Rock Tournament

           Most families have a favorite game. Our family loves to play Rook. It’s a great card game, but only four can play, so we can’t play if everybody’s home. In those cases we love the hilarity of Telestrations and What Were You Thinking?

          On a train in Italy, we got laughing so hard at Telestrations that other passengers begged to join in.

          But for Mother’s Day we only had Richie and Nicole at home, so I sent them a text to let them know we’d be having a rock tournament. That’s right, a ROCK tournament, brought to you by Auto-correct.

          I can just see this—what do we do, throw rocks at each other?  Or is it a new Scottish game, like throwing Haggus? (By the way, Richie placed 2^nd in a huge Haggus competition a few years ago, so no way am I playing that guy with Orangutan arms.)

          But he also shouted, “Bet you can’t hit me with a rock,” to his little brother, Brandon, when they were both young and innocent—at which point Brandon dashed up the beach to prove him wrong.

            Maybe they thought it was rock and roll, since I just attended the Ringo Starr concert with three girlfriends:

     But I doubt Ringo and his buddies would come over to meet the fam'.  So there will be no rock-based events at our next gathering. And I want a new rule for Mother’s Day: Moms get to win all card games.

          I don’t have a life hack that will help you win a Rook tournament, but I have hundreds of other life hacks right here.

Happy-ish Anniversary

         St. Bob and I had an anniversary not too long ago, and once again I marveled at the seemingly sad state of marriage when I went shopping for a greeting card.

          First of all, the anniversary cards are located right next to the sympathy cards, and seem to be written by miserable people.

          Most of them are apologetic. I know I never tell you how much you mean to me, but…

          Or afraid to commit to too many compliments.  You and I are a pair, aren’t we? Wishing you a Happy Anniversary!

          Some wallow in gloom. We’ve stuck together through all the storms, the hard times life gives us, those moments when the world looks pretty bleak…

          Or they dodge the issue entirely by making lame jokes. Two sloths “still hanging in there,” or two frogs, one of which says, “I’d croak for you.”

          Finally I find one that raves about the perfect partner, the amazing luck at finding him, and the love and excitement that builds every day. Oh, wait. That was a blank one, so I wrote it myself.

You can find my books right here. Come to think of it, they make wonderful anniversary gifts!