We wanna Wii to weeee weee weee all the way home...

Over at Magpie Musings she's giving away a Wii Fit. The challenge? write a story of why you deserve the Wii Fit. Here Wii gooooo.....

Wii here in Casa de Next Door endeavor to be athletes. At 8 I was the first girl on the little league boys' baseball team - "farm league." And when they needed a sub in the "minors" one age up? I volunteered. As wii crossed the field to the game, the coach asked me, "What's your name son?"
I calmly answered, "Mary Ellen."
[ Pause....wait for it.... ]
Coach: "MARY ELLEN?! You never said you were a girl!"
ME: "You never asked."
I played the greatest game of my life, batted 1000, stole 3 bases. My mother made me quit little league the next year. "Those boys throw that ball too hard." I discovered soccer...

In high school I played field hockey [no high school soccer team for girls], basketball, ran indoor and outdoor track, joined the indoor weight club (all 105 pounds of me). When I got shin splints and couldn't run, I joined the Hogs and threw the shot put (all 105 pounds of me). Wii had a blast.

In college I joined the first ever Womens' Soccer team at my University. Wii crushed teams with our indurance - Wii had no skills b/c wii had no field on which to practice. Wii ranked below the high school prep boys in field priority. So Wii ran for 2 hours every day waiting for a field to open up. In the off season Wii practiced with the coaches' old chums from high school on indoor gym floors - the coaches were Boys who checked us into the bleachers and took no mercy. All 105 pounds of us. Wii had fun.

Throughout the last 20 years I've endeavored to remain somewhat "fit." My family carries diabetes genes (we own that gene pool), heart disease, high blood pressure, high cholesterol. It's all about fitness to win this fight. I managed to marry into an equally awful cesspool of genes, so my kids are pretty much doomed, and their father has no fitness sense and does not follow my guidelines for the kids. When they are in his house, they have different rules. But here in Casa de NextDoor, Wii have tried to train them from a young age to eat heart healthy. Wii used to run and play soccer and jump on a trampoline. Wii used to snowboard and water ski. Wii tried to stay fit. Together.

Until mamma collided with a goalie in her adult league game and wiped out her knee in June. I can't run far before it aches. I have seen a doctor and tried PT. I have given up my 10 mile competitions. Wii think mama and her joints are getting old. Mama has packed on 15 pounds and gone up a dress size. Son has tried to get Mama back out onto the road running and doesn't understand why some bodies get to a certain age and don't bounce back. Daughter wants to know why Mama can't play soccer with her any more, why Mama can't share her clothes anymore, and why mama is having trouble fitting into her dress for the big Christmas Ball. Mama is wondering if this is the beginning of the end of fitness and a healthy lifestyle. Mama never had willpower. I've never met a bag of chips I didn't like. I enjoy a big, fat juicy steak; cheese fries used to be my friend. I have combatted weight with exercise. (My kids eat way healthier than I!) But now that I can't exercise, I am struggling to redefine myself. And I am losing.

Oh and gyms and clubs and stuff? I'm a single mom working a full time job. There's this one thing called TIME and this other thing called MONEY.

Enter Wii Fit. A new idea at getting fit. In the privacy of my own home. On my time. Late at night, early in the morning, in between depositions and documents and flute lessons and driving lessons. AND a way wii can play together and encourage each other to get fit and stay fit. A way to reconnect with my teenagers who will be leaving me all too soon for college. A way to reunite with clothes I have shoved to the back of the closet. A way to stem the tide of the cesspool I call Genes.

Wii hope to see a Wii here, reaaaaally soon...