**Spoiler alert for Downton Fans, I’m starting season 3 tonight… If you aren’t that far yet, you might not want to read the second to the last paragraph of this blog.**
This is a very rare Sunday blog post because, as many of you know, today is a very special day. Today is Super Bowl Sunday, the most important day in my husband’s year. To say that my husband is an avid sports fan would be an understatement. I have actually caught him watching tennis on TV when there were no other sports on, and he doesn’t even PLAY tennis. He plays softball and watches football and seems to find a sport to watch on TV for every season. He has even taken up watching soccer since we moved to Latin America. Everyone knows that soccer is called football outside of the United States, in contrast to American Football. Now he enjoys them both, though American football is still the clear favorite. Every year he participates in no less than 5 fantasy football leagues. And Super Bowl Sunday is the High Holy Day of AMERICAN football fans.
We have been married for 18 years, happily married. The irony is that I don’t care one iota about sports of any kind. They do say that opposites attract, and for us, that must be true. When we were dating I tried to go to as many of his softball games as I could. I honestly tried to pay attention and learn the sport, but I just couldn’t manage. I even tried PLAYING on a women’s team one summer. I would stand in the outfield making mental lists of all the ways I could be better spending this hour than playing a sport. I had to admit that I just don’t care about sports. When the babies started coming to our family, it was a good excuse not to go to games anymore and I gradually bowed out of that obligation.
But we HAVE made this marriage work, because I support his need to play. I do not just tolerate it. I find ways to help him get that sports fix, because he’s a much happier person when he has a sports outlet in his life. I have always told him that he can invite his guy friends over to watch games, and I’ll even make snacks for them and keep the children out of the way while the men watch a game. I figure it’s a better option than him going to some sports bar or wings joint to watch the game. At least I know where he is. So in the spirit of supporting my sports addict, I help him host a Super Bowl party every year.
This year I got smart. A friend of mine bought and iTunes subscription to Downton Abbey season 3, which we can’t get on TV here in Costa Rica (It’s blocked for some reason, international copy right laws, they say. They don’t follow ANY other laws here, but they drag this one out when my favorite show is an issue!) So my friend suggested that we set up a projector in another room and show the first few episodes of Downton while the Super Bowl is going on down on the big screen. Suddenly I was excited about the Super Bowl! Now instead of hovering around the guacamole all night long, as I previously planned, I’m going to be in all my girly-glory agonizing over whether Edith will ever get married or if Lord Grantham can accept Sybil’s marriage to the chauffeur or if Anna will manage to get Mr. Bates acquitted of murdering his wife. Agh! I’m excited! It’s going to be a Jolly good time, I’m sure.
So in the spirit of my Downton Abbey Super Bowl party, a friend of mine sent me this Youtube link. Apparently I’m not the first one to have this idea. Here’s the Downton Abbey Super Bowl Mash-up. Just hearing the theme music makes my heart flutter with excitement!
Monkeys in My Bag 