First Time EVER!

(Image scraplifted from: http://kellishouse.blogspot.com/2009/07/handmade-card-tutorial_30.html )

Yes, it’s that time of year again…. Scrapping in the Pines, our bi-annual scrapbooking retreat for four days in the cool pine-covered mountains of Prescott, Arizona.  There are seven of us going….. but this time I’m packing GAMES!  Yes, you read that right… GAMES!  Yahtzee, Settlers of Catan, Ticket to Ride, 13 and Carcasonne!  We’ve never played games in Prescott! And movies, but we always take movies!

AND… please make sure you’re seated for this announcement… I’m not scrapbooking at Scrapping in the Pines!  I know!  Unbelievable.  I am making cards this trip.  I’m always a bit envious of my sister’s beautiful handmade cards that arrive in our mailbox several times a year.  Mine are usually handmade by a little Asian woman and purchased in a big box at Costco.  But after my third box of that type…. I have LOTS of baby and sympathy cards… but I’m fresh out of birthday cards … AGAIN  Enough! 

I scooted into Barnes & Noble tonight and bought a card making magazine….it cost as much as buying five cards at Hallmark, but it will be worth it’s weight in gold when I’m done.  All of my scrapping patterned paper, ribbons, buttons, eyelets, lace, trim, glitter, flowers and such will be making the journey.  Along with blank cards and envelopes.  I also resurrected the stamps, ink, embossing glitter, heat gun, and the metal embossing template!  What a blast from the past!  WAIT!  Inspiration just struck at this very moment… and you’re here to witness it first hand…. I can MAKE the envelopes!  Oh, sweet mother of baby Jesus, that is a great idea.  My aviator husband has all kinds of maps that will be perfect.  YES!

And so, it will be the first time EVER that this retreat should REALLY be called “Relaxing, Gaming and Crafting in the Pines.”  But we’re not changing the name after 15 years!

The Real Shocker

We were over at some friend’s house a while back, playing Ticket to Ride and Hand and Foot, whilst eating nachos and brownies.  It was a delightful evening with good friends and good food and good fellowship.  But it was warm.  Like it’s been known to do in Phoenix, AZ.  To escape the heat, I sauntered into the vacant living room hoping that less bodies = cooler air.  My youngest son was also in there cooling off.  We chatted a bit and then I noticed that he was having difficulty with the ceiling fan remote control.  The fan was set on low.  We needed high.  He was aiming the device at the fan at different angles but the speed wasn’t changing.  There was a knob on the remote so he tried turning it all the way to the left, then all the way to the right.  No change.  Weird.  Maybe the batteries were dead?

Then reality hit….. the 73 pound beagle in the backyard was howling like he had a squirrel up a tree.  It was not a ceiling fan remote that my son had in his hand.  It was a doggy shock collar remote.  Poor thing. 

We have been over to the same house weekly since that fateful shocking day and we have not seen the remote for the dog collar AT ALL.  Not even on the top of the fridge.  Maybe the dog ate it?

Non-Adoption News: NEW GAME!

I realize My Sisters Jar has been overtaken with adoption news.  For those readers who are looking for sage advice on other areas of life…. I’m here for you today.  You’re welcome.

NEW GAME!  The Crosby’s are fierce game addicts.  Seriously, our luggage to Colombia was supremely limited, but we did bring six games!  (Sorry, just a tad bit of adoption trivia.) See!  Addicted!  Anyway, my college roommate came for a visit this summer and taught us to play Carcassonne!  I love it.  Then my brother got it for Christmas… and he lives across the street from us!  Now that I also have a 7-year-old daughter who likes to ride bikes with his 6-year-old son, we set up a table in the driveway and play Carcassonne!  (Sorry, more adoption references. It has truly taken over my life.)

So, I received two copies of Mary Beth Chapman’s book Choosing to See.  What an awesome story of their family, their adoptions, their struggles, etc.  (Sorry, it’s still kind of adoption news related.)  Anyway, I returned one and went in search of Carcassonne!  It took me a while, but I stumbled on THEM (more than one!) at a game store in the mall. 

Now, two Christmases ago my brother received the game Ticket to Ride Europe.  I ran out and bought Ticket to Ride North America for Rick’s birthday (Feb. 3).  But the N.A. game is the dumbed-down version of the European game.  We still like it, but we love my brother’s version.  Remembering this….. I was cautiously sucked into looking at another version of Carcassonne… called The Discovery.  There are no roads, just fields, seas and mountains.  Scoring is different too with fewer playing pieces so you have to stay on top of your game all throughout the game.  I think I like our version better!  Thankfully!

If you need a new Family Game Night adventure…. Carcassonne!  You won’t be sorry.

Old Dog Learns New Tricks

Here we are at our friend’s, Bruce and Connie, house in California… playing the train game Ticket to Ride.  Obviously someone just did something naughty…. you can tell by the faces in this photo. I’ve been friends with these folks for over 30 years.  WOW!  We still try to get together every year for a vacation of games, movies, laughs and more games.

 

In March when we were dealt the unwanted hand of “no more hockey” for our 13-year-old hockey-loving son, we cried for two days and then went to Bruce and Connie’s house for a week.  We needed the friendship… the laughs… the games.. the distraction from the life we’ve known for eight years that ended abruptly… and the life we thought we would be living for another eight years at least. 

 

While we were freeloading at their home, I learned two valuable tidbits from my friend, Connie. 

 

#1.  If you put parchment paper on the baking sheets while you bake cookies it makes your life easier, tidier, quicker and your cookies look WAY better.  She’s probably known this trick for years, but kept it a BIG FAT secret until this past March.  It’s only been two months since that miraculous discovery and I’m already on my second box of parchment paper.  Totally awesome!

 

#2.  Women who are slowly losing their sight REALLY should invest in a 10X magnifying mirror for the sake of their eyebrows.  I asked Connie for a mirror and she handed me this little gem.  I took one glance and was horrified at the condition of my blind eyebrow tweezing ability.  I have since purchased a purple $3 10X magnifying mirror at Walmart and my life is forever changed. 

 

There you have it.  Old dog learns new tricks.  It is possible.  (Makes me wonder what else Connie has been holding out on me???)

You’ve Got a Ticket to Ri-ide!

For Christmas, my brother received this new to us game called Ticket to Ride… Europe.  We have since played it 27 times and are loving it.  We loved it so much that we ordered Ticket to Ride North America for my husband for his birthday… which is Feb. 3rd, but we gave it to him within 20 minutes of it arriving at our door.  We wanted to make sure he got it before he leaves tomorrow for three days.  (We’re so thoughtful!)

Anyway, the game is a good mix of Settlers of Catan (building roads vs. building train routes), Risk (conquering the world) and Pit (collecting matching cards without the swapping of cards).  The North American version, I believe, came out first.  It is the dumbed-down version without all the bells and whistles of Europe.  In N.A. if you don’t get to a train route first, you’re outta luck and have to find another round-about way to get there.  In Europe, you simply put down a train station and use the other person’s route…. for a price, of course.

There are a few other versions of Ticket to Ride, as well as some expansion packs.  The game industry has truly figured out how to milk the most money out of us as possible…. expansion packs… GAH!  And at $20-25 each!  AFTER you paid $50 for the game.  They are unfairly using families like ours, who are totally game addicts, by limiting the number of players in the original game….. and then selling expansion packs.  And we fall into the trap EVERY time!

We invited friends over to play Europe and we played two games right in a row!  They called us the next day and asked if we wanted to come over and play again.  They went out and bought it the next day!  See!?!  Good game!  It’s set up on our dining room table if you want to pop by and give it a whirl.  Yes, we’re studying the Middle Ages, so if we play the Europe version, it counts as school!