Weekend!

       

       What is it about weekends that are the absolute best part of the week?  For me and the kids the promise of no work and no school makes Friday night a time for celebration.  It is a much anticipated couple days off.  It is a couple days to do whatever floats our boat.  It is a promise to stay up late and sleep in.  It promises time to have fun.  Most weekends are just another day at the office for my husband.

  

  

     This weekend my husband is on the road. What’s worse is he is not feeling his best.  I worry.  I can’t help myself.  I want him here with me so I can take care of him.  If he were home and needed to be seen by the doctor, he could.  Out there the only hope for any kind of medical help is the nearest emergency room.  Even with insurance that can get expensive.

      My weekends always involve a little bill paying, a little grocery getting, and if I am lucky—which I usually am, a lot of game playing.  I love games.  While my kids love playing electronic games, I prefer classic games like Monopoly and Skip Bo.  I love to play cards and have a vast collection of card games.  I love Game Wright games and have quite a collection of them. They are imaginative, whimsical, and make you think.  In that respect, they are great for kids.  I am a big kid at heart so they are especially good for me.  I love “Sleeping Queens” where the object is to wake up all the Sleeping Queens.  It is a whimsical game of Kings, Queens, sleeping potions, magic wands, knights, and dragons.  I love to submerge myself into the land of Gubs too.  It is a fun game of wit and luck where you do your best to grow your colony despite the threats or hazards.  Only the strong survive.  Another game that I am simply addicted to is Frog Juice where you cast spells, brew concoctions, and melt witches!  As you can see, I get into playing games that stoke my imagination, allow me to strategize, and strengthen my analytical skills.  I love games that fine tune my kids brains and promote their learning.

     Weekends are great for movie marathons, trips to the mall to wander, reading in bed, drawing zentangles, knitting, and if we are lucky a chance to eat out.  As much as I love to cook, I still love to take a night off from doing the dishes!  Weekends are when the barriers come down.  You can enjoy your family, have fun, take care of business, and relax.  If my husband is coming home, it is always for the weekend!   It is no wonder so many people celebrate the coming of Friday and happily count the days to the next one!

     

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My Favorite Place to Be

     These days when I am feeling low or when I need to get away and recharge my batteries I retreat to my happy place.  It isn’t far from my own back door.  I escape to my camper parked alongside my house.  When I step through the door, I feel as if I am transported to a whole different place.  I can imagine that I am anywhere without ever leaving home.  It doesn’t cost any money.  I don’t use any gas to get there.  

       I have never been able to pinpoint what is so special about my camper.  Maybe it is because it is a place that is all my own.  It is a place for fun and relaxation.  It matters little that we rarely take it on any camping trips.  What does matter is that it is there as an escape from reality.  It is a place to go to play games.  I have all of our card games, board games, and LEGO games stored out there.  When we feel like having a game day we cart chips, dips, and drinks to the camper and have our own little party.  Naturally we take the dogs with us and they love the camper as much as I do.  If they see me heading for the camper they are desperate to go too.  Once there they settle on the bed and fall happily asleep.  It is a place to go to lose myself in a book.  It is a place to go when there is no place to go.  It is my place, and without it I think there are some days I would surely go insane.  

       I am not sure why I love my camper so much, but I do.  I have never left home but still feel like I have.  That is what I like about it best.  I can be me.  I can laugh.  I can cry.  So as crazy as it may seem, my favorite place in the whole wide world is right outside my door.  When I am in my camper I remember what a wonderful world it is until next time when I give you another glimpse into the life of a trucker’s wife.

Last Game I Played

NaBloPoMo asks :

“What was the last game you played?”

     The last game I played was just last night.  I played a quick game of Creationary with my kids.  It is a wonderful game that combines LEGOS, creativity, a LEGO die you create, and a stack of playing cards that include four distinctive building categories: nature, vehicles, buildings, and things.  With a roll of the die, the category is set, a card is drawn, and it is game on!  Once everyone has completed their creation, each person shows their creation to the others, and the guessing begins. 

       I personally love LEGO games for their flexibility.  Each game includes a rule book with suggestions on game play.  The fun is making your own version.  In my family’s version, we simply are challenged to build what is on the card and then everyone gets a guess.  We are all winners, and the fun comes in the creating and the guessing.

       My kids begged to play three jerks before bedtime last night and I obliged, because that is the kind of mom I am.  What can I say?  I love to play games.  I love the interaction with my kids, and in the case of this game, I love to try to figure out the best way to make my LEGO bricks come to life and magically represent the colorful picture on the card.  All too soon, our beds beckoned.  If only summer vacation was here, the game could have gone on. Unfortunately, there are a couple more weeks of school to endure.  A couple more weeks of waking up at the butt crack of dawn, planners to sign, and papers to Oooo and Ahhh over before we are all granted a reprieve.  What was the last game you played?  Inquiring minds want to know until next time when I give you another glimpse into the life of a trucker’s wife.
       

How Do You Play?

NaBloPoMo asks: 

“How do you Play as an Adult?”

       When I was a kid, I played to win.  I danced around and offered high fives when I won, and bawled my eyes out when I lost.  It was all or nothing back then.  Nothing but a win would do. Victory was the sweetest feeling and defeat was just unthinkable.

        As soon as I became a mom my whole perception of the gaming experience changed.  All of a sudden, I didn’t play to win; I played to teach.  Somehow I became the referee and the encourager.  I became the one that gently reminded that it doesn’t matter whether you win or lose; it matters if you have fun playing the game.  Games should be fun.  If they weren’t meant to be fun it wouldn’t be called playing the game.  


  

      Before I even realized it happened, I metamorphosis into this person who no longer cared if she won but sure did celebrate the victories of others and encouraged those wallowing in the depths of despair of defeat that all is not lost.  Why, simply because we can always play again.  If you didn’t win this time, maybe next time you will until next time when I give you another glimpse into the life of a trucker’s wife.

Candy Land or Chutes and Ladders?

         Ever since I was a little girl I have been fascinated with the world that existed on the game board depicting Candy Land.  I first encountered Candy Land when I was a mere preschooler at my babysitter’s.  It was so colorful, and the idea of following the rainbow road through the Candy Cane Forest and over Gumdrop Mountain and reaching King Candy’s castle before anyone else was invigorating for the preschooler in me.

          When my daughter was born I could not wait until she was old enough to play Candy Land with me.  While some parents waited with baited breath for their little darling’s first word and first step, I added the day when my little one could finally join me in a rousing game of Candy Land.  The box says the game is for ages 3 and up, so as soon as my daughter approached the age of 3 you can bet your last buck I rushed out and bought Candy Land for her.

             Amazingly enough, I had never played Chutes and Ladders as a kid.  I wasn’t going to have my kids grow up without having experienced Chutes and Ladders, so I made sure I had that game too.  To be honest, I have quite a collection of children’s games.  After all these years of playing alone, I had playmates!  Willing participants to play whatever games I wanted anytime I wanted.  Although my son will occasionally agree to play games, it is my daughter who is the game playing kindred spirit of my heart.  She is always up for a game with mommy and for that I will always be eternally grateful.

           Since I have grown up I like games with a lot more challenge than Candy Land and at this point, if I had to choose between the two I would go for Chutes and Ladders.  I love the unpredictability of the game.  It is entirely fate whether you land on a space that sends you up, up, up or on one that sends you sliding practically back to start.  I love the challenge of getting to the top.  My son throws a fit if he lands on a slide, and does everything in his power to cheat.  He is 6 and all about winning and doesn’t consider a game fun unless he does win. 

             I am glad I grew out of that!  I love the thrill of the game.  Still, Candy Land will always have its charm with its colorful graphics and engaging characters.  The powers that be have even created a very entertaining computer game and animated movie based on the classic game.   I discovered a video on You Tube announcing that a live action full feature film is in the works starring and directed by Adam Sandler.  Very few details are available from what I could find, but it is in the works.  In my opinion Adam Sandler would make a perfect Mr. Mint!  Naturally, my kids can’t wait to see any movie about Candy Land.  I may be 44, but the kid in me would love to see Candy Land brought to life by the magic of Hollywood.  So, the question is…“what’s your poison, Candy Land or Chutes and Ladders?” until next time when I give you another glimpse into the life of a trucker’s wife.

Kid’s Feelings When they Lose

      When I was a kid I felt like the end of the world had come when I lost a game.  Didn’t matter if it was a game of Monopoly or UNO, if I lost I could feel my cheeks heat up, my throat choke up, and my eyes sting with tears.  I wanted to cry.  I was pi$$ed and wanted to shout the cruelty of life to the masses.


       At the time, I couldn’t celebrate the fact that my Dad took the time to play with me when he came home.  All I could focus on was the fact that I lost and somehow I had failed.  I had come up short…again.  The frustration would overwhelm me and I would demand of G0d “Why couldn’t I be the one winning, why not me?”   Losing absolutely sucked!  I often wondered if that is why my sister always told me my Dad loved her and not me.  She took great joy in rubbing that piece of information in my face any chance she got.  I was unworthy.  Losing a game only seemed to underline that fact.  I felt like everyone was looking at me and either feeling sorry for me or laughing at me.

        I have a very vivid memory of playing Monopoly at the kitchen table with my parents.  Mom would bring out the air popcorn popper and we would snack on hot freshly popped popcorn drizzled with butter.  My Dad always was the banker.  It didn’t matter what set I started; before all was said and done everything was mortgaged to the hilt.  At that point, the dice would roll, and my turn would take me to one of my Dad’s hotels.  I could have a couple hundred dollars sitting in front of me and I would grab my large stack of one dollar bills and begin counting those babies as if they held the answer.  It used to crack my Dad up to see me going for my ones first.

        My Dad was the grand pooh-bah of game playing.  He was competitive and played to win always.  He even made up his own intricate card game that he and his friends gathered together and played often.  He taught me that game and we played it often.  He would often stop by my house in the evenings to play cards and share supper.  We would play everything from his game to Skip-Bo.  It was really mind blowing after he had a stroke and struggled to play the simplest children’s game with my daughter who was only 3 at the time.

     Fortunately I grew up.  Like my Dad before me, I have carried a deep love of playing games all through my life.  By the time I was older I discovered the joy of playing simply for the sake of it.  It no longer matters if I win or lose, it only matters now that I play and have fun doing it.  I love playing games with my kids, and while my oldest loves the thrill of playing like I now do, my son struggles with losing much as I did when I was a kid.  Even though I once agonized about why it wasn’t me who could win, now I am just as happy to play again and give winning another go until next time when I give you another glimpse into the life of a trucker’s wife.
    

The Perfect Weather

     I love all the seasons! Any day with the sun shining is a perfect day in my book. It would be a day that isn’t to hot or to cold but just right with a pleasant temperature between 70-80 degrees.  The skies would be brilliantly blue filled with white fluffy clouds.  A slight breeze perfumed with the smell of flowers and freshly mowed grass would fill the air.  

     On such a lovely day, no matter whether spring, summer, or fall, I would head outdoors to play track ball with my kids, take a walk, or lose myself in a good book while my kids played on the swing set or ran about playing one of their many games.  I would plan a picnic or a day to explore a park or a zoo.

      If it was summer and a tad warmer, I might rush to the beach to laze away the day watching the tide roll in and out as my kids built sand castles and buried their toes in the sand.  More likely I would take a swim in the backyard pool, and then relax in a lawn chair, catching rays, watching my kids play as I bury myself within the pages of a great book.

       If it was fall I would venture outdoors armed with my handy dandy leaf blower and attack the mountains of leaves drifting down.  Then I would enjoy watching them burn as the sun set and turned into a beautiful night with the moon watching over me and stars twinkling from the sky.


      

        In the winter I would delight in the cotton ball sized snow falling from the sky and how the world was magically transformed into a world blanketed in white.  Then I would rush outside and attempt to catch a few snowflakes on my tongue, make snow angels, and build the best snowman ever with my kids.  As long as the sun peeked out eventually to say hello, I would be happy.

       If my husband was home, the perfect weather would demand golf cart rides around the neighborhood and succulent perfectly grilled meat filling the air with the most mouth watering smells.  If the weather is bright and sunny there were would be yard work, gardening, and memories being made filled with laughter and smiles.  I will be walking on sunshine  until next time when I give you another glimpse into the life of a trucker’s wife.

     

Creationary Review

     The GBE2 challenge to review something this week had me drawing a blank. I wrote a great review about Eggies and then discovered my friend Jo had already written a brilliant review about the amazing product that allows you to make hard boiled eggs without the shell. Check it out! She did an amazing job? What to write about?? Then it hit me like a ton of bricks…as in LEGO bricks!

     I play a lot of games with my kids and this Christmas I got another one called “Creationary”. Creationary is a LEGO game and is fun and engaging for the whole family. The best thing about LEGO games is that the rules are more guidelines or actual suggestions. You and your family can play the game the way the instructions suggest or modify it to make it your own.

  

   According to the game rules the object of the game is to be the first player to score 5 points by building creations and guessing other players creations. The game comes with a special LEGO dice that you get to assemble, 338 LEGOS in assorted sizes and colors, and 96 cards divided into 3 levels of difficulty: basic, advanced, and expert.

    

        On your turn you roll the dice and carry out the action rolled. The dice has 6 sides which include the building categories nature, vehicles, buildings, things, “X2“, and “?”. If you roll the “X2” you choose the category you would like to build before you pick up a card, tell everyone what category you are building, and then proceed as normal. If an opponent guesses what you are creating you both get double the points. The person who builds gets points and the person who guesses correctly gets points. If you roll a “?”, you get to choose the category to build too. You can keep score by counting the number of “?” on the back of the cards. Building or guessing a creation from a card with 3 “?” earns you 3 points.

     I have found while playing with my kids that the fun part of this game is the building and guessing. Instead of waiting around for each person to have a turn, one person rolls the dice to select the category and then we all take a card and build. When our creation is done, we all guess at what was built. We have abandoned the scoring and the rules regarding the “X2” and “?”.

     I like having the cards to challenge me to build to the best of my ability what is pictured. I like how this game forces you to think, problem solve, and be creative. In my opinion it is a great game to play with the whole family as you build and celebrate each other’s creations.

      As you play, you learn from everyone else on ways to build different things. We may have did away with the rules using the “?” and “X2” spaces and have went off on a tangent on how we play, but the beauty of LEGO games is the freedom it gives you to make the game your own. It forces you to think outside the box and forces you to be creative. After you play it a while, your building and guessing skills get a lot better and your imagination grows by leaps and bounds. You begin to know what blocks to use and how to get the desired look you want. Since we don’t play for points, we are all winners which keep both my kids happy and me sane. That is precisely what my family loves the most about it until next time when I give you another glimpse into the life of a trucker’s wife.

My Favorite Things- BFF 147

    

      When the dog bites, when the bee stings, when I am feeling sad, I simply remember my favorite things and then I don’t feel so bad!! Sing along if you know it!! I can’t imagine too many people around who don’t recognize this song, or the classic movie “The Sound of Music” from which it comes.

What makes me happy?? What are my favorite things?? I had to really think about this so I could compile a good list. So here it goes in no particular order…

1. I love cats! Petting a soft contented feline who is sashaying around my hand vibrating with happiness as I caress it would have to rank right up there as one of my favorite things. I love their big bushy tails and have often wondered how they purr! When I was little I used to wish our cats would purr for me. They rarely did. Perhaps it was my tendency to chase them, tackle them like a linebacker, and squash them that put them off. Happily my three cats today: Pansy, Snuggle Puss, and Rosie have the good sense to purr every time I look at them, let alone pet them.

2. I love my dogs because they love me. My favorite thing about my dogs Jolly, Puppy Love, and Tia is that wherever I am they are close by. When I go to sleep at night they snuggle up at my side keeping me toasty warm. The only time they leave my side is when my husband comes home. Then they fight to all snuggle up to him.

3. I love waking up in the morning to discover the world covered with a fresh blanket of the white stuff. Before it has been touched by footprints and the cars have turned it into blackened slush, I love how the snow turns the world into a wintry world of white. It is so magical!

4. I love sitting in the dark and gazing at my lighted Christmas tree in the silence.

5. I love eating cotton candy!! Cotton candy is definitely one of my favorite things!

6. I love watching movies!! Movies that thrill, make me laugh, make me cry, and make me smile!! I am not too thrilled with the kind that scare the be Je$u$ out of me though. I tend to avoid the ones that would give me nightmares. I love feel good movies, movies with amazing effects, or movies that excite me.

7. I love zooming around the neighborhood with my husband and kids on the golf cart!

8. I love to play games with my kids! I love card games, board games, and LEGO games, so count me in!!

9. I love the beauty of the sea and watching the tide lap in and out on the sand.

10. Last but certainly not least, I love to laugh!! It sure as hell beats crying. Laughing is one of my favorite things.

     I am sure I have more favorite things and the list could go on forever to infinity and beyond. Still here is a list, and that is all that is required, just a few of my favorite things! Just a note, loving G0d is a given like breathing so I didn’t include it on the “list”. That is all I have until next time when I give you another glimpse into the life of a trucker’s wife.