My guilty pleasure

Every "stay-at-home" mom has a guilty pleasure - something that, if only for a short time, keeps her from devoting her absolute attention to her children. The stereotype is, of course, soap operas or the omnipresent Oprah. But I can never seem to get into those shows. True, I haven't made a real effort (believe it or not, I have never watched a complete show of Oprah). For whatever reason these shows have failed to capture my interest.

No sir, my guilty pleasure - the show that I have to watch everyday, the one I can't live without - is West Wing. I LOVE this show. Can't get enough of it. And to my extreme pleasure BRAVO shows two reruns every day - one episode at 10am and another at 11am. The best part is that the 11am episode is the broadcast at 10am the next day. So you really only need to watch every other day to get in all of the shows.

And I am hooked. I always loved West Wing. When it first came out, I watched it faithfully every Wednesday night. In fact, one time - long before we ever dated - I refused to answer the phone when Matt called during an episode.* I even jumped at the opportunity of being an extra for an episode that was partially filmed in the Kennedy Center. We were there all night and into the early morning. But it was worth it. We made it. Yes folks, it is only a split second but I am in the shot.**

But then I spent almost three years without a TV and my West Wing viewing days became a thing of the past - a happy memory. And as luck would have it, BRAVO is showing the seasons that I missed all those years. It's like they knew! Yes, here is my redemption, my second chance. And believe me, I am making up for it. Every week I make sure to get in each of the five episodes shown.

Now, I didn't completely fall off the face of the earth when we didn't have the TV, I casually kept track of what was going on in the series, but there is so much that I missed. Now I am seeing it all.

Now I know why Donna left the White House to work for the VP's presidential campaign, why Josh picked some dark horse presidential candidate from Texas to upset the VP, why CJ is Chief of Staff now, what happened to Leo, and why Charlie isn't the President's personal aide anymore. I know it all and it feels so good. I know what you're thinking... This is addictive, but I can't help myself. I've gotta know what happens.

The reason I am all about this show is that it reminds me of my days on Capitol Hill. I watch it and I recognize so many familiar situations and remember so many similar experiences. It makes me feel like I am back up there again and hey, it's better than watching C-SPAN (something else I am also guilty of doing from time to time)

One of these days, I'm gonna have to bite the bullet and watch the season videos uninterrupted. If anyone has them, please have pity on me and help me satiate my helpless appetite. You will be doing me a wonderful favor.

*The annoying thing was that he called at least twice! My roomies and I were this close to turning off the phone, as we had already done with our cell phones.

**Though it is a far away shot, so I am a teeny blob. You just have to know it's me.