Tichu ALL The Games!

Day 3!

Went out to Tyson and Teale Smith's house, where we were fed ridiculously good chicken with rice. Of course Grayson chooses this night to decide that he has deep-seated paranoia of the sight of chicken. Trish and I ended up being on the losing side of the haggling as Grayson was eventually excused after eating only 1 bite.

As usual when anyone is naive enough to let me into their house, I showed up with an armload of board and card games. The four kids played Looping Louie and Toc Toc Woodman, and although plenty of tears were shed, it never actually came down to physical violence, so we chalked it up as a win for everyone.

After we got kids in bed, it was time for the adults to engage in a potentially-marraige-ruining game of cards. Tichu (trick taking card game similar to Rook, only better) was the nominated choice.

Tichu involves passing your partner cards at the beginning of the game. If you are confident that your partner has good card skills and will likely win the game, you'll pass them a great card. If however, you want to place a permanent rift between your partner and yourself, as well as insinuating that you would be happier if your partner was a fence post, and that you'd likely spit on their ancestor's graves if you could, you'd pass your partner a crummy card.

I won't say who passed what. All I'll say is that I want everyone to remember that a great way to keep a doghouse warm in winter is to run an extension cord with a small space heater. Tyson, you can get those here.

We had a blast, and although we already count Teale and Tyson as among our great friends, we haven't actually spent an evening at their house before. This evening was really the whole idea of what we are trying to accomplish this year. We took some friends who were already important to us, and made a better and deeper connection, and some of us even learned why you should always pass your wife good cards.

The kids enjoying a game of Looping Louie while I ramble on about one of my many tangents.


Thanks for the great night!