Anyone who knows me know that I love games: board games, card games, athletic games, silly games, games that make you look ridiculous, and games (although I don't always take it well) even when I loose. When I think about it, it's clear to me that this is genetic: everyone in my family, and even both sides of my extended family, like to play games. We like games so much, that a game of cards or "Loaded Questions" usually unfolds every time I am home.
Last night, it was a game of "Oh Hell"; a fun game where you bid to see how many tricks you can take in each round based on the trump suit and receive points based on whether or not you actually made that bid (although after looking at the description on wiki, it doesn't appear that we play exactly how they say you are supposed to play). The "high point" of the game is the round where you only use one card, and instead of bidding on the card that you have in your hand, you bid on the cards that everyone else has...and places on their foreheads to display them to you, much like this (having the towel on the head is an optional accessory that my 14-year old brother chose to fashion last night.)
As with most games, you develop strategies to figure out how many tricks you should bid, in part based on everyone else's bids, and when to just sit by and bid zero. Sometimes, unexpected cards can take tricks, and Katie is expressing her disgust at such a trick in the first picture above where her three of spades ended up being the "high" card.
Right about the time I started dating Pete, my sister Katie started dating Junior. Although some people think it's early in the dating game for us, family is a hugely important part of our lives. So, we've brought those boys home to meet the family and to see if they can handle the typical Friedman craziness. Although Junior is trying to find his way out of the picture at the top, both he and Pete survived last night. Now just wait until they meet the extended family.... :)
P.S. I've updated a couple of posts for which I didn't write an entry at the time. Check out Day Sixty-Six: Neon and Day Sixty-Seven: A Different Perspective.
