A Wii Christmas Story

Or: Another Lesson Learned the Hard Way

Before I begin, there are a couple of things I should tell you. We celebrated Christmas Eve’s at my daughter’s. My parents were there, my sister and brother-in-law, one nephew, and us. My sister brought my daughter a hostess gift. It was a life-sized pineapple on a pedestal, the symbol of hospitality. It was a bit heavy. It looked lovely on her coffee table. I provided the gumbo and I also received a pineapple.

The second helpful bit of info is that I played in a tennis league when we lived in Houston. I absolutely loved playing but when we moved here, there was no place to play other than the country club or the racket club and we could not afford the dues for that so I have not played tennis in over ten years. I am not a very competitive or aggressive person in everyday life, but something about being on a tennis court brings out my competitive and aggressive side.

So, the story is, my daughter got a Wii for Christmas. One of the college girls in the office was also getting one and she was so excited. We had the discussion about how older people are enjoying the games as a way to get them up and moving around a bit. All this time, I just did not get it. What was the big deal? But when we arrived early on Christmas Eve (to start heating up the gumbo), she had the game on and was playing tennis. She looked so funny swinging that little game paddle thing around, dipping and swooshing to hit the ball. Did I tell you that I love the sound of a tennis ball hitting the sweet spot on a racket? Oh I do.

Well of course I had to try my hand at this silly game. I played several matches before all the other guests arrived. My husband coached me from the couch (on all the things I was doing wrong!) until I asked if he wanted to try it and my daughters wished they had a video camera to catch all my action. It was fun! I played again before I went home and told my daughter I would return on Christmas evening after all the relatives had gone home (I thought they would never all leave!).

The second day of my tennis career revival, we laughed about how they have all the warnings about making sure you have plenty of room to play and said things like “I am so sure. All you do is stand here and wave the wand towards the ball on the TV set.” And “They have to put warnings on everything these days. Common sense will tell you how much room you need.” She got me all set up and man, I was doing great. My skill level was moving up and I had figured out how to guide the ball away from the players on the other side.

My only weak spot was in returning the serves of the other team. For some reason I could not consistently return their serves. I was determined to master this. I was moving around and shuffling my feet in preparation for receiving the serve. I was even getting slightly winded from all my enthusiasm. I was improving. But I did not notice how close I had gotten to the coffee table, the coffee table with the big, heavy, hard hospitality pineapple so prominently displayed in all its regal glory. The last serve came at me very fast. I dipped slow and backhanded the ball with a great swing and followed all the way through with my “racket”, straight into the pineapple. My middle finger of my left hand was smashed between the pineapple and the game controller. The pineapple finally moved and fell off the table. There was a big hole in it and when it hit the table’s edge, it cracked wide open. I looked down to see blood gushing from my finger and then it started throbbing. I ran to the sink to rinse it off and put some ice on it. My daughter was having a hard time trying to decide whether to laugh or to worry about my finger. It hurt. I sat down for a few minutes and being the warrior that I am, I bravely tried to play another match. I just could not return the serves so I gave it up for the night and sat and visited with my daughter. I told her I would give her my pineapple to replace her broken one.

Boys and girls, if you play Wii, make sure you always have plenty of room to play the game. If you are not careful, you could sustain an injury.

(Don't read if you are squeamish!! Today the swelling has almost disappeared but the ugly bruise is still there and I just noticed it is oozing blood around my cuticle. I hope that does not mean my nail is detaching right there.)

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to All

I made Christmas cards using this image. I was a little slow finishing my job. I hope to get them in the mail tomorrow!

Flawed Economics

We had a truck towed in today, a 2008 Chevy Silverado, with bullet holes. The owner stopped by to sign an authorization to repair and our young boss said, “I have to ask, why did you put bullet holes in your truck?" The only part of the customer’s answer I heard was, “Well, you know, I’m a coonass*…” I did hear him say at the end of the story that he had not been in a wreck in six years and he’d only had this truck five months.

When the customer was gone, and my young boss was bringing me the paper work, I had to ask him what the story was. He said “The guy got drunk and shot holes in his tailgate because he did not want to buy the decals.” I asked him, “What decals?” and he answered, “You know, those bullet hole decals like Dad has on his truck.”

Some people will to great lengths to save a few bucks.

*Some Cajun people refer to themselves as "coonass". It is a slang term, I believe, one that is sometimes insulting depending on who uses the word and how it is used. I don't often use it, since I am neither a Cajun or a coonass.

Bits and Pieces

Yesterday was the 13^th anniversary of my brother’s death. I don’t think about it so often anymore, but thoughts of him always come to me around this time of year. I find myself wishing I could sit and visit with again for just a couple of hours. The picture above is the back of his tombstone. He and his wife had no children, other than the four legged kind in the picture.

The anti-depressant has made everything flat. The sadness is no longer overwhelming, but it is still here. It’s like I no longer care about anything, and I don’t care that I don’t care. It will be all right. Eventually.

It would be easier without the stress of Christmas breathing down my neck. Nothing is done. Yet. I read an article in today’s paper that said Protestants once eschewed the celebration of Christmas. Maybe I will become that kind of Protestant! I don’t know how long ago this was. My parents certainly celebrated the holiday, and I believe their parents before them did also.

The temperature is supposed to be in the thirties in the morning. It's cool and breezy outside now with the wind coming out of the north. I love it. But I think the temps are supposed to climb back up again before Christmas. I think it is a pure-dee sin to have a Christmas that it is so hot we have to wear shorts to be comfortable. Yuck.

Thinkwriting

Wow! Post every day for thirty days and then disappear for six! I thought my computer had finally died Monday evening, but it turned out Ma Bell was having a few problems and I could not get online. I'm still here.

Some of you will remember this recent post, where I ruminated about the perils of possibly being "outed" in my real life as a blogger because someone I knew was starting a blog.

That someone is Candis and she is the mastermind behind a process she calls Thinkwriting. I joined one of her groups back in May. It has been an interesting and frustrating six months for me. The problem, I think, is mainly due to my personality and my tendency to be somewhat guarded. I am getting better at it. I have learned a few new things about myself. I also enjoy the camaraderie. It's one of those things I do for me.

Anyway, go check her blog out and read a little about the process of Thinkwriting. Leave a comment for her if you are so inclined. You know how it was when you first started out and you loved getting new comments! She is the third person from my real life who knows about my blog. I am excited that she has started blogging and glad to see her commenting here (Hi Candis!).

(Yes, I've posted the cow before but I really like her and I was ruminating, again!)