January 2012

Happy New Year! We wound up celebrating a week later than we originally planned, but that’s what happens when people start dropping out like flies. There were lame excuses like having to go to a funeral/baby shower/banquet/emergency room instead. People & their “priorities”! Sheesh! By Saturday morning, we woke up to a layer of snow & ice, and were down to only 3 players w/ one coming late. That’s no way to have a party! So, we made an executive decision to postpone until the following week. Those who couldn’t make it the week before were thrilled to have a second chance to party. This party was noted to be “mellow” & drama-free. What a nice, relaxing way to start 2012! We dined on ham & cheese sandwiches, crab dip, pigs in blankets, pepperoni rolls, cheesecake, candy & a chocolate chip cheese ball.

It was a new year, so I dug out some new cards. Everyone really liked them as they’re large & easy to read. When Peg started to call; she realized the cards were in order. We decided that wasn’t a very good idea, so we passed the cards around the table for everyone to take turns shuffling them. Phyllis just happened to be cleaning her house the other day when she noticed an electric card shuffling machine! She remembered that someone (Debi) donated it & thought she’d bring it back to decide what to do with it. I distinctly remember when Debi first introduced this device, we took one look at the directions, decided it was too difficult at the time, put it back in the box & that’s where it stayed for the past year! This time around, Debi took it out of the box, turned it on & figured out how to use it within a minute! This was helpful as she mixed the cards up real good! We managed to get 2 rounds done this month. Patt & Peg won the first cover all & hostess luck paid off for Debi who won the final one all by herself! We wrapped up our night @ 10. As a side note, Patt & Debi were going to use their winnings to take to the beach the following weekend. Patt told me when she cashed in her dimes, she got $36 from us!

MYSTERY BOX

I was responsible for ringing in 2012 with the very first Mystery. Peg was the winner! Since it was the New Year & all that, there was a “time” theme to it. Inside the box was: a chalkboard paper doodle calendar, recipe calendar, owl clip-on watch, peacock clock, journal & pen, mini note book, 12 dimes & memory box. It’s funny that last year, Peg also won the January Mystery & someone told her to make it a “naughty & nice” theme. She ran away with that & Phyllis was the winner. I wonder if history will repeat itself in 2012. I guess we’ll just have to wait & see!

LOVIN’ IN THE WINTERTIME

As usual, our February party will have a Valentine’s/Love theme. We will be lovin’ it up @ Phyllis’ house on SATURDAY 2/25. Please get there between 5 & 6. This is a comfy party, so come in your comfiest outfit or PJ’s & bring a dish of your favorite comfort food to share. So far, we will be dining on macaroni & cheese, chicken pot pie & chocolate cherry bars.

SHOUT OUT

Happy, happy birthday to Patt! She turned the big six-oh earlier this month. She's not really 60, she's just 18 with 42 years experience! Since she loves to drive the long & winding roads in our area, her husband thought it would be really cool to give her a race car driving experience at a local racetrack! How awesome is that? This is the perfect opportunity to say, “I can’t drive 55” & not get in trouble for it!

RANDOM FUNNIES

The what? While Debi was calling, she meant to say, “6 of spades”. What actually came out was “sick of spades”! She had seen so many spades, she was sick of them! We all got a good chuckle out of this one!

Card Trouble! A few hands later, it was Patt’s turn to call. Remember earlier when I told you about the new cards? Well, that’s when Patt got confused. The cards only go one way & Patt had to be sure the card wasn’t upside down before she told us what it was! I had to keep a good eye on her to see if what she was calling was actually the right thing!

FRIENDLY REMINDER

Reminder #1 - Thanks to those of you who have been collecting stuff for my kids’ school. His class is well on their way to a pizza party! Please continue to help out his school by collecting Box Tops & Labels for Education. I’ve included a handy-dandy visual aid over there on the side so you can tell the difference between the two. Here’s a break-down of what you can find where.

You can find Box Tops on these products: Betty Crocker, Juicy Juice, General Mills Cereals, Green Giant, Pillsbury, Totino’s, Hamburger Helper, Old El Paso, Progressive, Land O’ Lakes, Yoplait yogurts, Bugles, Chex/Cheerios Mix, Fiber One, Fruit Roll Ups, Nature Valley Granola, Hanes, Avery Office Supplies, Ziploc, Cottonelle, Scott, Kleenex, Viva, Hefty & Brita.

You can find Labels here: Campbells, Pepperidge Farms, Post Cereals, V8, Swanson, Dannon, Glad, Prego, Emerald Nuts, Pop Secret, BIC.

Please help some kids by helping your fellow Pokeno sisters! Thank you for your continued assistance.

THIS IS THE END

A wise man once said, “Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop & look around once in a while, you could miss it!” In 2012, why not make a simple resolution (that you might actually keep)? Stop every so often to take a breath and to see what’s going on around you. Try to catch the beauty in the little things. You might just notice something you didn’t see before. Or, you could always just say, “fuck it” & take a nap instead! Until next time, may the foxiest bitch win!