Okay, so I’m a dork. But so is M! We killed our Sunday afternoon by sitting in front of the fire and playing back-to-back games of Carcassonne with all the expansions I own: Abbey & Mayor, Princess & Dragon, Traders & Builders, Inns & Cathedrals, The Tower, The King & Robber, The River 1 & 2, and Cult & Siege. M won the first, and I won the second. In both cases, the winner had north of 400 points!
Before … and after.
Filed under: board games, family, food, politics, rest & relaxation | Tags: Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving is over, and I can finally say enough, already …
1. Pumpkin dessert. M made her beloved (by my family, anyway) pumpkin bar dessert to take with us to my parents’ house, but we left it on the kitchen counter. Consensus among family members dictated that a redo was in order, so she remade it. And I ate it. A lot of it. Including two large pieces topped with a mighty dollop of cool whip at midnight right before going to bed.
2. Carcassonne. I never thought I’d say this, but I don’t want to play any Carc for a few days. I introduced the game to my family, expecting a lukewarm acceptance. Well, turns out they loved it. We played about six games in two days.
3. Board games, in general. We also played three games of Ticket to Ride and a rather roundly disliked match of Cranium.
4. Firewood. As is typical when I visit my parents, I helped my dad fell a tree. He has a wood-burning stove in the basement and the shed. That means he has a need for firewood. In my own house, so do I. So in exchange for a trunkload of firewood, we got to work.
5. The paper thin walls at my parents’ house. Seriously. You can hear everything, everywhere, which makes sleeping in those extra 30 minutes nearly impossible.
6. Breakfast. Yuck. My family hearts a breakfast of soupy-egg casserole.
7. Long walks. How did I get corralled into taking a 45-minute walk in the 40-degree cold immediately after Turkey Dinner? I’d rather fall into the typical post-dinner comatose, thank you very much.
8. Conversations about the bailouts with my family. Simply bizarre.
9. Movies. The process of selecting a movie that might appeal to (mostly women) ranging in age from 12 to 73 produces … wait for it … Baby Mama.
10. Gas. My family knows how to bring it.
But a few highlights exist from this go round …
1. Ping pong. I still got game. And the same paddles my friends and me played with in high school — even the paddle that Dustin stripped of its padding on one side and replaced with a NIN sticker.
2. Pumpkin dessert. I may be sick of it, but there’s a good reason I ate so much.
3. Chloe the dog. She’s an English Springer Spaniel and a constant reminder that I do love dogs, too — especially their eternal energy.
Thank you for introducing me Settlers of Catan on Facebook. I now have something to do until three in the morning.
M and I played a couple two-player games, and while they were fun I can see how the game would be far more challenging with more players. I’m used to the wooden features of Carcassonne, so the plastic train pieces give the game a cheaper feel. But the board sure is pretty to look at. This should be a nice change of pace game to mix it up.
