Surviving without Survivor

At some point, you have to make a decision. Boundaries don't keep other people out. They fence you in. Life is messy. That's how we're made. So, you can waste your lives drawing lines. Or you can live your life crossing them. But there are some lines... that are way too dangerous to cross. ... Meredith Grey

Those of you out there in civilization know that this week and last week were the weeks of series season premiers on all of the network channels. Survivor. The Amazing Race. The Office. Grey’s Anatomy. Chuck. Glee. … and my personal guilty favorite… The Jersey Shore. Well, as exciting as that may be for all of you, we don’t have any TV channels here. That’s right. Zip. Zero. Nada. It seems that because our house is located just on the north side of the school and within spitting distance of houses on either side, we can’t get any satellite reception here which means (drum roll please)… NO TV!

Sarah and I have been subsisting on movies, borrowed from friends and rented through Netflix and Blockbuster (both via mail delivery). It’s a hard life and very much a challenge. You see, I am a self-proclaimed Reality TV addict. (The first step to recovery is admitting you have a problem, right?) I was beginning to get the shakes.

Our Calendar



Sarah figured out early on that the major networks upload their TV shows online within a few days of the original airing, so she occasionally watches shows that way. However, internet is unreliable at our house and the computer screen is small. We tried hooking the computer up to the TV, but again the internet is unreliable and besides, we couldn’t figure out how to get the picture to show on the TV at all. Bummer, I know!

Last week, Sarah had had enough! She made it clear that on Friday (last night) we were going to have a “TV” night in my classroom – computer hooked up to the big screen projector – a night of all of our favorite shows. She’s even been keeping the calendar marked with the days of our shows so that we can keep track.


TV Night!

 So, last night we did it! We took over a load of snuggies, popcorn, chips, peach tea, and the space heater (just in case). Nali even went with us. We watched Survivor, Jersey Shore, and Grey’s Anatomy! There were times when buffering videos slowed things down a bit, but it was still a real treat! We came home at 10pm with smiles on our faces and a feeling of contentment that only a night of watching TV (with commercials!) can give you.

We are Survivors!

… oh, and it was pretty funny when Jim was locking up the school (there was a basketball tournament going on) and he came down the hall with his headlamp on to see what the noise was in my classroom. I believe he got a good laugh to see us all snuggled in with blankets and makeshift recliners, munching on popcorn, and watching Meredith try to get approved by the hospital psych guy to go back to surgery (Grey’s).