Saturday, April 5, 2008

TVs

Well, I have a TV in the kitchen that is NOT hooked up to the satellite. Back when we moved in, they only offered 2 rooms-- now, it's FOUR. ARGH. Anyway, so the kitchen TV is just an antenna and a DVD player, so I can watch DVDs while I'm working in the kitchen or in the living/dining room.

And, we KNEW that as of February, that TV is no longer going to work. So, I was researching to find the kind of TV I wanted for the kitchen. Because the converter boxes? Cost money (even if you do get a coupon), and may not work with your current antenna. So, we figured we might as well just go ahead and get a new small TV for the kitchen. We COULD pay to have it hooked up and pay the extra each month, but.... nah. (Although Mom is nagging me-- she'd like to have it when she visits! :) And maybe we will at some point).

But, THEN, all of a sudden, the admittedly small TV in the family room that we were NOT going to replace since it's hooked up to satellite and there was no real REASON to replace it, suddenly stopped working. Worked one night, the next night, no sound. Full stop. No matter WHAT you did. Checked the others-- no problem. Brought down the little TV from the kitchen-- worked PERFECTLY. So, the TV was a bust. It's only about 7 years old! ::SIGH::

So, we spent MUCH more than we should have for a new TV for the family room, and now I really don't know what to do about the kitchen. After Feb., it won't be good for anything but playing DVDs. But I just can't see shelling out several MORE hundreds of dollars for another TV now....... but they've said even with the converter box, the old one may well not work without an outdoor (mounted) antenna. Well, not exactly an earth-shattering issue, especially right now. Just an annoyance. I HATE spending money I don't have to (or for things I didn't plan on!).

Where is spring?????

Why is spring ALWAYS just knock-me-on-my-butt busy? ALWAYS.

WHEW!!!!!!!!!!!! Well, the first week of April is done. Thank GOODNESS!!! We still have 7 weeks (and an observation, and standardized testing) to go!


The end of the year is already in full swing. We are preparing for end-of-year testing, graduation, etc. The spring program is coming up, so the music teacher was working with them on that.

Next Saturday will be SAT prep again. I honestly don't mind, I just hate getting up at O'dark 30 on a SATURDAY.

Mom got us an umbrella and deck furniture... yes, we've been using plain white plastic chairs (kiddy-chairs, she calls them-- they are NOT!-- and she refuses to sit in them anymore when she visits!!!) and the built-in bench (which, admittedly, goes the entire width of the deck, so not shabby). The deck is BLISTERING, though, because it gets the afternoon sun-- will be nice to have an umbrella to block some of the sun, that's for sure! My sis brought them home in her van (she's been dropping off their puppy for some Grandma time while they've been on the road), so now we have to drive two hours to go get them..... when they're actually HOME.

Meanwhile, where is spring?! We've had one or two really nice days, and the rest have been cold and/or rainy. UGH! More rain tonight-- in fact, we've had some SERIOUS wind and are supposed to have major thunderstorms tonight. UGH! again.....

the bushes outside need to be trimmed, the yard needs to be cleaned up, and it's too bloody cold or wet on the few days we're home to actually DO it. Maybe tomorrow. ::SIGH::