Spring Cleaning in December

It all started 6 or 7 years ago while browsing at the Sharper Image at the Plaza. We came across this electronic, person-shaped punching dummy. Zones of the body would light up and you would have to hit them while lit for your boxing/kick-boxing workout. The spouse thought it was so cool, but we weren't going to pay the hundreds of dollars (I forget how much) they wanted for it. Ever since she's been wanting some kind of fighting game for exercise. We watched as boxing games with gloves came out for home video game consoles, but we're not gamers and never wanted to spend the money. Well my mom, after hearing her talk about it for years, decided to finally get her something for Christmas this year. She got us a PS2 with the Eyetoy Kinetic game. It comes with a USB camera that you put on top of your TV so you can become part of the game. You see yourself on the screen and have to react to the floating shapes around you, hitting/kicking some and avoiding others. Comes with built-in personal trainers that talk to you and customize your workouts. You can select your workouts from the 4 different zones: cardio, combat, toning, and mind and body. It's really cool.

As soon as we tried to start playing with it, however, we discovered that we needed more room in front of the TV to make it work. We've both had the entire week between Christmas and New Year's off for vacation, so it seemed the perfect time to rearrange the furniture in the living room. Once we moved the couches and such, it seemed on logical to vacuum well, wipe the floorboards, and give everything a good cleaning. It was also the perfect time to de-clutter. By the end of the day we had a beautiful new living room for the new year. Of course, then the rest of the house felt filthy and cluttered in comparison, so we've had to spend the rest of the week cleaning everything else to match. It really improves the mood to have a pleasant environment surrounding you. And it's been a nice change from work. I certainly don't mind sitting in front of the computer all day as part of my job then coming home to do stuff like this, but being active and productive in a different way has been a nice change of pace.