17 January 2010
The house was alive and buzzing by about 9:30 a.m. Allyson had spent the night here in the Mouse Suite, and Rod arrived around 11 o’clock. This was to be the day we attempted to spoil them a little bit in a vain attempt to somehow thank them for all they did for us last fall. I think Allyson, and sometimes both of them house- and dog-sat for us at least five weekends out of the eight at TRF. The financial savings was substantial, and the peace of mind is without measure. We wanted to say thank you with more than just a bottle of wine or a gift certificate. So, we planned a play date!
After Rod arrived we decided eating our breakfast/brunch in, where we could more easily chat and visit, and drink our bloody marys (Ally had mimosas) was the better plan than going out to spend money. So, scrambled eggs and English muffins happened. Then, it wasn’t too long before we decided to jump into one of the day’s biggest goals: teaching these two to play mah jongg.
We aren’t sure how after all these years, Allyson, at least, had never learned. But, I guess between her back and forth Texas to Wisconsin migrations there for a while, and the fact that she’s a very busy girl, she was just never at a gathering where that happened. In the years Kyle and I have been together, we (he, really) have taught dozens of people to play this wonderful game we love. Today, we added two more to the list! And, oh-my-goodness, did they catch on quickly. We have often marvelled that it always seems that the beginning player wins the day, and today Allyson was no exception to that rule. Once she had played a few hands, she really started to rock and roll and by the time the night was over, she had totally spanked us all with her high-scoring hands. And both Ally and Rod caught on well to the scoring, too! I will credit Ginger for some of that. It is she that teaches scoring so well, (after ten years of playing the game, I still couldn’t score it!) and it seems I’ve picked up her tips and teaching style well enough over the past five or six years, that where Kyle’s fabulous game and strategy teaching leave off, my scoring teaching can kick in. We are quite the teaching team, now! If you want to learn Mah Jongg, just give us a call!
We took one break from our game to go to dinner. We had decided on our first visit to Brix Pizza and Wine Bar, that it would be the perfect place to take Allyson and Rod, and of course, tonight was the night. We ordered a giant Prosciutto and Spinach Margherita Pizza and a heavenly bottle of Valpollicella. It was delicious all around, and we went home satisfied and happy to resume our tile twittering.
Kyle says he thinks this was the first time he’s ever played an entire 16-hand game of Mah Jongg. I hope it’s not the last. Eventually, we said a reluctant goodbye to these two members of our chosen family, as they headed back home to Dallas and we began our weekend wind-down. Crawling into bed, I realized I’d had too much fun all day to even get the camera out of my purse! I snapped this close-up photo of the vintage sculpted velvet dresser scarf/ that is on my bedside table. It came out quite nicely, so it makes a beautiful ending to a beautiful day.
~MB
