It started as a joke, really. After I moved here I seemed to fall into a string of terrible, horrible, no good, very bad dates as ladies across town tried to dump their awkward sons and loser grandsons off on me. It was terrible. Finally, I decided enough was enough: no more favor dates. It became my line, then, whenever one was presented, to sweetly smile and say, "Oh, thank you, but... you see... I can't. I'm in this late-night checker tournament."
Problem then, of course, was that I had to start a late night checker tournament. So, obviously, I did.
It started with just a few of us at first. We played checkers and cards and dominoes and Taboo until moving onto Monopoly, Trivial Pursuit, and Candy Land. (Yes, that Candy Land.) Now it's the most highly anticipated week night of them all, with folks dropping in as late as midnight to grab a snack and a drink and pull up a chair. We eat, drink, laugh, joke, win, lose, and taunt. (Not to mention talk, vent, gossip, goof-off, scheme and plot.) I can't imagine my life now without these midnight game nights.
A few weeks ago, while on the way to Hot Springs, my friend and I veered off the road and into a roadside flea market where I immediately snatched up this old glassed-and-framed checker board for $6. It has a seal on it that's barely legible... in the shape of a circle the size of a baseball. The only letters I can make out are: "ortation". Something, something, transportation, maybe? Hmm. Anyone venture a guess?
Anyway, for tonight's midnight game night I'm making homemade pizzas. I made my 35-minute, homemade sauce this morning from the 4-bazillion tomatoes rolling around the kitchen. Omgosh, is it good. I could eat it with a spoon. The recipe's definitely going in the foodbook. But for now, it's going on the pizza so I can hold a slice in one hand and win my late-night checker league with the other.
I do have one... a late-night checker tournament, you know. I really do. :D
5 comments:
ooooohh good!! Pizza tonite?!! I'll be there and by the way the game nights are the best part of living here and knowing you. what the samhill did we do before you moved here?i'm not sure how you always pull off the best things but you do. magic I guess!! TD
I love game nights. We have them every so often at our house. It's such a great way to get to know other people!
Sounds like good ole fashioned fun to me, wish I was your neighbor! And I've got to have your pizza sauce recipe too!
Checkers? Honestly! That's okay, my family plays the Survivor boardgame and I just bought us a Bounty Pirate boardgame to take with us to the beach in July.
There's nothing quite like everyone sitting with their feet under the table together - it warms a mother's heart!
Hi. This will seem odd, so I'll explain a bit first:
My name is Mark, and I teach high school English in Seattle, WA. I am working on designing a worksheet for some of my 11th grade classes, and wanted to include an image of a checkerboard in the worksheet, as checkers serve an important function in a novel we're reading. It turns out pictures of checkers are virtually impossible to find, and, after much searching, I found yours. In the interest of honesty, I give credit to the source of all the images I use. Which leads me to my questions:
1. May I use this image?
2. If so, do you want credit for the image? (I'm not sure I'd want my blog's URL on a handout given to high schoolers...)
So, I apologize if that was odd.
Thanks,
Mark
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