Sunday, December 28, 2008

December 30, 2008 - Joy and sadness


I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas. I spent the last week with some of my family amidst much turbulent weather—ice, snow, fog, rain, cold and winds. But all in all we stayed safe and happy, ate too much, and enjoyed each other's company. Another Christmas past.

Madison is breaking records with snow fall this December. We're not jumping for joy but at least we've had less ice and a lot of the snow has melted. But there's much more on the way and we're all bracing for a long winter. I'll keep you posted.

Over the past years movie watching has been a big part of the Christmas holiday for me and family. Lots of leisure time means lots of time to enjoy movies. I have no idea how many movies we watched but here's a few. First there was "Wanted". A totally bizarre fantasy about a group of assassins with extraordinary and totally unbelievable skill sets. It didn't do much for me. We also saw "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" and I liked it a lot. I had seen a review that didn't recommend it so I was hesitant. But it was a really nice story about love, growing old and growing young. It's very long but it held my attention and it kept me guessing as to where it was all going. And my sister finally talked me into watching "Mama Mia." Although I resisted you can't help but get into it if only for the catchy songs. There were more including marathons of "A Christmas Story" which has been a part of our family Christmas for many years.

The hit of the holiday was experiencing the Wii game machine. My brother-in-law  got one for father's day and my niece got her husband one for Christmas. I was curious having seen all the buzz about it over the last year. And it is fun. We played tennis, golf, archery, figure skating, volleyball, snowboarding, go-cart racing, bowling, billiards, and the silliest of all, cow racing. I have to say it was as entertaining to watch as it was to play. I get it now. It's great entertainment for small and large groups as well as on your own. Worth the price? I'm still deciding. And as far as the exercise benefits go, you do get a great work out for one of your arms. But be careful. I came home with a sore wrist from all the twisting and erratic movements. It does get you off the couch and laughing at the very least but it's hardly a substitute for the real thing.

And now the sadness. I came home to an email from a long time friend. It said that two friends of ours were killed in a car accident on their way to a family Christmas in Indiana, not far from where I was. I'll leave the details for my next post but it was a shock and terribly sad. So with joy comes sadness. And that's life.

No comments: