The Downton Abbey Season 5 Workout: Courtesy of Anne-with-an-e

Anne-with-an-e and I were talking about Downton and she said, "Y'know, if we came up with a Downton Abbey workout game, we'd be in shape in no time. For example, 'Mary is mean to Edith: Five jumping jacks.'"

She kept going, and I said, "You have to write this down."

I now have a blog post for today.

So. Here's your workout. Enjoy the show, and, hey, you've never felt so invigorated!

Mary is mean to Edith: 5 jumping jacks
Thomas gives someone an evil look: 4 push-ups
Robert is a jerk: 5 sit-ups
The music reminds us to worry: 1 lap around the room
Mr. Bates is suspected of a crime: 6 crunches
Edith looks wistful: Touch toes
Miss Bunting offends someone: Jog in place
Thomas does something sad, yet also stupid: 10 deep knee bends
A Dowager Countess Zinger: Hop on one foot for 30 seconds

Bits and Pieces of Our Days

* We haven't done another  poetry scavenger hunt because this week it's my turn to be down for the count. (Cold? Flu? I don't know. I'm just calling it Blech.) Ramona is feeling good again, though, and that's grand because one of her best friends is in town, and the girls are inseparable when these visits happen. (Fun fact: I just plugged in "Chicago" to search my blog, and came up with a number of posts in which I mention my friend, Paula visiting. I'm so lucky that even though Paula, her husband, and their 11-year-old daughter moved away, they still have a grown daughter and some grandsons here in our town, so they come back regularly. Always a treat.)

* Downton Abbey. I watched. Did you watch? I'm so upset with them. Pal Lissa did a post that captures just about everything I wanted to say about it, and I commented over on her post, too. Feel free to chime in here or there if you want to share your reactions, too.

* Spent two hours (and my voice held up! Yay!) talking with the kind and lovely Barbara McGuigan on EWTN's The Good Fight on Saturday. We talked about Deathbed Conversions and Barbara shared an amazing story about the deathbed conversion of her own mother-in-law. You can find the audio of the program here.

* On Sunday, Betsy and Ramona wrapped up another youth choir musical. (I have blogged a lot about this annual musical over the years.) The choir put on What's Up, Zak? which was so cute, but touching, too. Really a sweet play. Betsy, for the third year in a row (and I guess ... her final year? She's a senior! Wah!) was once again on a team of directors who worked extremely hard with a group of about thirty kids ranging in age from 8-13. The teen directors handle everything: they cast the show, teach the kids the songs, create blocking and choreography, work with the kids on acting skills, create the sets, costumes, etc. They amaze me every year. Ramona had a speaking part as one of a duo of "Party Planners." She and her friend, Mary Clare, were properly sparkly and snooty. A delightful show all around.

Now you'll have to excuse me while I go hunt down another box of Kleenex.

On the radio, and Bits and Pieces of Our Days

On Relevant Radio today:

8:40 a.m. (central daylight time), Morning Air with Sean Herriott, talking about Style, Sex and Substance.

1 p.m.: On Call, with Wendy Wiese, discussing After Miscarriage.

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Speaking of central daylight time, well, umm, I don't really want to speak of daylight savings time. Because I can't speak of it and remain calm.

Every year we do this, and every year we all complain. Then, we go to Webster's online and look up the definition of insanity and we say, "Oh! Look! It's daylight savings time! Extreme folly! Unreasonableness! Something utterly foolish!" Then we blog about it because we know people will commiserate. Then we wonder to whom we can actually complain, other than to the readers of our blogs. And yet we know that we are, for some reason of extreme folly, doomed to repeat this sad history.

Image from Stock.xchng

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Has anyone found a suitable methadone for Downton Abbey?

And speaking of addictions, I signed on to Pinterest, but I haven't had the mental wherewithal to enter that particular cyber opium den. I'm afeared of it, people.

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The best Ramona-ism of the week:

Ramona: Mommy, what's a homeschooler's favorite subject?

Me: I don't know, honey, what is it?

Ramona: Anti-social studies!

I love that kid.

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Betsy-isms

Betsy-isms:

While reading Pippi Longstocking to Ramona, I said, "Pippi, watch out!"

Betsy replied, "Pippi will never die! She's the Jason Bourne of children's lit."

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Also? Betsy's designing a Downton Abbey theme park. The roller coaster will be called "The Emotional Ups and Downs of Mary Crawley."

Bits and Pieces of Our Days

Shirley Maclaine joining Downton Abbey? Is she trying to relive a past life?

Speaking of Downton Abbey, yes, I'm still glued to it. I may not have had time to blog about it, but you can count on the regular dishing that's going on in the kitchen between Anne-with-an-e, Betsy, and me. The fervent following of this show reminds me of a soap opera my sister and I used to watch when we were in high school. I stopped watching soaps by the time I got to college, but during My Soap Period, when I was powerfully addicted, the addiction went something like this: I taped (audio taped, people! We didn't have videotape yet!) an episode of The Young and the Restless for my sister, who was in the Cayman Islands with her boyfriend and his family during a particularly climactic arc in the plot. Not only did I think this was an important thing to do, but my sister thought so, too. She wanted to know what she was missing while she was in the Cayman Islands with her boyfriend.

I like to think that Downton is a bit more highbrow than those young, restless people, but really it's the lame same thing. I have to know what happens next, and I have to hear what Maggie Smith has to say about it.

Hi, I'm Karen, and I have a problem. Downton is the crack cocaine of PBS. Well written crack cocaine.

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Remember Invasion of the Body Snatchers? How the earthlings were kidnaped and replaced with pod people? I think we've had Invasion of the Season Snatcher here in Nebraska. We're having Pod Weather. It's nice. It's too nice. Something wicked this way comes. I just know it (cue the retro scream ...)

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And also? This clip from Reluctantly Healthy features two women talking about healthy levels of coffee consumption. They think the limit is two cups. Two cups (she said, trembling.)

Ummm, people? This is evil masquerading as internet chatter.

Countdown to Downton

41 minutes.

Monday -- Updated to note: 

My reactions in the comments. Spoiler warning!

I copied the comment I just left over at GeekMom, with Lissa's discussion. Might be easier to discuss it over there, rather than here, there and everywhere, but leave a comment here if you like!

Updated again to add:

Discussion at By Sun and Candlelight, too!