Mamma Loves...: December 2008

Pulling in more than half of all the total votes, URBAN MAMA is the winner of a brand new Wii and Wii Fit w/Balance Board.

Sandie, I think I can speak for all of us when I say thank you for honoring us by sharing your story.

I wasn't sure if I wanted to post, because my reasons for wanting to lose weight aren't funny.

Two months ago, my mother died after fighting colon cancer for eight years. She's the second person in our family to die of colon cancer, which can be hereditary.

As I was searching through her files afterward, I found an odd collage of pictures of my siblings and me mixed with magazine clippings, play money and hand-written notes from my mother. It was one of those spiritual self-help, "wish list" exercises. She wished for us to have loving spouses, beautiful homes, successful careers, etc. But the pictures of me were pasted on the bodies of thin fitness models. Underneath she wrote: "This is Sandie happy because she's a healthy weight."

Finding that photo was such a heartbreaking shock. I knew my mother always wanted me to lose weight, but seeing that posterboard was horrifying. I looked at myself in the mirror and realized she was right. I need to do something this coming year to get to my true age's fitness level. I'm sick of looking 52 instead of 32.

So why do I need a Wii Fit? Because I need a way to work out at home (with three kids under 7 and a husband who's rarely home before 8:30, gym membership isn't feasible right now), so I can be healthy, not just for myself, but so I can ward off colon cancer and at the same time fulfill my mother's wish.

I hope you find hours of fun and health for you and your family in this Wii and Wii Fit.

Okay, here are the finalists for the Wii/Wii Fit package.

You, my dear readers, are in charge of voting for the winner.

Please read the six comments below (I know I said there would be 5 finalists, but there are six. It's my blog. I get to change the rules.).

In the comments, please cast your vote for ONE--and only one--commenter. No anonymous comments will be accepted on this post. You may only vote once. (I'd have used a poll widget but the comments are too long--man you guys are long-winded.)

In the case of a tie, I will put both names in a hat and select one.

I want to thank everyone who entered the contest. I wish I had enough to give away to each and every one of you. It was hard just to pick these. Thank goodness I had help. Love you Kris!! Seriously, I have a stomach ache just thinking about disappointing some people by pushing publish.

So without further ado...Get voting! Voting will be closed at 9:00 a.m. tomorrow morning and a winner will be posted.

Good LUCK!!


Lumpyheadsmom said...: My husband is worried he exceeds the recommended weight limit for the Wii Fit. A bit of a chicken/egg problem, no?

Let me throw in an entry for my dad. He was in a bowling league for years - every Wednesday night when I was growing up. He has battled rheumatoid arthritis since I was in high school; today Dad is not able to hold a bowling ball - his fingers have been deformed by the disease - and is not strong enough to throw a ball down the lane.

Lumpyhead got a Wii for his birthday. (Long story. But we think he's too young for it, so he doesn't know it exists.)

On Thursday night, thanks to his grandson's Wii, my dad was able to bowl for the first time in 20 years. He was almost giddy, and his reaction to bowling again was thrilling to watch. Now the minute Lumpyhead goes to bed, Dad starts pestering us to BOWL!

He needs his own damn Wii.

Christina said...: [To the tune of The Beverly Hillbillies Theme]

Come and listen to a story of a girl named… me
This last year, well, we grew our family (adoption, but STILL)
Then one day when I stepped upon the scale
I realized that I’d become a friggin’ whale.

Orca whale
Chubby fool
buffet bar (wth, I know. IT RHYMED.)

Well the first thing you know I slipped into a funk
My clothes got kind of tight and I retreated like a monk
I took walks around the park to get some exercise
But I haven’t lost much weight and that rubbing sound’s my thighs.

So now it’s time to say to you that I would like a Wii
If I won the Wii and Fit I think that I might pee
You’re all so kind to host this contest regardless of who wins
But if you choose me I promise to lose at least a couple chins.

Y’all can pick me, y’hear?

==

Okay, in all seriousness - I’d integrate this into my life by using the Fit during the kids’ naptimes and/or after they go to bed. I’ve put on weight since we’ve had both the babies (14 mos & 17 mos) because I’m not getting out to the gym anymore. I’m a stay-at-home mom - my husband is gone 13-14 hrs a day - and if I’m going to be here by myself when they’re sleeping, I think it would be FUN to exercise. Plus, I need to get more fit because carrying their heavy little bods is starting to take a toll.

Urban Mama said...: I wasn't sure if I wanted to post, because my reasons for wanting to lose weight aren't funny.

Two months ago, my mother died after fighting colon cancer for eight years. She's the second person in our family to die of colon cancer, which can be hereditary.

As I was searching through her files afterward, I found an odd collage of pictures of my siblings and me mixed with magazine clippings, play money and hand-written notes from my mother. It was one of those spiritual self-help, "wish list" exercises. She wished for us to have loving spouses, beautiful homes, successful careers, etc. But the pictures of me were pasted on the bodies of thin fitness models. Underneath she wrote: "This is Sandie happy because she's a healthy weight."

Finding that photo was such a heartbreaking shock. I knew my mother always wanted me to lose weight, but seeing that posterboard was horrifying. I looked at myself in the mirror and realized she was right. I need to do something this coming year to get to my true age's fitness level. I'm sick of looking 52 instead of 32.

So why do I need a Wii Fit? Because I need a way to work out at home (with three kids under 7 and a husband who's rarely home before 8:30, gym membership isn't feasible right now), so I can be healthy, not just for myself, but so I can ward off colon cancer and at the same time fulfill my mother's wish.

ZenMom said...: Oh, I would LOVE this. I was just telling The Husband the other day how great it would if we could afford a Wii and the whole Wii fit package so that we could all "play" together as a family.

As a working mom to two little boys, I'm learning how hard it can be to make time for healthy activity for all of us.

In the Summer, we try to go out to the playground or for a walk whenever we can for a bit of play and exercise.

But, in the winter, I'm afraid we are couch potatoes. I hate going out in the cold weather - especially having to bundle up the boys. :)

With the Wii fit, we could have some healthy play INDOORS! AND maybe Mommy could get in a bit of me-time exercise after the boys are in bed.

I think this would be a great motivator to stay fit and healthy - and it would set a good example for my kids, too.

I know I don't have much chance of winning. But I think it's great that you are doing this. Thanks.
Neil said...: My tale is a sad one, so you better sit down for this one. It also might disqualify me from this contest, because the truth is I already bought a wii and a wii fit, back in the old days when it was so limited that you had to wait for an email alert to tell you that it was available. For a few months, my life was complete and I was happy for the first time. I played tennis, bowling, and even got my aggression out of my system with some wii boxing. But then my wife, Sophia, fell in love with the Wii Fit. She became obsessed with it. This was a woman who had a membership to a gym for 10 years, but never walked inside, and now she had found the ultimate fitness friend -- the wii. Every day, I now found her exercising, her wii "age" decreasing daily. Our lives were never the same. One evening, I came home and found that the entire coffee table had been permanently moved into the garage. The Wii platform stood in the middle of the room, facing the TV, as if it was a religious shrine. The couch was covered with exercise clothes, towels, bottle water, and wii "numchucks." Sophia was jumping up and down, furiously.

"Hey, how about we have sex tonight?" I asked my beautiful wife.

"Not now!" she yelled, her eyes focused on the screen, "I'm in the middle of Dance Dance Revolution!"

I had lost her to a Wii.

A few weeks later, we separated. I moved to New York. She got the house, the TV, the car, and the Wii. I got... well, I got nothing.

I became depressed. I was living with my mother in Queens. At night, I would just eat cake and ice cream and bagels and pizza. And that was just for dinner. I would continue to snack all night as I watched these annoying girlflicks on Lifetime with my mother. Ironically, I would be the one crying at the end when the woman learned that the plumber she fell in love with was really a graduate of Harvard Law School.

Yesterday, in a dream, I saw my future -- and it was not a happy one. I was out of shape, still blogging for no pay, still watching Lifetime movies, and still living with my mother. It was a wake-up call. I looked at my pasty naked body in the full length mirror (first making sure my mother wasn't home, because that would be embarrassing), and decided it was time for me to get into shape. It was time for me to reclaim ME! (to be said in a very Oprah-esqe way)

But how? I thought of jogging, but it is December... and freezing outside. I could ask Sophia for joint custody of the Wii, but I didn't have the money for the legal fees. And I KNOW she would fight for it.

But I need to get back into shape. For my self-confidence. For my health. For the stamina to make love to a woman for hours like I used to do in my twenties (I'm just throwing that in, hoping to appeal to MommaLoves, who I know has a dirty mind, so I figure it will give me some brownie points). I wish I had the money to buy another wii and wii fit. But, you know, with the economy and all. Thank God Obama was elected who will solve everything! I am sooo glad that I voted for him and was one of his earliest supporters. Of course, that does not mean that several of the other commenters, who voted for McCain, should be dismissed from this contest. That would be un-American. But I am just saying.

Fiesty Charlie said... First let me bow down before the great give away Goddess (that would be YOU)and pay my respects... Ut oh, now I am stuck in a bowing position.

Oh well, nice shoes, where did you get them?

I could never wear shoes like that, because one they are way to pretty for me, and two both my knees are shot. I would break my neck.

Wait... sorry spasm in my lower back, because I am so out of shape.

I did not used to be like this, a long time ago I was rather buff so to speak. I was working as an EMT, out saving lives.... then one day, my knees stopped working as well as they once did and boom, my career was kaput.

A few surgeries later and I am at least able to walk, but not much more especially in cold, damp weather.

I am not going to look you in the eye and lie, mainly because at the moment all I can see are your shoes, because my back gave out...

I know there are many people more deserving than me, who should win this Wii.

I just want it, and unlike the people in Walmart, I am not willing to trample over others to get it. After all it is just a game. A game that might allow me to regain my buff status, and help me lose the weight that plagues my very existence.

A game that might allow me to regain my buff status, lose the weight that plagues my existence and might help me make a few friends, even if they just want to be my friend to play my Wii.

I will say that if I don't win the game, I can always get a job as a butler I guess, an overweight butler who is always bent over looking at cute shoes, and walks with a double limp.

Thanks for the chance to live above my destiny.... I need to go practice saying, "Yes Madame, how may I serve you?"

{wink}