Cards

I love to play cards. I always have. When I was about Kyra's age I learned to play double solitaire with my aunts in New York. Actually, I think we played triple solitaire since there were two of them and one of me. It was a lot of fun and I went home with a double deck of Pegasus cards. My Aunt Maria worked for Mobile at the time and if you remember (or were even alive at that time!) the logo for Mobile (before it was ExxonMobile) was a Pegasus. Last year I took one of the jokers from each deck and sent them to my Aunt Yota in New York. I told her how I remembered playing with them and how much I enjoyed it. She was delighted that I still had the cards, had the memory, and thought of her. In the note I sent her I told her I would come pick up the jokers from her, thus making it clear that I intended to visit again. She's all alone now and I think of her looking at those cards and remembering her dear sweet sister Maria.

About that same time I really really wanted to learn how to shuffle cards. I can recall spending an entire summer trying to conquer the "bridge". I can't remember how old I was, but I know it was the age where The Price is Right was a fun show to watch. I'd get up in the morning, do whatever until Bob Barker begged me to "come on down", and sit on the floor of my living room trying endlessly to shuffle and bridge those dang cards. That was sometime before Junior High. I would have been the only one home since my mom was at work and my brother was either sleeping or at work as well. Me, my cards, and Bob. Awe, what a nerd!

Now I've taught Kyra how to play solitaire, double, and triple. It's been fun and she is pretty intense. She slams those cards up when she sees an opening and is pretty good. You can tell it has been a while since we've played because I believe that annoying is the word Bill and I used more often when describing what it is like to play with her. She's pretty intense. I think Bill is very grateful that I am over my double solitaire phase of life. He's getting more sleep now and does not dread the time when the kids are in bed and he hears the cards shuffling.

My current card game of choice is Wizard. It takes at least 3 people to play, but is really more enjoyable with 4-6 people. It has been fun teaching new couples to play and it is a game that Bill and I equally enjoy. Although it takes a bit of skill to know what to do, much of the game is about luck in what you are dealt. It plays a bit like Hearts, with a wizard twist. Fun, fun, fun. One of the funniest nights of Wizard was when Bill and I taught his friend Larry to play. When there are just 3 players the game seems to go on FOREVER!!! Or maybe it was just because it was late and we were all a little slaphappy. Good people, good game, you can't go wrong. Clearly, the couple we've played the most with is the Lee's. In fact, there have been a couple of times that going into the last hand we've all been within reach of the win. Crystal and Bill just really enjoy this game, Jared and I like to argue. Again, what's not fun about that?! I think we would enjoy playing every week if we could. Good people, good game, good fun.

Since it is not possible to gather 4-6 of your dearest friends together on just any given weeknight, I sometimes try to get a little Wizard practice in on my own. I've been told that there is a website that you can play on, but I'm not the kind that is going to sign up and be at the mercy of strangers around the world. I also hear that you can mock each other and I just don't think I can take that kind of a beating from some guy in Japan. So, I settle for the next best thing... Hearts. Heck, that game is loaded on my computer and I play the delightful "west, north, and east". West doesn't seem to be very good, but the other two can hold their own. Tonight I didn't do so well. I don't want to talk about it.

BUT, the real reason I started this post is to nark on Bill. Apparently you can change the names of your opponents to anything you want. He likes to play with some good looking ladies. He named his competitors: Angie Harmon, Julia Roberts, and Diane Lane. The first two were a given, but Diane is a new comer. I think Bill is growing up a little, I'm impressed. She's beautiful in her own way and was fabulous in Under the Tuscan Sun. I loved that movie. What is funnier than anything is that he set Angie up to be directly opposite him at the table so he can look directly at her the whole time. Is this funny, or what? I just love that man, and he's got good taste, see:






I am going to be in so much trouble tomorrow when he sees this but it will be well worth it. I'm sure we'll make up :) It's the retaliation that I fear most. It will probably have something to do with the fact that I would have a hard time narrowing down my Hearts game to just 3 hotties.