Mickey on Skates

The weather is getting cold. You're pulling out your sweaters.

So it wouldn't be so weird to visit the ice rink now, would it?

The great folks at Disney on Ice have offered up a family 4-pack of tickets for their opening night show here in Fairfax, VA.

I'll be catching the excitement Friday night with my crazy boys. I can just see it now. They'll be "practicing" their ice skating all over the house for weeks after this and begging me to take them to the real rink. (Good thing I'd still be able to skate circles around the bear cubs.)

Leave a comment below by 3:00 p.m. today telling me your best life/parent hack and I'll do a drawing for the tickets (please make sure you sign in so I can email you if you are the winner).

If you don't win but are still interested in checking out Disney on Ice, here's a good discount code:

• Use the coupon code MOM for four tickets for $44 Monday-Friday, and $4 off tickets for all weekend performances.
• The tickets can be purchased from http://www.ticketmaster.com <http://www.ticketmaster.com> and by entering the MOM code in the “MC promotion” box when purchasing tickets.
• Minimum purchase of 4 tickets required; additional tickets above 4 can be purchased at $11 each during the week and $4 off on weekends.
• Offer not valid on Rinkside or VIP seating.
• Cannot be combined with other offers. Service Charges, facility & handling fees will apply.

Can't Wait to Try This Out

I have to say I was an Atari fan way back in the early 80's when Ms. Pac Man was the cool hot game. Then they got advanced and I was in over my head (you know soon after the Atari 2600), and I tuned out of the gaming scene.

Of course my kids are crazy for video games...oh and my husband can get pretty tied up in them too, but me? Never really did.

Until I got a Nintendo DS (okay and a Wii). Next thing you know, I'm actually playing video games again.

Well there's a new game coming out today and it sounds like one I might like.

It's a shoot 'em up game, but it's rated E for everyone and it includes fireworks. I LOVE FIREWORKS.

I'm hoping to get a chance to try it out.

I'll let you know what I think as soon as I do. And you? Let me know when you do.

Wii Love the Holidays

My holiday season started off a bit early this year with an invitation by Nintendo to check out the Wii Fit.

While there are plenty of video games that get played regularly in my house, my last interaction with a game console may have been an Atari 2600 and included a mastery of Ms. Pac Man.

I was so excited to try out the Wii and honestly if I were a more paranoid person I'd think that Nintendo sought me out because they knew how much I could benefit from the Wii Fit.

What? I can't still blame this extra "baby weight" on my almost 5 year old?!

Well let me just tell you the Wii Fit ROCKS!!

Okay so I don't love that your personal avatar reflects your "fitness age," but damn if that isn't motivation to keep working out.

I'm just lucky mine doesn't have to use a walker.

And I'd probably be in better shape already if I could get my kids and the hubs off of it.

Can't tell you how much it warms a mother's heart to hear her 4 year old trash talk his dad.

"Come on old man, let's see what you can do with some skis."

BWAHAHAHAHA

Working with Nintendo truly has been a pleasure.

They hosted a terrific party for me and some friends to try out the Wii Fit.

Devra came prepared with cool shoes--perfect for Wii Fitting

Goon Squad Sarah checks it out.

Kimberly, our resident fitness guru, took it all in.

They brought in three consoles, big screen TVs and yummy food and drinks.

The women who came along to show us how to use it didn't laugh at me too hard when I made the little avatar do things they had never seen before.


And I know they'll remember that party for a while if not for the amazing company but for our new puppy who got so excited that she peed on the floor and then sprayed one of them in the face with it as she furiously wagged her tail (thank god for dog people).

As a matter of fact, I have proof of how cool Nintendo really is.

They have given me a Wii and Wii Fit and Balance Board
to give away
to one lucky reader.

Here's how the ole contest is going to work:

• Leave a comment below by 12AM Friday, December 5 (that's midnight Thursday)
  
• In your comment, tell us how a Wii Fit will become part of your lifestyle
  
• The five best comments will be selected by me and Kris and then posted on this site on Friday, December 5.
  
• The final winner to be selected by a vote of you the readers. Voting will be closed at 12 AM Sunday, December 7
  
• You must include an email address in your comment, so we can contact the winner.
  
• Nintendo will send the Wii and Wii Fit with Balance Board directly to the winner within two weeks of receiving the name of the winner from me.
• Extra credit for making us laugh and laugh hard

GOOD LUCK!!!

The Right Words

I first fell in love with Marlo Thomas while watching reruns of That Girl. As the daughter of a famous actor, she probably never needed to work a day in her life, but she has dedicating much of her energy to helping children through her support of St. Jude's Children's Hospital.

As a faithful fan of the Diane Rehm show (I have NPR on all day at work), I heard an interview with Ms. Thomas not long ago talking about her recent books The Right Words at the Right Time--Volumes 1 & 2. In the first volume, famous friends of Ms. Thomas recounted tales of words that profoundly affected their lives. She recalled in the interview receiving such a dramatic response from people she encountered every day telling her about the words that changed their lives that she decided to produce a second volume consisting of essays from everyday folks (like us).

So when MotherTalk asked for people to review this second volume, my interest was piqued. I'll admit being a bit concerned I'd be forced to suffer through some vegetable soup is good for you self-help thing. Reading the introduction, I was immediately relieved.

"...People didn't simply send us random thoughts that strung together a
few memorable words from their past. They sent us their stories,
pieces of their lives.

As I'd learned from the first book, the right words
can transform us. They can challenge us at a crossroads; they can help us
through times of sorrow; they can dare us to action. They can be spoken with
love or shouted in anger. The right words can be funny words,
thought-provoking workds, words that prop us up when we think we can go no
further.

And they can be found almost anywhere--in a poem or a songbook,
illuminated on a computer screen, stitched onto a wall-hanging, or
scratched into the dirt with a wooden stick."

Those words jumped out at me as I read them. I had been seriously questioning blogging, the time I spend doing it, the purpose of it all, but in reading these words I recognized exactly what I loved about the blogging community--so many interesting souls offering up their words to others. I know that many of those words had resonated strongly with me and I only hope one or two of mine may have had the same affect.

From this I imagined the rest of the book as a best-of version of posts, so you'll understand why I liked it. What sealed the deal is that all proceeds from the sale of this book (and the first volume) go to support St. Jude's.