Tag Archives: Scrabble

He May Regret the Rule He Made

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Those of you who follow my blog know that my husband and I are Scrabble addicts.  We are very competitive and our final scores are often very close.

Recently I beat my husband by just 15 points.  He decided he wanted to add the scores again to make sure no mistake had been made.  While I was more than glad to do this, I said to be fair if we were going to check the scores of this game, we would need to check those games where I lost by just 15 points.

So I agreed with his new rule.  Going forward any game where there was a difference of 20 points or less, we would add up the scores again.

He may regret making that rule.

This week we played a game and when it ended he was ahead of me by just five points.  I insisted he check the scores again.

To his great disappointment he found that he had made an addiction mistake in his score giving him ten more points than he should have.

By subtracting those ten points, I now won the game by just five points.

So be careful what you want to change – it may turn against you.

(And I’m still laughing at this!)

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I Am the Champion!

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Well I did it!  I won the last Scrabble game of 2019 – making me the champion!

My last post told the tale of my husband’s effort to catch me.

Today is His Last Chance

 

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My husband did his best – but couldn’t catch me.  He tells me he is now depressed.  (A joke only – he’s fine.)

But guess what his New Year’s Resolution is?  You got it!

To beat me in 2020.

Happy New Year to all my readers!

Today is His Last Chance

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Those of you who have followed my posts for awhile know that my husband and I are Scrabble addicts.  We play with a super scrabble board.  It has more spaces for words than a regular Scrabble board and 200 tiles instead of 100.

We have kept a record of our scores since 2008 and are very competitive.

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As we come to the last day of 2019 I am one game ahead of my husband.  He is determined to end this year with a tie between us as we did last year.

So this evening we will play our last game of the year.

If he wins and we end in a tie – all is well.

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I did it!

But if I win – I will end the year two games ahead.

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Champion!!!!

Of course, you know I’m rooting to win and be the champion for 2019.  However, if the last two games are any indication of how it will go – I’m nervous.   Most of the time our scores are very close but the last two games he has not only won but beat me by over 150 points.  NO!

In our game last night he had three seven-letter words.  For those of you who don’t play Scrabble playing all of your letters in one turn adds 50 extra points to your score.  NO!

The game tonight will be our 829th game since we started keeping scores.  This year we played 136 games.  My husband has figured out that if we play 171 games in 2020 we will reach 1000 games.

So – while I am sure I will at some point today or tomorrow be more serious about goals for 2020 – for now that seems like a worthy goal.

Think we can make it to 1000 games in the coming year?

Think I can win the game tonight and be the champion?

We still see.

For all my readers, Happy New Year!  May the coming year bring you God’s peace and joy!

 

 

 

800 Games and Still Counting

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If you follow my blog you know my husband and I are avid Scrabble players.  Very competitive, we started keeping a record of the scores of our games in 2008.  We laugh that we are actually addicted to the game.

My Addiction has Returned

Thankfully we are evenly matched.  It would be no fun if one of us was much better than the other.  We go back and forth on winning the games.  Usually we are never more than one or two games apart.  A few years ago my husband actually pushed way ahead of me with a seven game lead.  I was so discouraged as I did not know how I would ever catch up with him again.  (Do you think losing too many games of Scrabble to your husband would be good grounds for a divorce?)

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Some of our kids bought us a Super Scrabble board a few years ago.  The board has more squares to play on and twice the number of letter tiles as the regular Scrabble game.  We have used it so much that it is falling apart.  We have it taped together but have agreed for our Christmas gift we will purchase a new one next month.  We also need a good Scrabble dictionary as our present one is falling apart.

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This week we played our 800th game.  After eleven years that is roughly 73 games a year or 6 games a month.  Since I did not retire until 2013 we are actually playing more games each month now.  Winter finds us playing more games as we hate going out in the snow and cold.  Summer finds us making road trips so the games take a back seat for a few weeks.

When we played that 800th game I was two games ahead of my husband and he was really hoping to win the game.  I beat him and that put me three games ahead for the eleven years we have kept score.

He threatened to never play again.  But he was only joking as I often whine when I get behind more than two games that I do not want to play any more.

In the 800 games played we have actually tied three games.  When I told one friend of how close our games are she felt one of us was just being nice and letting the other one win to keep our scores close.  However, she clearly does not know us.  We are very competitive and would never willingly let the other one win.

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I am thankful that my husband and I share this common love.  Along with giving us hours of enjoyment, we figure at our age (71 and 79) it may very well help keep our minds sharp.  When we get to 1000 games we are going to have a party! (If we continue at this pace, that means we will be 74 and 82.  Who wants to bet me we will still be going strong in three years?)

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Do you and your family play board games?

What games do you like?

Are you addicted to any games?

Are you a good loser?  Good winner?

 

 

How Bad Can It Get?

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I have often shared how my husband and I love Scrabble.  For us it is almost an addiction.

For those who follow my blog you have already read about this, but if you are new and interested, here are the links to my stories behind our addiction.

Confessions of a Scrabble Addict!

I Owe My Scrabble Addiction to an Out-of-work Architect

My Addiction has Returned

This past weekend we realized how much we do love Scrabble!

Our power went out this past weekend.  After fifteen hours without any electricity, service finally came on again, only to go out again in three hours.  We had planned to play a game of Scrabble after supper.

When we started the game it was still light out and with the curtains all open we had no problem seeing the board.

Most Scrabble games take anywhere from one to two hours depending on the number of players.

But not for us!

Our games go on forever.

First, we have a “super Scrabble” board.  This board is much larger than the normal game and it has twice as many tiles.

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Second, we are very competitive and not only want to win but want to get as high a score as possible.

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So each play may take minutes as we rearrange our tiles over and over trying to find the right word to get the most points.

We also play defensively so we need to play where our opponent does not have a chance to play on a triple or quadruple spot on the board.

So as the evening proceeded the sun slowly descended in the sky until it was dark both outside and in our house.

Did that stop us?

Not at all!

Out came the candles and the flashlights and we continued on in the dark.  This only slowed our game down more as we could hardly see our tiles.

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Over four hours later we finally finished the game and used our flashlight to find our way to bed.

Oh – by the way – I won!

 

 

Cabin Fever

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Here we go again!  Another winter advisory!  Ice, then snow and strong winds causing drifting snow, and low visibility.  It looks like we are stuck in a time warp where we keep repeating the same scenario over and over.

Moving last fall further north from our home in Illinois we worried that the winter would be more severe.  Fortunately we were wrong.  Folks back home have had colder temperatures and more snow than we have had here in Michigan.

But just as I was feeling kind of smug about that, we also have been hit by cold temps and snow and now ice.

Stuck inside the house for a couple of weeks now I’m getting cabin fever.

At first, being stuck inside seemed kind of nice.  After all I am retired and do not have to go anywhere.  I could sit with the fireplace on, a hot cup of coffee and watch the snow fall on the trees.  Our back yard looked like a winter wonderland.

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There was so much I could do.

  • Read the latest books I had bought and not got around to reading
  • Indulge my Scrabble addiction and play this word game with my husband
  • Binge watch TV shows that I love
  • Write and read other bloggers that I have been wanting to check out

But the magic of sitting and watching the snow fall is losing its appeal.  I have ventured out only to go to church on Sunday mornings and to my daughter’s home to celebrate my granddaughter’s birthday.

After watching all four seasons of Poldark, all six seasons of Downton Abbey and working my way through the first three seasons of Blue Bloods – I want out of here!

My husband suggested taking a flight to Hawaii – but since I have eye surgery scheduled for March that is not going to happen.

Come on spring!

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How’s the weather where you are?

How are you coping with all the freezing temps and snow?

What To Do On a Cold Winter Day

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Baby it’s cold outside.  Right now it’s 7 degrees with wind chill at -5 degrees.

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But it is going to get worse.  The whole Midwest is getting hit this week by an Arctic blast of snow and cold air.  By Wednesday our high will be -2 degrees with wind chill factors unbelievable.

This is when I am glad to be retired.  No getting out in the freezing temperatures.  No walking on icy parking lots.

But what do I do being stuck inside all week?  Some ideas I’m planning.

  • making Irish coffee

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  • binge watching all six seasons of Downton Abbey

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  • playing scrabble with a super scrabble board

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  • reading, reading, reading

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That’s my plans for the week.

However, I may not do any of that.

My daughter is going to be out of the country on a mission trip and her husband will be working.  With the weather forecast it appears there may be no school this week.

So – I may have my granddaughter all week.

When she comes to visit, everything else stops.  My only purpose when she is here is to be her playmate.  We color, we play school, we play the piano, we make all kinds of creations with play-doh, we read.

Her mother tells me I should say “no” once in a while and have her play by herself.  I always say I will but when she looks at me and says “please, Grandma” I can’t resist.

Part of the reason I can’t say no is I remember my older grandchildren and how quickly they have grown up, moved on with their adult lives.  I know how quickly this “grandchild of my old age” will also be grown and playing with grandma will not be such a high priority.

So – what I will do on this cold wintry week really depends on whether school is cancelled or not.

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For all my friends and family in the Midwest, stay warm this week.