I know I should have some inspirational year-end introspective retrospective, but I don't. It didn't feel like the end of a year to me today. It just seemed like a normal Saturday. Had cinnamon rolls for breakfast, spent some time at the indoor batting cage and did some grocery shopping. Just another Saturday.
Although I had intended to hit another area of the house on my de-cluttering campaign, I didn't get around to it. Too busy doing nothing, I guess.
Hubby and I went out on a New Year's Eve date of sorts. Went to The Branding Iron for dinner. I was nice and made Carter supper of his choice -- Chicken Alfredo -- before we went out. They don't take reservations at The Branding Iron, so we had over an hour wait. By chance, another couple shared our "waiting table." They were visiting from the Milwaukee area. Had never met them but managed to pass the time talking with them!
Had an awesome dinner. Jim had the prime rib and I had the stuffed shrimp. Goooood stuff. We were too full for dessert but I got a piece of cheesecake to go. I'm still too full for it.
Got home at 8:30 or so and the three of us played Tripoly until 11:30. That's a card game (sort of) that we always played when I was a kid, too. That was fun. And I'm not just saying that because I won. Though kind hubby did say, "It took all year but we finally found a game Momma could win." Oh yes, he's a smart alec alright.
We ended up watching the ball drop on TV at 11 p.m. and had our "shots" of eggnog then. Carter and I have to get up for 8 a.m. church because he has to acolyte. So we're not sure we'll make it to our midnight. I'll try, though.
Today, I asked some friends what they felt their greatest accomplishment was in 2011. Answers ran the gamut from staying employed to staying married -- with some new ventures in between. I said my greatest was doing the half-marathon. Right now I'm thinking it would be staying up until midnight!
Should have trained harder.
If I forget to tell you later, Happy New Year!
Showing posts with label Tripoly. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tripoly. Show all posts
Saturday, December 31, 2011
Saturday, December 25, 2010
Oh, Cricut Tree...
We woke up in something like Bizarro World this morning. Daddy and I were up before Carter! It didn't take him long to hear us, then we had to wake up the big boys and get going on the gift opening. Judging by first glance, I would say we all must have been very, very good this year!
The big boys liked their presents (especially since they picked most of them out), Carter liked his iPod and other gifts, Daddy liked our surprises for him and I did not mind the lack of surprises. I got MY Cricut! Thanks, Santa!
It didn't take long before the living room looked like Mount Wrapping Paper erupted! That was about the time Sylvester found her catnip in her stocking and added to the chaos. Gotta love Christmas morning!!
I do. Especially when Daddy makes breakfast. And especially when there are 5 of us here to eat it! The big boys had to leave by 11 to go with their mom to her parents. I was just glad we had a good evening and morning with them. I miss that.
After they left, I went for a 4-mile run in the life-size snowglobe we live in. It was awesome! Big flakes falling the whole time. I felt like Snoopy as I stuck my tongue out catching them.
I'm sure the highlight of everyone's day around here was my demonstration of how the Cricut works. Hubby says, "How long do I have to pretend to be interested?" What a good sport. At least I know I won't have to share it with him. (As if that was a remote possibility.)
The rest of the day and evening was all about family fun for the 3 of us. Watched Bill Murray's Scrooged movie together then, after supper, I dragged out my old Tripoly game and taught those 2 how to play one of my childhood favorites. I don't even mind that I came in last. I just like sharing with them one of the games we (us 4 younger kids) played for hours and hours during our Christmas breaks. I bet you anything (if I had any chips left, that is) that Ron, Rachel and Raylene are reading this and jealous they couldn't be a part of it!
And, true to form, we played until we were staying up way later than anticipated. Not that it matters. I believe we're supposed to be celebrating Jesus' birthday all day ... and we haven't even gotten to the cake yet! (Do we have cake??)
Sure, I thanked Santa for my material gifts. But thank you, Jesus, for all the true gifts that made today special!
Hope your Christmas was filled with blessings of love, family and fun, too!
The big boys liked their presents (especially since they picked most of them out), Carter liked his iPod and other gifts, Daddy liked our surprises for him and I did not mind the lack of surprises. I got MY Cricut! Thanks, Santa!
It didn't take long before the living room looked like Mount Wrapping Paper erupted! That was about the time Sylvester found her catnip in her stocking and added to the chaos. Gotta love Christmas morning!!
I do. Especially when Daddy makes breakfast. And especially when there are 5 of us here to eat it! The big boys had to leave by 11 to go with their mom to her parents. I was just glad we had a good evening and morning with them. I miss that.
After they left, I went for a 4-mile run in the life-size snowglobe we live in. It was awesome! Big flakes falling the whole time. I felt like Snoopy as I stuck my tongue out catching them.
I'm sure the highlight of everyone's day around here was my demonstration of how the Cricut works. Hubby says, "How long do I have to pretend to be interested?" What a good sport. At least I know I won't have to share it with him. (As if that was a remote possibility.)
The rest of the day and evening was all about family fun for the 3 of us. Watched Bill Murray's Scrooged movie together then, after supper, I dragged out my old Tripoly game and taught those 2 how to play one of my childhood favorites. I don't even mind that I came in last. I just like sharing with them one of the games we (us 4 younger kids) played for hours and hours during our Christmas breaks. I bet you anything (if I had any chips left, that is) that Ron, Rachel and Raylene are reading this and jealous they couldn't be a part of it!
And, true to form, we played until we were staying up way later than anticipated. Not that it matters. I believe we're supposed to be celebrating Jesus' birthday all day ... and we haven't even gotten to the cake yet! (Do we have cake??)
Sure, I thanked Santa for my material gifts. But thank you, Jesus, for all the true gifts that made today special!
Hope your Christmas was filled with blessings of love, family and fun, too!
Saturday, January 26, 2008
Card sharks
I've always enjoyed playing cards and learning new games. I'm not saying I'm any good at it. I just like to play -- and I can shuffle pretty good.
When I was growing up we played a lot of rummy, hearts, variations of poker (including the Tripoly game), UNO, a game we called "Peanuts" and one we called "500" (which was an "adult" game because it had trump!). I learned euchre in college and we played that a ton. Thanks to computers, I've learned a bit about Texas Hold 'em, but I'm not so obsessed with it that I'd watch it on TV or anything.
I also remember playing cribbage with my dad. I don't recall if I ever beat him. My hubby is a huge cribbage fan and I do recall clearly -- no, I have never beat him. In fact, 4 out of 5 times I get skunked! I just don't have a knack for it.
Carter likes playing Slap Jack and War with me. At least I found an opponent of equal skill!
Last fall, my sister Rayna introduced us to "3 to 13" -- a new card game she learned down in Texas. I taught it to Jim and Carter over the holidays and it has become our new family game. It's not really a hard game -- you just have to pay attention.
The rules (in case you want to play): You start by getting 3 cards and the 3's are wild (Jokers are always wild). To go out, you have to get 3 of a kind or a run of 3 (all in the same suit). When someone goes out, the other players get one more chance to go out. They add up whatever cards they are left holding (face value for 9 and under; 10 points for face cards; 15 points for aces). Then we move to 4's -- 4 cards, 4's are wild, you need 4 of a kind or run of 4, and so on. From 4 on up, after someone has gone out, we are allowed on our last turn to lay down 3 of a kind or a run of 3 just to get rid of some cards. It really gets interesting (and challenging) by the time we get to 13 (kings are wild) and you have to figure out how many runs you need to equal 13 (3 runs of 3 and 1 of 4).
This is one game we've all won at least once. Daddy usually keeps score. Instead of just writing D, M and C on the pad for Daddy, Mommy and Carter, he is always D but mine and Carter's always change to initials like BT (Big Talker) or SL (Stinkin' Lucky) or just plain T if we finished third (or "turd") the game before. We can't have a game in my family without some teasing going on!
I'm OK with that. It's fun to sit at the table a few times a week and do something besides eat or homework. Carter has found it's a good stall tactic, too. "I can't go to bed. We're not at 13 yet." That doesn't work. The other night it was bedtime so I quit at the queens (12's). We actually just finished up the next night with one hand (I won, by the way. But who's counting?)
When I was growing up we played a lot of rummy, hearts, variations of poker (including the Tripoly game), UNO, a game we called "Peanuts" and one we called "500" (which was an "adult" game because it had trump!). I learned euchre in college and we played that a ton. Thanks to computers, I've learned a bit about Texas Hold 'em, but I'm not so obsessed with it that I'd watch it on TV or anything.
I also remember playing cribbage with my dad. I don't recall if I ever beat him. My hubby is a huge cribbage fan and I do recall clearly -- no, I have never beat him. In fact, 4 out of 5 times I get skunked! I just don't have a knack for it.
Carter likes playing Slap Jack and War with me. At least I found an opponent of equal skill!
Last fall, my sister Rayna introduced us to "3 to 13" -- a new card game she learned down in Texas. I taught it to Jim and Carter over the holidays and it has become our new family game. It's not really a hard game -- you just have to pay attention.
The rules (in case you want to play): You start by getting 3 cards and the 3's are wild (Jokers are always wild). To go out, you have to get 3 of a kind or a run of 3 (all in the same suit). When someone goes out, the other players get one more chance to go out. They add up whatever cards they are left holding (face value for 9 and under; 10 points for face cards; 15 points for aces). Then we move to 4's -- 4 cards, 4's are wild, you need 4 of a kind or run of 4, and so on. From 4 on up, after someone has gone out, we are allowed on our last turn to lay down 3 of a kind or a run of 3 just to get rid of some cards. It really gets interesting (and challenging) by the time we get to 13 (kings are wild) and you have to figure out how many runs you need to equal 13 (3 runs of 3 and 1 of 4).
This is one game we've all won at least once. Daddy usually keeps score. Instead of just writing D, M and C on the pad for Daddy, Mommy and Carter, he is always D but mine and Carter's always change to initials like BT (Big Talker) or SL (Stinkin' Lucky) or just plain T if we finished third (or "turd") the game before. We can't have a game in my family without some teasing going on!
I'm OK with that. It's fun to sit at the table a few times a week and do something besides eat or homework. Carter has found it's a good stall tactic, too. "I can't go to bed. We're not at 13 yet." That doesn't work. The other night it was bedtime so I quit at the queens (12's). We actually just finished up the next night with one hand (I won, by the way. But who's counting?)
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