It has been a rather uneventful week unless you count finding out I was getting a placebo in the research study.  Go figure.  I have been doing this well for about a year without any chemo.  Amazing.  Like Ever-Lovin’ said, all of your prayers skewed  the study.  The results were about the same for the ones getting the drug and the control group.  I can tell you this.  All of the nurses and the doctor were shocked.

It has been cold – cold – cold.  Bitter cold.  It was staying inside weather, and I did not have any desire to go out and freeze.  Of course, there were Christmas decoration to be put away and platters to be found.  I had plenty of reasons to stay inside.

All of this being said, I was feeling a little stir crazy and longing for some fun.  On a moments notice, I called some good friends to ask if they wanted to come over to play cards.  I was elated when they said, “Yes”.

Many times we play Phase 10.  It is fun – except when you are “skip-ped” too often.  Then feelers can be hurt.

Super Sister introduced me to Five Crowns.  Sweet Mother of Pearl.  This is an excellent game, and there is no skipping.  The game is a little hard to find.  I found it once at Barnes and Noble, but recently they have not had it.  (I need a new set of cards because these are just about worn out.)

Dear friend BB has some of the funniest sayings when she is playing cards.  She is always “going out like Lottie’s eye.”  Who is Lottie, and why does her eye go out?  Bottom line.  She laid all her cards down, and I was stuck with a bazillion points.

Another time, when BB drew an especially good card (a wild card no less) she exclaimed, “Up jumped the buggerman”.   Lucky for her!

Then Mrs. Ralph said she “Was going down like a ton of bricks.”  I was stuck with cards in my hand again.

The sillies started.  Cards left in your hand – you were “caught with your britches down.”

I am warning you.  The conversation went from bad to worse.  BB remembered her family talking about “t**** babies”.  In fact, she had cousins, Johnny and Brenda, who always cried when they played – They were “t**** babies”.  In the mist of all this craziness, I learned something.  Johnny got mixed up with the mob in Houston and ended up “swmmin’ with the fishes”.  (He was murdered, and I guess thrown into the Gulf.)  I had never heard the phrase “swimmin’ with the fishes.”  Live and learn.

Enough of this!

Here is some information worth passing on.  Mrs. Ralph has been watching a good series on TV called Titanic: Blood and Steel.  The building of the Titanic is the backdrop of this 12 part series.  It is one of her recommendations for the week.  Her second recommendation is the movie Miss Potter.  I so want to see this movie, and Mrs. Ralph says it is excellent.  It is a biopic of the life of Beatrix Potter.  Sounds like my kind of film.

Game night – The laughter and the friendship.  What a blessing.

Blessings to you and yours,

We ended the evening playing a dice game I got for Christmas, Farkle.  The name alone makes me laugh.  It is a game I first played on the computer, and I think we will be playing it again.  It is so hard to decide what risks to take.

Love,