2009 September » Late Bloomer Bride

Husband and I try really, really hard to live sustainably. Local food when we can, higher mileage cars, reusing stuff, no more bottled water. You know the drill. And, you should see our garage. There is no room for a car. It’s packed with recycling from glass to plastic and aluminum, from our junk mail to newspaper and cardboard. So, I know I shouldn’t feel guilty about our latest foray into Great American Consumerism. But I can’t help feeling like perhaps we’ve recently crossed a line.

You see, we just purchased a second TIVO unit. But, we’re just two people. How much TV can one person watch? Apparently, a lot. And, I am kinda shocked at how quickly we’ve acclimated to this new, expanded instant gratification around television watching. (I do believe I could not stand watching TV without the ability to pause it or rewind it anymore.)

Our new TIVO unit also means — not only are we no longer slaves to the television schedule anymore — but, thanks to its multi-stream capability, we can now record two programs at once. (And, really we can record three shows at once with the old unit now connected to the TV in the bedroom.)

Because Husband and I don’t always agree on our TV preferences, we can avoid the few battles we had over what got recorded on the “big” nights, like Thursday evenings.

Of course, this changes the slave-master dynamic from being bound to just the schedule to being a slave to the actual shows, of which there are soooo many to view now. But, we believe it’s a small price to pay.

Ah, bliss.

Maybe.

As I’ve learned being married, things aren’t so easy in compromise land. Now, deciding which shows get recorded on which TV is in negotiation. Which shows do we record on the “good” TV (flat screen, 40 inches, high def) in the living room and which shows get recorded on the dinky bedroom TV (15 inches, and only gets – shudder – basic cable)?

For instance, I love True Blood on HBO. Husband does not. Husband prefers Eureka on SyFy, on which I am lukewarm. Fortunately for us, we have yet to need the “good” TV to record more than two shows. But, just in case, we are now considering buying a small flat screen TV for the bedroom to ease the sting of being banished to the bedroom. What? Too much?

Here is a fun article, “How to Grow a Great Marriage,” which is basically a book review of Growing Great Marriages, by relationships expert and author Ian Grant who wrote it with his wife, Mary. I normally avoid books that are self-help in nature (notwithstanding the books I recommend on this blog), as they tend to be platitude upon platitude. But, I found the article entertaining with some interesting tid-bits.

For one, the Grant says people may be getting married younger, which is not a bad thing. Apparently he believes, “The longer you live independently, it’s sometimes difficult to be inter- dependent.” You think? Wink.

But, that wasn’t the part that got me. I like the fact he said marriage is coming back into fashion. “Great marriage,” he says, “is the black of fashion.” (And, any man who can talk fashion gets my ear.)

He also gives ten top tips for a tip-top marriage. Most of them are common sense, but I kinda liked this one: Women are significant in the first half of a marriage and successful in the second. Men are successful in the first half and significant in the second. Listen to each other.

Check out the article. See if you agree with some of the things talked about. And, let me know if you find the book. I couldn’t find it on Amazon.com. (Amazingly.) But, I did find it listed, via a Google search, on some Australian and New Zealand Web sites. Is that a long way to go for advice?