Wheeee! We got a wii!

About 3 weeks ago Lacey asked me, "mom, do you know how to spell 'we'?" I said, "that's easy it's just 2 letters w-e. " To which, she replied, with a grin on her face, "no mom, it's wii." Perhaps this was her way of making sure that we hadn't forgotten that we told the girls we were going to buy a wii. Brad & I have been talking about getting one since May, and we finally made the plunge. This is the first game system we have ever had. I resisted for a long time although we did get a Nintendo DS last summer (which, by the way, Ben is completely obsessed with this summer. The girls can't play it when he's around because he will scream for it and say "I need my 'tenno ES!'")

Anyway - Brad & I have been trying to find a wii for about a month, with no luck. Our problem was that we were looking at Best Buy. We went on the days when they received shipments, but all we ever found were wii accessories & no wii's. One evening a couple of weeks ago, Brad & I went wii shopping once again. Creatures of habit that we are, Best Buy was our first stop and, as usual, we found accessories only. We then stopped by Target since it was nearby but found no wii on the store shelf. Of course we ended up in the book section, reading tips in books about how to stay young. Then Brad said, let's go the Walmart. I just looked at him like he was crazy and sarcastically said, "yea, right - like we're really going to find a wii at Walmart." I was enjoying the time alone with Brad so went along to Walmart knowing we were certainly out of luck. Sure enough, there was no wii on the store shelf. Then, our luck changed as we saw a woman purchasing a wii at the cashier in the electronics section. Brad asked if they had any more. Guess what - they did! Apparently, the wii's were in the back of the store & not on the shelves. So - we bought one, and Brad was almost giddy as we left the store. In fact, I am pretty sure he was almost skipping :). I was carrying the bag, and Brad said to hold it close so that no one mugged us!

We've had the wii for about 2 1/2 weeks now and it has been quite entertaining. Some of us are particularly excited about the Dance Dance Revolution game, which is fun, addicting and a great way to exercise when it's 110 degrees outside! No big vacation for the Wallace family this summer - just a wii, trips to the cabin and Woodland, and the American Idol concert - (more to come on that soon!)

Meet the wii Wallace family -

Brad & LaRae at the top left with Ben below us
Madi in white, Lacey in blue, and Katie in pink

I hope you're happy . . .

. . . you David Cook fans - I really hope you're happy because you have caused much grief and sorrow in this household! So all you moms with your David Cook crushes {Janae} and {Katie}- all I can say is, "what about the children?" When you were pushing those buttons to vote for DC, did you not think about the thousands upon thousands of 10-17 year old girls who would watch in heartbreak as David Cook's name was announced as the winner?

Sadly, I was not even there to comfort my girls when that heartbreaking moment occurred because they went to Brinley's house for an American Idol Party - certain that David Archuleta would come out victorious. I was not there to see the utter shock & disappointment on their little faces or to wipe away the tears that streamed down their red cheeks or to hug them and tell them it would all be OK. Brad shared these most sympathetic words with Madi & Katie, "now you know how I feel when Tiger Woods doesn't win the Masters." Oh, I'm sure that made them feel a lot better, daddy! And today - they had to complete their last day of standardized testing - I hope they can concentrate! I doubt they will skew the scoring just because David Archuleta lost!

In reality - it's probably better that David A. didn't win. (just don't tell Madi I said that!) He's still so young, and his life would never be "normal" again - although it most likely won't be normal now, either. Also, I don't think David A. is as ready to be a celebrity (if there is such thing as being ready) as David Cook. Ready or not, I am sure we will hear from both of them again! I just wish I could convince my girls of that.

My high points from last night's show -

1- David C's arm around David A - over the past several shows it appears to me that David C. has taken little David under his wing & watches over him as a big brother. If this is truly the case, I think it's very sweet.
2. The Davids singing together
3. Jack Black - what a hilarious "pip"!
4. David Cook's "Risky Business" Guitar Hero commercial - he definitely seemed more comfortable in this role than little David.
5. Brooke White & Graham Nash singing "Teach Your Children Well"
6. David Cook's "last" song - The Time of My Life

My low points from last night's show -

1. The love guru
2. George Michael - what was with the song that seemed to never end and those sun glasses, and Paula crying - did I miss something? I didn't get it at all!
3. Not getting to hear David Archuleta's "last" song - which all the other idols who got voted off were able to perform.

Does anyone else find this disturbing?

Can I just share something that's been on my mind? . . .

This is Cher - she is 61 years old.

This is Cher & Tina Turner - they are 61 & 68, respectively.

It just doesn't seem right that someone in her 60's should look younger than me - at least in some fabricated, Barbie-dollish sort of way. Last week I had a few minutes to myself and decided to watch a DVR'd Oprah episode and happened upon this one, which piqued my curiosity. Cher has been out of the spotlight for years, and I was curious; but when I saw her, I was disturbed.

Cher is my dad's age. My dad looks great! He looks like this -


I will tell you that I am definitely not "anti-cosmetic surgery" and I don't see anything wrong with trying to maintain a bit of youth. I can think of a couple of procedures that I wouldn't mind getting at some point in my life. However, I think there ought to be a little moderation. As my mom always says, "moderation in all things." I will also tell you that I am absolutely for women staying active and relishing every waking minute of their lives. But to me, when Cher was out dancing on that stage, it seemed awkward. I can't pinpoint the reason why because I did enjoy watching Tina Turner, at 68, perform on stage. For some reason, on that Oprah episode, Tina Turner seemed more "real" to me than Cher, although I have no doubt she's had her share of "procedures" as well. On that show, Tina announced that she is going to go out on one more tour. I am sure, in part, that is what keeps her young. I hope that I can be so active at 68. Both my parents and Brad's are very active in their 60's. But - they are not trying to look 30 years younger either. The fact that so many people who are in the spotlight in our society feel the need to look 30 years younger makes me feel really uncomfortable. It perpetuates such an unhealthy attitude about aging.

Take a minute and look at this picture of Lesli's mom. Isn't she beautiful? Beautiful & 63. Lesli titled this photo "perhaps my favorite picture yet of my mom". If Lesli's mom changed her appearance to look the way Cher looks, something very personal about Lesli's mom would be seriously lost. I love Lesli's mom, & to me, she looks just as beautiful as she did when I was a teenager. I love Lesli's mom for who she is inside & out!

I am struggling with the exact reasons this all disturbs me the way it does - so I am just wondering - did anyone else see this Oprah? Does anyone else want to shudder when they look at 61-year-old Cher trying to be 30? Why does it make me feel so strange?

And just a final thought along similar lines - I really don't want to offend any Mariah Carey fans out there, but here she is, Ms. E=MC2 - at 38 years old. There is not one line on her face.


Mariah has apparently launched quite a media campaign for herself, so she is always in the spotlight as of late. When Madi saw Mariah on American Idol, she kept asking me how old she was because to quote Madi, "she looks sooooo young". I certainly don't think 38 is old by any means, but most of the 38-year-olds I know have a few little laugh lines here & there. But then you can't really look at Mariah and think reality - after all, she has a lingerie closet bigger than a lot of houses (again, a small detail I learned from watching a DVR'd Oprah episode).

Nothing personal, but . . .

. . . all I can say is tonight had better be the last night this young dude graces the American Idol stage (sorry Karla - I know you would buy his album if he had one, but . . . )!!!

I know the world is full of injustices. The fact that Jason is one of the top 4 American Idols is one such injustice. Come on now - dreamy eyes and toothy grin aside, he is out of his league right now. To quote Jason from last night when Simon asked him what in the world he was thinking, Jason simply responded "Marley, man - I was thinking Marley!" I think one of the judges labeled his performance as a bad karaoke number - I wholly agree. I liked Ryan's comment that Randy & Simon seemed almost mad at Jason's performance last night. Yea - I'm pretty sure he practiced for maybe 30 minutes during this past week leading up to his performance last night in front of millions. It does seem like Jason is taking it all pretty lightly. I guess you've gotta give him credit for his kick-back, lackadaisical attitude. He has to know he's not going to win, so I think he's just there for the party, to meet hot babes, and have fun. I'm sure he's accomplished all that. So now - let's get him outa there!!!

I just wonder how many lovestruck young girls are out there casting vote after vote all night long to keep Jason on the stage. A lot, I am sure! and I would like to personally find them & sit on their fingers so they can't vote anymore! Girls, this is not a popularity contest, a Bob Marley look alike contest, or a best performance by a cabana boy contest. "This is American Idol"! This is serious, you know. I told my girls last night that we HAD to vote for Syesha because she needed all the votes she could get to edge out Jason. Then we called my mom & told her she needed to vote for Syesha. My mom, of course only wanted to cast her vote for the beloved David A. - but I think we convinced her that voting for Syesha would not hurt David. Based on voting in the past, I figure that the "David's" are both safe & that Syesha was the one that we needed to keep so that we could tell Jason, "bye bye".

If Syesha gets voted off tonight, there will be yet one more injustice in this cold, cruel world of ours! Friends, I really hope YOU all voted for Syesha last night!

david questions

Why is the wallpaper on my office computer a larger than life picture of this kid? Why does my daughter write "I love David A." on the back of her hand, and why does she spend her time searching the internet for and then watching Youtube videos of David? Why did this same 12-year-old daughter beg her dad to buy her an "I love David A" t-shirt for $25 & the even bigger question - why did he do it? Why does Madi know all kinds of trivia about a kid that no one had ever heard of 3 months ago? Why did my mom tell her granddaughters that she would accept David as a son-in-law when her granddaughters are only 11 or 12? My mom loves him, that's why. At least she doesn't write "I love David A." on the back of her hand, but she does faithfully watcher American Idol so that she can see "David Archuletta". Yes, he's cute & yes, he can sing quite well. But still - David, David, David. Enough already!

This morning Brad commented that he hoped that David would stay in the competition for a while so that the $25 t-shirt was not a complete waste. I bet he will.