The problem started as soon as Matthew met Mary, with the mixture of misery and magic in their first glance at one another. I knew I was hooked to Downton Abbey!
I tried to start slowly, not allowing myself to be taken in by the ridiculousness of ‘needing’ to watch each episode. I tried to resist identifying with every character from Lady Mary Crawley, to her mother Countess Cora Crawley, to housemaid Anna Smith-Bates, to even Violet, the Dowager Countess of Grantham. I tried to pace myself …
But, alas, I was snookered into falling in love with the characters, the countryside, the grand estates, the lovely white Labrador Isis, the amazing costuming, and the language … I simply squeal with delight at the clever, sarcastic, yet proper conversations and lines.
What started as a desire to watch an episode or two a week, turned into my having viewed the entire first season in less than one week!
Then I was reminded why addictions are bad … I could not find another online way to view season two … for free (Scottish heritage can overtake almost any addiction)! Now I really had a problem, because I just had to know how the ends left hanging from season one would be tied neatly up again. So, I bit my Scottish pride, and purchased the first episode of season two ($2.99! Highway robbery!)
Well, I just knew that I needed to see the rest of that season, and it was not falling freely from the clouds, so I headed to the library and ordered both season two and three. What I did not know was how long it would take for them to become free …
I put my request in the first week of March, and only got my copy on the 24th of May! And it was not season two, but season three. Apparently there were still thirty-four people ahead of me for season two! I wanted to cry! I had what I wanted, but it was wrong to skip a season, if I were to truly enjoy the program.
As I complained bitterly to hubby, he said, “didn’t I tell you I found both seasons online … for free?” Yikes! It is a good thing that I needed his assistance to view the show, otherwise that poor man might have been beaten up by a Downton Abbey-starved woman!
So, season two was viewed partially on a Saturday night, and the remainder on Sunday afternoon.
Season three (the library version) was started after work on a Monday, and soon to be completed.
I am already in a state of misery, as those characters have become friends, and Downton has become like a home to me. I surely will not find peace until I locate season 4, but then what? I will need to wait until the new season begins, and how long three months seems right now, having watched two seasons in less than one week!
This is the very reason addiction is not a good thing! That show has nabbed me, hook, line and sinker, I love it, I am in misery … woe is me.
because I AM feeling great, and partly because I lost another 5 pounds! That means I’ve lost 19 pounds … about the weight of all of the pics on this post today.
Halloween.
And by the time I lay my head on my pillow I am on a drug-like candy trip.
exercise, and I really do desire to make regular physical activity (other than sitting up and pushing up to get out of bed) part of my lifestyle. So, for the next month, my goal in this area is small, but firm, walk twenty minutes, three times a week, and sit ups/crunches five times a week. I know that once it becomes a habit, I will be hooked, and will make it happen … I just need to get the habit started!
Sadly, my body thinks it is that of a polar bear, and when I endeavor to eat less it automatically goes into hibernation mode, slows down the metabolic processes of my digestion, and shuts down the ability to shed any weight. So, I eat healthy, I eat less (significantly less) and the scales still do not move south! As a matter of fact, one particular week, I was below my caloric intake every day for an entire week, and I gained two pounds! How does that happen?
Food is a need for living. Food is pleasureful. Food requires time planning what to have, preparing it, serving it, eating it (suffering heartburn after eating it, followed by poor sleep). Food is very much a part of our every day. Do I spend too much time thinking about it? Do I finish one meal, and start thinking about, longing for the next? Do I live for it? Is it an idol in my heart, my life?
Now, my beast … she has always been addicted to walking! When she doesn’t go for a walk, she looks depressed, and gives us guilt-laden looks that no human can duplicate! And when she does go for a walk, she is the picture of contentment!
idea just how this could benefit them).
