In Real Life (IRL) contains posts about what happens in (my) real life.
Another week, another tough decision. I told myself I would not pick one of our kids this week since the first two weeks both featured our kids. It was tough because there were so many great photos of our kids. I ended up picking this beautiful photo of a flower. The angle is very interesting to me since we usually look down at these flowers and you rarely get a good look at the bottom side of a flower. Even the bottom of this flower is pretty and interesting.
See Silver Lining at Flickr
It’s the second week and I’m late already! I have a good excuse though, yesterday was Father’s Day and I am, after all, a father, and I have a father, so it was a busy day doing fatherly things. Anyway, last week Erika uploaded some fantastic shots so, once again, it was a tough decision. I picked a very cute shot of our daughter Payton taken through the glass of our patio doors. I can’t put a finger on why I like it so much. Maybe it’s her smile, or how Mommy’s and Payton’s hands are pressed together on opposite sides of the glass, or that you can see Erika peering through her camera in the reflection. It’s such an intimate photo that displays a part of Erika that I love. I promise, these won’t always be photos of our kids!
See Hand in Hand at Flickr
I’m starting something new on my blog. Every Sunday I’m going to post my favorite photo that my wife uploads to her Flickr Photostream during the previous week. She’s been snapping some fantastic photos every day so there’s a lot to choose from. This week, I chose an adorable photo she took of our daughter Emma on a playground.
See Child’s Play at Flickr
My memory is a bit foggy but we’ve been cable TV free for about a year now. There are a few things we miss but honestly, those few things are not worth ~$45 per month. I did some research, went to RadioShack, argued with a sales guy about UHF and VHF, bought a $70 UHF/VHF antenna, installed that sucker in the attic, and cancelled our cable. We get ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox, My New TV, CW, and PBS all over the air. Using the federal DTV transition program, we got two DTV converters for $40 total and eventually bought an HDTV. Our savings from ditching cable will pay for the TV in just over a year!
We also bought Playon around the holidays when they had a ridiculous sale going on. With Playon, we can stream all kinds of media from various sites (like Hulu) to our TV via our Xbox 360. It’s a great deal even at the regular price. Since we enjoy movies so much, we also subscribe to the three dvd Netflix plan which includes instant view which also streams to our TV with Xbox 360 and Xbox Live. For $17 per month, it’s a fantastic deal if you watch a lot of movies.
If you haven’t figured it out already, it was well worth it! If the price of cable packages drops dramatically, we may consider signing up again, but I find that pretty unlikely. We’re pretty happy with our media options and we’re saving quite a bit. If you’ve been thinking about cutting the cable but are holding back, let me know! Maybe I can help you pick out hardware, software, and alternate service plans. Just leave a comment!
I had the kids in the tub this morning and we were singing Ol’ McDonald as usual. Payton always picks the animal and the sound to go with it. We went through the usual farm animals and then moved on to family members (who apparently all make farting noises). Emma, Payton, Daddy, Mommy, Gampa, Gamma, and then “Beel” which is what she calls our friend Nabeel. So cute.
Nabeel! We miss you! Come home!
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