Television

Chad and I have attempted during our marriage to be frugal with our limited resources. Sometimes we've been more successful than other times, but other than the first six months of our marriage, we've at least tried.

One of the items we've never had in our attempt to live within our means has been cable. In Boston, our bunny ears worked most days, and there were a decent number of free channels. Surprisingly, we had fabulous reception in our last basement apartment. Go figure. Here in Jacksonville, though, the bunny ears have been less than fabulous. We live in the middle of nowhere - we pass cotton, soybeans, cows, and lots of trailers on the way to church. Our options have been less than stellar, and even those we got were fuzzy. We could watch basketball games, but we couldn't read the score because of the less-than-ideal reception. It was a little frustrating.

Last week, with a little family help, we made the jump to satellite TV. It's amazing. I finally have ESPN, and Chad finally has the Food Network. I can now watch Duke basketball regularly, and I can even read the score. I have thoroughly enjoyed watching Duke beat Carolina and Maryland in the past week. I feel like we've finally arrived. Now we just have to work on that second car and a sofa where Nathan can't pull the stuffing out...

I love North Carolina!

I keep watching the weather in Utah and Boston, and it hasn't been pretty. The snow, particularly in Utah, has been piling up, and it's really cold. So, I'm sorry to those of you who live in colder climates. I remember what it was like, I really do, and spring will eventually come. Eventually.

On to the gloating, though - it's 80 today in Jacksonville. Eighty degrees on February 6, and it's awesome. Nathan and I have been hanging out outside, crawling around the house, torturing poor lizards, saying hi to the dogs next door, and generally reveling in what is a normal high for Boston in July occurring in February here. This is one major reason why I was so excited to move back to North Carolina :)

Another major reason is college basketball. In Boston, professional sports were the big show, and colleges were just an afterthought. Here, though, college sports rule supreme, as they should, and nothing is bigger than a Duke-Carolina basketball game, like tonight's game. I love that they bumped last week's premiere of Lost to the next night at seven to show the Duke-NCState game, and they're bumping shows again so that we can watch Duke and Carolina go at it. I love North Carolina :)

Boston Sports

So, it has been an amazing year to be a sports fan with recent ties to Boston. Perhaps the best part has been moving much farther south so that our weather no longer comes close to Boston winters (our high on Tuesday - 71 balmy degrees). I talk to my sister in Utah and friends in Boston, and I remember how awful those winters were. And then I do my warm, happy dance that that is a chapter that is blissfully in my past.

But, tonight will complete Chapter 2 in the Boston is friggin' awesome book, following the Red Sox World Series sweep in Chapter 1. So let's go Pats! Let's hear it for going 19-0! And here's to the Celtics, 36-8 and with the best record in the NBA! Let's go Boston!