Charles & Kelly This Sunday Night

Hope you can join us at New Deal Cafe this Sunday night for one last rockin' celebration before we start having to set the alarm clocks again (sigh). It's an early show, so come eat dinner and hang out!
And while you're there, tell me what you're doing for Inauguration Day! We're still trying to decide about trekking downtown for the big event...

The Wii Fit is NOT my friend.

Okay. We got a Wii for Christmas (thank you, Momstone!) It's awesome -- we played the bowling game as a family for about an hour, until Maggie could not handle her brother's competitive tendencies any longer and had a series of meltdowns. Up until that point, we were like the Waltons. Or the Ingalls. Or the Cleavers. Or maybe the Simpsons.

The next day, Paul and I went out to procure presents for Maggie's birthday (she turned four two days after Christmas) and, while we were out, Paul accompanied me on my very first trip to a game store (some might say "virgin trip"; there seem to be a lot of them -- destined to stay that way -- in those places). Well. We came away with a winter sports game that, unbeknownst to me (because I forgot to read the package) requires a Wii Fit balance board. Now, the smart person would return the game. I am not that person. I am the person that went to nine -- nine -- different stores in two days searching for what appears to be the most popular game of the Christmas 2008 season: the Wii Fit. I sure do wish I was that smarter person and not, well, you know. Me.

Sunday morning at 8:00am, Paul and I succeeded. We joined the gaggle of middle-aged women with looming resolutions -- only 14 games in the store and we got one. Home again. Later Sunday, Charles took Paul and Maggie out. (After Charles laughed at me doing the Wii figure skating until I thought he might soil himself.) I opened the Wii Fit disc. Oy.

The Wii Fit assesses your body and assigns a Wii age. I do not like this. The Wii Fit did its thing, sending me through a brief series of balance tests. It asked if I fall down a lot. It did not give me the opportunity to reply. It told me that I am 57 in Wii years. I hate that thing. But, I figured, why not give the exercise thing a go. I went for about 45 minutes (it asked me if I wanted to take a rest -- I noticed that no rocking chair was offered, or a shawl for that matter.) I got to the running part. The Jeff Tweedy Mii that I created (I am working on the entire band. And yes, thank you, I do realize that's a little weird.) passed me -- twice. Thank goodness it didn't ask me any questions (Paul has noticed that I seem to forget a lot of small words lately.)

You would think that I'd had enough humiliation for one day (obviously not, since I'm telling you all about it)... But noooo... After we watched The Big Lubowski last night, Charles stayed up to try out the Wii Fit. His Wii age? 34. Thirty-four! 34! And when I told him about the falling down comment, all he could say was "Well, you do."

Humiliation. Complete. Total. Stunning.

In other news, Paul's got a blog.

Stealing post ideas from my friends...

Okay, two posts in a day. Yep. For real. This one isn't nearly so touchy feely (I'm trying to lead a balanced life.) Post idea stolen from my friend and neighbor, who stold it from someone else...

Go to Music Outfitters and type in the year you graduated from high school (or first year, if still in high school) into the search function.
Retrieve the top 100 songs from that year.
Put the songs you hate(d) in red, italicize the songs you like(d), bold the songs you love(d) and leave alone the ones you either don’t remember or don’t care about.

The Year was 1984. Here's the list. An (i) indicates the song are on my iPod:

1. When Doves Cry, Prince (1)
2. What's Love Got To Do With It, Tina Turner

3. Say Say Say, Paul McCartney and Michael Jackson

4. Footloose, Kenny Loggins

5. Against All Odds (Take A Look At Me Now), Phil Collins

6. Jump, Van Halen (i)

7. Hello, Lionel Richie

8. Owner Of A Lonely Heart, Yes

9. Ghostbusters, Ray Parker Jr.

10. Karma Chameleon, Culture Club

11. Missing You, John Waite

12. All Night Long (All Night), Lionel Richie

13. Let's Hear It For The Boy, Deniece Williams

14. Dancing In The Dark, Bruce Springsteen

15. Girls Just Want To Have Fun, Cyndi Lauper

16. The Reflex, Duran Duran

17. Time After Time, Cyndi Lauper

18. Jump (For My Love), Pointer Sisters

19. Talking In Your Sleep, Romantics

20. Self Control, Laura Branigan

21. Let's Go Crazy, Prince and The Revolution (i)

22. Say It Isn't So, Daryl Hall and John Oates

23. Hold Me Now, Thompson Twins

24. Joanna, Kool and The Gang

25. I Just Called To Say I Love You, Stevie Wonder

26. Somebody's Watching Me, Rockwell

27. Break My Stride, Matthew Wilder

28. 99 Luftballons, Nena

29. I Can Dream About You, Dan Hartman I have no clue what this even is. It probably should be in red.

30. The Glamorous Life, Sheila E.

31. Oh Sherrie, Steve Perry

32. Stuck On You, Lionel Richie

33. I Guess That's Why They Call It The Blues, Elton John

34. She Bop, Cyndi Lauper

35. Borderline, Madonna

36. Sunglasses At Night, Corey Hart

37. Eyes Without A Face, Billy Idol

38. Here Comes The Rain Again, Eurythmics

39. Uptown Girl, Billy Joel

40. Sister Christian, Night Ranger

41. Drive, Cars (i)

42. Twist Of Fate, Olivia Newton-John

43. Union Of The Snake, Duran Duran

44. The Heart Of Rock 'N' Roll, Huey Lewis and The News

45. Hard Habit To Break, Chicago

46. The Warrior, Scandal

47. If Ever You're In My Arms Again, Peabo Bryson

48. Automatic, Pointer Sisters

49. Let The Music Play, Shannon I have no clue what this even is. It probably should be in red.

50. To All The Girls I've Loved Before, Julio Iglesias and Willie Nelson

51. Caribbean Queen, Billy Ocean

52. That's All, Genesis

53. Running With The Night, Lionel Richie

54. Sad Songs (Say So Much), Elton John

55. I Want A New Drug, Huey Lewis and The News

56. Islands In The Stream, Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton

57. Love Is A Battlefield, Pat Benatar

58. Infatuation, Rod Stewart

59. Almost Paradise, Mike Reno and Ann Wilson

60. Legs, ZZ Top

61. State Of Shock, Jacksons

62. Love Somebody, Rick Springfield

63. Miss Me Blind, Culture Club

64. If This Is It, Huey Lewis and The News

65. You Might Think, Cars

66. Lucky Star, Madonna

67. Cover Me, Bruce Springsteen

68. Cum On Feel The Noize, Quiet Riot

69. Breakdance, Irene Cara

70. Adult Education, Daryl Hall and John Oates

71. They Don't Know, Tracy Ullman

72. An Innocent Man, Billy Joel

73. Cruel Summer, Bananarama

74. Dance Hall Days, Wang Chung

75. Give It Up, K.C.

76. I'm So Excited, Pointer Sisters

77. I Still Can't Get Over Loving You, Ray Parker Jr.

78. Thriller, Michael Jackson

79. Holiday, Madonna

80. Breakin'... There's No Stopping Us, Ollie And Jerry

81. Nobody Told Me, John Lennon

82. Church Of The Poison Mind, Culture Club

83. Think Of Laura, Christopher Cross

84. Time Will Reveal, Debarge

85. Wrapped Around Your Finger, Police

86. Pink Houses, John Cougar Mellencamp

87. Round And Round, Ratt

88. Head Over Heels, Go-Go's

89. The Longest Time, Billy Joel

90. Tonight, Kool and The Gang

91. Got A Hold On Me, Christine McVie

92. Dancing In The Sheets, Shalamar

93. Undercover Of The Night, Rolling Stones

94. On The Dark Side, John Cafferty and The Beaver Brown Band

95. New Moon On Monday, Duran Duran

96. Major Tom (Coming Home), Peter Schilling

97. Magic, Cars

98. When You Close Your Eyes, Night Ranger

99. Rock Me Tonite, Billy Squier

100. Yah Mo B There, James Ingram and Michael McDonald

1984 sucked. At least the charts did. I notice there's no Replacements here. Or Bauhaus. Or the Cure. Or Bowie. Or Talking Heads. Or REM. Or the Clash, or Devo or Siouxsee or Specials or Madness or Buzzcocks or Joy Division or Soft Cell or Violent Femmes. Or a whole lot of other great stuff that made me a giant vintage-wearing, black tutu-clad weirdo in high school. Now I'm thinking about high school. Thanks alot, BA.

Winter Wonderland

Well, not the snow part, but the rest of it? I think I'm finally on it. I should probably write something profound about the spirit of the season or something, but I'm really happy with little things these days...

This has been a week of school activities: parties, performances and pageants. Maggie had her very first taste of performing on Tuesday night with Weekday Nursery. Mrs. McGuirk, Mrs. Carr and Mrs. Bellamy are amazing -- year after year, they somehow manage to get about 20 three- to four-year old kids to sing a about 20 songs and recite several poems. Frankly, I don't know how they do it (even though Maggie practiced for weeks and weeks and weeks, that's a lot of memorization for such little kids!) She told Mrs. Bellamy before the program that she would "be fabulous" and confirmed it to us after the show. And she wasn't the kid digging for gold, which I count as a big win!

Paul's school had their Christmas pageant on Wednesday night. All grades (pre-k through 8) perform, and there's a reenactment of the nativity story, too. Paul was great -- a very engaged, active performer (and focused, which is always a surprise with the boy), but I think the part he liked best was hanging with the ladies while they waited. In all honesty, the ladies seemed to enjoy it, too. He is soooo much like his dad.

So I'm not ready for next week at all (still trying to get through party preparations for Paul's class!) Our tree has lights but no decorations (and I finally remembered to water it today), I haven't done much shopping or baking (weird, I know) and the house is a mess. But the Christmas pageants have once again worked their magic, and I'm feeling filled by the Christmas spirit. It's possible that I might rethink that once I take a look at the house and the tree and ... and... but for now, Merry Christmas!

A friendly message.

Christmas, Alive & Well in Whoville.

It is, I'm pretty sure, the most wonderful time of the year.

I'm thinking...

"And the Grinch, with his grinch-feet ice-cold in the snow, stood puzzling and puzzling: "How could it be so? It came without ribbons! It came without tags! It came without packages, boxes or bags!"

And he puzzled three hours, `til his puzzler was sore. Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn't before! "Maybe Christmas," he thought, "doesn't come from a store."Maybe Christmas... perhaps...means a little bit more!"

-- Dr. Seuss, How The Grinch Stole Christmas

Just sayin'...