Television

When my family's only television set went to the repair shop the other day, my parents, my sister, and I thought we would have a terrible week. How could we get through the long evenings in such a quiet house? What would it be like without all the shows to keep us company? We soon realized, though, that living without television for a while was a stroke of good fortune. It became easy for each of us to enjoy some activities alone, to complete some postponed chores, and to spend rewarding time with each other and friends.

First of all, with no television to compete for our time, we found plenty of hours for personal interest. We all read more that week than we had read during the six months before. Breanna, my little sister, finally bent back the pages on those magazines Mom and Dad purchase for her every month. Seventeen, Sister,Sister, Cosmo Girl and Black Hair were amongst the many she collected. She had a shelf full of them and even stored some in boxes underneath her bed. I think she went through almost half of them. I heard her tell Mom about all the stuff she learned while flipping through them. She said "I learned six new ways to style my ponytail, 3 different ways to wear my sweaters, and a countless number of ways to impress the boys.” Mom and Dad both got back to the reading the daily newspaper they had a subscription with. Dad often read in the morning at breakfast and focused a lot on the sports area because he was really into college basketball. His favorite team was the Selma Gators which belonged to the local university. Mom however read the newspaper at night before bed. She enjoyed all sections and held neither over the other. She would start with the front headline and end with the classifieds, which usually are the last pages. I on the other hand was always a sucker for a good book. I just never made the time for enjoying a good reading. I read this book called Friends and Lovers by Eric J. Dickey and it was indeed a page turner. It was about this set of friends going through life problems with their lovers. One friend lost his lover to a drunk driver but got through it with the help of his friends. I enjoyed it so much I recommended it to all my friends. We each also enjoyed some hobbies we had ignored for ages. I started back working at the after-school program. I didn’t get paid for it but I enjoyed it so much it really didn’t bother me. I would go down to the center and play games with the younger kids. The kids and I would play hide and seek, kickball, and I spy to name a few. I would also help the bigger kids with their homework. I gave lessons on math, English and science. Breanna and Mom started roller skating again. They would skate around the neighborhood for hours. Sometimes they even went to the park. It was something they always enjoyed doing with one another, because it was their special way of bonding. Dad started putting more time into his car. He always worked on it but he had even more time to put in on it now that he didn’t have a show to run in and watch. Dad had a two door Monte Carlo. He was fixing it up nicely even said he would give it to me if I could learn to appreciate its beauty. He has put in a new motor, changed all four tires, and gave it a new paint job. Coincidently he painted it my favorite color, midnight blue. In addition, my sister and I both stopped procrastinating with our homework. Breanna had put off her science project long enough. She had been given the assignment at the beginning of the year and never look at it again until now. She chose to build a volcano. It was going to shake and erupt like the real ones. Her plan was to build it out of wire, then fill it out with plaster. She would combine vinegar and water made red with food coloring to cause the eruption. Now that she’s putting in the time I know it will turn out great. I on the other hand started concentrating on my homework without trying to squeeze it in during commercials. The only class I have homework in is my English class. My thesis statements are clearer and my teacher even says my overall essays are well thought out now.

Second, five letter we did chores that had been hanging over our heads for too long. There were many jobs around the house that had needed attention for some time. My bedroom closet had been a mess for over a year now. I had clothes piled on top of shoes, books piled on top of clothes, and all types of purses piled on top of books. It was a mess. If you were missing something, you could probably find it in my closet. I organized everything neatly giving each individual item its’ own specific place. Breanna finally got around to the dog house she had been ordered to clean a month ago. She had to sweep it out and spray it down with the garden hose. Our Labrador retriever made it a hard job. Bre and I named him Midnight because of his dark fur. Breanna and Midnight were at for two hours before the chore was completed. After finishing up Bre and I headed out to the front yard to help Mom and Dad with the yard work. I headed over to where Dad had began cutting the weeds. They were growing uncontrollably. While Dad wacked the weeds with the weed-eater, I came shortly behind to collect and toss them into the garbage. Bre, on the other hand, headed over to the garden where Mom was planting new flowers. She had decided add azalea and purple iris to what was already a slew of red, pink and orange roses. Mom had already dug the holes. She was planting the seeds when Bre came around. She finished up for mom by watering them lightly. We also had a chance to do some long-postponed shopping. Our family had all the essentials when it came to clothes. You know jeans, t-shirts, casual pants, school and work attire; however, it was time for new church clothes. Dad went and got him two three-piece suits with matching ties. He didn’t need much since his work attire could be used for church attire also. He worked at a bank supervising money transactions among other things. Mom, Bre and I got four items each. We