But What Will I DO?

Yesterday Dr. Heskett and I had a lengthy discussion about our finances. We have always done OK on the money side of our lives. There has never been "enough" but there was always "enough"...if you know what I mean. However the move from Kansas was definitely a big test. Not only did it cost a lot to to make some repairs to the house before we sold it but the move itself cost quite a bit. Add that to me staying home for almost a year and whala...we have a bit more credit card debt that what we feel comfortable carrying. On the horizon we are hoping to have another baby sometime in the next year or two which means added daycare and the need for a bigger vehicle. So thus the want to try and get all of our debt paid off.

We are not elaborate spenders. Sometimes we indulge our children and sometimes we eat out a few times a week but when push comes to shove for the most part we are reasonable spenders. So when we took a long hard look at our budget there wasn't a lot of room to trim fat from. Besides the promise to cut our grocery bill a little and eat home more often that didn't leave much to add to our "pay off debt" campaign. Then Dr. Heskett said something I was totally unprepared for. His suggestion was to turn off our Comcast services. This mean no TV, Internet, or land line phone. The phone I could care less about and the Internet would stink a little but my palms started to sweat as I contemplated going without TV.

I have mentioned before that TV is my one vice. I love my DVR, On Demand, and Pay per View. The worst of it is that the timing couldn't be worse. Lost premiers this week as did a few other Showtime and HBO shows that I watch...not to mention May finales. I can't imagine not being able to tun the TV to the Sprout channel for those few much needed minutes to get dinner on the table not to mention our morning routine of the kids watching TV while we sleep for a few extra minutes on weekends. Who am I kidding I would really miss, Grey's, Desperate, Gossip Girl, 90210, Private Practice, Biggest Loser, Big Love, Entourage, Lost, Privileged, The L Word, and many many more.

Dr. Heskett's response was yeah it would suck. He would miss sports and the Internet. The problem is that Dr. Heskett watches TV not shows. He likes to see what is on and usually ends up with a movie that he hasn't seen a million times or something on the history/discover/war/etc channel. This is totally different. He could fill that gap with something else...like a book. I would miss the action of what is happening...what if one of the characters that I love would die? I would totally miss it until this summer sometime when I could maybe rent the season. I panic just thinking about it.

Then reality hit me. I am addicted and I am letting my kids get addicted. That is precious time that can be spent doing something else and the payoff is huge. I have to admit that our bill has gotten a little (maybe a lot) out of control. We pay $190 a month to Comcast. This includes our land line phone (unlimited long distance), Internet, and cable (DVR, big Cable package, sports tier, HD, etc, etc, etc). If we added $190 a month to one of our credit card bills we would make an impact. It would also solidify our commitment to pay it off for good. I think that debt is like weight in that the harder you work at paying it off the longer it will stay off....at least I hope.

So here were my terms of agreement. Dr. Heskett has to start running with me. It is something that he dreads/hates a much as it kills me to not watch TV. We also have to sign up for Netflix. I am crazy but not that crazy. We can't watch TV but we have to have something to kill quite afternoons at home on the weekends. We are going to talk about it again tonight because I want to know exactly when we can turn it back on and how exactly we are going to tackle this debt. I will keep you posted on how this goes and just so you know I may have to stop by for a quick fix sometime.

Sorry Edward you have been replaced

Ok not really..I still love you but my new love is just....more. More sexy, more mysterious, more make me blush. As mentioned in my Christmas wish list post I wanted new books. Specifically I wanted the Sookie Stackhouse series books. These books are a Vampire series for adults (very much adult ;) Being the good husband that Dr. Heskett is he took my list with him (literally on his iphone he was looking for the pictures I posted) and got me the series (minus the last book but that wasn't his fault because it was not listed in all of the books cover) and I finished 6 of the 8 books.

I. LOVE. THEM. The books became popular because HBO started a new series this past fall called True Blood. The show is OK. I like it but some of the characters are annoying in my opinion and the lead hot guy (or at least in the beginning) is not as HOT as I would have dreamed him to be. This OK though because my heart strings are pulled by Eric.

Back story: In the books/show the Japanese invent synthetic blood intended to be used for trauma patients in ambulances. Low and behold that in addition to this use the Vampire community comes out of the closet because they are no longer a threat to humans because the synthetic blood satisfies their needs (sort of). Anyhoo, Eric is a Viking with long blond hair (never thought I would think that was sexy), piercing blue eyes, a sexual appetite that cannot be satisfied, and this bad boy attitude that has a strange and perplexing softness for the lead lady, Sookie. Problem is that this has never happened to him, she is kind of with Bill who works for him, and thus you see the crazy love triangle that has yet to really develop on the show.

I think the funny thing for me is that I almost never root for anyone but the main character. I never thought twice that Bella should be with Eric, in the notebook I was rooting for Noah since the beginning, and in every other love story that I have loved I didn't care who would be hurt as long as they ended up together. In this case I loath Bill and cheer for Eric. I love the electric connection between the two of them and I hope for Bill to do something wrong so that Sookie will find her way to Eric. OK, enough of my filling in spaces with my own hopes. I have started to slow in my reading of the final books because I am starting to worry that my hopes of them ending up together are starting to look dashed at best. I will always hold on to my own ending and hope that in this one case the movie will agree with me and choose Eric (who knows maybe the author came to her senses and some crazy plot change will push them together). In the meantime you should really check out the books or at least the series...although I must warn you that the books don't get GREAT, FANTASTIC, BEST EVER until book 3. Up until then they are just good.

Tears and Cheers

I love watching Grey's Anatomy. I know first hand how far fetched this funny drama is from the realities of resident life (at least I hope my husband is not sleeping with other residents...hmmm...three of them are pregnant now...two just had babies...wait!). I still love the show and I think it is because of the quirks of each of the residents and underneath all of the love triangle drama there are somethings that are very much our reality. Residents give their lives over to their work. They work extremely long hours and a lot of times it is a great emotional rollercoaster. They have to figure out a way to walk away from a delivery that went terribly wrong into the next room moments later and hope for the best possible outcome. We are thankful that they can do this and that they are not just patients to them. They are real people and while having a baby can be the most exciting and wonderful moment it can also be the most scary and sometimes heartbreaking too. So I digress.

Bailey has a rough character to play and I think this is because her life is most revealing to the realities of resident life. When you give everything you have for twelve to thirty-six hours straight how to find more to give to your spouse and kids waiting at home. Some days there is nothing left and yet you have to find a way. I know that I have placed some very crazy expectations on Bret (attend all school functions, take sick days sometimes to stay home with the kids, we take dinner in and eat in the lounge when he is working weekends and nights, when he is home he has to help around the house and take extra one on one time with the kids). We have struggled but are finally starting to find our way through this maze.

So last night as I was watching Grey's I was immediately filled with tears as I watched the older married couple (sorry if you have it DVR'd and haven't watched it yet) and their story unfold. It was refreshing to see a happily married couple on the show and for my favorite character to see this view into what it can be like. I hope that she keeps fighting and not let go so easy of something that can be so great. It's funny how perspective can change everything in just a glance.

So tell me do you have a favorite Grey's character? I think McSteamy is by far hotter than McDreamy but I still wish that George was not batting for the other team. Leave a comment and tell me your favorite Grey's character or moment.