TV Traveling by Ramona, Home Alone by Brinn

TV TRAVELING
By: Ramona Granat

It’s true, I’m not much of a TV connoisseur when it comes to this family.  Most of the time growing up our family’s TV was never hooked up to an antenna so it was of little importance to me.  However, in the last 12 years of marriage there have been many debates (that I lost) on the importance of the TV, or even the added expense of cable (Brinn has brought me over to the dark side with my love of a DVR system).  So now that I can watch my favorite TV shows at my own convenience and Lauren’s post on the lack of culture our Caucasian ethnicity gives us, it made me think of a show that I watched a few episodes of over this summer, ‘The Amazing Race: Canada”.  I have watched the original version of ‘The Amazing Race” off and on and have always enjoyed the cultural education that it provides between odd and creative challenges.  But I loved the few episodes of the Canadian version that I got to watch.  My favorite thing about the show is that it all takes place in Canada.  It was so fascinating to me to see the many different locations that they traveled to (the majority I have not been to and the few that I have).  Canada is rich with diversity.  Cultural diversity, geographic diversity, economic diversity, it just has so much to offer that we could learn about and be entertained by.  I loved the historical facts, the different focus on cities and regions that they featured. It was interesting and also fascinating.  Even though I enjoy the original version of the show, I know that most of the places it focuses on I will never go to (or even want to go to), whereas this national spin off sounds more appealing to me.  I now have some areas that I would like to add to my travel wish-list.  I think it would be interesting if they were to do an American version of the show, showing all the diversity and beauty that can be found right here in the United States.  There are thousands of places that could be featured right here in our own country, and it wouldn’t hurt for us to have a little bit of education on our own nation.  Not to mention the boost this would provide the American travel and tourism industries.  I think it would be really interesting.  

Our family took in the seven parts series of North America that aired on the discovery channel.  Fabulous!  If you haven’t seen it, I would recommend finding it on Netflix or Hulu or whatever you use for your own mode of TV viewing!!

Things I learned while home alone for a month
By: Brinn Granat

1. I don’t know how to cook for 1 person and really I don’t know how to cook much at all.  My meals consisted of spaghetti, mushroom stroganoff, fish with rice, eggs and pancakes.  I think I failed to include all the 4 main food groups in my meals or even in each day, but whatever.  Also when I cooked I would cook too much and I would have leftovers.  So I was eating the same meal again and again for two or three days.  Thank goodness being alone I somehow put off a pathetic vibe that seemed to invoke the sympathy card because many people invited me to share meals with them.
2. I’ve never been able to maintain and keep my home so clean.  It was amazing to come home and see my home shockingly the way I left it.  I never misplaced anything or spent any amount of time searching for my phone, my keys or my wallet.
3. Dishes wow! I could go several days and still not have a full sink.  It was wild.  What a difference 4 kids and a wife make.
4. Laundry.  Rather than a daily occurrence I could wash one load a week. I could just throw all my darks and whites in together and call it good.  Putting clothes away was also a breeze since none of my clothes need to be air dried or separated.
5. House projects were so much easier to tackle and accomplish without constant interruption.  I think for the most part the honey-do list was completed.
6. I love movies but even after watching the Lord of the Rings extended version (9 hours) I was ready for a different activity and I craved some human interaction.  Is it sad if I invited neighbor kids to join me for a movie night?  I had to become super uncle and take the LaClare girls to the drive-in (something I didn’t get a chance to do with my own family this year).
7. Leaving the home on a whim and being able to randomly take off for a quick trip to SLC was great.  I caught the musical ‘Ragtime’ with Dalan and Whitney.  We learned that it was okay for the performers to step on the stage, but it was forbidden for us to step on the stage even if it were for the purpose of entering or exiting our row.  We got a nice tongue lashing from one of the ushers.  It was awkward, but also a little funny from our perspective.  I also learned that if your sister knows the words to the musical you're attending she won’t hold back singing along with the chorus.
8. Spending time with Mom and Dad we caught a dinner theater at Mac’s Inn in Island Park.  The theme was music from the 40’s, but after seeing an hour of men dressed in drag mom was ready to call it a night.  The second act unfortunately was more of the same with roadshow like singing, but hey at least the tri-tip steak was good right?
9. Uninterrupted sleep.  This is a luxury that should not be taken for granted.  You don’t realize how much you miss and appreciate this until your family leaves.  
10. Is your family back yet?  I must have heard this more than a dozen times.  Must be lonely they’d ask.  I’d say yeah, I’m ready for them to be back.  The first week or two it was kind of nice being able to do my own thing, but after that I just missed my wife and kids as cheesy as that sounds.  Now that they have returned we are settled back into the insanity that we call life.