It’s no secret that Don has dreamed of a flat screen TV for a long time, but in spite of our shopping, pondering, and analyzing we have never actually made the big purchase.  About every three months, we go to the store and spend a long time looking at a variety of brands, sizes, features and prices.  We compare picture quality and discuss how “it” would look in the family room.  And we always go home empty handed.  After all – our old 27″ Panasonic does just fine.

Since this year was a milestone birthday for Don, with some encouragement from the kids, we (our kids, his mom, and I) decided to surprise him with a new television.  I consulted with my tech savvy children for recommendations on size and brand, and ordered from Costco.com.  I’m not certain how truly surprised he really was, as I think he overheard a couple of my “clandestine” phone calls – when will I learn to speak softly? And it didn’t help that Don personally took the call when Costco called here to schedule delivery – did they not get my explicit instructions to call my cell phone and deliver to Peter’s house?

We had a three hour window of opportunity when Don left to take his mom to the airport.  Mark and Pete had instructed the delivery guys to load directly into Mark’s car, and as soon as Don left our house, they drove over and we got to work.  The worst part was unloading all the stuff from the entertainment center and then hauling that and the old TV to the garage.

While I figured out what to do with everything from the previous set up (does anybody need some VCR tapes?) the boys checked out the system and deemed it AWESOME!

But surprised or not, he loves his new toy!  He told me it was the best birthday gift he’s ever had and that he would have been very disappointed if I hadn’t come through with it.  Talk about pressure after the fact . . .

And yes, a big flat screen television puts TV watching on a whole new level – we love it!

*Take note of the television stand.  It’s my thrift store find dresser after a make over.  More on that later.