March 2008

GOIN’ GREEN!
It was an Irish theme for St. Patty’s Day at Phyllis’ house this month. As usual, Phyllis did not disappoint! She was all decked out in her green finest. Everything (and I mean everything) from the tip of her head to her feet was green. They even set up a special “smoking lounge” in the basement so we could have cigars! Everyone was in attendance except for Kate L. She was absent for job orientation. Hopefully she’ll be able to make it next month.

Then there was the spinner. Every time you hit Pokeno, you had to spin. I went first. My choices were chug or shake my booty. Well, you know I’m a “trained professional” so I took the shake. Patt hit the shake spot too. The background music wasn’t working for her. Missy provided her own version of “Baby Got Back” so Patt could dance properly. Everyone kept landing on the do a jig spot. We renamed it the gettin’ jiggy wit it spot. I hit that one too many times & decided to bust out the robot and the worm. As the evening wore on, whoever landed on the spot would do whatever kind of jig they wanted.

There was a great spread too. We had yummy ham, potato wedges with cheese, Peg’s famous mac & cheese, Marge made Irish potatoes, Patt made a pineapple pudding that everyone told me was delicious. I wouldn’t know because by the time I got to it, all you hog jaws had already eaten it up! Must’ve been good because it was gone!!! To finish off the evening, we all has Irish coffee & brownie sundaes.

Phyllis provided all of us with “Irish Princess” tiaras, shot glasses (on a string w/ a whistle), lucky coins and goodie bags at the end of the evening. Missy brought vodka & a shaker to fill the shot glasses. Marge made St. Patrick’s door hangers for everyone. I gave everyone a lucky chip (not sure how well they worked). In honor of spring, Debi brought pansies for us to plant in our gardens.

MYSTERY BOX
I was responsible for Mystery Box. Patt was the winner (for the very first time). I did a “Tropical Escape” theme. There was a beach photo (Seaside Heights), beach ball, tropical lei, tropical drink mix/cocktail glass, fizzy bath tablets, Calgon (take me away) ocean bath salts, thermal pedicure lotion, leg gel, self-tanning lotion, stress-relief masque, candle, and to really set the mood…a CD of soothing ocean sounds. Ahh, feel the stress melting away? Patt felt threatened by the Mystery Box thing. She said, “It’s gonna be the first credit card in a box so you can do whatever you want with it!”

Please remember ladies, the mystery of the box is that you can put whatever you want in there! It doesn’t have to be something fancy. I just happen to have a lot of free time on my hands. Back in the day, Missy gave away some cat food in a plastic baggie and not even all of us had cats! If our friend Rose had it, she’d run to CVS an hour (or less) before game time & throw in some TP, dish soap & a candy bar. So, don’t sweat it…it’s not a big deal. Just use your imagination & have fun with it!

RANDOM FUNNIES OF THE EVENING
Patt called for the very first time. She did really well! So well in fact that Peg wanted to “rent her” to cover her call. Things quickly went downhill from there. First was the “premature ejaculation” where Patt flipped a card, didn’t call it & was trying to call the next card. Pokeno Cop Peg caught that one and made her re-call. A minute later, Patt calls “2 D Spades”. What??? What the hell is a 2 D spade? We all got a good laugh outta that one.

We were well done laughing at Patt after the next 2 callers went & it was Kate G’s turn to call. She was on a roll when she said, “9 of….this one!” and held up the card. Um, yea, that’s a spade.

At one point late in the evening, Phyllis blurted out, “Now, we’re still playing, right?” Wow!!! Even funnier was about 10 minutes later, Debi says, “Are we still playing?” Oh my goodness!!! You ladies are too funny!

Oops, there goes another one! All night long, we kept dropping chips. We would hear them drop, try to find them to pick them up…and…not find them. I wonder how many wound up scattered on Phyllis’ floor Sunday morning.

APRIL POKENO
Marge will be hosting at her house on Saturday, April 26th. She decided on a “Spring Fling” theme for the party. Think flowers, cute bugs, butterflies and such. Marge will be making some sort of pasta dish as our main course. Phyllis says she’s gonna work on some sort of spring cocktail. There’s 6 weeks between games this time, so you’ll get your updates along the way. But, be sure to write down the date now so not too busy to come.

ANNOUNCEMENTS & REMINDERS
Missy & John celebrated their 10th wedding anniversary this month. Missy had photos done for John. He gave her a diamond anniversary ring. She said something about being in Atlantic City that weekend, but I’m not sure if that was for their anniversary or not. If it was, then that’s how they celebrated. Good job guys…here’s to 10 more years of wedded bliss!

I presented the idea of having a summer Toga party. Everyone was excited about this one. One of you ladies has to be good at making Baklava…I would like to put in my order now for a lot of it! More details will follow as to when & where. Start looking for your sheets now.

Now I’d like to take a moment for a friendly reminder. Long ago, we established a “5 Second Rule”. This means that if you’re calling and someone gets a pot, you must count to 5 to let them collect it & get back into game play. If you take longer than 5 seconds, then you’re too damn slow…move it along granny!!!