Save the Cheerleader. Save your Marriage.

Oh Man!! I don't know how long I've been waiting for tonight! The return of prime time television with all new shows. Tonight, the only show I'm looking forward to is Heroes. And tonight, it will be a 2-hour premier, preceded by a one-hour recap special. So a total of three hours!! 8:00-11:00. Woohoo!!

But there's a problem. Tonight I'm playing tennis after work so I'll be home late. After dinner I'll have to do homework and put the kids to bed and maybe shower (heehee). By then it'll be 9:30 and I'm so tired, I'll be in bed by 10. So in reality, I won't get to watch at all tonight. No problem, I'll record it and watch it at my leisure sometime this week.

But wait, there's another problem. Chrissy wants to watch Heroes too, but she also needs to record Dancing with the Stars, Prison Break, Terminator, and Boston Legal – ALL of which falls into the Monday 8-11 time slot too. And I was hoping to catch some Monday Night Football... What to do? What to do?

Sure, multiple televisions may help, but it's hardly the ideal solution to catching 3 shows at the same time.

Enter the digital video recorder (DVR). Problem solved.

We got our first ReplayTV five years ago and I've been preaching to my friends about it ever since. It has single-handedly made the biggest improvement in our entertainment life! For the last five years, we've never had to watch the clock waiting for a show to start. We've never had to endure commercial after commercial, after hearing Ryan Seacrest say, "...after the break." We've never had a boring evening surfing the channels looking for something – anything – to watch. We always have a backlog of prerecorded shows ready at the press of a button.

According to a recent survey of 1000 DVR owners, they ranked the DVR as the 3rd most important appliance in the house, behind the washing machine and microwave. In terms of technology, it ranked second behind the cellular phone. "Intriguingly, the vast majority of respondents would rather give up their landline phone, dishwasher, radio and MP3 player than their DVR,"

And 79% of them claimed that the DVR improved their relationship with their spouse or significant other! I don't doubt this one bit. I would totally hate anyone who would make me sit through an episode of Brothers and Sisters or Ugly Betty.

If you're like me, underprivileged and still living in 2004 without an HDTV, and subscribing to basic analog Comcast cable tv at $16/month, a ReplayTV (with free built-in lifetime subscription) is the best low-cost solution. However, if you subscribe to HD or digital cable, most likely a DVR option is included at a sometimes-additional monthly rate.

It's hard to describe the peace of mind we have not having to chase down shows anymore. Chrissy's Our biggest dilemma now is to juggle and distribute the above 5 shows onto the 3 networked ReplayTV's we have. And each of our machines can hold 120 hours so they'll be working like mad this fall season. I know most of you don't have the same obsessive viewing habits that she we have, but still, even recording a few shows here and there will forever save you from watching junk television.

As parents, we always look forward to the best times to vegitate, like after the kids go to bed, or for you stay-at-home moms – when they go to school. That's the time when you'll always have the shows YOU want to watch, ready and waiting. That's much better than channel surfing the crap talk shows and soaps during the middle of the day. And when you blow past all the commercials, you're actually saving 20 minutes per hour-long show! So essentially, those 3 hours of Heroes will only take 2 hours to watch! (And I won't have to watch those crappy "I'm a PC" ripoff commercials from M$)

Watch in peace, watch in succession, watch on your own terms. You watch your shows, she watches hers. Your marriage is happy once again. What's not to love?

So if you haven't hopped on the HDTV bandwagon yet and you're interested in getting a ReplayTV, the prices range from under $100 for a Showstopper model to $300 for a 5000 series with auto commercial-skip (talk to me before you buy). Look on Craigslist or Ebay for a used one (they don't make them new anymore). The only tricky part is that you'll need either a phone jack or ethernet jack near your TV. Other than that, it's super easy to program, even a second-grader can do it.


Source:
Survey: DVRs more important than dishwashers, iPods

Mommybloggers

I just read this article on SFgate:

'Mommybloggers' turn their hobby into profits

Most of these mothers started online journals for personal reasons. But a handful have taken blogging from a sanity-saving hobby to a career, and many others - more than 1,000 in BlogHer's ad network alone - are collecting at least a little extra income through their blogs.

...with the fact that mothers are more likely to blog than the general Internet population - 15 percent of mothers with kids under 18 blog, compared with 12 percent of all online adults...

This was an eye-opener for me. But after careful thought, I think it makes sense.

It's a known fact that women talk way more than men. And for the many stay-at-home moms, there's usually no one to talk to! As my fellow-blogger Al would witness, those moms that pick up their kids after school... they talk like crazy! I mean they're trapped at home all day with their thoughts and finally they can get out and unload! Why else do they come 15 minutes before the bell rings?

Women just love to share their life experiences, whether it be raising their children, trying new recipes, or finding that perfect mascara... they want to spread the word! Don't get me wrong, men like to share too, but they don't make an effort to congregate. They only share if they all just happen to be together (and during commercial breaks).

I just did a calculation of my known readers. 60% are women. And 90% of them are moms. I'll admit that although I may be smarter than them in some things, I'm sure they're smarter than me in many other things, like parenting, cooking and mascara. Truth be told, a lot of my "smarts" is from reading other people's blogs – and I read a LOT of blogs. All bloggers do it. It's called research. You think I just come up with all this stuff??

So to all of you out there, especially moms, I encourage you to start a blog. It could be real simple, like posting some pics of your family, or pics of that awesome birthday cake you just created, or sharing that Father's Day is the best day to go to Disneyland... You have a wealth of knowledge in you. Why not share it with your friends?

This is what I do. I don't know a lot. But even with what little I do know, I have enough material to fill 52 weeks! Give it a try. You'll be pleasantly surprised how many people are actually interested in what you have to say.

Oh yeah, and don't forget, if you're good, you can make some spending cash too!

Link: Article

Free Video Rentals

Just found this deal through Mr. Cheap Stuff. You can find these redbox rental kiosks at most Lucky and Longs Drug stores (check their website for locations near you). Normal price is $1 a day. Much cheaper/convenient than Blockbuster and they carry all the recent releases, but no old movies.

By giving them your e-mail address, they in turn e-mail you a coupon code that you simply type into the machine upon rental check out. I’ve done it and your DVD rental is free!

Also, if you sign up for free SMS via your cellphone, you'll get a free rental every Monday this month. I signed up Chrissy's cellphone (heehee) since she's the one that does all the shopping. I'm just hoping she don't come home with no chick flick.

Best thing about redbox is that you can check the availability of each kiosk online. This will save you time so you don't hold up the line when you're there. Give it a try, we will. You just need to return the movie by 9:00 p.m. (thanks, Wayland) the next day or it's another $1.

So after you drop off the kids at school, give your usual soaps a day off and treat yourself to a free recently-released DVD instead. While watching, feel free to think of me and how I saved your boring mundane afternoon :) You're welcome.

Free Pancakes Today

For all you moms that have nothing to do after dropping off your kids :) Reward yourself with some free pancakes. They're available from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. today only. Click here for to find the nearest IHOP.

Free Taco today

At Taco Bell today only between 2 and 5 pm. A bit inconvenient for hard working folks like myself. But great for you moms after school and before soccer practice.

LEGO Cakes

So the kids are at school and you're all alone. You stare at your exercise machine knowing you SHOULD be on it, but you'd rather just lay on the couch. Then you think to yourself, "what's the point of exercising if you don't stuff yourself with junk food first? Where's the balance in my life?!"

As the holidays quickly approach, you'll be attending all kinds of gatherings. Wouldn't it be cool show up at the party with this awesome cake? All the kids will love it! Real simple but very clever. Give it a try. And of course, I'm always available for a taste test ;)

Ingredients:
1 box Betty Crocker® SuperMoist® cake mix (any flavor)
Water, vegetable oil and eggs called for on cake mix box
Tray or cardboard, 15x12 inches, covered
2 containers (1 lb each) Betty Crocker® Rich & Creamy vanilla frosting
Red, yellow and blue paste food colors
12 large marshmallows, cut in half crosswise

The complete recipe is found on Betty Crocker.com.