Nintendo= Dangerous

DAY 15 & 16  

It is Christmas.  We still played games. 

Yesterday, after church, celebrating with family and getting the kids to bed I had a nightcap before we played games.  After a glass of wine it is no holds bar with the trash talking.  Lugi was called quite a few choice names when he stole my stars during the game.  Instead of mini-games we played Mario versus Lugi. The New Super Mario is like the old Mario with the minor difference that you get to steal from your partner instead of helping them.  My one-sided ad-hominid attacks were met with chuckles rather than contempt.  I feel guilty that Christmas Eve was filled with obscenities but John said he preferred I work out my holiday stress while the children are sleeping.  

We played DS because we spent the night at the in-laws and the DS makes for easy travel.  This beautiful Christmas day woke early to find Santa left Inara a Barbie corvette.  Inara drove the 5-speed coupe around her grandparents’ cul-de-sac with Nathan riding shotgun.  When the battery finally died we dragged them both back inside.  There was an abundance of food, family and wonderful gifts. 

Lori must have heard I am working on my aim because John and I were given Nerf guns for Christmas.  Do I foresee a nerf battle royal in our future? 

The majority of the Boone family must travel a great distance to celebrate today.  The Arizona, Los Banos and Fresno Boone contingents braved the freeways and made there way to dinner.  After the festivities the Arizona Boone’s were so tired that they kindly lent us their Wii for the evening.

Tonight we played Wii Sports.  First we bowled.  John tried to get fancy and put a spin on his throw and was consequently beaten by me when I picked up a spare.  Wii tennis was a fiasco that resulted in John repositioning at the other end of the couch: my swing began to threaten my safety. I was an embarrassment to an American pastime and went three innings without a single hit. 

When I reflect on our holiday gameplay I feel a twinge of embarrassment that I am so mean to my husband.  Is gaming the only place where I take my frustrations out on my partner?  Does he really think it is cute that I swear like a sailor (or ex-policy debater) or is he just humoring me?  Maybe it is just Nintendo that brings out my rage issues? 

Today was my sons first Christmas and he grinned from ear-to-ear the entire day.  Now both kiddos are in slumber land for what I predict will be many more hours.  Cursing and dangerous Wii remotes aside it was a fantastic day. 

DS= De-stress

DAYS 9-11 

I have had a busy few holi-filled days.  On Friday night John and I saw Avatar in 3D.   The movie was as one reviewer accurately summarized an updated version of Dances with Wolves set in space.  Kudos James Cameron, the 3D was great because it was subtle and he did not hit you over the head with it.  If you are going to see this in town the Mayan Cinema on California was nice experience. My one complaint was that the movie was almost 3 hours long.  We usually wait until the kiddos are asleep to play games but used that time to go see this movie. 

We still managed to fit in game time with our DS.  We played versus mini-games with The New Super Mario.  This was perfect for killing time while we perched in our movie seats an hour before to ensure center seats for our friends. 

When playing Mario I enjoyed the card games.  It was a nice distraction to block out the loud teenagers.  I hate to chat too much before a movie because then it is hard for me to shut up.  Often we will send one another text messages just to keep quiet. 

Playing DS reminded me of midnight movie releases with the Gamestop crowd.  When John worked for Gamestop we saw movies at midnight with all the store managers.  We took up two rows of a theatre and both rows would be lit up with little DS rectangles.  At the time it just seemed to be what you do.  I was nostalgic for about three seconds and then I remembered how happy I am to have a husband who is not a Gamestop tool during the chaotic holidays. 

We celebrated Christmas yesterday with the Tehachapi folks at my house.  It was a lot of work wrapping, cleaning and re-arranging; We stayed up until 2 am getting things ready.  Due to holiday preparation John and I amicably decided we should forgo gaming Saturday night.  We were still tired from staying out late to see Avatar the night before and just could not add an extra hour on to our day.  I felt really bad about missing one day in a hundred but John said we would just move our days to 101 to fulfill them all.

After our early Christmas yesterday and putting the kiddos to bed we wanted to watch the finale of Survivor.  Since Survivor is not a very intense viewing experience we just played DS through the show and beginning of the news.  We far exceeded our playtime but it was much more superficial than other play we have experienced in proceeding days. 

I am glad we have games lying around.  I think if all 100 days were just spent playing one game over and over I would go crazy.  Someone asked me how to get their partner to play games with them for 100 days?  They went on to tell me that they play Halo every night but cannot get their partner to join in.  

If anyone is thinking of taking on this project I would strongly warn against jumping right into first-person shooters as the first or only game your play.  I have previous gaming experience but for those who do not have foundational experience or interest in games, starting with Halo right out the gate will decrease the fun factor quickly.  John and I are lucky to actually have a good gaming library that we have acquired over many years.  You do not have to run out and buy a brand new game.  Buy an older game because some of the classics like Mario are easy and can be inexpensive.  

This week my blog will focus on some of the how-to aspects of our 100 days.  A lot of people have sent me questions about costs, starting out or convincing a partner to play.  Today my suggestions is start slow, gaming has a learning curve.