Mii and my Wii

Robin won a Wii at a drawing a while back. So, we started having a Game Night every now and then. Wendy, Carolyn and I go to Robin's little house and play games. We started out with the games that came with the Wii...sports like tennis, bowling, golf, boxing and baseball. I actually do okay with most of them. The game tells us when we need to rest. You can get quite winded in some of them.

A person can rent games at video rental businesses, so Robin rented one or two to see what game was enough fun to actually buy. A favorite was Mario Kart. A steering wheel that the game controller fits into is available so that you kind of feel that you are really driving. The steering wheel isn't necessary, but we now have four of them! Some of the games (for instance, boxing) require an additional controller, called a nunchuk. You hold a controller in one hand and the nunchuk in the other so that you can throw a punch with either hand. We all box like girls, but I assume we'd get better if we boxed more often.

Once we had Mario Kart, that's about all we played. Lots of different vehicles to choose from as well as many different circuits with various tracks in each circuit. Some are more fun than others. One is in the sky and I always get sweaty palms when we do that one. When there is only one player, the whole screen is devoted to that player. With two players, the screen is divided in half, and so on. You really need a bigger screen when four players are driving. Especially when two of the players are near-sighted. Sometimes we lose focus and then realize that the car we thought we were driving (and doing really well!) was actually someone else's and our car has been spinning it's wheels against a boulder.

At first, we all had to stand to drive...don't ask me why, we just felt like we needed to stand. I imagine it would have been very entertaining to watch us from behind...lots of english employed to make it around curves and through tight spaces. But now we're able to sit and feel like we know what we're doing.

I must say that our language has suffered somewhat. We probably would not want the little ones around while we play Mario Kart. The room is punctuated with many shouts of "Crap!", "Damn it!!!" and worse as our carts or bikes crash or get blown up by each other or one of the other characters that Wii has inserted in the race.

Mii's are our individual profiles. If I log in under my Mii, I can play in new areas that I have earned by performing well in existing areas. My Mii looks kind of like me. I was able to choose from many different eyes, noses, hair, etc. You can change the color, make features wider or narrower, move them up or down, add glasses and even freckles. Sort of like a sketch artist at the police department! The Wii knows how much I weigh...but, you have to tell it how tall you are. With 20/20 hindsight I realized I should have told it I was a lot taller!

We met for Game Night last night. Wendy couldn't come because they've changed text books again and she is updating her lectures once more.

This time we did Wii Fit. This game is designed to improve one's fitness. It comes with a unit that looks rather like a double-wide scale. It weighs you, calculates your BMI and after a few balance tests gives you what it considers your fitness age. My fitness age the first time was 75! Yikes, I'm 63! I didn't do very well in the balance tests, but was able to do okay in some of the balance games...skiing and hula hoops. There were others, but I can't remember what they were. There are other parts to Wii Fit...yoga, strength training, and aerobics. You are able to set a goal and a deadline for that goal. The balance games are the most fun...obviously, because they're games, while the other (yoga, aerobics, etc.) are actually a workout.

I enjoyed it enough to purchase my own Wii, Mario Kart and Wii Fit. The only one I've actually done at home is the Wii Fit. My second session had me at a fitness age of 55. The bad score on the first attempt was more a result of inexperience. Wii keeps track of the minutes you train in each session and rewards you with new balance games (Yay!) or more difficult moves or more reps. Yay?

A fun way to improve balance and posture. I guess the housework will have to remain in last place.

Me and my bat

I don't drive anywhere without my old wooden bat in the back of my GMC Yukon. Not for protection...imagine me saying to a bad guy, "Uh, could you just wait here a minute while I get something out of the back?" No, I use my bat for mechanicking. I know, no such word, unless you're from around here.

A few years ago a friend told Wayne that there is some bug (flaw, whatever) in the fuel tank area of the GMC SUVs. The bat is my only mechanicking knowledge, so I can't tell you what the problem is...only how you might be able to fix it. Since Chevrolet Tahoes supposedly roll off the same assembly line as the Yukons, this might apply to them, as well.

Here's what happens. You get all your stuff together: purse, grocery list, recyclables, water, library books, and hop behind the wheel. You stick the key in and turn it. It sounds like it's going to start, but it doesn't. After a very brief couple of seconds, you try again. Again, it doesn't start. Okay, one more time. Same result. Crap! Luckily for me, before this ever occurred for the first time, our friend had told Wayne about his experience. Evidently, after taking his truck to the (real) mechanic a time or two, he was told about the bug (flaw) and it was suggested that he get down on the ground near the gas tank, reach under and give the gas tank a whack. Whatever the bug is, apparently the whack takes care of it and the engine will now turn over.

For some reason I remembered this story that Wayne had gotten from our friend. So, I got down by the gas tank, but didn't feel like I could apply the whack with the proper intensity. What with the running board, the gas tank was a bit too far from the edge of the car. Looking around our garage, I saw the bat. I got back down so I could see where the gas tank was, stuck the bat under the car and using only one hand (really, how could I have used both hands?) and just the force from a wrist flex, I gave it a couple of whacks. Got in the car, turned the key and it started right up! That's when I put the bat in the back of the car. I can't remember if it has ever happened anywhere other than the garage or not. If it did, I'm sure I only had one knee on the ground to steady myself and did not look like I was taking a pee in the parking lot.

It just happened again, in the garage, as I was heading over to Carolyn's house to retrieve my glasses. And, once again, the bat did the trick. I would guess that this has occurred about 5 times in the last several years. A couple of whacks with the bat and I'm on my way again.

I just realized it's more likely that the first time it happened, I called Wayne. I'm guessing he came to the house and HE remembered the story. But, it's been all me ever since.

Nothing much to tell

Five and a half months since my last post. Tsk, tsk! Well, what can I say? The cows quit trying to rest by my house.

The only reason I started a blog in the first place was to keep everyone up to date on Wayne's condition during his surgery and recovery. Then, I started putting in things about the grandchildren. Well, now I have a blog for the Garners and I just started one for the Bubela's. It's ready to post, that is. I haven't actually put anything on it yet. I have links to those two blogs somewhere over to the right. I know, it makes no sense to start two more blogs...but I thought that the grands other grandparents would enjoy just the stories, photos and videos of the little ones without having to suffer through my other silliness. Cow conversations...really!

Cow conversations

I inadvertently eavesdropped on the conversation among a group of cows that had settled down with their calves for a little cud chewing and a “bull” session next door to us. The cows belong to our neighbors, Doris and Steve. I guess the mamoos wanted the calves to rest a bit. But then, here I came on my big, noisy Land Pride riding lawn mower. They didn’t seem too bothered when I mowed the far side of the yard, or the front yard , or the front part across the driveway and next to the road. They started to take notice, however, when I started on the side yard just feet from their spot across the fence. Of course, I picked this up through ESP, because the mower is too loud to allow regular conversation.

Brown cow #1 (Bossy): “Omigod! Is it that time of the year already?”

Brown cow #2 (Bessie): “It seems to come around sooner every year.”

Brown cow #3 (Maybelle): “The first really pretty day in a while and we have to listen to that junk!”

Black cow #1 (Lois): “It doesn’t even have a beat! And it’s so loud! You know she’ll ruin her hearing. I just don’t get what she likes about it.”

Bossy: “What I don’t get is why she just goes round and round on that noisy thing. It doesn’t even look like fun.”

Maybelle: “And just when we got the little ones to settle down. Now they’ll be up, running and jumping all over the place!”

Bessie: “It’s always the same, as soon as the grass gets tall enough for a nice graze, she runs around on that noisemaker till it’s too short to get your teeth into it.”

Lois: “I’ve heard stories for years about her. Do you know that one time instead of chopping the hay out of her flowerbeds, she set fire to it? Wouldn’t have taken a minute to pack it up and toss it over the fence to us instead.”

Bessie: “My grandmoo saw her picking dewberries with our Doris one time. Grandmoo said she actually jumped over a ditch full of water because she thought the ones on the other side looked bigger.”

Maybelle: “What would folks say if we did the same kind of thing? Imagine if we tried to crawl through a fence just because the grass looked greener on the other side? We’d never hear the end of it!”

A little while after I finished mowing, I thought I’d take the camera out to get a photo of the group. I tried to be non-intrusive, but this is what I heard them say.

Maybelle: “Now, what’s she doing? Skulking behind those bushes and looking at us!”

Bessie: “What’s that thing she pointing at us?”

Maybelle: “I’ve had enough! I’m outta here.”

She gets up and walks away. Two or three of the other cows and their calves line up after her and leave, also.

Lois: “See you on the other side of the pasture, girls.”

Bessie and Bossy watch Lois walk away.

Bossy: “Would you look at the rump on her?”

Bessie: “Well, I know some folks like a little junk in the trunk.”

Bossy: “I’m just saying.”

Bessie: “Whatever…let’s get going before they step all over the hay.”

And they left…single file.

The Big 4-3

Yesterday Wayne and I celebrated our 43rd wedding anniversary! We went out to dinner...by ourselves and enjoyed a nice meal at Greek Brothers. Amazingly, I don't think we talked about the kids or grandkids once, although we talked the entire time. Guess what subject dominated our conversation....you guessed it! Health, or the lack of it...ours and friends. We spoke of the many people we had recently learned had cancer, where they were being treated and how it was going. What a sad thing to have to admit. We ended this date with a quick trip through the grocery store.

Here's one of the photos from our wedding album. It's after the ceremony at Taiton and we're being driven to the Magnolia Tea Room in El Campo for the reception. My dad and mom and Aunt Ludene are in the front seat of the family car. The reception, by the way, set my dad back the grand sum of $300. Such a deal!

Carlee on the move

Just ten days ago I said that Carlee could only roll to reach her destinations. What a change since that time! Now she's almost manic in her attempts to traverse the distance from one place to another. At this point, it's still the military crawl..."She walks, she talks, she caaarrrawls on her belly like a reptile," but she manages to cover a lot of ground, with a lot of vocalizations as she's doing it. In this video, she sounds like she's saying, "I got it! I got it!" about a ball that she got, lost, got again and then abandoned on her way to my foot.

Sweet Carlee

Carlee is 9 months old now. How time has flown! She can sit by herself, but only after someone has helped into that position. She hasn't figured out how to crawl. Instead, she rolls. She has an idea of where she wants to go and rolls back and forth, adjusting as needed, until she gets there. She also hasn't tried to pull herself up. Until last week, if you tried to get her to stand, she would slowly lift her legs into a sitting position...while being held in mid-air. She must have some fabulous abs!

This video looks like she's doing a little sleight of hand with the balls that come out of this "gumball" machine. She handles them so effortlessly.

She loves the pumpernickel bread song on one of the Barney shows and watches intently whenever we play it for her. We can always get her to smile when we sing it to her. Carlee loves her big sister, Kate. Kate is very sweet with her and is very good at making her laugh.

It seems like I'm always talking about the bigger kids, so that's why I wanted to let you know a little about our sweet Carlee.