“We” would like to play……..

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According to the media, the hot gift this past Christmas was the Nintendo Wii gaming system. In the past, I couldn’t have told you the difference between a Playstation and an Xbox and my main concern with them was how to cut down on the playtime the grandkids spent on the couch in front of the TV. A few months before Christmas, this past year, I began to become intrigued by the commercials on TV for a new concept in gaming called a Wii. Maybe it was the unusual name, or the play on words in one of the commercials, interchanging Wii with “we”; but whatever it was that caught my attention, I decided to investigate. To my surprise, the more I looked at the descriptions of this new phenomenon, the more I thought I would like it - - well, not me personally, but to get it for the grandkids (oh, OK, for their daddy, too!). After all, the commercials promised fun for the whole family and the video clips of people playing the Wii games showed them up, off the couch, and doing things that looked suspiciously like exercise! After talking it over with Jeff, we decided that this would be our Christmas present to all of them last year. Of course, my timing couldn’t have been worse, because it was about that same time that everyone else in America decided that was what they also wanted Santa to bring. Although WE wanted a Wii, there was none to be found unless you got your name on a waiting list or you wanted to stand in line waiting for the trucks to unload in the vain chance that one might appear. No luck at Target, Toys R Us, Sears, Penneys, Wal-Mart, or any of the on-line stores – and this was in October! Visions of family togetherness and healthier pastimes spurred me on, however, and I diligently pursued every lead. Luckily, having a son who had connections at Wal-Mart became very helpful. I found out what day the truck was supposed to deliver three of the precious cargos and I made sure I was at the right place at the right time. Finally, the coveted Wii rested in our secret hiding place in the closet to await the Christmas festivities.
I was so tickled to have the consummate gift, which I knew the grandkids would never suspect they were getting. However, you can never underestimate the cleverness, or I guess in this case, the sheer luck, of children on a mission to discover what will be under all that wrapping paper they have to wait so long to tear into. Audrie and Jamie are in the habit of coming into my office after school and sometimes I let them do homework and research on my computer. Of course, this was the same computer that I had done some of my research about the Wii on. Unbeknown to me, these computer savvy whizzes are very observant of the history button on the search bar in Google! So it wasn’t long before I heard, via the grapevine, that Audrie had told Jamie that she knew what they were getting from NaNa and Poppa for Christmas. All of my hearty denials did not seem to put a dent in their enthusiasm for having found out! A plan must be commenced to foil such audacity – so the grownups put their heads together and came up with a clever little deception. We hadn’t planned on opening presents with our kids and grandkids until the day after Christmas. However, they would also be at the one we were having with Jeff’s family at our house on Christmas night. We wrapped the Wii and put it in the huge pile of gifts that would be opened that night. But we put Jeff’s brother Steve’s name on the tag and said it was from everybody. After all the other presents had been opened, we presented Steve with the wrapped Wii and said it was a special gift because he had been so good this year. Of course, Steve was privy to our little joke and played it to the hilt, professing surprise and trying to guess what it could be. He even mentioned how much he wanted a Wii, but that he knew that couldn’t be what was in the package. Audrie, Jamie and Zacharie were watching with wide eyes, as were Jeff’s teenage nieces and nephews, who weren’t in on the joke. When Steve finally got the package open and started gushing over the Wii, the expressions on the face of the kids (and the teenagers) was priceless! Steve kept going on and on about how much he wanted this and how hard they were to get, but he also said he just couldn’t accept it with all these kids sitting around that he knew would love one and he offered to give it to someone else who might want it. By that time, the kids had figured out what was going on and we all had a good laugh and a discussion about how too much snooping around might not turn out so good after all!
The hardest part for them was knowing they would have to wait until tomorrow to get it out of the box and actually play it. In fact, we had them leave it at our house for Poppa to hook up because they would be back the next day. After we had finished all our festivities the next day, it was finally time to get the Wii going. We had bought a few games to go with it, but we started out with the beginner games of bowling, baseball and boxing. Several hours later, we were still at it. And by we, I mean all of us, myself included. I’m sure we resembled some of the hilarious clips that they show on the Wii website of people learning to play. http://us.wii.com/experience_gallery.jsp What they say in the commercials is true – you do get up off the couch and get a very good workout on some of the games. It was just good family FUN!
We were leaving the weekend after Christmas to go to Owensboro with the grandkids to try ice-skating on the outdoor rink there (a novelty around these parts). Of course we had to bring the Wii along and enjoy it in between skate time. I don’t know what the kids enjoyed most or what gave them the most exercise – the ice-skating or the Wii games! I know they enjoyed both, but the Wii was a lot less COLD!
All in all, I am glad we decided to get one for them. I was actually sorry to see it leave when the kids finally took it home with them. It seems odd to me to pay compliments to a video game, but I really think the Nintendo people are onto something here. Recently I watched a news clip about a rehab center in Paducah that was using the Wii games as part of the therapy for stroke victims. And one of my friends that works at an area nursing home told me they had purchased one for the residents there. Now we are anxiously awaiting the release of the Wii Fit software this spring. It tracks your stamina and body mass index through exercise games. I can see some sore muscles coming up!
I admit it – I’m addicted; or at least I would be if they’d just bring it back and let me play with it!!!!!!!! Who would have thunk it!!!

Treasure in the Attic (or How Much Is a Fantasy Worth?)

Yesterday, Jeff and I spent some time sorting and cleaning in the attic. We hadn’t went through the boxes and stuff up there in over 10 years and since we are planning a big yard sale later this spring, it was time. Also, when they put our central heat and air in, the ductwork had to be put in the attic and everything had gotten jumbled up and pushed around. So with visions of Clean Sweep and Mission Organization in my head, we decided to go at it. The unfortunate thing about my sentimental nature is that I get so distracted by all the memories associated with the clutter that I spend way too much time reminiscing. We opened time capsule after time capsule from the 1960’s, 70’s and 80’s - all the toys from when our kids were little, along with boxes of stuff from previous jobs, baby clothes, and old magazines. I was in artifact heaven! How could I throw out such huge chunks of our past? To give myself incentive as I went through old memorabilia, I allowed myself to pick out a few things that I thought I could use in scrapbooking before pitching the rest. Some things I lay aside to send to Sarah or give to Nathan or the grandkids. It was a struggle, however, I did manage to eliminate 6 bags and 4 huge boxes of junk. But we are only about one-third of the way done!
One of the things I did permit myself to bring downstairs was a box of old comic books that had been Jeff’s when he was a boy. Jamie is really into fantasy and comic books lately, reading them and even writing and illustrating his own stories and making power point presentations about super heroes. The grandkids were coming over that night for supper, so I stacked them in my keep box and brought them downstairs. I knew Jamie would love reading them because there were a lot of titles that weren’t around any more. I thought he would get a kick out of seeing the 12 cent to 25 cent price tags. Sure enough, as soon as we had finished eating, Jamie pulled the box out and started diving into the comics. Soon he found a slip of paper in one of them with some handwritten prices next to the names of some of the comics. He called Jeff in to ask him about it. Jeff remembered that many years ago he had attempted to price the comics for sale. Jamie was excited by some of the amounts he saw, $5.00, $10.00, $15.00, etc. Now, Jeff was even getting interested. He suggested to Jamie that they go online to see what some of them might be selling for on E-bay. I was playing with Zacharie in another room and I kept hearing their animated voices and suddenly Jamie yelled out, “Jackpot!” Audrie and I ran in to see what was going on. Jamie held up one of the comic books and shouted, “$125.00!!!” The funny thing was it was one of the comics that neither him nor Jeff had heard of – something called Homer, the Happy Ghost. Audrie had to join in the search and she was the designated tracker, adding up all the prices. They went through most of the books and Audrie didn’t even record the lesser priced ones and there were many that were worth $10 to $20. But the eleven highest priced copies were worth over $450.

Visions of Playstation 3's danced in Jamie's head and Audrie began dreaming about a Disney vacation. Practical Nana had to chime in with the thought that if they were worth that much now, how much would they be worth when Jamie and Audrie were older? It was so much fun to watch the grandkid’s excitement. They spent the rest of the time until they went home just going over the list again. After they left, I said to Jeff, “You know, whether or not we ever actually sell the books or not, I have gotten a priceless amount of enjoyment just watching the kids tonight.” And it might be worthwhile to take a harder look at some of the other things in the attic before I pitch them out!

Remember, that thou art dust....

Ashes
By Tom Conry

We rise again from ashes,
from the good we’ve failed to do.
We rise again from ashes,
to create ourselves anew.
If all our world is ashes,
then must our lives be true,
an offering of ashes,
an offering to you.

We offer you our failures,
we offer you attempts.
The gifts not fully given,
the dreams not fully dreamt.
Give our stumblings direction,
give our visions wider view,
an offering of ashes,
an offering to you.

Then rise again from ashes,
let healing come to pain,
though spring has turned to winter,
and sunshine turned to rain.
The rain we’ll use for growing
and create the world anew,
from an offering of ashes,
an offering to you.

We sang this song at Ash Wednesday services tonight. It seemed especially poignant and fitting in light of the death and destruction caused by the storms last night. I felt so sad this morning, looking at all the reports on the news. When it happens so close by and I realize that it could just as well been our house or our town or the lives of our friends and family, it really brings the horror home. The storms that came through our area were very strong, but no tornados. There was damage in our county with some barns destroyed, the roof blown off one of the popular drive-in restaurants in town, many limbs down and various other damage to homes and property, but nothing like the destruction elsewhere in the state and neighboring states. This was truly one for the record books. Let us keep all the victims and their families in our thoughts and prayers.

On a little lighter note, Sarah had called me after one of the earlier storms came through and said they had tornado warnings out for the area around her house. The news alert came on for everyone to take immediate cover. Sarah went to open her front door to step out and see what it looked like. After quickly looking at the sky to see if she was in immediate danger, she looked up and down the street. Every house on her street had someone standing out in the yard or at their front door!! They could all hear the tornado sirens going off and could see the darkening sky, yet they all were standing outside with their necks craning upward to see what they could see. Sarah said she couldn’t help but laugh at how foolish she and her neighbors seemed to be, gawking at the sky in the face of danger, even as she gathered Max up and they headed to her interior bathroom. Luckily, the storm passed over them also.

February - where the Tuesday's are fat and the Groundhogs rule

"If Groundhog Day be fair and bright,
Winter will have another flight,
But if Groundhog Day brings cloud and rain,
Winter is gone and won't come again."

Phil's official forecast as read 2/2/08 at sunrise at Gobbler's Knob:

Hear Ye! Hear Ye! Hear Ye!
On Gobbler's Knob on this fabulous Groundhog Day, February 2nd, 2008Punxsutawney Phil, the Seer of Seers, Prognosticator of all Prognosticators,Rose to the call of President Bill Cooper and greeted his handlers, Ben Hughes and John Griffiths.
After casting a weather eye toward thousands of his faithful followers,Phil consulted with President Cooper and directed him to the appropriate scroll, which proclaimed:
"As I look around me, a bright sky I see, and a shadow beside me. Six more weeks of winter it will be!"
from http://www.groundhog.com/

It is common knowledge around this state that if you don’t like the weather one day, just stay awhile and you will get something different. Last week I wrote about my unexpected and long hoped for snow day. Saturday, that pesky groundhog saw his shadow and the wimpy little thing hightailed it back into his hole. However, he evidently has no influence on his fellow groundhogs in our area. They, being a more hardy southern lot, aren’t afraid of a little shadow and they said, “Let it be spring!” The temperature today set a record at 75 degrees. And now we are looking at a twenty-degree or more drop in temperature tonight. We have had severe thunderstorms and tornado warnings all evening and they are still going on as I write. The news has announced that a tornado went through a trailer park near Hopkinsville and that 3 people are dead.

We just got back from the Emergency Room (pulling into the parking lot just as the tornado sirens were going off) where we spent almost four hours in a packed waiting room. We were waiting with our oldest grandson who was running a 103 fever, coughing, headache – all the usual signs of the flu. Of course, 95% of the other people there had the same thing. According to the morning news, our county has really been hit hard with the flu this week. The nurse in the ER said they had served a record number of people on Sunday and double the amount they usually see per hour everyday since then. If it hadn’t been for Jamie’s fever, we probably wouldn’t have stayed, but it was going up even with ibuprofen. Poor thing – he slept most of the time with his head in my lap! I guess that’s what Nana’s are for! Now I am really glad that I got my flu shot this year and I hope it will be effective. When we finally got in to see the doc, Jamie got a dose of tamiflu and we were on our way. But, I knew Jamie was really sick when he didn’t even cheer when the doctor told him to stay home the rest of the week.

Happy Mardi Gras! Our weather today seems to mimic this liturgical season. Trading the excesses of Fat Tuesday for the ashes and austerity of Lent can be as jarring to the system as our wildly unpredictable weather. But, I rather look forward to the reflective nature of the next 40 days and the challenges and changes it may bring to me.