My summer back-up plan.

So, as I said earlier, it's been pretty crappy outside, and my dog keeps giving me the staredown because she wants to go outside to play. But I'm sorry, I am not going to run around the yard when tornado sirens are going off and Sven Sundgaard is threatening me with quarter size hail.

Which is just about every other day lately.

When you can't go outside to play, there are really only two other options: go shopping or watch tv. Shopping is by far my favorite pastime, but it's expensive. TV is free. Well, practically free. Actually, not even close to free. We pay Comcast a whole bunch of money every month. But that bill is kind of like student loans — a fact of life. Maybe that's not the case for everyone, but definitely for us. Especially now that Nate's pursuing another degree at another private school.

Moving on...

While I am still doing my fair share to stimulate the economy, times are tough and it's important to consider less costly entertainment options. Which leads us back to television. No doubt there are fewer shows to watch during the summer months (and historically the quality of these shows has been questionable). But things are improving. For example, last summer Nate and I were completely enthralled by a show called Damages — an exceptionally good, very creepy series on FX starring Glenn Close. Unfortunately Damages won't be back until 2009. But still — an excellent example of top-notch summer programming.

On the flip side, mindless entertainment is entirely acceptable during the summer months. Enter the TBS series My Boys — 30 minutes of light, breezy television once a week. No thinking required. I feel like So You Think You Can Dance might also fit into that category. No thinking, just really, really good dancing.

Another form of viewing I look forward to in the summer is reruns. I rarely miss an episode of anything (thanks, DVR!), but the summer is a great time to catch up on really amazing shows you may have missed during the regular season. It's also a good time to plow through a television series on DVD. Right now Nate and I are watching Six Feet Under. I love it. And thankfully we don't have to wait a week for the next episode.

Here's a list of what I'll be watching this summer:

TV on TV
My Boys: Thursdays at 8:30pm on TBS
So You Think You Can Dance: Wednesdays at 7pm and Thursdays at 8pm on FOX
Psych: Season 3 begins July 18 at 9pm on USA
Burn Notice: Season 2 begins July 10 at 9pm on USA
Swingtown: Thursdays at 9pm on CBS (Warning: trashy subject matter.)
Project Runway: Season 5 begins July 16 on Bravo

TV on DVD
Six Feet Under, Complete Series
My So-Called Life, Complete Series
Dexter, Season 2
Mad Men, Season 1

I know, seems like a fairly extensive lineup. But if the weather doesn't improve, I may be forced to expand this list...