Downton Abbey, Hunger Games, Doctor Who, and Fall

This post will come to you in the manner of a list, because I have lots of thoughts today and I have to organize them somehow. As a forewarning, if you haven’t yet watched season three of Downton Abbey, or you don’t know how the Hunger Games trilogy ends, you should probably skip points two and three. Spoilers!

1. To say I felt saucy in these sunglasses would be an understatement. So, you know, forgive me for some of the poses. I was having lots of fun. Mr. Owl and I went shopping yesterday, since it was Labor Day and he had the day off, and I had the hardest time deciding between these and another pair of sunnies, but eventually these ones won out (thanks to voting on Instagram.) They’re just so retro and dramatic and fun! I felt like Catwoman (I don’t know) mixed with a vintage vixen. 

2. Mr. Owl and I just finished watching season three of Downton Abbey. Oh. My. Goodness. If you haven’t seen it all and don’t know all of the things that happen in season three, skip this point! Really. I give away all of the spoilers because I just can’t keep it in.

So many things happen in season three! Mary and Matthew get married, Edith gets engaged and jilted at the altar, Sybil has a baby, Sybil dies, and then the big, dramatic conclusion(which I guessed about five minutes before it happened): Matthew goes and crashes his car. Honestly, I was much, much sadder at Sybil’s death than I was at Matthew’s. Sybil was so sweet and good to everyone, and her death was much more shocking than Matthew’s… and then there’s the fact that I really cannot watch men cry without breaking down myself. So I cried. A lot.

But when Matthew’s accident happened, it was kind of expected. He’s not paying attention, he’s got a new car, he’s thinking about his new baby, and speeding. They set it up pretty much to where you know he’s not going to make it. Plus, I was never very interested in Matthew until he connected with Branson, and started to meddle in the estate’s affairs and make sparks with Lord Grantham. Then, he had more character and started to catch my attention.

Still, I didn’t cry when he died. I sort of knew it was going to happen, and I think it’ll make season four very, very dramatic! Despite the tragedy, I think it’ll be great for the show.

What did you all think?

Also, does anyone love Edith as much as I do? I think she’s the most interesting and likeable of the three sisters (Mary is too cold, and Sybil was so sweet and loveable, but she didn’t have much else to her character.). I can’t wait to see what season four has for her!

3. I also just finished reading The Hunger Games trilogy. My thoughts? It ended the way I had hoped it would. I’m glad she didn’t chose Gale; his character was never delved into enough and I really had no connection with him as a person. Peeta, though; you sort of know she loves Peeta all the way through. She might not really know it until the end, but that’s one thing the author was excellent at portraying: the confusion emotions that came up with him, and how she might not recognize them as love. But the reader totally knows she loves him more.

Also, much to my surprise from hearing others talk about it, I actually think I liked the third book the best. It split away from the “games” aspect of the first two books, and I think the third book is when we finally start to know, care about, and understand all of the characters much more.

Overall, though, they’re still not quite memorable (which means I won’t mind reading them again because I won’t remember anything!), and there were still many moments in the second book (not the third, thankfully) where I just didn’t think Katniss’s reactions and thoughts made sense with the rest of her character. 

4. This is really overdue, but is anyone else really, really sad that Matt Smith is done being Doctor Who? And, despite that, incredibly intregued by their choice of the new Doctor? I cannot WAIT for the new season to start! Just from looking at him, I think Peter Capaldi might make a really great Doctor. And really, have they ever chosen a bad one? Not yet, anyway!

5. Fall is coming! I can’t believe it’s September already. I’m excited for pumpkin everything, and rain, and fall fashion, and fall colors… but let me tell you one thing I absolutely hate about fall: fall spiders.

Our house, apparently, is becoming a refuge for all manner of eight-legged critters, and I have been killing them left and right. With the usual amount of squeals. So far there has only been one large enough to send my heart racing  (thank you, mom, for rescuing me!), but UGH. I find them in the bathroom, on the stairs, in the laundry, behind the TV… everywhere. Just thinking about it makes my skin crawl.

6. I have finally started to gain weight for this pregnancy. I feel like it’s long overdue; I am five months pregnant, and it was only in the last two weeks that I finally noticed I’d gained three pounds (and only then because I hopped on the scale!). I have been determined, though, to think positively when I notice pounds coming on. It’s hard for the majority of women to be positive about weight, and I have noticed many pregnant bloggers and friends bemoan the fact that the scale has gone up and they no longer fit their size whatever jeans. 

Obviously, it’s hard to deal with body changes. I will admit that at first, I felt dread. The last time I tipped the scale over 165 pounds, I was young, extremely self-conscious, and definitely chubby. Though I’ve been expecting weight gain and know in my head it’s a good thing, I had a flash of “what if I gain 20 pounds and never lose it?” and that brought on an avalanche of memories– not good ones– from being 18 and 5 sizes larger than the majority of my friends.

But then I gave myself a mental slap and an eyeroll. I may still love Pringles and chocolate, but I’m not the same girl who would sit and eat an entire can of chips and a king-sized candy bar on a weekly basis (or sometimes, twice-weekly). I no longer buy myself a candy bar every time I go to the store. Last week, I ate a Reeses Peanut Butter cup for the first time in… who knows, six months?

And, while I may have eaten about five homemade Peanut Butter M&M cookies this weekend because my husband had a three day weekend and has a huge sweet tooth, most importantly: I’m pregnant. Half the weight I’ve gained is the baby, womb fluids, the placenta, and whatever other internal things there are during pregnancy.

And the other half has doubtless gone to my boobs, because my hips haven’t changed at all. So with all of that in mind, the fears have been assuaged. For now. I know I’ll go through more significant changes in the next four months. I’ll be gaining at least seven more pounds solely of baby, likely twice that, maybe three times that, and it’s okay. It’s good and healthy to gain between fifteen and thirty pounds during pregnancy. I hope you other pregnant mommies know that.

If ever there was a woman above all others who definitely should not be worrying about weight, it’s a pregnant one.

Thrifted Motherhood Dress | Modcloth Beets Me Wedge | Target Earrings | Cute Little Fox Anima Ring c/o Oasap

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend! Tomorrow, I will finally have a new laptop, and I cannot WAIT! Mine is so overdue for replacement. No more waiting 30 minutes for pictures to upload, switching between the laptop and the desktop to blog, working with an overheated computer… it’s going to be lovely.

Do you have any exciting plans this week?

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