Trying on clothes

I tried to find an outfit to wear over the Christmas holiday to church and any other dress up gatherings. This is not an easy task since there are about 3 places to shop for maternity clothes in our town, all of which apparently think that pregnant women don't need to get dressed up (unless dressed up means a big shirt with stretchy black pants ... why is it even remotely OK to wear stretch pants when your middle is twice as big as the rest of you?). After trying on every dress in the aforementioned stores, I finally found one that's as cute as it's going to get. As if going clothing shopping wasn't depressing enough ...

On the upside, we are finished with Christmas shopping aside from 2 people! It's a nice feeling considering that I'm going to Toronto Sunday through Wednesday this week (yep, a meeting the week before Christmas). It should make the week fly by though and we're leaving to go to Champaign on Friday!!!! I'm really looking forward to 10 days with family and friends.

A great way to waste time

We got the Wii on Thursday. It is the most fun I've had outside a video arcade in years. You get to create a Mii that looks like you (or not) to play the sports game. Ryan got a kick out of watching his 6 month pregnant wife kick the crap out of a grizzled dude on the boxing game. You actually have to stand up and use the remotes like boxing gloves. We're gonna bring the Wii when we come home at Christmas time. I think it will provide some entertaining stories for years to come.

We also got a game about Rabbids (yes, correctly spelled) in which you throw cows, shoot plungers and race warthogs, to name a few activities. So far it consumed our last evening (after we got home from Christmas shopping at 8 pm) and all of this morning. Ryan ran out to mail a package, and I got stuck on a level, thus the blogging. I'll get some pictures up of us playing the sports game. Absolutely ridiculous.

Ryan wins a Wii!

Ry buys computer stuff from newegg.com from time to time. Apparently, he entered an online sweepstakes a while ago for free Wiis. Yesterday he was notified that he won one! Christmas is coming early to the Thomas family. Unreal.

Finally

I'm excited to finally be looking pregnant instead of looking like I spent too long in the buffet line. I'm also excited to be feeling good again. Aside from the occasional kicks in the kidneys, it's kind of fun being pregnant. I think he's gonna run us ragged. At least we've still got a few more months. How scary is it that we're going to be parents?

The (unsuccessful) Wii hunters

All Ryan really wants for Christmas (well, the thing he wants most for Christmas) is a Nintendo Wii. As most of you probably know, this little gem is nearly impossible to come by right now. Nintendo has come up with a brilliant marketing strategy that hinges on sending only enough to stores to keep people lining up each Sunday to wait for the stores to open.

And so, on Sunday morning, I found myself outside Target at 7:50 (10 minutes before they opened) waiting for a Wii. Target had given all theirs out already, so off we trouped to Circuit City, which didn't open until 10 am. There, we thought our luck changed, as we were 5th in line. Alas, the manager came outside around 9 am to tell the unfortunates in line that he had given out the 15 vouchers in his possession at 7:30 that morning. Apparently, the serious die-hards had camped out the night before.

While I can't say that I understand this behavior, I have to admit it was kind of fun to talk with the people in line. It was like an experiment in psychology. What makes people stand outside in 40 degree weather and wait for a game system? In some cases (like ours) it's just a "what the heck" attitude for a much-anticipated toy. In others, it is the parents of kids who "only want a Wii" for Christmas. I'm sure there will be many tears on Christmas morn without that white box. And then there are the die-hard fans. These folks wait outside overnight (sometimes multiple nights) for the elusive Wii. I don't know what's wrong with these people. I look at them with the same befuddlement as the people who dress as Klingons before the Star Trek conventions. I've also never been one to freak out about celebrities or wait in lines for concerts. Hey, I guess everyone needs a hobby.