and seek sponsorship. We decided last night that it was time to consider getting apparel. And Emily, being the marketing consultant to team scrappy, suggested that we design a logo. So after dinner I spent right around 2 hours making this...

Two frickin' hours! I have a newfound respect for graphic designers everywhere - though I suspect that they work with far better software - I just used powerpoint drawing tools. Emily was a little annoyed by the time I got done, but I partially blame her, as I wanted to just copy some sort of triathlon icon off the web. "That's copyright infringement!" (Imagine my imitation in a high pitched dramatization of her voice.) Most of the time was spent trying to draw that little triathlon dude swimming, biking, and running.  Gered said it looks a little "halloweeny"... offended, I called him a little "halloweiner"... clever, I know. :-) To continue the polling of the 3 people that read this post, what do you think? Halloweeny? (I promise I won't call you some poorly constructed juvenile name.)

When I was finished, it was pretty much bed time. Time disappeared just as it used to with TV. So lesson learned... I need to make sure that I'm filling my formerly TV time with the things I was trying to make room for. Let's face it folks - as awesome as this logo looks - I didn't give up TV to draw stick figures all night. :-)

Today's temptation rating: 4.8

Days without incident: 26

Replacing "Life" with Life can feel busy...

Whenever I use or write air-quotes around a word, I always think of the second episode of season 9 in Friends. (Are you impressed or depressed by the intricacies of my Friends knowledge - I told you, I know my shows...) Take a look and see what I mean: (Excuse the "Baby Kangaroo Productions sign in the beginning - it's all I could find on youtube.)

Joey makes me laugh so much sometimes.

Aaaannnyway, "Life" as I refer to it is what I think I once experienced when a significant percentage of my time was occupied by my "friends" on TV. There were some nice things about "life" - I'm not going to lie. I could hang out with my "friends" in my boxers - I never had to be dressed nice. I could hang out with my "friends" whenever I wanted, even while I rode my bike on the trainer... but I'm pretty sure most real people wouldn't appreciate that. I didn't have to vacuum all of my stupid cat's hair before visiting with my "friends" either. I could even stuff my face in front of my "friends" with all kinds of tasty goodness... actually... I do that in front of my real friends too. :-) The point is that I'm a lazy person, and there is no effort required to spend time with my "friends" on TV. That's probably a top reason for my addiction to TV. It provides me with a friend-ish feeling, without any of the work.

On the other hand, LIFE (no air-quotes) has several trade-offs. I may have change out of my pj's, but friends talk back to me where as "friends" just talk to each other - as if I'm not even there. I may not be able to ride my bike on the trainer while friends are over, but I can ride outside with some of them. In fact, I can run and swim with real friends too! I may have to get off my butt to spend time with friends, but whenever we part ways, I always leave wanting to spend more time with them. Which is why my schedule seems to be filling up with all kinds of events!

Don't get me wrong it's great, but I do kinda miss the days where I could just sit on the couch in my flannel pajama pants. Maybe when I get to know my newer friends as well as I know my "friends" they won't mind either. :-)

Today's temptation rating: 5.9

Days without incident: 25

Re-learning how to rest...

For my training, this week is a recovery week. In addition workouts being less strenuous, this means that I'm supposed to try and get a little more rest, and really let my muscles capitalize on the period of time where I am putting it through less stress. So far I haven't done this. Typically, I would take this extra time and watch some extra TV. I'd sprawl out on the couch with a snack, and watch a couple extra re-runs of... well... something. (I'd like to say there's a go-to show there, but it could have been any one of the twelve on any given day.) Now I wouldn't call TV watching real quality rest, because as soon as I turn it on, the focus shifts from making sure my mind and body get what they need to... whether or not that tattoo Tracy Jordan got on his face is real (not real), or... the fate of Dunder Mifflin, Scranton branch (now a subsidiary of Sabre - pronounced "Saber"), or... how the kids of Glee perform at sectionals.

The point is that my much needed rest - though I may get some - is put to the wayside for TV. Not good. The problem now is that without TV, I'm not sitting on the couch so much anymore, regardless of the focus. Watching TV, I might have gotten some rest, but yesterday, I had 3 hours of free time that I instead used to organize our files (sitting), iron some wrinkly, but clean clothes (standing), folded a basket full of sox (sitting and standing), and put away some clothes that have been sitting at the foot of our bed for weeks (standing). None of these tasks has me lying down. Sure I feel like my life is in better order than it was when I was watching TV, but I don't feel rested - which I think is just as important. 

So I'm looking for alternatives to TV for rest. I got this (audio)book: "Rest: Living in Sabbath Simplicity," (Brett doesn't read.) which has really gotten me focused on this issue. Hopefully, as I get through it, I'll learn out to rest without the TV, and hopefully... that rest will be more fruitful. We'll see!

Today's temptation rating: 3.1

Days without incident: 24

People - the real kind vs. the fake kind

Last night, after a fantastic run in my new, super snazzy shoes (seriously, look at them...), I spent a good chunk of the evening without my woman (does that sound offensive?) experimenting with some foods that Gered forced me to purchase over the weekend. Wheat bulger, scallions, and fennel. Sounds delicious doesn't it? How about when I throw in some sweet potato fries? Yeah... that's better. Anyway, I talked with my parents via video gchat. Despite my new economy interwebs package, the streaming video and audio seemed to be unaffected. It was a nice converstation... we talked about politics, the meal I was attempting to make, someone's rash (thankfully not in sequence with the discussion of food), my dad's work, and of course, why I was trying to give up TV (again). Also, my mom tried on her new winter coat like six times for me give my opinion on.

It was nice... wait that's a little weird. Usually when I talk to my parents, it feels a little (... at risk of upsetting my mother)... naggy. Hmmm. Don't get me wrong, it's not that I don't look forward to reconnecting with my family on a regular basis, but usually talking to them while cooking stands in the way of watching TV while cooking. Come to think of it, a lot of social activity I used to engage in seemed to stand in the way of my watching TV time.

My mom asked me last night why it was that I could remember every little detail about every episode of every show I've seen, while her and Emily would forget what happened in a show they watched within hours of watching it. My explanation was that, unlike them, I invested in the lives of the characters - i.e. "Friends" were my friends. She didn't buy that. Well then mother, why is it that I miss TV so much? Why is it that I continue to ask what's happening in shows? I don't care what the plot is - I barely know what a plot is. I want to know how my friends are doing! Which is why I was considerably concerned last night, when Dad told me that Nate gets shot at the end of season 2 of Leverage. (Seriously, it's a TV show, Brett.)

Gladly, I think I'm really starting to reconnect with real people as I let go of the fake (albeit lovable) characters of the shows I used to watch. The most interesting thing to me is that I feel just as refreshed/released from the burdens of the work day by spending time with others as I used to from the passive act of watching people act out lives on a TV. Maybe being social - though more engaging - can provide just as much respite for my weary soul as TV used to... maybe more so? I don't know for sure, but we'll find out soon enough!

(BTW that's the first time I've every used the words "albeit" and "respite" - how about that?!)

Today's temptation rating: 5.2

Days without incident: 23

A penny saved is a penny earned.

Last night Emily and I got our interwebs bill. (Interwebs is a wonderful word for internet coined by my friend Tracy Jordan of 30 Rock - it's just so much more fun to say, isn't it?) I got this sweet deal when we moved that was $19 a month, but on last night's bill it was magically $59. I called this morning to find that $19 was just a six month promotion. Oh well. So I asked, are there any cheaper options? TV ATTACK! Did you know it's actually cheaper to include basic cable with your interwebs? $42 vs. $59. Laughing to myself because I don't even have a TV, I agreed to sign up for the cable service that I knew I couldn't even take advantage of. But then, wonderfully, as Judy (my Comcast-savvy costumer account executive) and I were discussing the craziness of Comcast's billing system, she found a cheaper option! "Economy" interwebs. $24 without having to include basic cable in the package.

Judy kindly tried to warn me that this service is significantly slower than the "performance" package that we previously had, and that we probably wouldn't be able to watch Hulu or lengthy streaming video feeds. As I laughed to myself, I assured her, "Judy, my dear, this won't be a problem."

So in addition to the time I now have that is free from TV, we're saving $34 a month on interwebs... good deal. AND - even if I wanted to watch Hulu, at this point - it's likely that I no longer have the bandwidth to do so. Let's just hope I never test that theory. :-)

Today's temptation rating: 3 (Thanks to the my lower bandwidth, I know Hulu won't be as fun!)

Days without incident: 22

Saved by the bell...

Almost consumed by the temptation of boredom yesterday, I got a call from my friend Gered (seen at right). We talked for a couple of minutes, and then he hang up - leaving me to continue contemplating my desire for the sweet state of passive consciousness that TV once provided. Two minutes later, the door bell rang. "Hmmm, do we have a package? They don't deliver packages on Sunday do they?" I buzzed the mystery guest in, and went down stairs to see who it was. Sure enough Gered was calling, not to chat, but to confirm that I was home! He didn't even have to ask if I wanted to join him. I put on my shoes and was out the door faster than... (trying to think of something clever)... well something really fast.

We did all sorts of "bromantic" activies with the third wheel (his wife, Brooke), and a fourth wheel (his sister, Kara). We went shoe shopping at the New Balance outlet, we at Dim Sum, we went shopping (for groceries). And although I generally detest shopping of any kind, and those dumplings were a little questionable, I was over-joyed by the distraction from TV that our wanderings around greater Boston provided. When I got back there was just enough time to get in a bike ride and run, cook some dinner and finish off the chores while Emily finished her school work. Were I to have that extra 3 hours at home - I'm pretty sure I would have figured out away to convince myself that one show would be ok.

I was definitely saved by the (door) bell. Thanks Gered!

Today's temptation rating: 7.9

Days without incident: 21 (3 weeks!)