Sitting watching a World Cup special edition of Celebrity Come Dine With Me (yes Jen and Karen, that reference was thrown in for the both of you, I know how much you love it!) with my football crazy husband, I groaned audibly when one World Cup themed advert was swiftly followed by a second, then third. It reminded me of some advice given by Robert Bravery a few days ago.
He said (and I’m paraphrasing heavily) “The World Cup will dominate everything for the next few weeks. You might as well grab some of the traffic!”
How does a happiness loving, community inspiring, charity write about football? Add into the equation that this charity writer has been a football widow for more years than she cares to remember and it’s not looking like a natural subject for a blog post 
So instead, think of this as the antithesis of the World Cup. (Matthew, I did warn you didn’t I?!) It might be thought of as a cure or survival guide but it’s really just a way to stave off loneliness. How about I get us started with my favourites and you chip in with your additions? With a shift working husband I’m the Queen of Loneliness Cures (actually, I’m just the Princess of Loneliness Cures, I’m the Queen of Procrastination ) but I’d welcome some new ideas.
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Read a book
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Write a book
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Take a long hot bubble bath
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Got children? Start a special month long project together
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Exercise
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Find a hobby/passion/love
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Cook?
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Can’t beat ‘em? Join ‘em!
I had no intention of expanding on this list but just had to add that this could be the perfect opportunity to snuggle up with that epic.
Ditto the above, just substitute reading for writing. I’m looking forward to getting lots of writing done over the next few weeks 
I personally like to dig out my favourite bubbles and save them for emergencies such as this.
Credit must go to my own mum for this one. I still remember the pre-Christmas adventures we had as children making decorations for the tree.
Whether this be for the health benefits or to counteract the damage done by comfort eating 
, using anything as an excuse to move more is great.
As intimated above, I’m using my husband’s addiction to football as an excuse to engage in lots and lots of writing. I recently revamped my personal blog and it’s all set for the creative overspill that might not be welcome here
I’m not a great cook (dad, if mum is reading this, tell her to stop snorting!) but if you’re a bit of a dab hand in the warmest room in the house, why not see if you can create some themed concoctions? Be careful though. Cooking is always risky if boredom leans toward comfort eating
Some of the newspapers here in the UK are giving away massive posters for collating match results. They even some had some pretty stickers of all the little people Seriously though, there is something to be said for rolling up your sleeves and smiling sweetly.
Really? Hehehe, fooled you
How are you planning on coping when the loved ones in your life go all crazy over the wrong shaped ball? Let’s talk.
I’d love my own company but the prospect of talking to myself for a month is not so great What do you do to stave off loneliness?
Great tips here El and thanks for the Come Dine with Me reference (can you believe though… I missed that episode! I did watch another episode last night though!
)
My hubby’s not a huge footy fan but likes the odd game so I’ll definately use some of these tips then!
Jen
ps – lovely to have you back!
Twitter: GiveABrick
Thanks Jen
Good to be back 
Couldn’t resist adding CDWM in there. My hubby loves it and the WC ones were rather funny. I’m sure they’ll repeat them once or seven times
Twitter: SteveYoungs
Some great tips here, Eleanor. And the best thing is that they’d all apply equally well to other things as well. For instance, I’d highly recommend that everyone reading this should show it to their respective computer widows/widowers.
.-= Steve Youngs´s last blog ..MyLikes — The Latest Player In Social Media Advertising =-.
Twitter: GiveABrick
Ah Steve, you’ve just unveiled my secret plan. Look at the permalink for this post. Thanks to the advice of Dave Doolin (Website in a weekend) I’m more careful now about creating event sensitive permalinks. Gives me the opportunity to tinker with this post when the World Cup is no longer hot gossip
Glad you enjoyed it
Twitter: TheDrEgg
Why not combine the childrens month long project with the world cup theme. Lots of colouring opportunities as they work through what the teams are wearing, they can mark up the charts or even design their own etc.
.-= Dr Egg´s last blog ..Understanding behavioural responses to infections =-.
Twitter: GiveABrick
Hey Dad
I knew there was a reason why you and mum were a match made in heaven, that is an excellent suggestion
I’m so very fortunate and I love it. Boyfriend, who I’ll be leaving to go see in a couple days (YAY!) isn’t a fan of football (at least, of the soccer variety). Best. System. Ever.
.-= Heather´s last blog ..Comic Update =-.
Twitter: GiveABrick
Just you wait, he’ll find another addiction to torment you with once you’re spending time on the same continent
Oh don’t worry, I already have a few
Just thankfully football isn’t one of them.
.-= Heather´s last blog ..Children’s Literature Lesson: Greed =-.
Twitter: kruby
Hi Eleanor.
I don’t watch the World Cup, but can appreciate it’ rabid fans. I love Come Dine With Me – so entertaining. We just discovered the program here in Canada and I’m addicted to it every Sunday afternoon. There’s even talk about bringing the show to Canada – it should be so interesting to see what we serve up
Karen
.-= Karen´s last blog ..How Healthy Is Your Relationship? =-.
Twitter: GiveABrick
My husband is more of a CDWM fan than I am. He tends to watch it while I potter on here
It would be great to have a Canadian version, especially if they share it with us here in the UK too. Over here it is repeated, and repeated, and repeated, and … you get the idea 
Twitter: ralphcarlson
Eleanor,
Apparently what you need to do is use the excitement about the world cup to draw people to your site. http://www.viperchill.com/mass-google-traffic/ You can do all kinds of posts about being a soccer widow and referencing everything about the cup and get google to bring you traffic. Your husband won’t even know you are missing.
.-= Ralph´s last blog ..Finishing Strong – A Manifesto and Call to Action =-.
Twitter: GiveABrick
Thanks Ralph. I read a similar(ish) piece from Robert Bravery that prompted this post (even if the content was inspired by our Matthew
You might enjoy that too. It’s here: http://www.integralwebsolutions.co.za/Blog/EntryId/641/Using-the-FIFA-2010-Soccer-World-Cup-to-Drive-Traffic-to-Your-Site.aspx
What I liked about that Viperchill piece though (thanks for the link) was the implication that a post could be written, prepared with beautiful shiny keywords, all ready to go at the golden moment. Clever
Twitter: Bigredtomato
Love the mention Eleanor! Thank you!
I’m not a great football fan, but it’s hard not to get swept up in the expectation. When I saw that huge flag outside of the Council House I just had to share it!
Some great tips here, which could be included at any other time when X Factor is on for instance or how about Britian’s Got Talent?
Excellent link share from Ralph… checking that out now.
.-= Matthew Needham´s last blog ..How to create your dream chart =-.
Twitter: GiveABrick
Glad you enjoyed the link love. I read something somewhere about it being exceptionally bad to lose Google Juice by linking out lots by personally, I love including shout outs to all my Give A Brick friends. Google can keep their juice, I’d rather have fun with my friends
And you’re right, these tips can be applied to many situations. I might tinker with the title at a later date, add an introductory paragraph and bingo, an archived post brought back to life
[...] post about football to encourage traffic to the blog gave rise to a challenge. Monday’s post, How to survive the World Cup: loneliness cures for football widows was my reaction to that. It proved to be quite a popular [...]