Summer Challenge

Remember when you were in school, you were given a list of books to read over the summer to be ready for the next grade? Or maybe it was just something for your parents to hassle you about doing so when you went back to school in the fall there was still a brain cell or two left in your head? I've always enjoyed reading, but as an adult (and without the required reading list), the volume of books I consume in a year has been replaced with a volume of TV watching that nobody would be proud of.

Seriously, if I'm at home, the TV is probably on. I'd like to think it's on in the background while I do other, more important stuff, but most of the time, it's on and I'm sitting in front of it. When we got our first DVR years ago, I thought it was the best thing since sliced bread - and it would enable me to spend far less time watching my favorite shows, right?!? Wrong. It just allows me to keep up with more than ever before.

I'm always telling myself that there are so many things I'd like to do more of (garden, read, blog, bike ride, etc, etc, etc) and not enough time to do it. Then, a few weeks ago, it dawned on me - STOP WATCHING SO MUCH TV!!! What the heck am I watching half the time anyway? Like I need to see another episode of House Hunters or Yard Crashers. Really - why don't I go crash my own yard? Or read or go for a bike ride or take the dog to the park...heck, I could even clean the house or do laundry during the week which would free up some weekend time - what a concept!

So - here's my challenge for the summer: No TV on Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday evenings. I can catch up on the DVR on Thursdays or weekends.

I started this week and, already, I've been doing all of the things on my aforementioned list and my house is pretty clean too! I actually don't think this will be too difficult since I'm replacing TV with things I truly enjoy. In fact, I'm keeping a list of all the books I'm reading this summer - if you're interested, there's a link on the side bar of what I just finished, what I'm currently reading and what's on deck. Now, if anyone asks me in the fall if I kept up on my reading over the summer, I won't have to lie and say that the dog ate my list.