I’ve done a few new things this week. We will be going to see the new Hunger Games movie, Mockingjay next week with my sister, her family, and my children so one of the new things I did this week was to order tickets online to go to that movie. This was not as simple a task as one might think, if you are going to be thorough. You see, my sister is 10 years younger than me. I used to think that was something rather unique but I have met more people with large age gaps with a sibling recently and I’m feeling rather common place now. Anyway, I digress! My baby sister (she’s still my baby sister even though we are all grown up) orders her tickets online and told me how to do it.

Ordering Tickets Online

Well, I went to the site she sent me the link to, clicked on the number of tickets I wanted and it went to my cart and POOF! they disappeared. Now I have to say that I am NOT a novice when it comes to ordering things online, but this week sure did make me think I was. I looked high and low for the link to my cart and it was nowhere to be found. So I finally decided that maybe I needed to make an account on the site to find my cart. Once again, do not misunderstand, I am not a newbie when it comes to registering on websites. I created the account and magically found my cart; I don’t even remember now, how I came to find it but it was easy after registering with the site. But now to be able to process my order for the tickets I had to click the box that said I had read the terms of use (or some such legalese) and privacy policy. They also offered a rewards program, but at the time they offered it they did not specify that it was a fee based membership, and I clicked to enroll in that. Ugh! More things to read before I could complete my order. My dad taught me not to sign my name to anything that I hadn’t read; there have been a few times in my life that this has been a very long, drawn out, and overwhelming act and in the end, I may have simply scanned over a lot of the words, but I at least read enough to find out any hidden costs and such.

Over all, I had three tabs open with legalese in two of them, trying to order these tickets. The tab with my cart in it kept timing out because I was taking so long reading the other two tabs so that I could check that one little box with a clean conscience.

Well I finally completed that task and was now able to complete my order but this is a very nice theater with reclining seats and you can reserve your seats when you purchase tickets online. Since we are all going together, we want to sit together. Tracie, that’s my sister, had told me which row she was reserving seats in and I thought she’d already done so but when I got to that part of the process, the entire row was available . . . had I done something wrong? Did I have the wrong website? Wrong movie time? These were questions this newbie had to have answered before I continued. So there was another delay in my ordering as I awaited Tracie’s confirmation that I had misunderstood and she had not placed her order yet, as she was waiting to know exactly how many tickets she was purchasing due to a very active youngster that would prefer not to attend but would need to have a sitter on a Thanksgiving week. Once assured that I did have all the correct information and such, I was finally able to complete my ticket purchase after that crazy tab had timed out about 3 or 4 times!

Another New Online Experience

Now, if that had been the only new online experience, it might not have left such an impression but I had another new online experience that took what seemed like several days to complete but I think it was only just over a 24-hour period, which is a very long time when you are used to online things going so quickly. Let’s just say, I know it will have been worth it come Christmas and I get to see a big smiling face on a loved one.

Wii U Fun

Then Sean, my middle child, purchased a Wii U and it finally arrived, complete with unexpected bonus game. Now I have to admit that I love video games but I was not very interested in getting the Wii U because of the gamepad. I thought it was weird and would make this fifty-year old lady FEEL old and unable to get it all together to enjoy playing on this new system BUT my oldest, Brian and his dear wife Lauren, got one earlier this year and brought it over. Turns out that I could play with my grown gamer children using this very element that I didn’t think I could handle with ease, and not lag behind them but actually help them in the game – usually I am the last one lagging behind the others as I look for every coin, heart, or other hidden piece and am frequently the one getting ‘killed’. I was pleasantly surprised.

Last night we even got my husband, Mike, to play a few games with us on Nintendo Land. These can be really fun games for the whole family to play. Some of the games are games of chase, where one player is “it” and the others are evading or trying to catch “it”. I get very involved in what I do and can get rather loud too. Let’s just say that I have let out a scream or two as I am moving my character out of reach of the chaser.

Well, I’ve gotten quite long-winded today and have a busy day ahead, including what should be our final Christmas shopping run. I would love to stay home, make my home spotless, and play the Wii U but I will be the mature adult and do what needs to be done first. After all, it is Friday, which is ‘stay-up-late-night’ and I think there may be some gaming going on tonight.

I hope you have a wonderful weekend. Until next time, God bless,

Michele ºÜº