Boom Blox, Rock Band, and Black Friday

The other day, I opened up our mailbox to find a coupon from Blockbuster. With it, we can rent one video game a week for $5 until the end of December. (That's about 1/2 off.) Since we just got a Wii, I was very excited to find this. It's nice to rent games for a "test drive" and decide if they are worth purchasing further down the road or not. Upon our friend Rachel's recommendation, we decided to rent a game called "Boom Blox Bash Party." She was right--it is a very fun game. I like it because I stink at video games in general, but this one isn't too hard. And Nathan, who's considerably better than I am, still enjoys it as well. It's been a great family game, and I recommend it to anyone who has a Wii. HOWEVER, be prepared to be sore if you're not used to playing video games! You are throwing things 99% of the time, and if you play long enough, it can really give your throwing arm a workout! I had to ban myself from playing it today to give my arm a rest. It has to go back tomorrow night, so I plan on playing it a ton. I'll be sad to see it go.

Since I was giving my throwing arm a break today, we decided to play with our other new toy instead: Rock Band 2. Through the Heroes at Home program that Sears does every fall, we will be receiving a gift card every month for 3 months. We got our 1st card a few days ago, and we decided to use it to buy Rock Band. We had so much fun playing it tonight! I do have to say, though, I find it extra challenging. Nathan wanted the guitar, and I didn't really care so I took drums. (Neither one of us will touch the mic with a 10-foot pole!) In retrospect, that was probably a mistake. I have known for a VERY long time that I have no rhythm. I can't lead music even though I've been taught numerous times. I can't dance. I can't even clap in rhythm for very long--I always get off. So drums are not exactly my forte. One of the songs was that "We've got the beat" one, and the irony of me trying to drum along with it had me laughing the whole time. I still really liked it, and I'll just have to practice A LOT before I'm ready to play in front of anyone besides Nathan! Oh, and my left hand started hurting from holding the drumstick. I really am a video game wimp!!!

My last rambling thought for the day is about Black Friday. Yes, I got up at 3 a.m. and Nathan and went and braved the crowds at Wal-Mart. It will probably shock you to know that it was Nathan "I hate to shop" Tenney who really wanted to go in the first place. If he hadn't wanted to, I would have stayed in bed! So, we went with the intention of getting the Wii Carnival game, a card table, a portable hard drive, and possibly some movies.

We got the Wii game, a movie, and he picked up an XBox game as well. We looked high and low for the portable hard drive and couldn't find it, so we quickly gave up on that idea. We were pretty sure it was one of those things that went fast, and it wasn't that big of a deal to us. We then set our sights on the card table. We had intentionally left that to the end because we really didn't think it would be as hot of an item as the other things. Well, we were mistaken. They apparently sold out quite quickly. Again, not a big deal. It's one of those things I'd like to have but certainly don't need. And now I know for next year to head to the card table first!

After going to Wal-Mart, we had breakfast at a bagel place. Then we went to Best Buy, but almost as soon as we walked in there we realized there was nothing there we wanted. So we turned right back around and went the PX. (The PX is the Post Exchange, and it's basically like a KMart for military-types.) They had a 1.5 TB hard drive for $99. Normally, they sell them for $180, so we were pretty excited to see that. Plus, the PX doesn't have sales tax, so we saved a bit there too. Now we have the task of putting all our movies, pictures, and various other things on it.

After that, we went home. It was about 7:30, so we both collapsed into bed and crashed for a few hours. I never in a million years would have thought I'd hear Nathan say, "I want to go shopping," and I wasn't too thrilled at the idea of getting up so early in the morning when there wasn't anything really big that we needed/wanted. It turned out to be a lot of fun though, and I think it will be a nice tradition for our little family.