Ready to Shed Some Leaves and Go Dormant

As if 'back to school', a slight chill in the air and noticeably shorter days were not enough of a clue (unbeknownst to me), fall has arrived in other ways. Dancing With the Stars (apparently) started back on September 15th.

Thanks to the magic of our PVR, the first show and results (who knew there were results already!?!) are recorded and I can watch them at my leisure.

Hmmm .... leisure!

I think the best part about (finally) falling back in love with the idea of working on and focusing on the completion our family's book-of-memories, is the fact that TV has taken a back seat in my life. It is right back where I like it. Off.

Oh, not to say I never watch television. I do.

But my palate has changed. The half hour comedy reruns that got me through some of my more challenging years (salve to my injured soul was 'mindless TV') have absolutely no appeal to me anymore.

Thanks to the fact that I could no longer watch 'missed episodes' on our computer (and the advertising which introduced me to more new shows than I ever needed to know about), my list of television favorites presently include: Grey's Anatomy, Dancing With the Stars and the endless stream of home renovation shows on HGTV (no need to record those, since they are on a constant cycle of 'repeat').

I love that my life is no longer ruled by the TV guide. Not that it had to be, since the invention of 'TV on Demand' and 'PVR's' (after our eighth (??) and final VCR gave up the ghost).

I do quite love our little PVR which allows me to pause and rewind a television show (great for all of the times I fall asleep when I really do want to watch the program in front of me). And I quite adore the fact that it is smarter than I am. All I had to do was select 'Record Series' and it knew Dancing With the Stars was back, days before I did.

I like to watch TV by choice. I am also quite happy to say that almost all of the shows I once watched have either gone off the air or become obsolete to me (because I simply don't care about them any more).

Television is a sleeping pill to me, so it is quite an undertaking to stay awake and watch the few shows I do enjoy. It is getting ever-so-much harder to stay awake ever since my body stopped craving excess snack food (consumed for the sole purpose of staying awake as long as possible).

I am more excited about getting back into enjoying a good book, than I am about the return of DWTS. I am almost giddy with the realization that my weekends are (almost) my own once again. I do not want my bookkeeping job to step in, where the family book project ended off but I do know that I will need to keep up this pace (being motivated by deadlines and the completion of projects) in some fashion to keep the state of 'happy' back in my life.

Yes, fall has arrived. And with it, comes a state of completion and renewal.

I can plan again. I can set new goals and look towards a changing horizon. I don't think I want to take on a six-year project again any time soon. But I know the 'creative' part of me will accidentally stumble across something. Some day.

But in the mean time, you will probably be able to find me snuggled up on my favorite love seat with either a book in my hands or watching Dancing With the Stars ... whenever the mood strikes me.

Hunkering in for the cool season ahead sounds pretty good to me right now. I know I will miss the sunshine and the glory of completing the uncompletable. So be it. I'm ready to shed a few leaves and go dormant for a while.

It's been a very good summer.