Saturday

We had a family game night last night for the first time in probably close to a ear (if not longer), and I had a really great time.

For real.

As is always the case when my family gets together, there was the big, sad, gaaping void where my Brother and Sister-in-law should be. They always make an event ten times more fun and interesting, and especially so for game nights because they are game people.

But we had a really fun time, those of us still residing in south shore MA.

What was fun was having two nephews and a niece participate as real players, not just periphery, not simply as "honorary" team members who get bored and go to bed halfway through cranium. They played both games with us, and played competitively, participated in and added to conversation, and they were fun to have around. And did not get tired or fight amongst themselves or ask for too much special lee-way.

I can't tell you how different this is from only a year and a half ago when I swore up-and-down that I wouldn't play with nieces and nephews again until they were 17.
What a difference a year can make I suppose.

I won, incidentally, both games we played. I won "Are you smarter than a fifth grader?", though I admit I used my peek, copy, and save 'lifelines' to get me past MATH and SCIENCE! And my nephew Matt & I made a fabulous team and were victorious in Cranium! I have only once ever had a partner other than Aaron in cranium, and aaron was in that savant-like stage of drunken-ness that made him unstoppable, and I swore I'd never partner with another person again, but hey, switching things up is healthy! So I partnered with Matt and Aaron partnered with Katie (I had a feeling this partnership was the only way she'd really want to play and stay through the whole game, she loves Uncle Awyn). Shell and Pip were partnered and we threw in Jimmy because Pip was getting quite drunk and Shell needed at least one sober partner!

Anywho, it made me want to play more games more often. We used to play games with friends alot but that practice has sort of died out. not sure why.

And I ask aaron all the time to play with me but he very rarely consents. Its like alchemy, the conditions have to be just-so for him to agree to playing a game with me. Is the apartment clean enough for him? Is there a convenient gap in tv shows, leaving us time free of hulu? Is it early enough so that he won't get tired and cranky? Is he sufficiently bored of his one-player computer game to switch it up by playing with me? Are the planets aligned and the hemlock in bloom and the moon in the seventh house? Ok, then I guess we can play a game... wait, is there cheese and crackers??

But he really LOVES playing games once I can get him to play. He loves two-player video games as well as card games and board games! Why does he resist the experience so damn much?

shit. Now I want to play a game.