Pioneer gal, I am not!

I don't usually watch PBS. Hardly ever. Nowadays, it is only on for SuperWhy or Word World.

However, when I lived in Nashville, I did not have cable television. I was single and poor. So, I watched PBS quite often.

I'm not a huge reality television fan. My favorite, obviously, is Amazing Race. I really like Biggest Loser too. I don't watch American Idol, Survivor, Bachelor, Big Brother, and a various assortment of other reality shows. (I do love Bravo and just about every show on that station, which really makes the statement "I'm not a huge reality television fan" untrue. Sue me.)

When I was watching my pennies in Tennessee, I discovered a reality show, that in my opinion is the BEST reality show EVER shown.

Frontier House

It was shown before the days of DVR, before the days of Hulu, before the days of internet in my life. I taped (that right, taped, using VHS tapes) the entire series. And when nothing else was on my local channels, I would pull out those tapes and re-watch the series.


Did anyone else watch this? I've spent the past few minutes looking at the website and am dying to go pull out those old VHS tapes and watch the series again.

I loved those families! They went through some serious changes and challenges. And the thing is, there was not a prize at the end of the show (other than the obvious reward of spending time with family). It has been since 2001 that I have watched the series, but I remember that one of the biggest challenges at the beginning for the Clune girls was not having their make-up. They changed their minds about what was challenging when they were asked the milk cows twice a day...make-up didn't really seem that important.

I would like to think that I could be on Frontier House, the 2009 season. Although I haven't heard about the series starting up again.

I'm all about a challenge and like to prove myself. I could give up make-up...no problem. I would enjoy learning to work for my food. I wouldn't mind giving up "fashion" (although, my current wardrobe is not exactly considered fashionable) for 5 months. I would love all of the extra family time that we would get together. I would enjoy falling into bed each night, completely exhausted, knowing that I had worked as hard as I possibly could for my family.

HOWEVER...

I would not enjoy giving up my daily baths. I would not enjoy not having my Charmin. I would not enjoy not having Luvs or Huggies wipes. I would not enjoy having the luxury of turning on a television program for Nora if I needed a few minutes to get something done. I would not enjoy hand washing all of our clothes.

But, most of all, I would not enjoy giving up electricity!

This morning, our electricity went off for about an hour and a half (NO IDEA why!). It went off in the entire neighborhood. I am so dependent on electricity, as I'm sure you all are.

I so take it for granted! I had just gotten out of the shower when it happened. I couldn't blow-dry my hair. Both of the girls were still asleep, so it was a prime time for me to work on my classes that I teach. Oops, couldn't turn on the computer. I had about two loads of laundry that I needed to do. Nope, not able to do that. I had some baby gifts that I needed to embroider but couldn't do that either...because I'm sure not doing that by hand!

It was a humbling experience...for a measly hour and a half.

So, I think Frontier Life is not for me. Full-time anyways. If the producers of the show contacted me and asked my family of four to be on the show, my answer would be YES!

As long as I can bring some Charmin.