First, I am a guest on Engie’s blog today talking all things Nova Scotia. Head on over to see what made my shortlist and don’t forget to congratulate Engie on 20 years of blogging! Woot, woot.
Today has been unexpectedly quiet. We were supposed to be attending a church picnic this afternoon but sickness has struck the household.
When I was reflecting on my guilt over saying No to most volunteer opportunities lately, I neglected to account for the fact that when I am solo parenting…there is no one to stay home with the sick and ailing while the well fly the coop. So, today we stayed home…and so far it has been delightful.
Something that wasn’t delightful? Waking up at midnight to discover the power had gone out. (It was a planned outage, but we didn’t know about it because I haven’t updated our phone number with the power company so we don’t get automatic notices about planned outages; this is now on my to-do list for next week.) I use a white noise machine at night which is glorious…except when the power goes out and the white noise clicking off wakes me up. Then the sick child needed me for a few hours. When I finally managed to get back to sleep, I woke to a steady (every 30 seconds) loud beeping. I spent a few minutes roaming the house to find the issue. It was a carbon monoxide detector that needed a battery replacement. I stuffed it inside a sleeping bag in our storage room to muffle the beeping, but could still hear a faint Beep every half-minute. Not the best sleep of my life. (The battery has now been changed!)
We were all anxious for the power to come back on this morning and cheered when the lights flicked back on. I celebrated by making coffee and an English muffin with peanut butter and banana – perhaps my ultimate comfort food – and eating it on the deck in my bathrobe.
There was a Formula One race today – in Barcelona which has a special place in our hearts now! Chalk this up as a sport I never thought would interest in, but here we are and the whole family is borderline obsessed. John has followed F1 for decades, but the Drive to Survive series on Netflix pulled me in hook, line, and sinker. With an unexpectedly free Sunday morning, the kids and I piled on the couch, grabbed fluffy blankets, and watched the whole race. It’s a fun experience to watch sports together as a family and my heart was happy.
Now it’s quiet time in the household – one child is reading and the other is putting together a spy kit in their room – and I’m drinking Earl Grey (decaffeinated) out of my Busy Introverting mug looking out the window at some ominous clouds and hoping for rain because it would perfectly fit the mood of a low-key day (and would be great for preventing wildfires after so much dry, hot weather). We’ll see if my patient is well enough to school tomorrow; if not, it may be a shorter-than-expected final week of school.
Happy Introverting (or extroverting, if that’s your thing). What’s your favourite sport to watch on TV? Do you prefer to watch it with family and friends or solo? What’s your ultimate comfort food? How did you sleep last night?
J
The only sport I (used to) enjoy watching on TV is horse racing. Then I learned how messed up the US is in how we treat our racehorses (short answer, drugging them to not feel pain when they race, which leads to them running injured and breaking limbs and being killed right there on the racetrack. Second half of the short answer is breeding them solely for speed and not for a strength-speed combination, so their legs are even thinner and more prone to breaking.) and I broke up with horse racing and no longer watch. They treat their horses better in Europe, so I will watch horse racing if I am there, though it’s probably just a matter of degrees, the horses would probably be better off not racing there either.
Whew, that got dark fast, didn’t it? Your Sunday sounds kind of awesome, except for the sick part.
Interestingly, this post popped up in my email, but when I go to your blog just using the URL, this post isn’t showing. Weird. I enjoyed your guest post at Engies, I will comment there later when I am on the computer that can comment on her blog (and so many other Blogger blogs)
Elisabeth
I think it takes a while because of cacheing? I have some issues with that sort of thing on my new blog. Should be working now?
I’ve never been in to horse racing so didn’t know about the dark underbelly to it all. How sad. Most sports that involve animals tend to have a dark/sad side, I think? I remember people we knew rescuing a greyhound that had been a racing dog. It had a lot of health issues and basically once it got too old to compete, it wasn’t wanted anymore…so they rescued it (and spent a small fortune in vet bills).
Maria
It sounds like a peaceful day of rest,although sorry it comes due to sickness. Ugh about the battery replacement chirp. It’s one of those things that is a good idea (definitely better than it just not working due to a dead battery) but WHY do they always start chirping at night?!?!
Not big sports people here. I may have to become more interested in hockey though because my friend just told me that the citizenship exam includes hockey questions (?!?!!!) and I can apply for citizenship this fall. I do really enjoy the olympics and am excited to watch a variety of events in a few weeks!
Elisabeth
Hockey questions…well, it does make sense in Canada I guess. Speaking of hockey, I used to be obsessed – obsessed – with the Toronto Maple Leafs. It was a huge part of my tween years and it’s so strange to me now because I barely follow it. But L is obsessed with the Edmonton Oilers which has long been my husband’s favourite team, so good timing on that one 🙂
What is it about night? I also find our kids get sick every single time (literally without a single fail, maybe?) before we leave on a trip or vacation.
sarah
UGH power outages– hate them. Excellent comfort food, though! I am not a TV watcher, but I love all things Olympics.
Elisabeth
The Olympics seem to bring everyone together. It’s such a unique atmosphere and so “country” oriented instead of “team” oriented. You don’t need to know anything about the sport or athlete. The fact they wear your home countries flag is just so inspiring!
Nicole MacPherson
Ugh, sorry about the power outage and the sick kid, although I’m glad you get a day to just…be.
I don’t typically watch hockey and I’m not even an Oilers fan, but GAME SEVEN TONIGHT!!!! Bring it home! I’m suddenly on the bandwagon!
Elisabeth
The Oilers are John’s favourite team and L is equally obsessed. We never watch the games because they’re so late here (argh! one big issue of living on the Atlantic Coast of Canada), but I am so excited for tonight. I might watch a bit of the game, though it starts at 9 pm…so I won’t make it to the finish, I don’t suppose.
Jenny
Ooh, I hope you got rain!!! In spite of the power outage, lack of sleep, and sick kid, it sounds like a really nice day. As a matter of fact that’s exactly the kind of day you need in those circumstances.
This weekend I watched a lot of the Olympic Trials, which I LOVE. i got to see some diving, swimming, and running. Next weekend is gymnastics!
Elisabeth
Diving is probably my favourite Summer Olympic sport to watch! But I honestly love basically all of them (indoor volleyball can be a bit of a snooze, but I do love watching beach volleyball).
Ally Bean
Power outages and a sick kid do not equal fun times. I’m hoping things are better this morning.
What’s your favourite sport to watch on TV? Do you prefer to watch it with family and friends or solo? I’ll watch football with family and friends but not on my own. I don’t care that much about it to really follow it.
What’s your ultimate comfort food? Mashed potatoes with butter on them.
How did you sleep last night? Very well for the first time in a week. The heat dome is no longer over us so cooler temps are here again.
Elisabeth
I’m the same – I don’t care enough about any sport to watch it alone, but it’s a fun experience with others.
Yay for cooler temps! It’s about 15C cooler here today than it was last week and it’s a welcome change.
NGS
I like to watch ice skating and gymnastics, but I really like to watch it by myself. Recently I’ve taken to watching videos of dogs freestyle dancing with their trainers and does that count as a sport?
I’m with Ally. The heat wave seems to have subsided, so we were able to open up the windows last night and I slept like a baby. Whew. I needed that rest.
Elisabeth
That definitely counts as sport! It’s doubly athletic since it includes humans and our canine friends!
ccr in MA
Why do the detectors always start beeping at night? Always!
The only sport I watch regularly is hockey; I’m a diehard Boston Bruins fan, so right now I am rooting for Edmonton, aka rooting against the Panthers. Technically Florida is my home team, by geography, but they pushed the Bruins out two years in a row, so I want them to lose. I really enjoyed watching the last three games, and have hope for tonight. I do watch some Olympic sports, mainly gymnastics in the summer and figure skating in the winter, but I’ll watch other things sometimes too.
I hope your household is feeling better today. Sounds like your rejuv day was perfect!
Elisabeth
It’s ironic that for about a decade, hockey was my main obsession in life (specifically the Leafs). It’s hard for me to imagine now, but my week used to revolve around Hockey Night in Canada on Saturday night.
My husband and son both adore the Oilers, so I’m caught up in the hype of it now. Our main issue is how late the blastest games start. Too late for my bedtime!
We’ll both be cheering for the Oilers tonight, then. It would be nice for the cup to come back to Canada and what an epic series. Also, it feels like such a nice thing if Connor M could get a cup at this point. He definitely deserves one! Either way (win/lose), I suspect he’s likely to get the MVP award?
Sophie
Sorry to hear about the poor sleep and sick kid, but lovely to be able to have a slow, low key day at home to recover. My favourite sport to watch with the family is tennis. Mostly the grand slams – particularly the Australian Open which is on in January every year. The skill just blows your mind, and it’s fun to watch together and discuss the relative strengths of the players and debate who you want to win.
Elisabeth
Tennis is so fun to watch. Have you watched the Netflix docuseries about professional tennis. It’s fascinating. The athleticism is incredible and always makes me want to be proficient at playing tennis. It feels like a more accessible sport than many others. It doesn’t require a lot of fancy equipment…but it is HARD! And those long matches are gruelling.
Lisa's Yarns
I absolutely love watching the summer Olympics in particular but enjoy the winter Olympics as well. But if I had to pick a favorite sport to watch, it is oddly golf. Phil has converted me into a golf watcher and I especially appreciate it now that I have kids because I crave more “low key” entertainment that isn’t going to get my pulse racing. I like to watch it with Phil but unless the kids are napping/getting screen time that doesn’t tend to happen. Of course golf tournaments tend to end around 5-6pm on Sundays which is when we are trying to feed our starving children so we often miss the end of a tourney or I will go back and forth between the kitchen and living room to see what is happening if it’s a close tournament. It’s kind of an odd sport to watch, though, especially since I don’t play but I would like to try to learn when I am retired as I’ll have time to add a new hobby.
I slept pretty good last night or at least better than the last 2 nights. I woke up at 5:55 so 5 minutes before my alarm went off which is ideal! The previous 2 mornings I was awake at 5 and 5:30 which is too early for a weekend. The kids went to bed easily last night because they were exhausted from all the fresh air and of course we had to wake them both up this morning whereas Paul was up around 5-5:30 the last 2 mornings!
Comfort food is tricky for me because the comfort foods of the past are kind of off limits due to my gluten intolerance. If I could eat chicken noodle soup, I would. I could buy GF soup but it’s just not the same. I also find pasta with parmesan cheese on it to be a comfort food but I don’t buy GF pasta anymore since I usually make zoodles instead (which are NOT a comfort food!).
Elisabeth
For YEARS I made my chicken noodle soup with rice pasta noodles and I honestly could never tell the difference? I swear!
Michelle G.
I enjoyed your guest post, Elisabeth! Great job!
The peanut butter and banana English muffin look delicious!
San
I am currently enjoying watching soccer on TV (I only watch the major championships though) and Jon and I watch baseball (and occasionally basketball). I am not a football fan. I’ve been to college games and the “live” aspect is fun, but I generally don’t like the sport (and the controversy around the head injuries). I would also never watch Formula One LOL I don’t even find that remotely interesting to watch (or am I missing something huge? Enlighten me, friend!)
Introverting is my favorite, btw. 🙂 I just saw a shirt that said “introverted but willing to talk about running” and I thought to myself “I must have this shirt” LOL
Elisabeth
I thought Formula One was ridiculous (and it is a bit, and horrible for the environment), but once I see the behind-the-scenes workings is it just addictive! It’s such a unique individual sport. But I am SHOCKED that I enjoy it, and don’t expect it would land the same way for everyone.
Love that shirt; I hope you bought it <3