An early Christmas present

I bought an early Christmas present... for myself... "paid" for by my parents (well, I know they're giving me money, so I pre-spent it). What did I get?? A Wii!!

I know that they are supposed to be so hard to get... but I got mine fairly easily and at regular retail price too from a retail store. More on that adventure later.

First, let me just say that usually for my birthday or for Christmas I get money or something open ended like that from my parents. Don't get me wrong, money is great and very versatile. But usually the money, checks, etc... get put into our checking account for when I might want something. And then, usually what ends up happening is that I never get around to choosing something or I can't bring myself to spend money or something that might not be worth it... so guess where it goes?? It gets used to pay bills, buy cleaning supplies or other household necessities, or things for us all (like food). That's not bad... I mean, it's nice to have a little money to fund our Netflix's account or go out to eat every once in a while, whereas maybe we'd be too over our budget to do any of these fun things... but it's not much of a present personally for me.

So going back about 7 months when we were looking at getting a present for my oldest sister... She wanted DDR for her birthday. Well we could't afford the game and she didn't yet have a console... so we decided we'd buy her the pad (a little cheaper than the game itself). I asked her if she wanted a Wii, because I think they look fun and I don't think she's much of a gamer. She said adamantly that she didnt' want a Wii. Hmm... odd I thought, but then I think that's only because I wanted a Wii.

Fast forward to this last week. I'm been thinking about the Wii. I added it to my Amazon Wishlist, not expecting anyone to get it for me, but just to looking for everything and anything that I might possibly ever want to pad my wishlist and make it look not so boring or sparse. So I added the console and a few games. No biggie. Then on Wednesday, E was getting so fussy being at home. It was so sunny and nice outside that I thought, hmm... let's go for a walk. She was way into that. We went across the street to the U-mall (a small outdoor stip mall) that has a Gottschalk, a Game Stop, Starbucks, Ritz...etc. We popped our heads into all the non food stores and just poked around. While in Game Stop I just randomly asked if they had Wiis in stock... they said they did, just 1! Somehow it had got overlooked in their computer system and was just sitting there. That was when I first though, hmm... maybe they're not so hard to get... and hmm.. maybe I really do want one.

So I called my mom, to see what she was planning to give me/us for Christmas. It was going to be money. Check one! Then I called Ian to see what he thought about getting a Wii. He said he'd be fine with it. (Personally, he'd get a X-box 360, but then I'd probably never play.. because I get motion sickness with first person shooters or really any first person moving in 3D space type games.) Check two! Then I ran into a couple people just lounging outside with E and got a talking. Twenty minutes I went back to the store to see if the Wii was still there. Nope. Someone had snatched it up. Oh well, too bad. But then the guy behind the counter said that they get regular shipments (most on Fridays) about weekly of a few Wiis. That day it was three.

Well then I went home and thought.. hmm.. well I guess I might try again to call or stop by and see if any are there. If I don't get one, oh well... if I do, that'd be great. And it was a reason to get out of the apartment and take E for a walk (while we still can and it's still not rainy). So Thursday I called, the store said they were expecting a shipment on Friday of some number unknown. They also said it usually comes around X time. I said ok and hung up.

Then on Friday, I called at about 10 seeing if the shipment had come in. They said no, but that they still expected it at X time. E and I wandered around our apartment complex, talking to other Mommy and kids, going to visit the apartment office and then went across the street at just before 11am. We went to Game Stop, stepped over the threshold, noticed a small gathering of mostly adults (probably all but one being parents) in the store - which I consider to be a non usual group of people to be found at the Game Stop at 11 am in the morning, asked about a Wii and was then given a card with the number 9 on it. I was thinking "Huh, what's this?". The guy behind the counter said "You're the last." I was still thinking "Huh" and I must of showed it on my face because he contined by saying "We're expecting 9 Wiis today in the shipment and if they all come in as expected, you'll get the last one." Wow, (1) I guess I didn't expect a line. Some of the people there had actually been waiting when the store opened, CRAZY! (2) I didn't expect if there was to be a line for me to get one, as I had just shown up at 11 and supposedly the shipment was to arrive around then or shortly thereafter. So E and I took our number, looked at stuff in the store, talked with other Wii waiters... and waited... and waited... and waited.

Well, to make this already longish story shorter... UPS came a little later than anticipated. But I only had to wait about an hour and a half (and I'm pretty sure I could have left, done shopping, eated lunch or even when home and came back if I knew how long the wait was going to be) before getting a Wii. And that's the end of the story... or is it?

Unlike some of the other people in the store, notably the parents who were buying it for their kids Christmas presents (one who actually got so much stuff with the console he had to make two trips to his car), we only got the console. So maybe this weekend we'll look around... Fry's, Costco, etc... and maybe we'll get a game or two... or maybe just some Wii points so we can "buy" some old school Nintendo titles. Or maybe we'll borrow and swap with friends who already have a Wii. The possibilities are endless. Oh and I've already gotten a little bit of exercise flailing my arms and bouncing around our living room trying to get the hang of the Wii sports games. :) And Ian and I had a "date" while E slept and bowled 10 frames. (I did dismally and Ian totally ruled the lane!)

Can I just say... I'm excited about the Wii! It's my first console ever! (Heck, I think it's the first console anyone in my family has ever owned. We've always just played at other people's houses on other people's systems.)