Playing Cards and Other Sports

Courtesy of Google Images

How many of us have watched, LIVE from Los Vegas, The World Series of Poker? I see a lot of smiles out there- all of us have, right?

Courtesy of Wikipedia

Playing cards have been around for nearly as long as paper, literally. The Chinese invented paper around 100 BC. And with that done, they invented playing cards somewhere between the fourth and nineteenth centuries. Playing cards, in various forms, have been around for many centuries.

The cards we’re familiar with are the English version with clubs, spades, hearts, and diamonds as suit names. Other countries have named their suits differently, but they all work in the same way during a game.

THE perfect Eucre hand!

Our family has always played cards. My favorite card game is Eucre. Even within that game, I know several playing variations and score-keeping variations. I learned how to play Eucre a long time ago.

Before my husband and I were married, we’d get together with a bunch of his relatives and play. For a couple of years I considered myself a “dummy hand” or a “space filler.” But the more I played the better I got.

Now, in my extended family, asking, ‘Would anyone like to play cards?’ everyone of them would be able to produce a deck from their purse, pocket, suitcase, or car.

Have cards, will play.

Image courtesy of Google.

When we went to Disney in Florida, we played a game called Pass the Ace while waiting in line. If you’ve been to DisneyWorld, you know the lines are long and the waits are forever. 

The cool thing about Pass the Ace in particular, is that any number of people can play anywhere they happen to be. No table or scorecard required. I have a link right here with directions on how to play Pass the Ace.

We play Poker when we go bowling too. For each spare you’re allowed to draw one card from the deck, for each strike, you draw two. The person (or team) with the best poker hand at the end of the game wins! It makes bowling just that much more fun.

The youngest children in the family play cards too. From the time they’re babies they sit on laps and watch. As they grow older, they’re encouraged to throw a card out into play for the person they’re sitting with. When they can hold cards on their own, they learn Go Fish and Kings in the Corner.

              

                 My little card helper, Erin's daughter,Adalyn.

Adalyn on her own!

Google Images

We play cards in airports. It passes the time and a lot of people stop to watch or ask what we’re playing.

Just recently our daughter and her husband went away for a long weekend. As she was jumping into the car for the airport I said, “I know this is a dumb question, but did you pack cards?” She said, “Got ‘em in my purse!”

Way to go, Erin, keeping with the family traditions.

What family traditions do you carry on?

Until next time,

Be Good to Yourself!

~Nadine

March Madness

It’s for real.  I am the most un-athletic person I know. Yet I’m All In for college basketball tournament time.  

Years ago, when our kids were still in grade school, we organized a pool with our neighbors, who had three children around the same age as ours. The four parents and all five kids put money into a kitty and we all filled out our own brackets. When the kids were little, one dollar was the buy in.  By the time they were in high school, the amount was up to five dollars. The money sat on top of our TV during the whole tournament. Taunting us. We all wanted to win. More for bragging rights than for the nine up to forty five dollar pot.

Our neighbor’s oldest daughter, Hope had by far the best winning record over the years. She won so often that we started to tease her that we should just give her the money and forget about doing a bracket. Now the kids are all grown up and moved away.  I still post a Facebook message to Hope every year about sending my five bucks to her and calling it good. 

Traditions are important. That’s why I continue to send my yearly FB post to Hope.  Another sports tradition in our house is to have a picnic on the living room floor and watch the Super Bowl. Our son came up with that idea when he was about five years old. Every year we made big hoagie Dagwood type sandwiches and ate sitting on a blanket in front of the TV. Years have passed since we last watched the Super Bowl while having an in-door picnic with our son and daughter, but every year I ask my husband if he wants to have one for the Super Bowl.

This year, I’ve gone digital. I’m part of my son’s ESPN bracket group. All of my picks are very un-studied. I sometimes make my choices based off the team’s record, but often I make my picks because I maybe like the team name, colors, or mascot.  Holy Cross typically gets a win on my bracket because – really? Holy Cross? With a name like that how could you not give them a win?  This year I have Providence getting a win because I used to live on Providence Drive. See? Very scientific.

The older I get, the more I realize that these little traditions, started for fun, were so much more than just that. Traditions mark the passing of time. Traditions are our history. Traditions shape our future.

What traditions do you have in your family? If you need some ideas, certainly use mine. They’re great fun!

Until next time,

Be Good to Yourself

~Nadine

Chairs

Chairs hold sentimental meaning.  I’m not sure if any other furniture holds the kind of appeal that a chair does. Everybody has a favorite chair or “spot” they like to sit in/on.  On the sitcom Big Bang Theory, Leonard’s room-mate, Sheldon goes off the deep end if anyone sits in his spot.  In the sitcom The Goldbergs, Murry Goldberg drops his pants at the door after work and spends the rest of the evening in his recliner wearing only tightie-whities and a dress shirt. And, in the movie Phenomenon, Robert Duvall’s character questions John Travolta’s character’s commitment to his chair-making girlfriend by asking, (in the way only Robert Duvall can,) “Do you buy her chairs?”

Tim with our first grandbaby
relaxing in the old recliner.

There are several traditions that involve an empty chair at the dinner table.  These empty chairs represent remembrance for someone who has passed away, or remembering a deployed family member who cannot be at the feast, or even the tradition of leaving an open chair for an unexpected guest.

I think chairs are symbols.  Symbols of home, safety, and comfort.  Chairs also signal respect. Men stand up when a particular person enters the room.  People give up their seats on public transportation for those they believe are in more need of a place to sit. The head of the table is reserved for the C.E.O. or Daddy.  Kids get their hynnies out of Dad’s chair and move to a different spot when he’s ready to sit down and relax.



The new recliner awaits...

Today we got a new chair.  The old recliner bit the dust several years ago.  We still used it for a couple years (way) after its prime, before I convinced the family that it was time to let it go.  We went without a recliner for a few years, but realized recently that we needed one again.  So today, we picked up the new chair.  We know it will take a little while to “break in” our new chair, but we’re looking forward to years of laughing, relaxing and sleeping it.

I think I'll go take a nap in the new chair.

Until next time,

Be Good to Yourself.

~Nadine