What's on our TiVo's these days - summer edition

Summer TV programming has really ramped up over the past few years. it used to be that the summer was a break from pretty much all of the TV shows that I watched. These days though there are a ton of good shows, and some really crappy shows that air during the summer TV hiatus. So, here's what's on my TiVo's these days:

Olympics - I still have about 6 days worth of the 2012 Olympics recorded. Unlike others that don't want to watch the events after they are over, I LOVE the sports - all of them - and don't mind one bit watching Usain Bolt make his run, or watching the swimmers break records, or the oldest gymnast on the planet compete (and compete well) on rings. I am all about sports, so this is the perfect thing for me.

Episodes - Matt Leblanc is eh, but the show has a great set of characters and is well written. Both Tom and I have enjoyed watching it and it's quirky enough that you don't take it seriously. Turns out that stalkers, producers, real conversations, and slightly crazy folks are very entertaining.

Political Animals - I dig the premise, but the show kind of wanders. It's a limited run series so I'm not sure if they are testing it out or what, but it's entertaining enough to keep it on the list for a bit. And I really like James Wolk. He was in Lone Star and I liked that one too but it was cancelled almost as soon as it began. Silly show and silly premise, but nice looking guy.

Dallas - I'm really up in the air on this one. They haven't quite captured the essence of the original, and that disappoints me. I was really hoping that they'd hit it out of the ballpark right out of the gate. The last episode that I saw was closer to the tension of the old series, but the rest of it is sub-par.  Some of the leads aren't southern-looking enough. Some of the characters are too obvious and shallow. And some of the characters are from the original series and are 800 thousand years old and look like they've been dragged in from the retirement home. That's a bit disconcerting and distracts from the show itself. I spend a good deal of time wondering if JR is going to have a heart attack, or wondering why Cliff Barnes is never shown walking. Or wondering where on earth Charlene Tilton has been hiding for the past 20 years.

Leverage - I have a crush on Christian Kane back from his Angel days. He is tough and manly and is certainly on my "list." The show itself is clever and decently written, so a mindless distraction with some eye candy.

Warehouse 13 - Sci fi fun that's light enough to watch while doing other things. A good match in my book. Miss an episode and you are good (except the one last season where the Warehouse was blown up - that was an episode that you needed to watch to understand pretty much all the rest of it).

A few others that I'm enjoying -
Burn Notice - LOVE Michael Westen!
Alphas - Good little Sci-Fi show
Royals Pains - Silly show, fluffy enough to have on as I'm doing other things
STHYCD - Great season of DANCE!!!
The Newsroom - Good show worth a look
Grimm - I'm digging the whole living amongst monsters and creatures and we have no idea
White Collar - I totally have a crush on Matt Bomer (even liked him in Magic Mike!)
True Blood - It's True Blood. Enough said.
Suits - Good legal show - fill the gap left by the Law and Orders but it WAY more snarky.
Necessary Roughness - I dig sports, and have a total girl crush on Callie Thorne. She's also been in White Collar, Royal Pains, Prison Break, Burn Notice, and was on several Law & Orders, so what's not to like!
Longmire - Still watching this one - I love Katee Sackoff but the show is kind of a one trick pony.

What's on your TiVo?

Color

I LOVE my hair color. I love it when it's pink. I love it when it's blue. And I love it when it's my regular hair color too. But pink it my true love. I wear it well, and it seems to like me too. I'm still hunting for a decent blue, and right now I have one nice looking blue in, but pink is always my fall back. it's like my security blanket - it's a safe color that I can always come home to.

And this lovely picture was taken by Miss Lucy, photographer extrordiannaire. She generally takes pics of the ground, her shoes, people's butts, etc. But this one I love.

Grocery Shopping

This is what a typical grocery cart looks like for us. And this is also the reason that I use Peapod - too many drinks for me to carry home. The only difference here is that I usually buy four gallons of milk, not just the one. But here I didn't have enough room for four, so one gallon it was. And this time I had a second cart being pulled by a kiddo who begrudgingly was loading up his cart with actual food. Because, after all, we can't survive on drinks alone. But we sure did have enough Gatorade for the week! 

Smurf-mobile

Ever wonder how a Smurf gets around? Well, here you go. 

Why we rent

As I sit here typing this post, I'm reminded why we rent - at least one reason - we aren't responsible for any major repairs. Unless we break something, I pick up the phone and say things like "A tree fell in the yard, can you guys come clear it out?" or "The washing machine isn't washing any more, can you come fix it/replace it?" And the biggie - "The sink/shower/drain/toilet doesn't work/is stuck/is dripping. As I sit here we have a dripping, no, a running faucet in the tub. It's running at a pretty decent clip, and it's sort of disconcerting that the water is running, but at the same time we placed the call, were told that if it's not going to flood anything to hang tight, and that we should call in the AM. And when we call, THEY will send someone out to fix it. My big inconvenience is that I have to listen to the water running, and then overcome the urge to get up and try to turn it off. It's running - Tom tried to get it to turn off, I tried to get it to turn off, and it won't turn off. So I sit here happily listening to the water running, knowing that I'm not responsible for it, and also that I'm thankful that I'm renting. The low rent, ability to walk away if we have a job change or need to move, and the great landlords that we have here all make it so worth the hassle of renting. But ask me again in a few years when our lease is up and we need to find another place. But in the meantime I'm loving the fact that I'm a renter.