Wii Three Kings
Hello World,
Merry Christmas! It's hard to believe after all the hoopla and build-up that the big day has already come and gone, and somehow the world seems pretty much the same way it was the day before as the day after, when all is said and done. But I always say that any adventure that you can walk away from and live to tell the tale, is a good thing and in these crazy days, not something to be taken for granted. So whether you spent the holiday at work, at the casino, on vacation, or in the very epitome of the most Norman Rockwell version of the perennial tradition, once you've gotten all the way through it to the day after, you've got something to celebrate right there.
Of course, Christmas is the 900-pound gorilla in the field of holiday merchandising, and nothing else even comes close to warming the cockles of retailers' hearts like the holly jolly jingle jangle of cash registers ringing up sales for Santa's big day. On the other hand, it's hard to keep the attention of merchants at the best of times, which these certainly aren't, and being the top banana might not even be enough to keep you in their good graces until the very end. It was on Tuesday, December 23, that I was looking to get a Christmas card at the hospital's gift shop, which happens to be a franchise of particular Hallmark stores that they have located in hospitals all over the country. Because they cater to hospital patients and staff, they carry a lot of baby gifts, activity items like crossword puzzles and travel games, and personal care items such as toothpaste, deodorant, aspirin and shampoo. Most of their cards are get well cards, but they also have a few birthday and seasonal cards, for people like me who need a card at the last minute and can't get to a store outside in time. Two full days before Christmas, there was not a single Christmas card to be had in the entire store, no matter where you looked. I followed the card racks along through all the get well and new baby cards, until I got to a section that was all red, and figured that I had hit pay dirt in my quest for Christmas cards. I actually laughed out loud when I saw that it was a display of Valentine's Day cards instead, and don't forget, this was still before Christmas. So despite being the darling of retailers the world over, Christmas had worn out its welcome in our gift shop, and got the old heave-ho, just like any other second-rate has-been in the jungle of commerce nowadays, and that's not just a lot of ho-ho-ho.
Last Friday, we had a bad snowstorm in the area that made conditions treacherous for getting around, causing me to leave work early, and closing our diner so early that we had to eat dinner at home for a change, and not one for the better, I can tell you that. Saturday was clear but cold, and although the roads were mostly clear by then, trying to go shopping was an exercise in futility, as the parking lots and sidewalks were dangerous and impassable. I did some shopping anyway, although it could not be recommended, and also went to extra choir practice at church, and pitched in with their decorating crew putting up wreaths, garland, poinsettias and the Christmas tree. I went in early to church on Sunday for more choir practice, and it was pouring rain, making the snow and ice underfoot even more slippery for drivers and pedestrians alike. Bill and I went back later in the afternoon for Lessons & Carols, and in a turn of events that can only be described as providential, the sun came out just in time for people to start arriving for this beloved annual festival of hymns and scripture readings about The Nativity Story. The program went pretty well, all things considered, and seemed to be well received by an indulgent audience of mostly friends and relatives of the singers and musicians. Bill did his usual admirable job on the videotaping detail, and not to point fingers at any under-performing participants, but an inordinate amount of mistakes in the soprano ranks were made by someone who looked suspiciously like me, although heaven knows with so much extra choir practice, that should not have been a problem. One interesting aspect of Lessons & Carols for me is that the choir finally gets a chance to hear the other musicians and soloists who have been practicing separately from us, so a lot of the program is new and different for us too, even though we're singing in it. Because our music director is retiring, we had a party for her afterwards, where we showered her with parting gifts, and if hugs and kisses were money instead, she could have retired rich as well as happy. Best of all, the spirit of Antonio Vivaldi did not rise up and strike us all dead for ruining his exquisite Laudamus Te, although Bill said it was probably because we did such a bad job of it that the poor man wouldn't even have recognized it, much less been outraged by our amateurish attempt at his classic.
No one would have convinced me last Friday, when it was snowing as well as frigid, that by the following Thursday, it would be warm and sunny with no left-over snow anywhere, but that's what happened on Christmas in these parts. For many years of our marriage, we've gotten up at ungodly hours of the morning, like 4:00 AM, to open presents, and while we weren't trying for anything outrageously early this time around, I certainly wasn't expecting to still be sound asleep at 8:30, which sets a new record for me sleeping late on Christmas, as far as I can remember. We started by opening our stocking presents and had a lot of fun with that, and Bill is very patient with me when he unwraps peculiarities like bird feathers, promotional items from work, and found objects like beat-up spoons and bottle openers that I find in parking lots and feel deserve a good home. After that, we packed up and headed for Long Island, but first I needed to stop at CVS for some plastic utensils to bring, in conjunction with a copious picnic hamper that we were carrying with us. First we stopped at the nearby 24-hour CVS, and not only was the store mobbed with crowds, but you couldn't get in the parking lot, it was just a total madhouse. On top of all that, they had no plastic utensils, so we left empty-handed, which was probably just as well. It turned out the supermarket was closed for the holiday, so we tried another CVS in a different town, and when we pulled in the parking lot, and saw no one there, we figured they were closed as well. Bill said I should go try the door anyway, which I did, and was surprised to find it open, and when I went inside, there was not a soul in the place, but one lonely CVS employee who was vacuuming the carpet. They had a whole shelf of plastic utensils, and I hurried out of there flush with success and glad of it.
We reconnoitered with the family at Mom's house and then all went to the diner for lunch, which was very tasty, and took advantage of the rampant commercialism of the holiday to run some errands besides. When we got back, there were plenty of presents to go around, and there didn't seem to be any complaints, so Santa's elves must have done a good job of choosing just the right gifts for the occasion. Our original plan was to leave early and go home to open our own presents, but the day sort of got away from us, in all the fun and frivolity, and we ended up staying until very late, so that even with no traffic to speak of, we got home after 11:00 PM and could not muster up enough energy for anything more than falling asleep on some furniture, rather than on our feet.
Luckily, we were both off from work on Friday, so we woke up in the morning for Merry Christmas 2, The Sequel, and wished all of the cats "merry Christmas" all over again, and gave them special treats and new toys to play with. We settled down to the serious business of opening presents, which quickly turned into a cornucopia of goodies that would effectively belie the bleak economic reports, so I think we can lay those rumors to rest once and for all, at least in our house. I got a new Asus 900 netbook in purple that I had been longing for, as well as a new camping watch, USB keyboard, books, DVD's, shelves, rain boots and a clock radio that serves as a docking station for my MP3 player. Bill was surprised to unwrap an IOU for a new cello, updated maps for the GPS, a Slingbox Solo media system, Nintendo Wii and an underwater camera built into a swim mask, which has a cool factor that would be hard to beat. In a class by itself would be a small wooden Viking ship with two small wooden Vikings (with toothpicks as spears) and wooden shields that say Salt and Pepper, which are indescribably cute and too funny for words. Bill already set up the Wii, which is no mean feat on our old TV set that is already connected to the cable service and set-top box, a VCR, DVD player, and TiVo service all at the same time. And while Bill possesses special wizardry to be able to set up complicated electronic components far beyond mere mortals, he admits that he's going to need a lot more practice to improve at the Wii games that he's tried so far, and he's thinking of quitting his job to devote more time to honing his game-playing skills. That may be a fanciful notion dreamed up in the heat of the moment, but we can't rule out the possibility that he's determined to stand up to the Wii, no matter what it takes. After all, everyone knows that Wii-bles wobble, but they don't fall down.
Merry Christmas! It's hard to believe after all the hoopla and build-up that the big day has already come and gone, and somehow the world seems pretty much the same way it was the day before as the day after, when all is said and done. But I always say that any adventure that you can walk away from and live to tell the tale, is a good thing and in these crazy days, not something to be taken for granted. So whether you spent the holiday at work, at the casino, on vacation, or in the very epitome of the most Norman Rockwell version of the perennial tradition, once you've gotten all the way through it to the day after, you've got something to celebrate right there.
Of course, Christmas is the 900-pound gorilla in the field of holiday merchandising, and nothing else even comes close to warming the cockles of retailers' hearts like the holly jolly jingle jangle of cash registers ringing up sales for Santa's big day. On the other hand, it's hard to keep the attention of merchants at the best of times, which these certainly aren't, and being the top banana might not even be enough to keep you in their good graces until the very end. It was on Tuesday, December 23, that I was looking to get a Christmas card at the hospital's gift shop, which happens to be a franchise of particular Hallmark stores that they have located in hospitals all over the country. Because they cater to hospital patients and staff, they carry a lot of baby gifts, activity items like crossword puzzles and travel games, and personal care items such as toothpaste, deodorant, aspirin and shampoo. Most of their cards are get well cards, but they also have a few birthday and seasonal cards, for people like me who need a card at the last minute and can't get to a store outside in time. Two full days before Christmas, there was not a single Christmas card to be had in the entire store, no matter where you looked. I followed the card racks along through all the get well and new baby cards, until I got to a section that was all red, and figured that I had hit pay dirt in my quest for Christmas cards. I actually laughed out loud when I saw that it was a display of Valentine's Day cards instead, and don't forget, this was still before Christmas. So despite being the darling of retailers the world over, Christmas had worn out its welcome in our gift shop, and got the old heave-ho, just like any other second-rate has-been in the jungle of commerce nowadays, and that's not just a lot of ho-ho-ho.
Last Friday, we had a bad snowstorm in the area that made conditions treacherous for getting around, causing me to leave work early, and closing our diner so early that we had to eat dinner at home for a change, and not one for the better, I can tell you that. Saturday was clear but cold, and although the roads were mostly clear by then, trying to go shopping was an exercise in futility, as the parking lots and sidewalks were dangerous and impassable. I did some shopping anyway, although it could not be recommended, and also went to extra choir practice at church, and pitched in with their decorating crew putting up wreaths, garland, poinsettias and the Christmas tree. I went in early to church on Sunday for more choir practice, and it was pouring rain, making the snow and ice underfoot even more slippery for drivers and pedestrians alike. Bill and I went back later in the afternoon for Lessons & Carols, and in a turn of events that can only be described as providential, the sun came out just in time for people to start arriving for this beloved annual festival of hymns and scripture readings about The Nativity Story. The program went pretty well, all things considered, and seemed to be well received by an indulgent audience of mostly friends and relatives of the singers and musicians. Bill did his usual admirable job on the videotaping detail, and not to point fingers at any under-performing participants, but an inordinate amount of mistakes in the soprano ranks were made by someone who looked suspiciously like me, although heaven knows with so much extra choir practice, that should not have been a problem. One interesting aspect of Lessons & Carols for me is that the choir finally gets a chance to hear the other musicians and soloists who have been practicing separately from us, so a lot of the program is new and different for us too, even though we're singing in it. Because our music director is retiring, we had a party for her afterwards, where we showered her with parting gifts, and if hugs and kisses were money instead, she could have retired rich as well as happy. Best of all, the spirit of Antonio Vivaldi did not rise up and strike us all dead for ruining his exquisite Laudamus Te, although Bill said it was probably because we did such a bad job of it that the poor man wouldn't even have recognized it, much less been outraged by our amateurish attempt at his classic.
No one would have convinced me last Friday, when it was snowing as well as frigid, that by the following Thursday, it would be warm and sunny with no left-over snow anywhere, but that's what happened on Christmas in these parts. For many years of our marriage, we've gotten up at ungodly hours of the morning, like 4:00 AM, to open presents, and while we weren't trying for anything outrageously early this time around, I certainly wasn't expecting to still be sound asleep at 8:30, which sets a new record for me sleeping late on Christmas, as far as I can remember. We started by opening our stocking presents and had a lot of fun with that, and Bill is very patient with me when he unwraps peculiarities like bird feathers, promotional items from work, and found objects like beat-up spoons and bottle openers that I find in parking lots and feel deserve a good home. After that, we packed up and headed for Long Island, but first I needed to stop at CVS for some plastic utensils to bring, in conjunction with a copious picnic hamper that we were carrying with us. First we stopped at the nearby 24-hour CVS, and not only was the store mobbed with crowds, but you couldn't get in the parking lot, it was just a total madhouse. On top of all that, they had no plastic utensils, so we left empty-handed, which was probably just as well. It turned out the supermarket was closed for the holiday, so we tried another CVS in a different town, and when we pulled in the parking lot, and saw no one there, we figured they were closed as well. Bill said I should go try the door anyway, which I did, and was surprised to find it open, and when I went inside, there was not a soul in the place, but one lonely CVS employee who was vacuuming the carpet. They had a whole shelf of plastic utensils, and I hurried out of there flush with success and glad of it.
We reconnoitered with the family at Mom's house and then all went to the diner for lunch, which was very tasty, and took advantage of the rampant commercialism of the holiday to run some errands besides. When we got back, there were plenty of presents to go around, and there didn't seem to be any complaints, so Santa's elves must have done a good job of choosing just the right gifts for the occasion. Our original plan was to leave early and go home to open our own presents, but the day sort of got away from us, in all the fun and frivolity, and we ended up staying until very late, so that even with no traffic to speak of, we got home after 11:00 PM and could not muster up enough energy for anything more than falling asleep on some furniture, rather than on our feet.
Luckily, we were both off from work on Friday, so we woke up in the morning for Merry Christmas 2, The Sequel, and wished all of the cats "merry Christmas" all over again, and gave them special treats and new toys to play with. We settled down to the serious business of opening presents, which quickly turned into a cornucopia of goodies that would effectively belie the bleak economic reports, so I think we can lay those rumors to rest once and for all, at least in our house. I got a new Asus 900 netbook in purple that I had been longing for, as well as a new camping watch, USB keyboard, books, DVD's, shelves, rain boots and a clock radio that serves as a docking station for my MP3 player. Bill was surprised to unwrap an IOU for a new cello, updated maps for the GPS, a Slingbox Solo media system, Nintendo Wii and an underwater camera built into a swim mask, which has a cool factor that would be hard to beat. In a class by itself would be a small wooden Viking ship with two small wooden Vikings (with toothpicks as spears) and wooden shields that say Salt and Pepper, which are indescribably cute and too funny for words. Bill already set up the Wii, which is no mean feat on our old TV set that is already connected to the cable service and set-top box, a VCR, DVD player, and TiVo service all at the same time. And while Bill possesses special wizardry to be able to set up complicated electronic components far beyond mere mortals, he admits that he's going to need a lot more practice to improve at the Wii games that he's tried so far, and he's thinking of quitting his job to devote more time to honing his game-playing skills. That may be a fanciful notion dreamed up in the heat of the moment, but we can't rule out the possibility that he's determined to stand up to the Wii, no matter what it takes. After all, everyone knows that Wii-bles wobble, but they don't fall down.
posted by El Tango Fandango @ 8:30 PM
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