Mario Karts of Fire

Another Thanksgiving has come and gone, and my verdict is that it was "oh ja, pretty good then."  (I have to honor my heritage every now and then, dontcha know.)  My actual Turkey Day was very quiet as it was just me and my parents this year.  The downside was that I didn't get to see extended family, but the upside was that I didn't have to shower or get dressed.  And I didn't have to share the leftovers. 

I had to work on Black Friday, which was A-OK with me as I am not a fan of crowds of rabid consumers in search of what they have been told is a "great deal."  On Saturday, I went out to the farm with my parents to visit my aunt, uncle, cousins and of course my grandfather, the infamous "Mayor of Northfork."  It was an informal day, full of excellent snacky foods, beverages and entertainment. 

The highlight for me had to be the Wii tournament held between me and my 10-year old cousin.  I am by no means a professional or proficient video gamer, and I am also 20 years older than my cousin, so I think he may have taken me for an easy mark.  Our first game was Super Mario Wii, a game that I have only played once before.  Obviously, I was horrible, and I think he found it pretty entertaining.

Then we moved on to MarioKart.  Unbeknownst to my cousin, but beknownst to me, I am actually decent at this game.  This is partially due to my brief training in Diddy Kong Racing for N64 that I received in college, courtesy of some of my male friends.  The other reason is that I own this game for Wii and have been playing it a bit more often than usual as of late.  It is a great stress reliever, and I've needed that with my classes this semester.

After my dismal performance at the regular Mario game, I believe my cousin was expecting to again be able to shame and humiliate me in this new game milieu, but was shocked to discover that this was not to be.  I actually beat him on several occasions and I know that this was not due to him being nice to me as he had not been nice to me while playing the other game.  It didn't take long for him to lose interest in the game once he realized that he was not going to dominate this 30 year-old female video game rube.  Score one for me.

I wish that I had more exciting news to share, but for now you'll just have to settle for this brief tale of my underdog Wii performance.  I hope it inspires you to stay fresh.  Or to drive safely - just watch out for those banana peels!