To Wii or Not To Wii?

Note: This is the companion piece to To Wii or Not To Wii on the Sarcasm Spoken Here blog. He gets to play now while I have to blog.

Two weeks ago my husband and I found our will wearing away with the constant talk about the Wii from our six year old son. All his friends have one and it's really fun. I know how addicting video games can be, and remembering all the times my mom urged us to go outside and play instead of playing Ms. PacMan for another hour on our Atari 2600. My son is still learning to read, but he can find and play video games on the Internet, like Spongebob Squarepants, or Ben 10, or Pokemon. My 2 year old son can do the same. He is actually playing some of the same games my six year old is playing! (They each have a folder of favorites and this is the only thing they are allowed to click on, and we monitor them, so it's not like they are freely surfing the web or anything. Just in case you were thinking that.)

I found out that someone at work just got a Wii and she loved it. We happened to have a meeting together and had to walk to another building, so I took the opportunity to ask her about it. She said her whole family is into it, even her 80 year old grandmother. She offered to let us borrow it some weekend when she and her husband are out of town. I couldn't believe it!

We had our chance Easter weekend. My parents were visiting, and it was the perfect opportunity to try it out and see for ourselves whether we could play. My son instructed us how to hook it up and use the remotes. We played Wii Sports and Wii Play. It was fun. After playing all weekend, we were hooked.

I went in search of a Wii and found that they are very hard to find. No one has them on the shelves, and if a store gets a shipment, they are out of them in an hour or less. Online is even worse. It takes minutes for the Wii to be sold out on Amazon or Target or another retailer site. The only way to easily get a Wii is to buy a very expensive bundle, which usually comes with games you don't want. It's the console itself that everyone wants because it's the least expensive and then you can get the games you want.

So after using my expert googling skills, I fould a website that you could use to get Wii alerts for online sales sent to your cell phone or email. Cool. We got about 7 or 8 of these through email but by the time we got them the consoles were sold out already. In minutes! More googling led to some industrious people who located two weekly ads for stores that were going to have the Wii in stock this weekend. Toys R Us and Circuit City. The Circuit City ad said to come an hour before the store opened to get vouchers, and they were guaranteed to have 10 in stock in each store. Only 10! Toys R Us had NO information in their ad. However, on some forum someone posted that Toys R Us usually opened early when they had Wiis in stock because people camped out in front of the store for them. They recommended getting there around 7:45 am. The store opens at 10.

I decided to take a shot at it this morning. Around 7:00 I asked my son if he wanted to go to the toy store and see if we could get a Wii. The store didn't have an ad in our paper so I thought maybe no one would be there. I also thought I would NOT wait in line until 10 for a video game. No way. My son was very excited. I never saw him get ready so fast. I thought it might be fun.

We got to the store before 8:00. and we spotted people sitting in two other cars in the parking lot. We watched employees go into the store. Two people came to my car window and asked me whether I knew how many Wiis the store had and whether it would open early. Three more cars showed up. We all sat in our cars for a while and waited. I chronicled the event on Twitter because there was nothing else to do and my husband was home in the warm house with his coffee while I was in the cold minivan with a restless six year old. The store didn't open at 8. We decided to wait.

Finally around 8:45 we decided to get out of the car. My son couldn't stay cooped up any longer. Another boy, about 12, was wandering around by the front door. As we headed toward the door, a chain reaction occurred. Everyone else got out of their car and headed for the door. We ended up second in line and stood in the cold, hoping we'd be able to convince the employees to let us in.

It was sort of fun. As a rule I never camp out for anything - nothing is worth it so much I waste my time in a line with a bunch of strangers, and in the cold, too. But with my son, and a lot of older people who were bitten by the Wii bug, the wait was bearable. We chatted, and joked, and shared our thoughts about video games and the Wii. Two people offered my son a chair to sit in, but he held steadfast standing next to me.

Around 9:00 an employee entered the store, but stopped to let us know they'd be out around 9:30 to talk to us. The store wouldn't open until 10:00. UGH. I called my husband and he said, where are you in line? When I told him second, he said to stick it out. Easy for him to say (and who is playing right now while I'm blogging?) while he's at home and I'm standing outside with a bored and cold six year old for a game I'll never have time to play. Oh well. He did offer to pick up our son so he wouldn't have to stay out in the cold for another hour. My son decided to stay.

Finally at 9:30 two employees came out and handed out vouchers. They were good from 10:00 until 12:00, at which time any Wiis set aside would be made available to other customers. They only had 18 in stock. There were about 12 of us in line. We had our Wii! I took our son home and came back about 10:00 and picked it up. When I was in line waiting to be let into the store, and waiting in line to pick up the Wii, a few people walked in looking for a Wii to buy. It's just a stupid video game but I had this sense of accomplishment knowing I found one and they didn't. Ha. Petty little life I lead, right?

Anyway, we now have a Wii. Our life is complete. We've already held a family meeting to set the ground rules and I was very proud of my son for setting reasonable time limits we would impose on him. We also came up with the idea that he can earn extra Wii time if he does things to help out around the house. He had a hard time thinking of things he could do, since we haven't really asked him to do chores yet, but I had a nice long list. He's already earned 10 extra minutes by putting away his clean clothes. We have to work on keeping them folded when they get into the drawer but at least he's doing it. Yay! There is some good to the Wii. I hope.

Time for me to go play tennis, or bowling or something. Stay tuned for another blog post on "Wii Shoulder." Maybe it will distract me from my shin splints.

Sleep? I don't need no stinking sleep

Right before it was time to go to bed I began to get anxious. And cranky. I wasn't sure why. I tried to read to get sleepy but it didn't work. I tried to sleep. I counted sheep. I read some more. The more I tried to sleep the tighter the knot in my stomach got, and it occasionally moved to my chest. I don't think I got more than a few minutes of sleep.

I am usually a little anxious the night before a long run with my training group. I'm a little uneasy around people I don't know and running is a personal thing with me. If I can get along with someone and carry on a conversation I don't mind talking and running, but I have my own pace and I like to keep it without worrying about keeping up or slowing down for someone else. So lately I have been pretty much by myself, even if I'm with a pace group.

I also get anxious the longer the runs get. Today I was supposed to run 9 miles. I have two weeks until the half marathon I've been training for. This will be my third half marathon, and I thought by this time I would be an old pro, but I think I feel even less confident this time than I did the very first time. I've been sick, I still have shin problems, and running slowly continues to really bug me.

Despite the fact that I had no sleep, I went out this morning determined to do 9 miles. We had to start at this elementary school again and there are a few really wicked hills that just cause me to stop and walk sometimes. They probably are not so wicked for someone who is a little more seasoned and training for some big race, like, I don't know, Boston? But for me, at the end of a long run, the hills just kill me. All week I was telling myself I would not let these last two miles psych me out. I'd mentally steel myself for them.

I did the 9 miles. Slowly. Painfully. My shins still hurt. I walked a few times. Stopped at all the water stops. I did all the things my learned and cute coach told me to do this morning as I left the house: count your steps when going up the hill to distract you, just accept the pain for what it is (training your legs), and just run and enjoy it.

I did all of these things and more. The run was about 20% physical and 80% mental. My legs were on autopilot, and protested the whole way. But I listened to my music player, sang out loud when I needed an extra boost, reminded myself that I was training, counted my steps, and just tried to relax. I also occasionally thought of my niece Emma, who is fortunately on the road to a slow and careful recovery, and that my shin pain and exhaustion paled in comparison to all of the things she has gone through. I took two Gus during the run so that I would continue to have energy. When I reached 8 miles, which was the least I was going to do before deciding to walk the rest of the way, I pumped my fist and triumphantly yelled "Yeah" out loud. One more mile and I would be done, and I had just cleared the worst of the hills. I picked up the pace and was able to finish the run.

My average pace was just under 12:00 minutes per mile, which was disappointing, but considering the lack of sleep, the bitter wind blowing in my face, and the demon hills, it wasn't so bad. One look at my training log made me feel better too. I still had the best pace yet for the number of miles during training, and in reading the notes, each time I hit 8 miles it was very hard for me. Eight miles seems to be a threshold number right now. After I get past it I'm ok, but getting through it is always rough.

And every time I do it, it amazes me how much of long distance running is mental. When I finished, my legs hurt like hell, and I was even more tired, but I was also mentally exhausted. It took all I had to convince my body to keep moving. My coach tells me it's the same, if not more so, with the marathon. He makes it look so easy!

Time to relax and replenish carbs. And maybe sip a glass of wine? I deserve it!

Recovery

After 10 days of being sick with a sinus infection, I ran 6 grueling miles on Saturday outside. We were on a new route because the school we usually go to was having some function. So we had to go to an elementary school and run through some neighborhoods to get to the bike trail. It was great getting started - it was all downhill. But going through my head, on mile two, was how difficult it would be to come back - all uphill. I did it, but I know as soon as I started the uphill "climb" (hills don't look like hills until you have to run them!) I began to psych myself out.

Running is both physical and mental, and you can't underestimate the power of the mental. I know I psyched myself out heading back uphill. It took forever, and I stopped and walked some of the way. Two people who I am sure were running more than 6 miles had already hit the turnaround point for their run and passed me on the way back. They gave me words of encouragement - "slow and steady - you'll make it!" I finally did.

Since then, I've run had two more runs, both five miles each on the treadmill at the gym. During the first five miler, I had shin pain at around a level 1 or 2 out of 10 (yeah!) and didn't feel too bad. Today, despite a head cold, I had the best run I've had in a while. ZERO shin pain. That's right. I said ZERO! I'll probably have some tightness tomorrow, but I can live with tightness. A little stretching and ice and I'm good to go. Woohoo!

I think much of my motivation for these last two runs has been for my niece Emma and my brother and his family. We had a terrible fright this weekend. My four month old niece recently had heart surgery and was beginning her recovery. My brother called around midnight Saturday and said he was told Emma was doing very badly and might not make it through the night. Since then, everyone's thoughts and prayers have been for little Emma, and she's hanging tough. She's running her own little marathon and we won't let her hit the wall. She will make it. You can read her story on my brother's blog (be prepared to cry and laugh and just have your heart tugged every which way), and a very poignant dedication my husband made with his last 20 mile run. (yes I've hooked him into blogging now!)

One realization I had during all of this was the amazing power of the Internet. My brother's blog has gained a lot of followers, and even people he barely knows or doesn't know at all. He does a great job of giving detailed updates as soon as he can. We don't have to sit by the phone wondering what is going on, and exchanging voice mail messages, or waiting for emails.

And now there's "microblogging". My brother is using Twitter to provide up to the minute updates from his cell phone on Emma's status. I monitor it constantly. I worry when I don't see an update; I've realized that the doctors' rounds appear to occur every hour, and I have to remember that my brother does have to sleep sometime. I'm not sure how useful microblogging is in general; I've signed up and posted some silly stuff that I'm sure people will want to know that I'm doing or thinking. But for Emma updates, it's da bomb! (did I just type that?)

Not again!

I went back to work today. I felt ok. Just a little cough and tired. Then everyone at work was telling me I should go to the doctor as I didn't feel 100% and sounded bad. My chest started to hurt, from coughing so much. I was checking Webmd and self-diagnosing (not a good idea - I have J.D. not an M.D. but sometimes I forget!). I thought maybe I had bronchitis.


So I relented and called the doctor. They got me in for a 10:15 (which turned out to be 10:45 by the time a doctor saw me but what do you want for a last minute appointment?).


The doctor said that she believed I had a sinus infection because I had been feeling better this weekend but now I was feeling bad again. And my cheeks hurt. My lungs sounded clear and my ears looked good. I didn't have any yellow or green goo coming out of my nose but apparently that is not a prerequisite for a sinus infection.

So I got a prescription for an antibiotic, samples of some cough syrup and a recommendation to use Mucinex to loosen the phlegm. I went to the drugstore and got the goodies I needed. Then I went back to the office, thinking I'd feel better soon. Little did I know, I would actually feel worse.... (I am reading Goosebumps books to my six year old and the chapters all end with some sense of foreboding like this).

I took my antibiotic, ate a bagel, tried to read some light work reading (daily clips, etc.) and put some chicken noodle soup in the microwave in the break room. I left the breakroom while the soup was heating up, and by the time I went back for it I started to feel really hot and uncomfortable. I took the soup back to my office and ate two spoonfuls when I decided I had better go home. I felt awful again.

But when I stood up I felt a tiny bit lightheaded so I sat back down. Then I put my head on my desk. I was drenched with sweat. I closed my office door and sat back down and tried to call some colleagues. I felt so bad I didn't think I should drive home. By the time I found someone, she found me on the floor lying down (I chose to lie down; I didn't faint or collapse). One of my colleagues went to get her car, and another came in and started asking me about my medication. Could I be having a side effect? She also asked if I wanted our resident EMT to come check me out. She's got another job on a help desk in our office but is also currently a part time EMT. She comes in handy in our office, that's for sure. She was awesome. She took my pulse and said my heart was racing. She checked my blood pressure but it was ok. They called the doctor's office and talked to various people.

Apparently I had a fever this morning and had no idea. The nurse took my temperature while I was waiting to see the doctor and I thought she wrote down 98. 4 or something. That's not a fever! But the person I talked to on the phone said I had a fever and it was common for my heart to beat quickly as a result. He recommended I go home and take it easy and call if things don't improve.

My husband had no idea what was going on. I couldn't get into the house because the front door was locked and I never use the keys for the front door. The dog was barking and I was hitting the doorbell. He (my husband, not the dog) won't answer the door unless he is expecting someone. Good thing I figured out my keys!

This scene surely had shades of deja vu - at least the getting a ride home part, not the fainting in the elevator part. My husband made me sit on the couch and fed me Dove dark chocolate and gatorade. Ahhh, much better. Actually I felt better on the way home; I felt silly, actually.

My husband remarked that I am the same woman that drove herself to the hospital when I was in labor, but this is the second time I have gotten a ride home from work. Fainting in an elevator will do that to you. I'm still freaked out by it.

I do want to say thanks for the really kind, compassionate people at my office. They are so great; I didn't hesitate to ask for help and they were there in a flash.

Sooo...I STILL DID NOT get to run yet. I'm not too worried about it but I need to get a run in sometime this week. I think I'll ask for an amended plan from the coaches once I know when I CAN run.

My boss says it's the healthy living that is doing this to me. She prescribed a cheeseburger and sitting around doing nothing. Sounds good. Both of them!

The flu from hell

I didn't have a cold. I had the bona fide flu. That's what Webmd says, anyway. Fever, headache, achiness, stuffy nose, etc.

Needless to say I haven't run since Monday. I'm looking forward to a five miler at lunch tomorrow (as long as I can get to work early enough to take a long lunch!) and maybe running it outside!

Am I Prophetic or What?

I'm so sick of it all I actually got sick. UGH. I have the worst head cold. I stayed home for two days and it feels like little needles pricking into my head all over, and in my ears. Yesterday I had a temperature of 100.4.

Needless to say I'm not getting my runs in this week. I'm still attempting the 8 miler on Saturday, though. The weather has been so beautiful I can't resist trying!

Sick of it All

I'm just sick of it all. The snow. The cold from hell that I've had for three weeks. The primaries. The state budget crisis.


I'm done.


Finished.


No, wait. I need to rant.


The snow needs no explanation....


The cold from hell is a cold my family has had for three weeks, at least. We have all had various phlegm attacks and mine's just getting good. I sounded like I was hacking up a lung or something in the office and decided I needed to get out of there early. I even missed our parenting class tonight. I would have coughed all the way through it.


I have had enough of the primaries and people letting their emotions get the best of them. This is not the Super Bowl. We are deciding who will be the leader of the free world. It's not pretty, but it's politics. I'm a Democrat, but I'm tired of the downhill slope our primaries are taking from everyone saying we have two equally good candidates to calling one a monster and the other a babe in the woods and having candidates (and their cult) cry foul for the slightest criticism. Even liberal talk radio hosts have lost it. I didn't drink the Obama koolaid, and my position on the matter is summed up with this vignette. But I have a life to lead, and my kids don't want to hear me whine about the election. So I'm done talking about it and listening to the news and radio hosts and even my colleagues. When it's time to vote, I'll vote. End of story.


Finally, I'm done worrying about the state budget. I'm a state employee, and the talk of budget cuts in our department by way of abolishment of positions has me worried for myself and my office. I can't escape the speculation and the emails lacking much detail from upper management regarding next steps. I will just have to wait and see what happens and take it day by day, and ignore those around me who either are in denial or are in a panic.


Instead, I'll worry about something much more important - what will I do if I have to pee during the five hours I am running the marathon in October? I hadn't thought about it until a Runner's World email newsletter brought the issue to light. And how in the heck am I going to run for FIVE HOURS? This is what keeps me up at night. Tee hee.

My turn on the Tilt a Whirl

What a fun Monday morning! Not only did I sleep in a little too late (I usually wake up at 5:30) due to daylight savings time, but I had a fun ride on the Tilt a Whirl!

No, I didn't stop at a carnival on my way to work. But I might as well have - I spun out on a road and ended up in a snow drift! What we had this weekend now apparently wasn't a blizzard, but it was enough to give me a scare this morning.

Our neighborhood streets were very clear, thanks to the very high taxes I pay for the service. We saw the snow plow in our neighborhood at least four times during the weekend. When we lived in the city of Columbus, we never saw a snow plow, and apparently that is part of the plan for snow removal. Anyway, the streets were good for driving, until I got into Columbus. I'm driving along one main road, in the left lane which was clear, and I merged into the right lane, which was still slushy. Instead of merging, however, I started to slide. And slide, and around and around I went. Where I would stop, no one knows! I ended up with my front end stuck in a snow pile on the side of the road, with my car perpendicular across the right hand lane of the road (on Morse Road, close to the intersection of Morse and Indianola). Luckily, no one was near me and I became a mere inconvenience for people to swear at as they went around me and headed to work.

I tried to get out of the snow pile, but I was good and stuck. And in a great panic. What was I going to do? I called my husband, who was home with our two kids (they cancelled school last night for some reason). I told him I was stuck - what can I do? I can't find my hazard lights? I don't know how to get out of this? I went on and on, rambling in a panic. My husband told me where the hazard lights were, and said he'd get the kids together and come get me out. As I was talking to him, a van pulled up in front of me and three guys got out. I told my husband I think help is here and said I'd call him back.

I got out of the car. One of the guys said, "Looks like you did a good job getting stuck." I agreed and looked at him helplessly. He said they would get me out and told me to get into the car. I had no idea how they were going to do it, but I obeyed.

The three good samaritans lifted my car out of the snow pile and pushed it back onto the road. Then they headed back to their van like it was just another day on the job. One of them looked back at me and I emphatically mouthed the words "THANK YOU!" and got on my way. He nodded.

I don't know what I would have done if it hadn't been for those men. I guess someone else might have helped or I could have called a tow truck or something. I wasn't sure my husband would have been able to help. He had trouble just getting my six year old motivated to come help me. When my husband told my six year old he had to get dressed so they could come help Mommy, he said, "Now? Why now? Can't we go later?" I guess he didn't comprehend the idea of Mommy's car stuck in the road during rush hour on Monday morning and Mommy in a terrible panic.

I know hardly anyone reads my blog but I'm still saying it - to all of you who help all us pathetic people who get stuck in the snow or who break down on the side of the road or otherwise need help - THANK YOU! It's not only that you help, but that you don't hesitate, and you don't expect anything from it. It was an awful feeling not knowing what do to and I am very grateful that these three men stopped to help.

I will also figure out what to do should it happen again, or at least, who to call if I get stuck! (Here's what not to do!)

16 inches and counting!

I finished my 7 miler on the treadmill. I watched the BBC version of the Office for about an hour.

Record snowfall in Columbus!

Blizzard of 08(tm) Continues!

We are under a Level 2 snow emergency - don't go out unless you have to. My husband is making pancakes and I'm trying to figure out when I'll hit the treadmill.

This would have been a great day to have a Wii to play with....I've almost come around. My husband is very persuasive. I guess we'll have to find things to do like they did in my day...play in the snow!

Blizzard Warning!

Yes it is the Blizzard of '08tm, hitting the midwest like a lion. It's the blizzard that I'll tell my grandchildren about. "You know, back in 08, we had the biggest snow storm ever...you just don't see blizzards like that anymore."


I guess 10 to 14 inches of snow could create problems for running - my training group cancelled our run for the morning. I have 7 miles this weekend, and it will be awful boring on the dreadmill. I'm thinking of getting out the portable dvd player and popping in a Harry Potter movie or something.


It's been quite an experience training during the winter. I've done the two step around huge patches of ice, slipped and slid in slushy brown snow, ran in wind chills that dropped the temperature into the teens, and yet enjoyed 60 degree weather all in the last two weeks. Funny, though. I still love it.


My shins are doing better - I am measuring my pain on a scale of 1 -10 with 10 being the worst. I have never gone to 10 yet. The worst was 7, and that was before my orthotics but after my last race in October. The pain would be worst when I started my run and would go down to a 5 or 6 dull pain until I was done and then I would hobble back to the office or back home. Now I am experiencing pain levels from 1-3, and virtually no hobbling. Yippee!


I also have been lamenting the fact that my speed seems not to have improved much since I started running. Out of curiousity I reviewed my runs from the past year on my training log. The MIT website gives us a training log with reports, including a pie chart that reviews your pace by month. For the last few months (since I started training with MIT again) I have been consistently at 11:00 - 12:00 minutes per mile. Before my last race, I had ranged from 11 to 13 minutes per mile. I'd say that was an improvement!


In other news, I was the proud momma last week as my six year old son participated in his first science fair. I helped him put together his poster board but he arranged it and decided what to write on it. He also had to present his project to three volunteers during school. I was fortunate enough to be able to go to his school during the day and watch him present. He did a fantastic job. Afterwards, he told me that next year, he wanted to do a project on fire, and do a demonstration. I suppose this was because the boy in his class with the volcano got a lot of attention. I just laughed when I imagined our "fire" demonstration! Later that evening he had about six more different ideas that were all terrific. I'm ecstatic that he's so interested in science and in doing projects for school!

Final last words before I get all warm and cozy and watch the snow fall -

To my family - Dad, here's your update (I know you were waiting anxiously by the computer!). Mom, get well soon and take care of that ankle! Matt, why in God's green earth? WHY? Ellen, take good care of yourself and give those nieces of mine extra hugs and kisses from all of us.

And to my inlaws, just you wait - laugh all you want about the Blizzard of '08tm but I'm sure you'll have some unpleasant weather of your own some day in that desert you are living in.....We'll be thinking about you while we go sledding with the boys tomorrow!