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THE LANE FAMILY HAS TV.  {I repeat} THE LANE FAMILY HAS TV.

Now, don’t go thinking that we’ve back-tracked on our ideals.  No, that is not the case.  Fact of the matter is: WHO DAT!? The New Orleans Saints are playing in the Superbowl.

That being said, we spent some of our Christmas money on a new TV.   Our old one was a hand-me-down cathode ray tube* with a very old DVD player that we got for like $99.00 at a Blockbuster nine years ago.    The new TV is a pretty nice plasma, and it’s really, really big.

Then we were faced with a dilemma:   What kind of service would we get?

We decided that satellite wasn’t the way to go just yet.

An old-fashioned antennae, however, was.

Michael scaled our two story home, braved high winds, balanced, used his brute force, and got that bad-boy up there.

So far I’ve enjoyed an episode of General Hospital, and last night we watched the American Idol try-outs in Dallas.  Oh yeah, and the President’s State of the Union.   Oh yeah, and Conan.

This morning, however, while Benjamin lay on the couch nursing a head cold, the two other bigs joined their brother to watch an old favorite (do you hear the sarcasm?) as they took a break from their school day.

Davey asked them to turn it off!

*cathode ray tube – That’s totally Michael talking!

The only time my cousin Pauline and I ever really fought was at a graduation party in the summer of 1990.  I think it was 1990, or maybe it was 1989?

We’d go through the summer spending weeks at a time, at each other’s houses, until the Erie County Fair rolled into town.  That was always our end of summer alarm.   It didn’t matter, though, because we’d already spent a lot of time together; swimming, playing in the backyard, doing our hair and nails, listening to music, making up stories, and whatever else we did as teen-aged girls.

Weeks prior to the graduation party, I’d jokingly said something about how I thought it would be funny to have something like cake smashed in my face.  Or maybe it was to have seltzer water sprayed like they did on the prank shows.   Or maybe it was slime like “You Can’t Do That on Television.”  I really don’t remember!

While at the party we were outside, on the front steps of our church hall, holding platefuls of graduation party desserts (which were totally in major overload.)

“Haven’t you always wanted to have pie smashed in your face?” I blurted out.

“No, not really,” she replied.

“I think it’d be fun!” I exclaimed only to lose my breath in a fistful of Aunt Peggy’s mud pie.

“Oh. My. God.  You BITCH!  This is my new Forenza* outfit.” I yelled.

“But you said….”

“I don’t care what I said,”  I muttered as I took a piece of watermelon and smeared it all over my cousin before I stormed off.

I think we didn’t talk for like 25 minutes after I returned in another outfit.  There was no way that I could be mad at her; we’re blood, and she’s like a sister to me.

*Forenza: Oh, how I loved my blue plaid Forenza vest and cropped pants. I wore it with a white tee shirt and had a matching headband. I was très cool!