Cards and Coolers

Remember back in the day when you used to sit around old apartments or dorms playing Euchre and Hearts?

I don't.  I was never there.  In fact, I wasn't even awake.  Getting up for all of my 8:00 am classes required a healthy and sensible bedtime of 10:00 pm.  While normal kids drank and celebrated their early years of parental liberation, I was asleep in my bed with a copy of Pride & Prejudice stuck to my forehead. 

By the time I hit my 30's, the only card game I was any good at was Texas Hold 'Em.  This was due largely to Joe's insistence we watch the World Poker Tour on cable television.  I had no choice but to learn the rules and basic strategies for winning.

As we played at friendly tournaments, I found that there was a direct correlation between my winning and how much coffee I had to drink.  A good stack size lost its value if I started crashing at the final table.  God bless all those little Stok caffeine shots I added to my extra-large Big Gulps of java.

Yet with Doctor-Friend and her husband in for the weekend, I finally agreed to learn how to play Euchre.   A half-hearted attempt to recreate 1992 was made as I chugged wine coolers and listened to REM.  Let the Euchre indoctrination begin!

Nothing says a fun night like a case of wine coolers and the free deck of cards you got from your cousin's wedding.

Five hours later,  Doctor-Friend was wishing she'd partnered with somebody else.  The game felt too much like a cross between Uno and War and I kept screwing up the objective:

Gin!

I'm all in.

Uno!

Go fish.

Doctor-Friend's husband grew increasingly annoyed every time I called the clubs "shamrocks" (something I do when I play poker to secure being under-estimated...not really needed when I was playing Euchre. I sucked).

Regardless, I am delighted to have some of my favorite people on the planet visiting, and I wish only that they had a good time.

And a desire to play a little poker tonight.

The shamrocks are waiting.