Cheering them On

Last night, Matt and I were hanging out, relaxing, and watching some TV. These days when we watch anything on television it’s 90% either non-commercial or old shows available to stream on Netflix. That’s because we’re both so tired of the he-said, she-said media circus that TV has become these days.

I just can’t do politics. The whole scene is so last season. Kind of like that cliché. I’m over it because I hate being sad, depressed, questioning humanity. So instead, we like to live in ignorantly blissful worlds of fiction entertainment.

Our current obsession show of choice is Friends.

Friends has been one of my favorite shows since the season it debuted in 1994. When it came out I was close to the age of the characters and found myself experiencing similar stuff in life. Love, career, living on my own, and finding my own friend family. It was smart and witty and I found myself cheering for all of the characters regardless of how silly or irritating they could be at times.

It was one of the only shows I faithfully stayed home to watch on the night and time it aired every week.

Going back and watching the entire series on binge-level of episodes in a row has been fun. Last night we started on season 5.

(SIDE NOTE: If you haven’t seen the show then a lot of what follows will be spoilers. But it has been 12 years since the show went off the air so I’m taking the chance that those who wanted to see it have done so by now.

Come to think of it, you should probably stop reading here if you never saw Friends, The Office, Moonlighting, or Dawson’s Creek and wanted to do so without spoilers.)

Anyway, as we watched the first 4 seasons of Friends, I constantly remarked how the show’s creators had Monica & Chandler’s characters in a couple-holding-pattern the whole time. So, when they got together in season 5, it wasn’t entirely a surprise.

When the characters admit for the first time they’re in a relationship (not sure which “The One…” that happened in) Matt said:

“They were always my favorite TV couple.”

I thought about that a lot since he said it. Probably a lot longer than I should have but that’s just me. I have to agree with him, those two characters were maybe the perfect TV couple.

Once they decided to get together they stayed together. They laughed with and at each other but still put each other and their relationship at the top of their priority list. They fought and it wasn’t a perfect relationship but it worked on so many levels. Because it was funny and sad, real and fantasy, relatable and like nothing we’d ever experienced before. The writers who crafted those two characters were brilliant.

So of course that got me thinking about the other TV couples I’ve cheered for over the years. I thought, and thought, and thought. But coming up with them proved more difficult than I would have expected. And it left me with a short list.

Of course there was Ross and Rachel. Meh. They were certainly the central “dramatic relationship” on Friends but most of the time I liked them better when they were torturing each other instead of together. It was funnier.

Moving away from Friends my next favorite would have to be Jim & Pam on The Office. The writers made the characters and their struggles realistic but still gave them a happily ever after which I always appreciate. They were cute together and sarcastic smart-asses. Which I also always appreciate.

And of course there were David and Maddie from Moonlighting. Only trouble with them, after they got together the writing struggled to make it the same punchy banter they had before and the show took a dive.

Though I didn’t watch when it aired, Matt and I wrapped up a Dawson’s Creek binge last year. All I have to say about that – Team Pacey! If he and Joey didn’t end up together I would have been shocked and utterly disappointed. I was neither of those things at the end of the series. I was crying, but not disappointed.

Thus completes the list. Which wouldn’t surprise me except it feels like it should be longer. The problem with television is they need us to tune in week after week. Because of that, lots of shows create a “two tortured people who can never be happy” dynamic just to keep the tension going.

Personally, I think that stinks.

When my sister and I got our very first TV in our bedroom I used to stay up late night and watch Get Smart in syndication. And I’ve been a TV junkie ever since. But this list wasn’t about shows I loved over the years (a list too long even for this blog I think), it’s about couples I cheered on until the end.

Which, apparently, amounts to a total of 5. Well, 4-1/2 if I only count half of Ross and Rachel.

Regardless, it really has been fun going back to watch, in order, all 10 seasons of Friends. If nothing else it’s a nice escape from the daily news.

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In addition to this drivel I also write books, both fiction and non-fiction.
Learn more on my author page.

Phrase Your Response in the form of a Question

I’ll take Hermie and the Hermits for $1600.

     These are the only two things I have energy for at the moment.

What are home improvement and my job?

     Right. Go again.

Matt and I were up at Lowe’s the other night. Again. For what this time, you might ask? Oh, just bits and pieces of intermittent project stuff.

We’re trying to get a slow roll going on the laundry room completion. So far plumbing is done, insulation is done, dryer vent is installed. Drywall behind the appliances should happen Thursday night via Matt. I’ll be spackling Friday morning before our new appliances get here that afternoon.

Over this weekend framing goes up. Next weekend walls and door should be finished.

If we had weeks off to get this thing done, we’d just place the order for everything we need, have it forklifted into the garage and would likely already be halfway done with everything. Including the backyard.

But we both have day jobs so there are still swatches of paint gracing our master bathroom walls, lack of drywall in some places, and twenty some-odd cabinets in my living room still packed in cardboard just waiting to be installed.

Someday.

In good news, the book is really shaping up and I’m pretty excited to get this one into the hands of my beta readers then get her on the market. I have all kinds of new marketing strategies lined up to try after this book gets released and I’m kind of chomping at the bit.

Work is one thing going stellar right now. I feel like a garden hose with the spigot closed. Almost like I know that as soon as Reckless Mind is released there’s going to be a torrent of new work following. Now that I think about it, that is what’s going to happen. I actually have 2 titles in final stages of completion aside from Mind.

The fall is going to be very fun at work.

Thing is, all of this home “improvement” (<-- yes those are air quotes because I feel mixed about how much improvement comes with “improvement” sometimes) is a blessing and a curse.

Once everything is finished this is going to be the most functionally beautiful home either of us have ever lived in. But getting there is a huge challenge for me. Because I work in this chaos too.

Which, admittedly, has made my life a little bit tougher for the past few months. For a while I was still riding on the St. Lucia high of inspiration. I had no trouble writing through and not noticing all this stuff.

But the stuff is starting to overwhelm. Because its everywhere. And I’m stuck inside with every last zip-tie, floating piece of loose cellulose, and pile of stuff-to-yet-be-installed.

We’re heavy into Phoenix summer now, all I want to do is have a pool party and chill out, but there has to be somewhere to put people before we can invite them over.

Two kitchen’s worth of cabinets and temporary storage solutions that belong in the garage take up lots of space.

And that means they’re taking up mental space too. Time to wrap it up!

But then, of course, I come full circle to the day job thing.

We’re weekend warriors. But we’re weekday warriors too. Matt and I are the 100% into our job type of people. Work hard, play never ends up becoming the motto around here. We’re both exhausted.

But the way I see it, we’re on the home stretch.

By the end of August our lives will be a whole lot freer. My book will be out, the laundry room will be complete, and we should be putting finishing touches on our kitchen reno by then, too.

It might be 8/31/2016 but by god it will be August.

I’ve got our project managed in a details, budget, and cost spreadsheet. We know each step and cost before we get there. Hey, all those years working in/with construction and school for interior design are finally getting put to good use! This project is managed to the penny just like the last phase and so far we’re directly on track.

Just wish weekends could be 5 days long.

As for Reckless Mind, she’s almost there. Though it may not seem that way when I go back over the list of what still needs to be done.

Final red pen edits, beta readers, more edits, jacket copy, barcode, ISBN, copyright page, Library of Congress deposit, cover art approval, marketing blurbs, social media/online updates, amazon pre-order set up, final formatting, marketing, advertising, promotion…

So, yeah. The only energy I have left these days is for watching Jeopardy!

But we’re going to have the most kick-ass pool party in September.

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In addition to this drivel I also write books, both fiction and non-fiction.
Learn more on my author page.