Thursday, January 18, 2007

The Eagle Has Landed (and so has the Wii)





The Wii(s) arrived a week ago!! (It looks better somehow to type "Wii(s)" as opposed to "Wiis". It's easier to read. So that's why I'm doing it. I know it's probably not correct punctuation. But this is my blog. So who cares?) We got a Wii, Taylor got one, and our friend Ben got one. We also got a LOT of controllers, as you can see. And Rhett's favorite birthday present, Wedgehead, is also featured in the first picture. Still haven't figured out how to put pictures throughout the post.

My favorite thing about the other two pictures above is that I noticed I'm sitting in the background reading instead of playing. Typical, right, Zak? I figured that since we were taking one home with us and I was quite involved in my book, I may as well let others play and enjoy. For his birthday next month, Zak has asked for nothing more than a coupon stating that I will come home from work and not read my book for one solid week. I'm not sure if I can provide that coupon. How about a sweater? :)

Incidentally, for those Tamora Pierce fans out there (you know who you are--Karen, Carolyn, and Nicole), the book was Beka Cooper: Terrier. It's about George Cooper's ancestress who is a city guard. I was hesitant at first, since the formatting was a little different, and the vernacular she uses is a little odd. It's in a journal format, which I think can be a tricky way to tell a story, and she uses words like "cove" and "mot" to mean "man" and "woman," respectively. It took a few pages before I caught on to that. "Gixie" stands for "girl." About halfway into the book, I realized that there was a glossary of terms in the back. I'd pretty much worked out most of the words by that point, but it was still helpful. Anyway, it turned out to be a really good book, and I enjoyed it a lot! You girls should read it if you get the chance.

Back to the Wii(s): We had two Wii(s) set up, one in the family room and one upstairs. Everyone had loads of fun playing the different games we rented. There haven't been any Wii horror stories for any of us yet, no broken light fixtures, tv, or furniture. Zak will take anyone on in boxing, and he'll usually win. He's hit the professional level with one of his Mii(s) named Ge. We really like some of the party games in Monkeyball, and I like all the Metal Slug games. It's old school Nintendo, and that's probably why I like it. All it requires is proficiency in button-mashing and perseverance. We tried Need for Speed: Carbon (racing game) and couldn't figure out the controllers or controller formatting. We thought it was dumb. Too "Fast and the Furious" for me, anyway. Zak said that Red Steel is okay, but not tons of fun to play. We haven't tried Zelda yet, but since Kelly and Kristy bought that for everyone (thanks, guys!), we will have a chance to try it anytime we like. That's the rundown on the games.

We are also enjoying making Mii(s). I have only made a few, but Zak has been going to town! He has made Rocky, the four characters from Seinfeld, Nina Myers, Jack Bauer, and a host of others. We are growing a town full of them.

Now on to the "Eagle" part of the post: Jack Bauer and 24. The premiere was GREAT! We are very excited to see how the show will unfold. I like Wayne Palmer as president, but not as much as David Palmer. I really don't like his advisor, Tom Whatsits. Where's Mike Novik when you need 'im? One other question pertaining to Jack: Where's the Listerine? For those of you who watched, you know what I mean.... That was one of the toughest things I've ever seen, but also one of the grossest. Monday nights are now the highlight of my week.

Thursday, January 04, 2007

24 and the Wii



The following takes place between 12 pm and 1pm.

It's the first post of the new year! How exciting! Zak and I celebrated the new year by watching season 3 of 24. I hadn't seen it before, and mostly I just needed to be sure that Jack finished off Nina Myers. And he does. Whew! Sorry to any of you who haven't watched that season and were planning to... don't worry, there's plenty of other good stuff in there!
[Explanation of the picture: January 4th is Rhett's birthday - hence the cake composed of Hostess cupcakes. Unfortunately, Rhett isn't in this picture, but it's the only one I have from that night.]
I was at the doctor's office yesterday for a routine check-up and the doctor was making small talk, asking how my new years was, etc. I told him that we watched 24 for part of the weekend and he got excited. I guess he and his family are big 24 fans, too. We talked about Jack and how he's put in impossible situations, and he does some crazy stuff but it feels like it's warranted -- I mean, come on! If he doesn't do his job, the world will end! The countdown continues (I wish I could make the sound the clock makes as the seconds tick by -- you 24 fans know what I'm talking about!) ... only 10 days until season 6 premieres!
Zak and I are getting a Wii! Unbeknownst to us, our sister-in-law has a cousin who works for Nintendo. Kind of handy, huh? So our Wii is in the mail, we got a Nintendo employee discount, and we are excited. Zak has decided that we need to rearrange the house so that we'll have more room to play. (Mostly to box. I beat him at boxing when we were playing at Carolyn and Jacob's, and I think he's gunning for a rematch. Bring it on, Z!) So that is most likely what we will be doing this weekend, moving furniture and awaiting the arrival of our Wii!
Zak is gearing up to start the semester on Monday. I know he's not really excited to go back to school, but this is the third-to-last semester (keep your fingers crossed!). He will do great, like he always does.
Work is still going really well. Zak informed me yesterday that I'm happier when I come home from work now. That could be due to the job itself, or the fact that I no longer have to fight traffic to get home. Either way, it's a good thing. And that concludes today's post!