"No TV for a week"

On coming home from a week spent working with some research colleagues, my husband was inspired by one of them to decrease our TV watching at home. His colleague has a few kids (ranging in age from 7 to 16) and apparently they don't even own a television. The kids are smart, savvy and successful and don't even miss watching TV. Apparently they have plenty of other things to do, like art and science projects, reading, etc.

Starting yesterday we are implementing a "No TV for a week" 6-week plan. It's going to be 1 week on, 1 week off. So for this week (Sunday to Sunday) we can't watch any TV. Next week we can choose to watch TV if we want, but the week after it is mandatory no TV. I am actually looking forward to this! Especially when my husband is away I tend to watch movies for no particular reason, when I could easily be doing something else more enriching. My plan for tonight is to bake a pear-and-chocolate cake and do a yoga practice. That sounds better than watching TV for a couple hours.

For my daughter I think it will be a little more difficult. She's only 4, but she often wants to decompress by sitting and staring at Angelina Ballerina for half an hour. But, she made it through the day yesterday, and even helped her dad make dinner instead of watching something! We will see how it goes for her on the no TV weeks...

Sick at home

My daughter Z has been sick for the past two days. She had a fever so we kept her home and I took her to the doctor, who gave her antibiotics and said she probably has bronchitis. Her illness isn't too bad; today she hasn't had a fever and she isn't coughing all the time. But, she has to stay home anyway until 24 fever-free hours are logged.

I have had to work and of course my husband has as well, but he works from home so he has gotten stuck with Z. Yesterday afternoon she napped and then watched Rainbow Brite. This morning apparently she played with her bead set for nearly two hours, and after lunch she colored for again approximately two hours. Now I'm home to allow D to work and she is sacked on the couch! What is with this girl? She's the most non-rowdy kid I think I've ever seen. True, she is sick, but she commonly can sit for an hour or more with something small like coloring or dolls. I'm continually amazed at her attention span.

Coming back to life

It has been a very long time since I have written anything in any blog. I feel like I really ought to be keeping track of things going on, if not for me then for my daughter when she grows up. So, here I am, still living. This blog is really for no-one but me, but if somebody reads it that's ok.

On the lighter side

If you read this blog you may have noticed that I haven't posted here in a while. Well, I've decided this blog is too dark for me. Not dark as in gothic or even angry or ill-tempered. It is just rooted in layers of me that I'm shedding now. I'm changing yet staying the same at once. So, I've moved my blog here. If you like, continue reading my new stuff! :)

Battlefield Earth

I recently finished reading Battlefield Earth by L. Ron Hubbard, and I thought I'd make a few comments here. This isn't a "review" and I'm not going to summarize or explain the book. I'm just going to say what I liked and didn't like. I thought this was a great scifi novel, full of action and adventure. It took me nearly 6 months to read! (It takes me longer to read most books because I don't spend very much time at it.) I enjoyed all the action, and also how the book was split into small chapters, which made it very easy to read in short bursts. All the essential events and characters were easy to remember, and everything made sense throughout the book. There wasn't too much characterization in the book, all the characters were fairly simple. The plot was much more focused on the action and the flow towards the climax. The story was easy to follow throughout and the conflicts and resolutions were clear.

I didn't like how the book slowed at the very end. After the second climax I was sure the book would be over! I also didn't like how Hubbard sometimes invented a new thing seemingly at random to explain something (e.g. the Psychlo doctors at the end of the book). These things would have been more believable had he hinted about them earlier in the story.

Overall I thought it was an excellent book.