Just wanna watch my show

The clock hits 9:25 p.m., and I finally hit the couch. Got my bedtime snack, sometimes cereal, sometimes milk and cookies, and ready to relax and find a good show to watch. Some quiet time, to chill and veg out before I head to bed and face the annoying 6 a.m. buzzer alerting me to the start of another crazy, busy day as a full time working mama. No kids shows blaring from every TV, no herds of elephants running up and down the stairs, and no more yelling at each other from whichever level of the house you may be on. Ya know, that it's much easier to yell when you need something or have a question, rather than to walk CLEAR across the house to find someone.

No, seriously, I love this time of the day. When all the chitlins are tucked in their beds and sawing logs. When every last dish is cleaned and put away, almost of the clothes are clean and folded and house is tidied up, ready for new messes tomorrow. A calmness fills my home and I can finally.....finally take a breath. This is also the time a day when Hubby and I get to spend time together, even if it is just watching TV. A time when we can actually have a conversation without getting interrupted, although, we don't really talk much. I think our brains halfway shut off after 9:15, especially during the work week.

When our girls were toddlers, we'd have at least 2 hours every evening to hang out together but as they've gotten older, our evening time together has been reduced to about hour, sometimes less. Needless to say, every minute in the late evening is precious. Now, how we've done this up till just recently, is to sit together watching a TV show that we both agree on. Out of respect for each other, I don't watch the silly reality bachelorette shows that I would prefer, and he doesn't watch the ridiculous deer hunting shows where the camo people whisper the whole hour.

However, about a year ago some big wig TV network dude apparently thought there just weren't enough reality shows about fixing up cars. Or buying cars, or truck makeovers, or car auctions or designing, repairing, restoring or flipping some sort of automobile, and on and on. My hubby currently has at least nine car shows set up to tape all day every day, and so now, in "our" together time with no kids is to watch Option A: Search and Restore, Option B: Flip This Truck, or Option C: Puke if I have to sit through another obnoxious reality show about tattooed, bearded men who restore classic hot rods.

It's my goal in the evening to get to the couch first and take control of the remote but his nighttime routine takes half the time of mine. Plus, by the time I make sure the doors are all locked, curtains are all shut and the porch lights on, I've lost my chances with the remote. He'll tell me I can turn the channel, but he's already watched one third of an episode so I feel bad. I've tried sneaking off to the other living room to watch my own show but then he thinks I'm mad at him. I'll tell ya what, Mister. I'm gonna be mad if I have to watch one more dumb engine rebuild with all custom parts.

Tonight as I write this, he's flipping between a robot movie and a volcano movie, both of which he's watched at least 10 times. I would have liked to have spent my downtime eating cookies and watching a Lifetime movie or perhaps the reality show about the Cowboys' Cheerleaders but, I have to admit, the robot movie is pretty cool and the volcano movie we turn to during the robot movie commercials ain't so bad either. At least it's quiet, and at least it's not another semi-truck showdown, so I'll take what I can get.