Read about my battles with Pre-Menstrual Dysphoric Disorder (PMDD), my mental health, surviving both childhood sexual abuse and a 12 year relationship plagued with emotional abuse, as well personal projects / challenges, and anything vaguely Jem-related.
I have to confess that I’ve never been much interested in watching sports. Odd perhaps, for someone who participates and competes in three separate disciplines, but – aside from catching the odd snippet of a big Euros game or highlights of the Olympics shared on social media – watching other people ‘play’ has just never appealed. But, never one to completely dismiss something without trying it first, I was determined to watch something and so 40TBIF number 8 ended up: Watch a live sporting event.
I figured “live sporting event” was vague enough to give me some leeway in the seasonality of various sports, and with plenty of time to pick something should I have problems choosing what to actually watch. “Luckily” I then went and fell in love with a Wolverhampton Wanderers season ticket holder who’s been attending matches since his childhood & he was more than thrilled to both introduce me to the sport he loves, and to ultimately pick a match and make arrangements for me. Take that, choice paralysis!
On Wednesday 28th August, we drove over to Wolverhampton to watch Wolves play at home vs Burnley. With my youngest tagging along (a football fan in his own right), and football not exactly having the best reputation when it comes to rowdy supporters and out-of-match “shenanigans”, I was a little bit nervous about what to expect. Still, aside from one needlessly aggressive bloke a few seats over shouting abuse at both team’s players, I didn’t at any point feel unwelcome or threatened.
Seated on the back row of the side we were shooting towards in the first half (there’s probably some lingo here I’m missing) I had an excellent view over both our first goal and what appeared to be a near miss that had me jumping up from my seat – and rather embarassingly – nearly landing on my arse when I tried to sit back down and forgot the seats folded up.
I was surprised by how much easier it was to follow the ball in “real life” compared to bits I’ve seen on the TV and indeed how much smaller the pitch seemed; probably doesn’t feel that way when you’re running up and down it, mind you.
I could immediately see why people follow teams and attend matches. The atmosphere in the stadium was electric & contagious, and I felt myself chanting and shouting along even though I didn’t have a bloody clue what was happening half the time (don’t get me started on the offside rule?!) We ended up winning 2-0 and I genuinely enjoyed attending.
I can see me watching more live matches in future, and it’s not lost on me that I started unconsciously writing “we” about halfway through the post like a diehard Wolves fan already. Guess this is what trying new things is all about…
Last week I successfully climbed Scafell Pike, England’s highest peak, as part of item 3 on my 40 things before I’m forty challenge. I’ve been fascinated with the idea of climbing mountains since I saw a talk by Ed Viesturs (first American to climb all 14 of the “eight-thousander” mountains, and the 5th person to… read full entry »
I travelled to Turin, Italy for WordCamp Europe 2024 with Gaz last month. This was the first time we’d spent any meaningful amount of time together since our separation – not counting hourly taekwon-do lessons – and so I thought was going to be interesting. Turns out it was fairly uneventful, insomuch that it was… read full entry »
It is now approximately 2.5 months since Gaz and I mutually agreed our relationship was no longer viable as it was, and just over a month since he moved out. I found the first few days after he left sweet AF. Could have crowned me the Queen of Smugdom as I woke up easy breezy,… read full entry »
In my previous post, in which I announced the separation from my husband and likely impending doom of trying to buy him out of the mortgage, I joked that I might have to do Project £20k again. I probably shouldn’t have tempted fate, because as it turns out that this is the number that Gaz… read full entry »
Long term readers (are there any other type now? pretty sure I don’t get any new ones these days 😂) may recall that in 2014 after splitting from my ex – the children’s father – I launched “project £20k” to raise funds to buy my ex out of our joint mortgage. Well, as it turns… read full entry »
It’s 14:17 GMT. I’m sat in the front row of an aeroplane, once again en route to Athens in business class. Albeit a cheeky last minute upgrade bid this time rather than a full priced ticket. I’m traveling alone, off to support my partner as he runs his first marathon in the Greek capital. He… read full entry »
About this time last year I blogged about the chaos that was life at the time (nothing has changed, for the record) and one of the things I mentioned in passing was that I had nearly broke my marriage after fundamentally changing the very foundations of our commitment For the astute amongst you, you may… read full entry »
My brother should have been 42 today, and I’m finding his birthday and the upcoming anniversary of his death to be particularly hard this year. Since my autism diagnosis, and the advice to seek an ADHD assessment, I’ve been somewhat obsessively looking at family on both sides to see where “it” came from. I have… read full entry »
I’m currently sat in business class on a flight heading to Athens where I’ll be attending WordCamp Europe in a couple of days. We’re directly above the Swiss Alps and while I eat my complimentary breakfast and sip my fancy coffee I’m struck by the raw beauty of the landscape below; seemingly perfect undisturbed snow… read full entry »
