I did it! On my way to the airport I purchased my new TV. After a lot of debate and driving the poor sales guy crazy with questions I decided to go with the Sonia Bravia. The picture quality is fantastic and I think I am going to be really happy with my purchase. The discounts during this time of year are insane; I think I saved about $1000 from the regular sticker price. God bless the Super Bowl!! The sales associate was very apologetic that my purchase will not be delivered by Sunday and even offered me an additional 5% off. I could not believe it - I felt bad and confessed that I was going to be out of town anyways and he still let me have the discount for my honesty. So come next week I shall be watching my tivod shows in style! I wanted to take a picture of the set and post it, but my camera plug is inconveniently packed in my checked luggage. I supposed I should be grateful that my flight was delayed otherwise I might have missed it with my little pit-stop.

Well I am almost packed for my trip and I am about to leave for the airport after I make one quick stop which I will tell you about later. Before I go I wanted to share my pictures from my niece's first play. Her school recently held their annual read-a-thon to raise money and promote reading to the kids. When I first heard about this I thought ok - school play, but when I found out the details I was blown away by the concept. Each student raises money by asking people to sponsor them per hour that they read. The kids are encouraged to read several hours each week and the parents are asked to support this effort. What really blew me away was the concept of no TV Tuesdays. Every Tuesday during the month families are asked to completely turn off their TV to encourage the child to read. No household member is supposed to watch tv and is supposed to help encourage this read-a-thon. To make sure families comply, the school actually sends out representatives on Tuesdays to randomly check on students. You never know when or if you are going to be visited and if you are found in compliance you will receive an awesome prize. I found this to be such an ingenious way t not only encourage the children's studies, but also help bring families closer by promoting conversation in lieu of the electronic brain drainer. I challenge you the reader of this blog to try going without TV or Internet for one night a week. Could you do it? Here are a couple of pictures from the play which explained the entire concept to parents and relatives (I guess they thought a note home would not suffice