Wii got one!

We found a Wii yesterday! Because there are so many more of them available than the PlayStation 3s, we had assumed that it wouldn't be that hard to find one. On release day, though, we went to all the stores in McHenry that we thought even might have one, only to find that every store was sold out and that none of them really knew when they'd be getting more. Wal-Mart kept assuring us that they had another shipment that would be arriving at practically any moment, but it never materialized. Sears told us just two days ago that they only got two, and they had to turn away more than 50 people who were waiting in line.

So yesterday, when I had the day off, I hit all the McHenry stores again in the morning, and again nothing. After lunch, I was reading a message board where people were posting about trying to find the Wii and someone mentioned finding one at a Target in Michigan at about 1 p.m. eastern time. It was, at this point, 12:52 p.m. central time. So I put my shoes on and hustled over to the Crystal Lake Target - and found ten Wiis sitting behind the counter in the electronics department. I bought one!

As I was leaving, I called Randy to offer to buy another for one of his co-workers who's been looking for a Wii for his son for Christmas. His co-worker said yes, please, so I put ours in the car and went back in. As I was heading back to electronics a second time, a man sprinted past me to buy one - in the time between buying my first and second (which was maybe 3 minutes), I saw three other people buy them. So. Wow. We have a Wii!

And it rocks! Seriously, so much fun. It comes with a sports game that has tennis, baseball, bowling, golf and boxing - Randy and I played them all last night. In case you don't know how the Wii works, it has a motion-sensitive controller. So when you're playing tennis, you swing your remote like a racquet; in golf, you putt with it; you either pitch or bat with it; and you swing your arm just like you're bowling. I have to say that I didn't think a golfing game (or, honestly, tennis, or boxing, or baseball) would be that fun, but it really was. Bowling was my favorite.

In other news, we had a great Thanksgiving in St. Louis again. It was wonderful to get to see everyone, Grandma Gilda fed us waaay too much, and we did lots of shopping. The girls always hit the stores first thing in the morning, so we were at Wal-Mart at 5 a.m. I have to say, I hope to never ever be in a store that crowded again. The line to get in was so long that by the time we actually made it up to the doors, the first people in were already leaving with their insanely-lowly-priced TVs. I didn't actually get anything there, but I did find plenty of clothes elsewhere, so it worked out okay.

A Rich, Colorful, and Multi-Textured Post

Due to a power outage in part of the city yesterday, I wound up with the afternoon off. So I decided to enjoy the extra sunshine by going for a hike at a trail near the McHenry dam. While I was there, I took a picture of a frog.


It turned out a little blurry, which is too bad. But he was such a friendly guy, and he held his pose so perfectly still, that I thought he deserved his own picture.

Also while I was there, I happened to run into some of our neighbors, who were just finishing their walk. They're an older couple, and have lived in the neighborhood for many years, even before our house was built. The conversation naturally shifted to annexation, which is still a hot topic here. The city has proposed to annex our neighborhood, with the promise of improving our water system, but also of raising taxes to help offset the costs. The city is currently deciding whether to put the deal to a vote, or just drop the proposal altogether, since a fair number of people in the community have raised objections. If it goes to a vote, Wendy and I are in favor of the deal. The couple I talked to are opposed to it, though, since they're retired and are on a fixed income. Despite our difference of opinion, the couple is very friendly, and we're pleased to have them as neighbors.

On the house front, we now have a freshly painted living room and dining room, a new light fixture in the dining room, new living room furniture, and a new shower in the master bath. The shower looks fantastic compared to what we had in there, and we had a great experience with the installer (we went so far as to write the company a letter telling them how much we appreciated his efforts).

Of all those things, painting definitely took the most work. It wasn't the act of painting, though, it was mainly deciding what color to pick. We wound up getting samples of several colors, and by the time the final decision was made, we had created this:


The winner? Grand Stand Tan. The verdict? We dig it. And apparently other people do, as well. When we were buying the paint at Ye Olde Home Improvement Mega-Store, the clerk mentioned it was a very popular color.

So, there you have it.