Chup and I have decided to spring clean our finances. For instance, how do we feel about our hefty T-Mobile bill when in reality I don't use my phone for actual calls? Some texting, some checking email notifications but besides Time and Temp--an app on my phone now--I don't do much actual dialing.
Another bill we were thinking about cutting is our fancy 2,000 (rough estimate) channel tv package. We only really watch a couple channels, rarely use the DVR or On Demand. No doubt it has served us well during these dry, cold months but with this new warming trend I don't suppose we'll be watching as much.
Not so much to warrant a thick montly bill, anyway.
Still, The Chief likes his morning show, sippy tucked in tight to his chest, eyes taking in all the goodness of his favorite hostess, Kelly. Kelly is perky as a peony with her two pigtails and a voice tinted with flirt. Even Chup himself has developed a crush on Kelly and I can't be jealous because I see where he's coming from. Kelly wishes children a Happy Birthday, sings, dances and charms the heck out of the toddler set.
Kelly was especially cute this morning, I noted as I contemplated losing this channel to our monthly cut backs. She was talking to a dinosaur sock puppet on her hand. Even the puppet was dreamily staring at Kelly with his glued button eyes. But just as she went to wish a couple petite Pisces some birthday joy she inexplicably started to choke.
Her face went red.
Her eyes started watering.
And her flirty voice was nothing but gusts of desperate air.
I swear I almost lost it.
I texted Chup, "Kelly is choking on live tv!"
Some quick-thinking producer switched the shot to a still photo of a birthday boy, but we could still hear the audio of Kelly choking in the background. And then it went silent.
Silent.
I held a sympathetic breath.
A few seconds later, Kelly appeared back on the screen carrying on as if nothing had happened--with the dinosaur still on her hand. But quite red-faced, with wet eyes, and a rasp in her normal buttery voice. She continued to converse as if choking while talking to a hand puppet was PERFECTLY NORMAL. Certainly nothing to request a commercial break for--much less a need to TAKE OFF THE DINOSAUR HAND PUPPET (which is really the part I can't believe, even though I saw it with my own (not button) eyes.)
Smiling, red face, wet eyes, dinosaur hand puppet, even a dead-center camera wink.
The whole thing was so disturbing to me--how emotionally attached I had become to The Chief's morning show--I decided right then and there, tv package had to go.
Today from Dearest c jane:
A classic I can't get enough of.
The Jed Wells Headshot Project
66 Pieces of Opinion:
that is weird.
really really weird.
TV tries to make everything look pretty to escape from reality. But what is shocking is when reality sets in (like chocking) and then its that much more pretty or dramatic. unexpected reality becomes entertaining and fascinating.
or just weird.
I miss DVR. If I had it, I'd use it all the time. Sigh.
bahaha...what the? I think I held my breath all the way through this post. Then laughed out loud...Like usual...Thanks for sharing cjane.
LOL!!! I don't know who Kelly is, we've never had a bundle, but now I'm thinking maybe I really am missing something!
as of last night our tv service was supposed to end and we are switching to media pc only. My almost 6 yr old was devistated-cried himself to sleep, had nightmares about tv loss, and woke up in tears this morning. Obviously it was time for it to go. But now it is still working so whenever it does go, again the tears will begin. (for sprout, disney and nick we have found most shows available online)
I want to spring clean my finances...I would especially like to get rid of our HEFTY student Loan bills...that would be especially nice.
sewmanybooks.blogspot.com
ha ha ha HA ha ha! I love this. Also, I fell in love with you all over again when I saw the parenthesis within a parenthesis. I do that all the time! They employ parentheses that way in math, why not in english? I mean, sometimes it is just absolutely necessary. :)
We don't have TV. I mean, we DO have a television... but we don't have any programming stations. Have to have cable or satellite for that in these here parts. And boy, don't I sometimes long for it during fun things like the Olympics. The only stations I'd really want are the locals and PBS (for the kiddos). We just use our television to watch the occasional movie. And often enough, that movie takes a few nights of watching in order to get through the whole thing without falling asleep.
Was this children's show a local show that is filmed live? Very interesting indeed!
My son loves Sprout. But he likes Shaun the most, and misses Kevin. I have managed to get my son on the show with a "Good Egg Award" and caught it on DVR. I also sent in a birthday card that took 2 hours to make with my son's help. Thank goodness it made it on the show. Ah, the things I do for a couple minutes of Sunnyside Up Show glory.
That is too weird.
Cutting expenses is a good thing.
Speaking of phones and car insurance . . . when my youngest son was at WSU we had himon the family plan for both, being the good parents that we are. However, he graduated 4 years ago and has gone to graduate school and has a great job and he's still on the family plan. How do I become the not so good parent and cut him off?
--Mari
We don't have a television at all and haven't had one for about 5 years now. My little boys watch the occasional dvd and 'educational' snippets from youtube. But under-exposure hasn't prevented addictive behaviour in the least - or tears. At the moment, a major addiction for them is your Christmas rendition of 'He'll Be Coming Down The Chimney'. They know every word not just of the song but of the whole video clip and can do all the actions too. Scary.
So I'm assuming Sprout broadcasts live?!?!?
That is the craziest thing. You'd think, for the sake of the kids watching, that they'd edit that out a bit.
Oh well, Happy Birthday, munchkins.
Poor girl, I shouldn't laugh...
Reminds me of the poor newsreader on Radio 4 (British station), who got the giggles whilst reading the news. There'd just been a piece on the first sound recording - which sounded like a bee stuck in a jar but was supposed to be Clair de la Lune - and then the giggles struck. Only problem was, she was reading an obituary. She struggled on for a few lines, with her voice wobbling and cracking, then someone else had to take over. It really was too funny (thankfully the poor chap's family weren't cross).
But yeah, the choking then carrying on would have weirded me out a tad, too.
Kelly is my neighbor! She is very sweet in person, too.
I wasn't paying attention to her, but heard her start choking! Chica tried to carry the slack, but I guess even she got concerned and shut up! I thought it was creepy with the puppet afterwards too!
why was it so disturbing? I don't really get it. she choked, she recovered. doesn't you toddler do this a couple times a week?
I'm confused
Kelly from Sprout? She is a friend of mine from college! What a small world...and I'm glad she made it through that trying episode. I will definitely have to ask her about it next time I see her (since I don't personally watch sprout...).
WE too are spring cleaning and those extra cable channels were first on my list to cut. My husband agreed but has not actually made the call to cut it. I think he is having a hard time with the breakup. I'm going to talk him through it over the weekend so we can officially break it off with our huge cable bill. It will be best for everyone. It's not you it's me.
Wish me luck!!
The funniest thing about this was that all along I was thinking ... Does she really let her kid watch "Live with Regis and Kelly?"
All the descriptors for this Kelly worked for Kelly Ripa, too ... although I did think "does she cater to kids that much on the show?"
Hahahahaha! You can tell I don't watch "Sprout" or "Live with Regis & Kelly"
And then, of course, there's Kelly Ripa RIGHT above your comments section. LOL! Thanks for all the laughs today Cjane!
What show is this and what channel?? Wow! :P
We let go of our cable a couple of years ago and just got the converter boxes for our tv's. I was really nervous at first, but it really has been awesome! They have qubo, which is a channel that has 24 hour kid show (Babar, Book of Virtues, Jane and the Dragon and many more) Then for the PBS stations there are four channels to choose from. I don't know how it would be for you in UT, but here in AZ there are four. 8-1, Kid shows and the Charlie rose type of stuff, 8-2 this one is kinda like HGTV/Food Ntwk, where you get home projects and cooking shows. then 8-3 could be compared to the History channel. 8-4 has classical music 24-7. You get all your local channels as well with some other extra's, and It's all FREE!
okay so that is so funny that you wrote about this my daughter was watching that channel as well. I was in the other room so I did not see the choking but I heard it and was also woundering what was going on! So funny!! (not the choking but the coincidence) :)
That is crazy. Especially that they have a LIVE kids tv show.
At first I thought you were referring to Regis & Kelly. My 3 month old is obsessed with the Today show. He smiles at Kathie Lee.
most providers don't advertise this, but you can usually get "locals/networks only" for a really low price. like with dish it's $9.99/month (and you can still have DVR for $5 or $6 bucks). we cut back to this and it's been great-all the new shows we watch are still available and we don't waste time watching dumb shows like "rock of love" and VH1 specials. which are fabulously entertaining, but a total waste of time.
Every spring I cut the cable and DVR. My kids moan and groan, but after a week they don't even notice it. Unfortunately every fall it has to come back because Football to my husband is a religion. I can't complain about the DVR either because I have a few guilty pleasure myself (Glee, American Idol and Modern Family).
remember i swore to you it was kelly PIPA? that was awesome.
I live in Utah Co. We get BASIC comcast cable for less than $20 a month. They don't advertise it- but you can ask for it. We get local channels and travel and discovery (those are the ones we like). My kids watch PBS and KBYU for their kids shows and we can still watch Idol. It's worth $20 to have a little TV but keeps us from wasting time in front of the tube watching 'nothing' if you know what I mean.
You are the best! I love your writing, it just gets me in the best mood. I should carry you around in my pocket for a lift when life gets in the way of happiness. Thanks.
We've been without TV for the last 6 years. We got the basic basic package (much to the cable company's dismay) when the olympics were on (my husband served in BC) so we have about 8 channels for ten bucks. But guess what? We're already anxious to be rid of it again. Our evenings are so much more pleasant without TV. All these things that presumably simplify our lives actually tend to clutter it.
Ditch the TV.....GO FOR IT!
I was on a pre paid verizon until a friend of mine got straight talk. It is a prepaid phone...you pay for the phone (one time charge) & $45.00 per month for unlimited texting, talking & web! I couldn't believe it until I saw it. It was easy to activate my phone via the net & transfer my verizon number over. One way to shave a few $$$ off the monthly budget as I was spending $30.00 a month for the verizon and most months ran out of minutes as my dear sweetie wasn't on verizon and would eat up my minutes everytime he called. Now sweetie can call and chat the night away!
OMG! That was so funny !! I love "perky as a peony" - love your words!
We got rid of our cable a little over a year ago and it was the best decision we ever made. We now have an antenna and converter boxes (if you have a newer TV you don't need the boxes) and we still get all the local channels as well as several PBS channels for FREE. Some of the channels are even in HD. Why even spend $10- $20 bucks a month when you can spend $40 once on an antenna and never have a cable bill.
How bizarre! Poor Kelly! "The show must go on" though...I guess? I think the most hilarious thing about this whole post was the advertsiement at the top of my google reader in this post was for a "CougarLife" website. Classic.
I'm with you on this one. I was raised without TV and still don't have it now at 26. We tried for a minute to have it but the ensuing sassy-girl attitudes we saw was enough for us to disallow it for our girls.
Weird moment on live TV, though!
We are getting rid of our cable too. We recently got a new Blu Ray DVD player which hookes up to the internet and we can stream netflix and youtube through the dvd player onto the tv. We love it. We go online and save in our instant queue and then can go to our DVD player hit a button and scroll through all of them and pick what we want to watch. The kids love it and so do we. Lots of great older movies and stuff the kids can actually watch. Plus we get 1 dvd out at a time with netflix and it's only $8.99 a month!! We love it!
Is it possible to get rid of the calling feature on a phone and just keep the texting? I don't know if that's even what you meant... but don't forget you can't text 911- or take-out (usually) so, since you don't have a land-line- you should probably keep it!
I remember when the kids were younger- not having cable was actually a reief, because the only kid shows were on PBS and they were done and over by 11am... that was it unless they wanted to watch a guy paint a happy little tree- which they didn't-so it was nice- no crying or complaining that it went off- or can't they just watch one more show...
we just cancelled our tv a few months ago and i'll tell ya - i don't miss it one bit! things have been a lot better around here without it. i hope you experience the same :)
Is it really bad that I laughed so hard at this post that I had tears in my eyes? I could barely get through it when reading it to my husband. So funny imagining it (especially since she left that hand puppet on!), but how traumatizing for any kid watching!
I don't watch Regis & Kelly or Sprout, either, so I was thinking it was Kelly Ripa too! ha ha We're stuck on Nick, Jr. (previously known as Noggin, the name I preferred...not that it matters!). Love your writing, Courtney.
Wow. I don't even know that show, I'm so out of the loop.
I do remember those days when I was pregnant with a toddler. I had a crush on those Kratt Brothers(remember Zoboomafoo?) and eventually had to stop watching it because I was getting too attached. I also remember a phase where all the colorful kids' books inspired me to paint all of our rooms bright orange, and yellow, and blue, and eventually our house looked like a daycare so I was glad when we moved.
What babies do to us.
She got a tickle in her throat and had to cough for a bit. You guys make a big deal out of nothing. Honestly.
good for you. i need to get rid of mine too.
really? come on! chellis watches that show every morning, and we both missed it. possibly youtube soon?
and you have a droid im guessing! well, tell me you have savvy shopper. (the app). Take it to target and try it out. you won't regret it.
Spring cleaning your finances - love that phrase! So much sexier than living on a budget! Here is a link to a Canadian site which has lots of info on budgeting etc, if you are interested.
http://www.gailvazoxlade.com/
Well, sheesh. You can't edit LIVE TV! It's live... that's sort of what Live means.
The fact that the producer/director took a different camera shot IS recovery.
And what is so traumatic about having frog in your throat that children shouldn't see? Seems to me it's better for a kid to know that if for example, mommy turns red she's not necessarily dying. She'll be okay in a second or two.
When I worked in television - I had a coughing fit on air during a live report.
ONE time in 12 years.
Not much I could do about it. The director went back to a shot of the main anchor. La dee dah. But my boss acted like it was my fault and somehow unprofessional. He was a jack___.
Hey, now there's a sign for ya!
Before I cut cable I taped a full tape of my kid's favorite shows. We just switched to using the free channels. We got an antenna for $40 and a digital converter box for $40. We get the local channels and PBS.
That wouldn't go over very well at our house. My husband would probably have a tantrum.
Great post!
We have been cable free for 3 years and television free (as in, we do not own a TV at all) for about 6 months. It has been one of the best decisions we ever made! We can still watch movies on our computer, but we have found that it is less appealing for our children and for ourselves, so we spend a lot less time in front of a screen. I thought it would be really hard to give it up (especially when we first cut cable and I had to miss "What Not to Wear,") but in reality it has been pretty easy! And I don't feel like I'm missing one.single.thing.
I never comment but that has to be one of the BEST blog entry I have read in a long time. I could not stop laughing as I read it to my husband. I'm not sure if he was laughing at me or the story. AWESOME!
PS. Way to go Kelly just moving on with the show.
Do it! We did it two years ago and have never looked back. Being a TV free home is WONDERFUL! Plus - you can watch most of your favorite shows for free on the internet :D
My kids totally watch this same show on sprout!
This post gave me a laugh & got me thinking! :)
We used to have sprout! Loved that girl too. I know what you mean about your husband too. Mine couldn't help but like her. I didn't mind because I liked her just as much. We got rid of our tv bundle about a year ago and I'm glad we did. My 3 girls 2, 5, and 7 never even asked about it after the first night of shock.
I do miss sprout now and then though...and the pretty girl who talked my kids into calming down at night right between Thomas Train and Little Bear. ;)
I am not familiar with this show either, but Kelly sounds quite amusing! I think my husband and I need to take a second look at our budget too.
t-mobile to go. Get a phone for around $15.(they keep running specials on them at walgreens) Maybe the one you already have can work.
Buy $100 in minutes. this will make you a gold customer and get you 10 cents a minute.
My phone has texting (although not a full keyboard).
Anyway, I pay around $100 per year for my cell phone. This gives me 1000 minutes (or it can apply towards texts or a combo of the 2) and this doesn't expire for 1 year. And if I don't use all the minutes they usually give me the opportunity to keep them by adding some more money to the account. which I was already going to do because I always get low around the 1 year mark.
Just an idea that works for us.
That was a disturbing story. Poor woman.
We have basic cheap as you can get cable and cell phones with minutes we prepay. Works for us.
In ten years of marriage we have never had cable, dish or direct tv. Now that our finances could maybe warrant paying that bill, I just can't do it. Seems like such a waste. I have lived happily without it, and I think I will continue to, no matter how much money we make(haha or don't).
That's really funny. I think you will enjoy pbskids a lot though. My kids don't know there is anything else and although it isn't on all of the time, it is on for your morning and daytime tv watching enjoyment. I am even attached to it more than adult programming, so I understand where you are coming from.
Cute blog. I am Mandy in Salt Lake and just thought i would put it out there that there is this amazing workout clothing line called ayayay.com and there is a trunk show at my salon. It is the most amazing stuff. I have ten pairs of pants and I LOVE them. So if you need something to do Friday, the info is on facebook under "ayayay roxy". The trunk show is at Roxy carMichaels Salon 1297 E. 3130 S. Salt Lake City, UT from 7-10 pm
I love being frugal and I wish more people would strive towards frugality as well. We live in (and are raising our children in) a gluttonous atmosphere.
Frankly, I believe PBS to host the absolute best children's programming. And it's free! I noticed that so many of the shows on cable merely teach children to be social while the shows on PBS encourage academic aptitude, even for toddlers! I love it!
I love my DVR. I rarely watch actual tv, everything is DVR'd. Of course between work, school and sports, that's the only way I get to watch tv.
Definitely is a great way to save money. We have free antenna tv and get all the shows we would ever want. The only channel I wish we had that we don't is the discovery channel. We also downloaded a program to record shows through a computer hard drive so it's a free DVR. DVR is the best invention EVER!
I've often wondered if you read the twilight series...becuase it was written by an lds author, similar in age to you, with a family, living in utah, and now I know without a doubt you have because you used "buttery voice" only a person who has read the books would use "buttery" in describing a voice!
This post made me laugh out loud! I don't have a TV and haven't for some time now. I don't have kids yet so that may change?
The thought I take away from your post is not how atached you are to your child's TV program but that you UNLIKE many American's are looking at your finances and making changes where needed! Well done! thanks for taking responcibility for your spending! I comend you! have a blessed day!
We winter cleaned our tv package. Yep, we did it, we kicked Direct TV to the curb in Nov. and it was the best thing we ever did. We did spend a little cash & bought a not so shabby antenna so we could watch the olympics. The breaking point for us is when my kids started saying things like, "I have an iron butt." "She works that outfit." "Your a stupid head." oh and my favorite of all, "You should push your mom over." Nice. I won't say what shows my babes heard these lovely one liners, but lets just say that pretty much every kid watches these shows 1-3 times a week, easy. I don't want to be a kid show basher. But my kids are so much better without tv, they watch movies and the local cartoon stations every once in a while. Everyone needs a little Elmo & Grover in their life.
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