Happy Birthday to Me

I'm getting old or maybe I already am. I guess it's all up to your perspective. So this year I turned 41 last weekend. Earlier in the week I got a call from my friend, Anna. She informed me that she was going to throw a birthday party for me but there was a catch -- it had to be at my house. :) I told her that would be great. I'm not sure that I have had someone other than a family member ever offer to throw me a birthday party. It was incredibly nice of her. She did a ton of work as you can see. She also got a few other friend to help bring party food. It was a huge success. Thanks Anna! and everyone who helped out or attended.

We had plenty of deserts and a veggie tray to counter balance all the sweets. We played Nertz and Rock Band. Then we watched a movie, Taken.

Racquetball Shoulder

After a break of playing racquetball for something like 10 years, I decided to give it a try again. Actually my nephew invited me to play with him. We both just renewed our memberships at Gold's Gym and he has been working out regularly. Meanwhile I have had a hard time getting there as often as I should. Playing racquetball sounded like a nice change of pace from the regular cardio machines and lifting weights. So I agreed to it and we played around noon on Saturday. Before the day was over, I was already starting to ache. I forgot that it could be a good workout in addition to just being fun. My gluts and my shoulder took the brunt of the damage. Since the initial shock to my system, my gluts have recovered but my shoulder still has yet to feel good. I've got racquetball shoulder. At least that is my self diagnosis. Never heard of it but I'm pretty sure it exists and that I have it. :) I'm just hoping that I recover in time for the next round on Wednesday!

A Sweet Night of Guitar Hero

So back during my work Christmas party I got a gift certificate for a season family pass to Thankgiving Point. In case you haven't noticed, I don't have a family of my own. So I traded it to another guy who was going to buy a family pass anyway. In return I got a gift certificate to Sundance. That was much better for me. But then I realized that my brother buys a season pass to the cross-country track at Sundance. So he bought my gift certificate and in exchange I bought Guitar Hero. Perfect!

Anyway, my friend, Lindsay kept on asking when she was going to get to come play my new game. So I thought why not make a party of it. Then I remembered that she is on a sugar fast. No sugar for two weeks. Ughh! So being the super supportive friend that I am, :) I decided to make it a theme for the evening. So you could bring snacks as long as they were sugar free. I provided diet sodas, almonds, sugar-free pudding, sugar-free jello, sugar-free cool whip, and pretzels. Some other friends brought a great veggie tray and dip and dried mangoes. The mangoes had sugar but we pretended.

We had a great time rocking late into the evening. I just hoped my neighbors enjoyed it as much as me. :)







Those attending: Me, Lindsay, Anna, Molly, Colette, Mitch, Rob, and Eric. Thanks for coming!

FHE - Rock Band

This week we had family home evening at my house because the guy who was supposed to host it had a hot date. (At our age, that's a legit excuse.) So I had to come up with something quick. Rock Band always seems to be a crowd pleaser and Nick was generous enough to let me borrow his system and the game. (Thanks Nick!) Rock Band at FHE was a hit. We had 14 people as opposed to the normal 6 to 8. We had a few new people visiting FHE for the first time. It's always great to meet new people. The more the merrier, right? And of course there were drinks and snacks. Can't forget those. Here's some of the action photos.

Wii Boxing (Or Is It Swimming?)

My sister and my niece came down to my place last weekend and were looking to try out the Wii. My niece had just finished a swimming meet in American Fork (thus the swim cap.) They had a great time. Of course they have a great time doing pretty much anything. I did have to video them when it came to their boxing match. I think it shows why my niece is such a great swimmer. Look at that breast stroke. :)

Off the Charts!

Not to brag or anything but LOOK AT ME! I'm sitting pretty at a 2108 skill level and here's the proof. Elisa (skill level 2000) and Sarah (skill level 1900) got nothing on me. They are pretty the only player that I ever play any more. Actually I was surprised that I could get over a level 2000. You can see in the screen shot above that the chart really isn't made for someone with my skills. Now, I'm addicted to see just how high I can make it.

This post was brought to you with tongue planted firmly in cheek.

Wii Have a Problem

I've been telling my family that I think I broke a rib while playing Wii Tennis. I was kind of kidding but not really. The right side of my chest hurts when you press on it in a certain spot. It hurts when I roll over in bed or twist to get up out of bed. So I'm pretty sure that I do have a broken rib. The question is "Could I have really broken it while playing Wii?" I decided to take that question to the Internet. Apparently a broken rib is one of the less serious problems that you could have. The site, Wii Have a Problem, chronicles the various injuries that people have actually inflicted on themselves, others, or even inanimate objects while playing Wii.

Here are the people injuries: Damage Report

Is That Bad?

Once upon a time I thought I was a pretty good tennis player. At least I really enjoyed playing. It's been several years now since I've even picked up my tennis racket other than to reach something on the shelf behind it. But now I have a Wii and my tennis skills are as tight as ever! I've been working almost every day to make "pro." Oh and let me tell you, I am really close. Less than 100 points to go! The problem is that playing this much Wii tennis makes me think that I can play the real thing again probably even better than before. My nephew (whose name shall remain anonymous) once told me that after playing Rock Band that he thought he could really play the drums or guitar for that matter. I now understand the phenomenon. They make video games so real any more that I can see how this happens. After all when I play Wii tennis like real tennis, I sweat! It's actually one of the reasons that I bought the system to begin with. But now I find that I justify it as "exercise." Is that bad?! I just know that I haven't been making it to the gym as often as I was in my pre-Wii days. Maybe I will feel better about it once I try wearing my heart rate monitor while playing. Or maybe I just need to buy the Wii Fit.

A Wii for Mii

I just ordered myself a Wii gaming system. Last Monday, I went to my singles FHE at Ryan's house. He brought out the Wii and we had a little fun playing tennis, boxing, and bowling. I particularly liked tennis. Maybe it was because I got a few smoking fast serves in. (And I was the only one who could do it!) When it came to boxing, I got knocked out by Carol. I think she might have been taking out her frustrations on me. The next day I found myself a little sore. My serving shoulder is still a little tender and my left leg hasn't quite recovered from all the lunges in bowling.

I just received an e-mail saying that it was now shipping. I just hope my muscles are ready for it when it gets to my house. :)