Binging with the best of them…

I remember when I was in high school and people began to buy VCRs for their homes.  (As opposed to renting them.)  I remember hearing an adult lament about the changes that VCRs had brought—where once it was a special occasion (or a scary one) every Thanksgiving when “The Wizard of Oz” played on tv, now you could see it any time you wanted.  Before it had been a big deal every year at Christmas when “The Sound of Music” was on tv, but now it could be watched any time.

I’ve had those same kind of feelings—nostalgia for the good ole’ days of tv watching before Netflix and dvr.  It bothers me when my kids inhale a tv series at a single gulp, and it bothers me still more when their tv watching is a solitary activity.  (Don’t ask me why I have so many tv issues—I have no idea, I just do.)  We all know that tv is usually not my thing—I have a couple of shows that I watch with Russ, but most of the time tv is far from my default activity. 

Until.

At the end of January I went to Utah to help Cindy Lynn when we thought she was going to be in the hospital.  When she didn’t end up getting admitted but was still feeling pretty lousy I decided that I wanted to make a bunch of meals to put into her freezer.  I did the shopping one night and started some of the prep after Cindy Lynn and Mahon went to bed and then did the rest of the cooking the next night after they were in bed.  I needed some distraction to keep me entertained while I was cooking and finally I decided to grab the tablet and find something to watch on Netflix.  After not being able to figure out anything to watch I settled on the first year of a series that Russ had watched without me called “Chuck.”

We had watched the 2nd and 3rd season together and then lost track of it somehow.  I’d always been curious to see how the show had started and figured I could entertain myself this way while I cooked for several hours. 

Since that point I’ve watched Chuck from time to time to motivate myself to get going on dinner when I really didn’t want to and I’ve been surprised at how motivating it’s been.  Tonight I wasn’t done with dinner when the episode ended so I let it keep playing and start the next episode.  The kids all had to grab their dinner and run off to dance festival practice so I just kept watching while I ate alone.  And then while I did a bunch of paperwork I watched a third!  So unlike me!!  And really quite fun.

So there you have it.  I’ve binged on books plenty of times—more than the average person.  And now I’ve finally binged on Netflix.  Such an accomplishment.

PS—I would still way rather watch tv with Russ any day.