An Alternative To Watching The Super Bowl

All righty. The Super Bowl is on, and since we rarely watch the NFL in our house, I’m not really involved in the game. I mean, I want for the guys who played for Mississippi State to do well, and I’m glad that they’re having successful pro careers, but truth be told I’m pretty much just counting down the minutes until it’s time for Downton Abbey.

(By the way, I’m typing this post while wearing my pajamas and sitting on my circa-1965 gold sofa with a blanket wrapped around my legs. So it strikes me as somewhat fitting that I’m biding my time for my “story” to come on PBS. Maybe I can find a couple of re-runs of Barnaby Jones to watch in the meantime.)

(WHICH REMINDS ME: last weekend I was flipping channels when I ran across an episode of Charlie’s Angels. It was from the Kelly / Sabrina / Kris years. And I have to say that the plot wasn’t quite as riveting as it was when I was in elementary school and stayed up to watch Charlie’s Angels re-runs on WGN.)

(Also, they obviously weren’t anticipating a day when viewers would be able to pause their DVRs and clearly see that HEY, THAT STUNT DRIVER REALLY ISN’T KELLY NOT EVEN A LITTLE BIT.)

(I was also troubled by how frequently the angels wound up in car chases with shady men who were driving large Ford sedans.)

Anyway.

We had really nice weekend, which was a welcome shift from All The Emotion of our week (and I cannot thank you enough for all of your sweet comments about Ally…I couldn’t get over how many of you also had to say good-bye to animals last week, so I hope you had better weekends, too). Friday night I went with my friend Leslie to hear Kelly Minter teach at a women’s conference in here in Birmingham, and it was so, so good. We went back for the second session Saturday morning, and then I came home so that my people and I could spend the rest of the day together.

After lunch we went to look at washing machines since our house is apparently in the throes of a mid-life crisis (it recently turned 40) and is demanding ALL NEW EVERYTHING. I’m almost scared to recount everything that has had to be replaced in the last year for fear that the dishwasher will read this over my shoulder and decide OKAY! I’M DONE!, so suffice it to say that our washing machine is the most recent home appliance casualty. We can’t really complain, though, because we’ve had our current washing machine for fifteen years, and D has rescued it from certain peril at least twice. So it was time. And the new one gets delivered tomorrow, oh hallelujah.

Saturday I also found out that my friend Elise’s son led his soccer team to the 6A State Championship in Mississippi, and y’all, it has tickled me to no end. His team won 3-0, and I’ll have you know that G scored all three of those goals – WITH HEADERS, NO LESS. I am so proud of him (and of all of Elise’s boys – they are hard-working and funny and handsome and funny and respectful and did I mention that they are really funny?).

OH! OH! Saturday afternoon we went to LifeWay after we looked at washing machines, and MELANIE’S. BOOK. WAS. THERE. In an actual bookstore. I jumped a little and then I took a picture and then I checked on it one more time before we left. Just to see if it needed anything. Like maybe a light snack or a bottle of water.

Make no mistake. I was annoyingly excited.

Saturday night I watched three or maybe even four episodes of Chef Wanted on Food Network. It is FASCINATING. I even got a little teary-eyed at the end of the episodes when someone would walk away with a real-live job, and clearly the first part of this sentence is a strong indicator that I may still be registering on the high end of the emotional sensitivity scale.

After church and Chuy’s and a trip to the grocery store that I could not avoid, I spent most of this afternoon in the kitchen while the boy and one of his friends played outside when they weren’t running back inside for a glass of water or a piece of candy or a different sword or two sheets of paper or grocery bags. It was gorgeous here today, and they had a blast. I made potato skins (in the spirit of the game that I’m not watching) and salad for dinner, and while the potato skins were absolutely delicious – seriously. SO tasty. – they were definitely not a make-in-a-hurry meal. They were more like a make-over-the-course-of-four-hours meal. But they were such a hit that I will probably make them again.

Okay. Now it is time for the Downton. So I’m going to stop talking / writing now. And yes, I realize that this was probably the most boring post in the history of ever, but it was a low-key weekend.

My very favorite kind.

Share:
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • email

Comments

  1. Sounds like a very wonderful weekend. So sorry about your dog. Ours is 11 and I can’t imagine what it’s going to be like when it’s his time. His name is Harvey, like the big white imaginary rabbit on the Jimmy Stewart movie of the same name. :)
    Can’t wait to read Melanie’s book, and yours!!!

  2. Can’t wait to tell everyone about Mel’s book Friday!! (I’m always so confused by release dates when the book comes out days before. ?? One time someone got a copy of my book before I did! Not cool, Robert Frost!) When does yours release again?? I NEED ONE.

  3. Just happened to find your blog & I love it. It sounds like you had a great weekend. I am so excited about Melanie’s book & was just at Lifeway on Saturday, but was thinking the 8th & didn’t even think to look. I’ll have to go back! ;-) Have a great week! can’t wait to read more! ~Stacy :-)

  4. I’ll bet the empty space to the right of BigMama’s books is either a sign that A. Sparkly Green Earrings is already flying off the shelves, or B. the bookstore is throwing caution to the wind, forsaking alphabetical order, and saving room for your books to sit right next to hers when it comes out!

  5. GIRL! I made two dips this weekend for the Super bowl that I am sure you would love to try!

    Loaded baked potato that you dip chips into and Cookie Dough (Not REAL cookie dough, but tastes just as good) that you dip grahams or nilla wafers in! Soo good, and a huge hit at the super bowl party I went to! :)

  6. Sounds likes a much needed laid back weekend! Sometimes those are just the best! :)

  7. Here is my summation of last night.

    Dowager Countess: far funnier than any Superbowl commercial.

  8. are you going to share this potato skin recipe?? the few times i’ve tried to make them, they have turned out mushy & blah.

  9. We didn’t watch the Super Bowl either… I thing it’s way too overrated. Instead we watched the Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian on the SyFy channel. I love the Narnia movies and can watch them over and over!

  10. Cheryl Stanley says:

    I wanted to tell you that I love so many of your recommendations… that includes lovely TV shows dating all the way back to Jack Bauer in 24 and of course Downton Abbey! Love it so much! I also love when you link to blogs… one I have loved is Ann Voskamp’s. I could drool over her wordsmithing! We live up in Canada in a small town and today my 18 year old some came home from school and asked me if I head ever heard of Ann Voskamp. I asked if he meant the author, who writes for Compassion and has a book and a blog that plays piano music. He said that was probably the same one so I showed him the blog and he said, “Oh ya, that kid there Caleb is in my class at school. They live over by (another family we know well)! I love that in a cyber world that often includes many southerners it is nice to know one lives 10 minutes away! Small world indeed!