Do We Wii? Oui! (Wheeee!)

Sorry about that. It had to be done.

Last week I was browsing Craigslist hoping to get some insight into pricing some orphaned electronics piling up in my house... I saw an offer for a brand new Nintendo Wii posted by a person living near my house, intact factory packaging, retail receipt; priced just above retail (they literally FLY off the shelves making them quite difficult to find; I didn't mind paying the "broker fee"). A quick exchange of emails and cash, my family has been in game heaven since Friday evening.

I'm not at all someone who has ever enjoyed video games, except for some brief intrigue over the possibility of playing Space Invaders with some High School hotties... when Rob put the idea forward, I was supportive but not really enthused. That all changed after a visit to Melissa's---her husband is the oldest kid I've ever met and he owns every major game console ever marketed. The Wii is just too fabulous. I don't want to belabor its features in the event you all know about it but basically, Nintendo has revolutionized game play by re-engineering the player-interface. The wireless Wiimote (how cute) responds to motion in all dimensions and speed. This makes it particularly well suited for sports games, such as tennis and bowling. Additionally, its wi-fi capable and allows some limited internet browsing through the device on your television and downloading of games, sharing of game stuff with other internet players.

So far Haley is the household tennis champ but that's only because she's had more time with the game than anyone. I will tell you that Saturday morning, we all awoke with sore arms and other body parts from enthusiastic game play. Its a totally new way to play: not sedentary, very social. I love, love, love it. I think its also priced much more reasonably than its competitors' offerings.

In addition to the sports games (I also love Bowling; the other sports are kind of dull to me), I purchased two adventure games: Elebits and Rayman's Raving Rabbids. Not being a gamer heretofore (with the exception of Dreamwork's The Neverhood (Klayman!) for pc) I find them delightfully amusing and challenging. RRR is actually a series of mini-challenges, many of which involve dancing bunnies and use of the Wiimote in a way that essentially has the players dancing to be successful.

Fun! Worth the money! And its more leverage: I can threaten the kids with reduction of Wii priveleges!

Knitting
Knitting, knitting, knitting. Its hard to fit in among the Wiiplay, the guitar plinking, the sudoku, the housework, cooking and child care.... but I'm enjoying my current secret project. I'm trying to kick up the pace a bit to finish it because I desperately want to begin another pair of socks and I've promised to not have more than three projects on the needles at once...

This weekend is the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival which is just the hugest deal in knitting (and sheep farming, I suppose) circles of these parts. I've never made it before so I'm not quite sure what to expect but if other bloggers and knitters can be trusted, I might need to bring all of my money with me. Apparently there's lots of yarn-to-die-for, great deals, great fun. In anticipation of same, I have invoiced my "client" for recent services before I would have otherwise. I haven't bought any new yarn in months---probably 3 months. But that doesn't mean I need any; I have tons. Those things taken together predict a serious hit for the budget.

The Gardening
All of the flowering annuals have bee placed in their pots, the deck is looking lovely. I have to dig up the veggie garden after a couple of years of not putting anything in. Then there's also the planting of the tree and I'm not really looking forward to digging that hole.

The LOVs photographed here last week are all flowered now and I have a hard time not cutting them and bringing them indoors with me. The plants around Beth's tree and on the side of the house are coming along quite nicely as well so it seems I'll have plenty of them, at long last...

I am woman, hear me roar
I've been putting it off for long enough. Its time to embark on my springtime exterior house work. I'll begin with taking care of the mildewing and somewhat water-rotting columns at the front of our house. Thereafter moving directly to scraping and re-painting the wood trim.... the joys of homeownership.

A Stay-at-Home Mommy, a kept woman
Well, there's just no doubt about how right this decision has been. It seems like every single day there's some validation: my MIL has had a couple of brief hospitalizations and needed a lot of shuttling to physicians' offices, Rob has been absolutely ambushed at work and is needing a lot of TLC and respite at home, the kids show such obvious benefit of the additional time and effort I can make in their behalf toward school, playing, etc.

I'm so content. I enjoy lavishing attention on all of them, taking care of so many things for Rob so his time at home is restorative and pleasant. It feels very "Donna Reed" but I don't care; it feels right.