What Did Wii Get Ourselves Into?

My sister and I bought a Nintendo Wii last Friday and Wii are all very
sore! I just happened to stop at a Costco that I rarely shop at while
traveling to visit my mom for the weekend. I was very excited when I
saw it sitting there on an almost empty pallet near the cash registers.
The thing was almost calling out my name...

I finally opened it up on Sunday when I got back home and
immediately jumped right into playing the tennis game and boxing.
They even have training and testing modes. I tested my Wii age
and I somewhat embarrassed to say...I am 60 years old! The games
are a lot of fun...so much fun you get into it a little bit too much. I
was really sore the next day, but it definitely didn't stop me from
playing again the next night. I hear about all these injuries from
playing the Wii. I can easily see myself doing something stupid
and getting really hurt. The funny thing is...it makes it that
much more fun! I played about 15 games of tennis against my
friend Mike which I lost the majority of them (Mike if you are
reading this...IT'S ON THIS WiiKEND!). When I used to play
tennis in school, I had a really bad temper, so I didn't take the
losing like lady if you know what I mean. I can't wait to have
a boxing bout with someone soon...

Stale Post

I have decided to take a break from Travel Tuesdays. Even though my Travel Tuesday's aren't much to read, it's a lot of work! Then I feel bad that I don't write about anything else, as you may have noticed my last post was a week ago! The reason I don't post is that I want to leave my post up long enough because it was so much work. I don't understand how people have the energy and creative thought to post something fabulous everyday...amazing.

TRAVEL TUESDAYS #11

Let's travel to Berlin, Germany this week. I spent about 1 1/2 weeks there the summer of 2004. I always had a desire to visit Berlin after I watched one of my favorite movies, "GOTCHA!" It was a cheesy movie that took place in East Berlin. Unfortunately, I never made it to Germany before the Berlin Wall was dismantled (1989). Though I still enjoy my visit very much and enjoyed seeing what was left of the Berlin Wall.

Brandenburg Gate, the only remaining gate that one would cross through to enter Berlin.

Bricks line road on the alignment that the Berlin Wall once stood.

Checkpoint Charlie seen from the former American Sector.

WCB

DON'T WORRY, I AM NOT DEAD....I JUST SLEEP LIKE THIS.

Make sure to visit Sundance over at "What Did You Eat?" all decked out in a new accessory.

MARATHON UPDATE
I am very proud of myself! I ran 16 miles today. There are about 8 weeks left until race day. I am very excited and scared. The 16 miles was absolutely grueling. If it wasn't for my sister and a couple of good friends following along on bicycles, I might have never made it. Usually we (Team in Training, Leukemia & Lymphoma Society) run as a group. Aid stations and good running company is always provided. Not today...today was a run on your own day. It is supposed to help you train mentally as well. It is an enormously different when you are all alone (much harder). Thank goodness for my traveling aid station. She carried my water, Gatorade, power gels and my anti blister/chaffing cream. It seamed like it took forever, but I managed to finish without walking!

TRAVEL TUESDAYS #10

Growing up in Sacramento, California and now living in Fresno my perception of what gardening life is like is very different from what it is like in Russia. At least where my cousin lives in Salavat, Russia. Most people live in apartment/condo like buildings where the tenants do not have yards. What most of them do is rent a garden space that may or may not be near where they live. This is the case with my cousin. His garden space was about a 15-20 minute bus ride away from his place. Since not everybody has a car, this can be quite a challenge. The bus stop from his house and the bus stop by the garden was about 1 mile walking distance each one which isn't bad on your way to the garden...but try walking a mile with a huge sack of potatoes! (Also, this trek has to be made at least 2-3 times a week just to water the garden.) These were by far the BEST potatoes I have ever had. I think they were so tasty due to the soil, it was so rich it was pitch black. I even started growing my own potatoes when I got back home, hoping to replicate the taste...no such luck.

(BTW...can somebody explain why I get the HUGE spaces between my photos? It doesn't look like that when I am editing the post!....please help)














The pathway that leads to my cousin's garden. There are no houses along this pathway, only gardens. The buildings you see are storage sheds that people use to store the harvested potatoes over the winter.















Inside the garden.



















Another view of the garden and the water pump. These pictures are not the best to see what was planted. There were potatoes, carrots, cucumbers, peppers, and zucchini.

















Typical apartment/condo housing. Another cousin of mine lived here on the 6th floor.