(This is my usual TV viewing of late.)

I don’t watch much TV, for various reasons.  Mostly, just because I never have, so I’m not really in the habit.  Then there are all of the other things that I want to do with my time – read, blog, hike, garden, run, you name it.  TV is generally low on the list.  When the TV is on in our house, it’s usually showing a hockey game or – more often, these days – a Disney movie.  And of course, it’s been hard to watch anything for the past few months because we’ve been dealing with major toddler shenanigans at bedtime, which have eaten away pretty much every evening for the past six months.  Peanut started having problems at bedtime when we moved into our house and we indulged her for quite awhile because she was dealing with so much upheaval (new house and new school in the same two-day span, and a little brother only about six months later).  We’re finally sleep-training Peanut now, though; it’s long overdue.  I don’t want to say much about it for fear of jinxing things, but we’re actually seeing some progress and beginning to get our evenings back – it’s wonderful.  Lately Peanut has been decent about going to bed with minimum hysterics and Nugget has been falling asleep in my arms around the same time (he needs to be well asleep before we can put him down, but a snoozing baby is no trouble at all).  The result is that we’ve actually been able to chip away at some of the programs we do enjoy.  Here’s what we’ve been watching lately, and what’s next on the agenda:

• Downton Abbey – We were behind on this one, opting to wait for the Blu-Ray instead of record episodes on our DVR, because we didn’t know when we’d have time to watch anyway.  We’ve finally finished the sixth season.  I love Lady Rose, although Lady Mary is still my favorite.
• The National Parks: America’s Best Idea – We started watching this documentary when I was pregnant with Nugget, but didn’t have much time.  By the time we were able to press play, thanks to Peanut’s bedtime theatrics, I was usually half asleep anyway.  We’re finally prioritizing it and have been watching it little by little in the evenings since finishing Downton Abbey.
• Parks & Recreation – This is one of my favorite shows, and I haven’t seen the final season!  I think it’s probably going to be next on the agenda after we finish the national parks documentary.
• Game of Thrones – We’re way behind on this, thanks to my refusing to watch for months on end because I knew what was going to happen at the Red Wedding.  Finally, hubby watched the episode without me (I still haven’t seen it, and don’t plan to, thankyouverymuch) and now we need to move forward.  I’m trying to stay unspoiled about the seasons we’ve not yet seen, but it’s hard.  I’m also running out of Iron Throne contenders to root for.  I was torn between Robb and Dany, but now I suppose I’m throwing all my eggs into the Dany basket.  Please, no one tell me if that’s a bad idea.
• Wolf Hall – I started recording this Masterpiece series because I read and loved the first two books in the trilogy.  I was planning to watch it myself during maternity leave days, but after watching the first episode I realized that hubby would probably really enjoy it.  Now I’m trying to figure out when we can fit it into our viewing agenda.
• Stanley Cup Playoffs – Always.  Since our beloved Sabres aren’t in it (again) we were obviously rooting for the Caps.  But theyre out of it now, so we’re not heavily invested in any series, and we’ve just been tuning in and out as it suits us.

It feels so strange to have chunks of time again and actually be able to make a dent in this list of shows we want to watch.  Not that I’ll have time anytime soon, with all that we already have on the agenda, and this almost feels like bad luck so I’m knocking wood as I say it, but – any recommendations for me?