Now through February 10th, Amazon is offering free game downloads on the following:

Jewel Quest II



The Scruffs



Build-a-lot






Click here for more details.

Sorry, I haven't been posting more lately, but my husband has been on vacation and we've been spending quite a bit of time at the casinos. We are not big gamblers by any means. We do give it a real effort when we go to Vegas; but here, in KC, we go to have fun. At least that's what I tell myself so I don't feel bad when we lose. Luckily, we've never lost big. Usually we break close enough to even that I can live with it. The point being that I enjoy it, whether we win or lose. The way I figure it, it costs no more for us to do that, then go out to dinner and a movie nowadays, so why not?

Anyway, lately, I've been somewhat obsessed with playing the video slots. I especially love the bonus rounds. Because I can't afford to go to the casinos everyday, my husband bought me a slots game for my computer, but something gets lost without feeling like you're winning something. So, my husband actually looked up the company who makes the slots that I like and it turns out they have a really neat web site where you can play games, a lot of which are the bonus rounds to the real slots I play at the casino. Poppit is my favorite.

Instead of wagering money, you win tokens that can be used to participate in drawings for real cash. You put up nothing to play. So, it's actually a lot of fun. You still get the feeling of possibly winning without the worry of losing. If you're a slots player, I suggest checking it out, I think you'll enjoy. They do have other games too though, word games, puzzles, just like any other game site. Just thought I'd share that for anyone interested in another way to pass the time. Personally, it's great for when the baby's napping.

I've written before about my quest to lose weight. It's not going so great right now because, as much as I want to be motivated, I'm just not. The last thing I want to do in the world is hit the dreaded treadmill.

So, I've been trying to think of ways to get my exercise without feeling like I'm exercising. DDR has been great. If not for that, I may not get any exercise other than cleaning and chasing my baby around.

Now, however, Wii has released Wii Fit as well. I was a little hesitant about getting it at first because it does look more like another piece of exercise equipment than a game. Then my husband told me that they're making other games for the board and so I figured we'd end up getting it eventually anyway and might as well take the plunge now just to see if I like it.
In the Wii Fit game, you take a body test first that measures your BMI among other things and then gives you an "age" based on those things. It's too depressing to even say what my age is. I tried not to let it get me down though because these are things I already knew I needed to work on.


The game lets you keep track of progress as you try and meet goals you set for yourself based on what the game tells you is a healthy score. You're then giving a trainer to work with and you start "training".


There are four modes in which to train: yoga, balance, strength, and aerobics. There are several games within each mode, including things like hula hoop(which I am the master at in real life), and soccer, skiing, running, etc. The more you play, the more time you collect and thus the more games you unlock.

PROS: I like the games. I like that the games guide you, showing you how to do the movements properly, helping you find your center of balance.

I liked that you can do the games without getting too much of a sweat. I don't like playing games that I need to shower after playing. While it might be great for losing weight, it keeps you from playing with others.

CONS: What I don't like is that if you want to play with others, you have to keep going out of the game to a plaza to switch miis. It's really inconvenient. You really should just play one person at a time.

I also don't like that the games are really short. I think you do the ski jump twice and then you're on to the next game.

All in all though, I'm glad we got it. I'll let you know if it helps me lose any weight.

We just got Ninja Reflex for the Nintendo Wii. I'm not as impressed as I'd hoped to be. It seems like we went through the games pretty quickly.

Though we didn't go through all of the levels, we did sample everything and it left me wanting more for the money. If it had been $20 or even $30 then I'd have no problem. $40, now that's the problem. I don't know that I would have bought it if I'd played it beforehand. Still, it is fun and I'm sure I'll play it again now that I have it.