Every year, speech season just about kills me. Not literally, though it does take quite the toll on my body. (Thank you for that, Hashimoto's.) When we reach February, we're about a third of the way through the season, but we're halfway through the really intense "speech meet every Saturday" part.
And I'm exhausted.
So when I heard Winter Storm Kayla was heading our way, I was hopeful for a day off school. (By the way, when did we start naming winter storms? That's a recent development, right?) Turns out, we got two--because boy did we ever get hammered by the snow!
I am so, so thankful for this time off! I haven't done much--reading, TV watching, a little cooking, and of course the dreaded snow shoveling--and it's been absolutely fantastic. This afternoon, my mom came over, and we finished up Downton Abbey. What a great way to spend a Wednesday afternoon!
I have to jump right back into the thick of it tomorrow with our annual student council sponsored blood drive, but today? Today I'm savoring. Thank you, Lord, for this break!
Update: Just got the call--we have another snow day tomorrow. Roads in town are decent now, but apparently the gravel is a mess. Plus, our kids come from all over the area, and some other towns are in pretty awful shape. I can't remember ever having three snow days in a row before ... but I'm certainly not complaining!
The third season of Downton Abbey just ended. Is it just me, or did this season seem longer than the others? (OK, in truth it was longer than season one...) So many things happened, and while many were good (Matthew & Mary finally getting married, Bates finally getting out of prison, the birth of a Crawley heir), the bad seemed to overshadow the good. Matthew stubbornly refuses to accept the money that could save Downton. Sybil dies. Bates is in prison for over half the season—and all the prison scenes are painfully boring. Edith gets jilted at the altar. Rose. Matthew dies.
Oh, I enjoyed the season, and I'm eagerly awaiting season four, but I wouldn't say the journey through season three was particularly fun.
For all the plot lines that I hated, one I can't blame on creator/writer Julian Fellowes is Matthew's death. The blame for that one goes to actor Dan Stevens, who elected not to renew his contract. Fellowes has said that they felt the only organic way to get Matthew off the show was to kill him, and I agree. Matthew and Mary were finally at a very good place as a couple, and Matthew had taken on a vital role in the management of Downton. Having Matthew and Mary become estranged at this point wouldn't ring true. And actually, Matthew went from being one of my favorite characters to one I didn't really care about anymore ... I'm looking forward to seeing what comes next for Mary and the rest of the Downton bunch! (But I could certainly do without Rose. Unfortunately, it sounds like she's going to be a main character next season.)
In light of the depressing events we were left with last night, I think we could use a little levity. I saw this video on Annie Downs' blog this morning, and it absolutely cracked me up. Enjoy!
It's time again to catch up on the media I've been consuming ...
The Vow—I saw The Vow opening weekend with my sister and a friend. The story is about a woman (Rachel McAdams) who wakes up from a coma with no recollection of the last five years of her life—which included transforming from a conservative meat-loving law student to a free-spirited vegetarian artist and meeting and marrying an insanely handsome independent recording studio owner (Channing Tatum). It's a sweet love story with an ending I didn't predict. (The plot does bear a resemblance to Susan May Warren's book The Shadow of Your Smile, which I reviewed earlier this year.) Even more heartwarming than the movie, though, it the true story that inspired it. The Vow is very, very loosely based on Kim & Krickitt Carpenter. Reader's Digest wrote about the Carpenters in 1996, and they've reposted the story online. As much as I loved The Vow, I think I would rather have watched a more faithful adaptation of the story. The Carpenters also wrote a book about their experiences, and a new edition has been released to coincide with the film. It's available in paperback or for the Kindle for less than $10. I just ordered my Kindle copy ... I'll be sure to let you know what I think of it when I'm finished reading!
Downton Abbey—SPOILER ALERT! If you're planning to watch Downton Season 2 (or LOST) at some point in the future, you'll want to skip this section.
Downton Abbey had some major missteps this season (can we say burn victim Peter/Patrick; Lord Grantham's dalliance with the maid; and Lavinia, the sweet girl whose presence served only to keep apart Matthew & Mary and who we knew to be doomed from the start?), yet in my opinion, the truly emotionally satisfying ending more than made up for any ridiculousness. I call this the LOST effect. I know legions of LOST fans would disagree, but I found the series finale to be so emotionally satisfying that I could completely forgive the fact that seemingly thousands of questions remained unanswered. That the sideways world turned out to be in essence a purgatory that our Losties created for themselves did not for one second diminish my joy at watching them all discover who they really were and reunite with their loved ones. The same holds true for Downton. Give me one emotional, long-awaited marriage proposal in the snow, and I'll forgive all kinds of melodramatic nonsense. And when the season finale comes packed with so much Maggie Smith goodness, I can't help but love it! (My favorite interchange from the finale—and perhaps the entire season—comes 47 seconds into this video.)
Hulu Plus—Did you know you can now stream Hulu Plus through your Wii? It would be nice if plain old Hulu was available, too, but I guess it makes sense to only have that option for the pay version. Hulu is giving Wii users a two-week free trial to Hulu Plus (others can get a one-week trial), so I decided to check it out. Three days into my trial, I've decided I definitely need to cancel before my credit card gets charged at the end of the two weeks.
Pros: 1. FOX shows are available the day after air, rather than 8 days after air. This isn't a huge deal, I don't like waiting more than a week to watch Fringe episodes. 2. Some shows and movies that aren't available on Netflix are available on Hulu Plus. 3. Hulu Plus has the entire current season of many popular shows.
Cons: 1. Not all shows are available to watch on devices other than a computer. For instance, Psych's current season. 2. Speaking of Psych, Hulu Plus members have to wait 30 days to watch USA shows, just like regular Hulu users do. 3. Ads. That's right, Hulu Plus users still have to watch ads! Remind me again why this costs money?
Do I prefer watching Parks & Rec on my 32-inch HDTV to watching it on my 14-inch laptop screen? Yes. Do I love the (almost) instant gratification of watching Fringe the day after it airs? Of course. But is it worth $7.99 a month to me? Nope.
Netflix—Yes, I'm still a happy Netflix subscriber. And now I'm even happier: I just won a year of Netflix from SingleRoots! (If you aren't familiar with SingleRoots, check them out. I have them linked in my "Blogs Worth Reading" blogroll.) The Starz catalog is set to be removed from Netflix on February 29, but I don't think it will have much of an impact on my Netflix use. (I can't even remember the last time I watched a movie on Netflix ... I almost solely watch TV shows.) A full list of those movies and television shows that will disappear at the end of the month can be found here.
The Bodyguard soundtrack—Fun fact: The Bodyguard was the first R-rated movie I ever saw. Granted, it was on network television in the mid-90's, so it was pretty toned down. I actually got permission from my mom to watch it (which is impressive if you know my history of sneaking to the basement to watch all sorts of things of which she wouldn't approve). Anyway, Whitney Houston's recent death got me thinking about The Bodyguard soundtrack, which was one of my introductory cds when I joined the BMG Music Service in the late 90's. So I dug it out—I'd never bothered to copy it to my iTunes—and listened to it the other night. I'd forgotten just how phenomenal her voice was. Hungry for more Whitney, I headed over to EW.com, where they've put together a playlist of 25 of her best songs. Check it out here.
What media has caught your fancy lately? Now that Downton is over for the season, do you have any other shows—British or otherwise—I should check out?
I haven't done a bulleted list of randomness for a long time. So here you go!
I'm sick of reading. This is not good for a book blogger, but it's where I am right now. I've been sticking to my goal of only requesting books I'm really interested in reading, but this does not help me now, as the books due in January and February were requested in December or earlier. For the most part, these are books that I really wanted to read at the time ... I just don't feel like reading them now!
Are you watching Downton Abbey? If not, why not? Season One just won a Golden Globe last night, and it won several Emmy Awards last year, also. Downton is set in the time leading up to and during World War I. It's in the vein of Upstairs, Downstairs in that it deals with an aristocratic family and the family's servants. Season Two is, so far, a bit toned down from Season One—the "evil" characters are, for the most part, less evil, and much of the family conflict has diminished. I still absolutely loathe Thomas, though ... so much so that I tweeted the following last night:
Thomas doesn't even have to be on screen for my loathing of him to grow--all it takes is a mention of his name! #DowntonPBS
Also, I would marry Matthew Crawley or Mr. Bates in a heartbeat. Downton airs on PBS on Sunday nights through February 19, and you can watch Season One on pbs.org through tomorrow or on Netflix.
I've discovered a way to get in more steps for the Ja-La-Sta 10,000 Steps Walking Challenge while also keeping up with my commitment to read through the Bible this year— I pull up YouVersion on my computer and listen to the AudioBible! My house is basically set up in a circle with the living room at the front and the kitchen at the back. So I crank the volume on my computer and walk in a 25-step circle for the 40 minutes or so it takes to get through the day's chapters. It's a bit monotonous, but having Scripture to focus my mind on makes the time go faster.
I've once again been sucked into the trashy world of The Bachelor. (I prefer The Bachelorette because the guys aren't so catty, but I'm enjoying this, too.) Normally, I seek out Reality Steve's spoilers, but I decided that this year, I would just wait and watch the season play out. Then I accidentally ran into a major (MAJOR!) spoiler. I was not happy. My sister Blendy has ended her long blogging hiatus by writing her thoughts after the first two episodes. See her post here and give her some comment love!
Southwest Airlines rocks! Low fares. Bags fly free. And now this: Blendy and I got ridiculously cheap tickets to fly out to see Val next month, and a bunch of us decided to go together to buy tickets for our friend Jamie to go with us. Because we didn't get her tickets during the sale, they were much more expensive. Well, we didn't exactly clear the dates with Jamie first (not a smart move, but it was supposed to be a surprise), and she has parent-teacher conferences on the day of our return. So tonight I went to southwest.com to change her itinerary ... and I was pleasantly surprised to discover they don't have any trip change fees! And, since they're currently running a sale, I was able to get her new tickets for less money than her old tickets! Unfortunately, the first tickets were non-refundable, but if she wants to fly anywhere else before next November, she has a $30 credit to work with!
There's my list of things that have been on my mind. What about you? Any books, movies, or TV shows you're loving? Want to throw things at me for suggesting Taylor Swift may not be right for the role of Eponine? Want to get something else off your chest? Tell us about it in the comments!
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or for the 
for less than $10. I just ordered my Kindle copy ... I'll be sure to let you know what I think of it when I'm finished reading!
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