Monthly Poker Party

I honestly do not know how it began, but begin it did somehow. What went from a fun little way to pass the time while up in Duluth, has grown 5 heads and 10 feet, taking on a life of it's own in the Zajac family world. Poker at home. Poker away. Poker online. Poker all night. Poker all day. The scary thing is, some of them have gotten quite good at it. So good, that talks have ensued about entering those poker tournaments you see on cable channels. And I think there exists a real possibility that a few of them could actually make it into one.

But for now, they will just have to settle for the monthly Poker Family Gatherings. Once a month, since the beginning of the year, we have gotten together for dinner, treats, and poker. Though not a die hard fan of it myself (it really takes too long, and goes on and on....I imagine all the other productive things I could be getting done in those 4-8 hour spans of time), it has been very nice to have the family connections and time together.

This month, we were also celebrating Grandpa Z's birthday. He came all the way down from Duluth to participate. That is so nice of him to do. We have such few opportunities to head up there unlike when the boys were little and we visited 4-6 times per year. Last year, we almost didn't make it up at all! So sad that time gets so busy and almost "stolen" from us these days. Something needs to change, and change very soon....before our big boys are gone for good. These monthly gatherings are one step in the right direction. Oh wait, scratch that. The big boys hate poker and don't even come to these things. *sigh*

So, after making an extremely brief showing at Crispy's end-of-year hockey party, we grabbed his trophy, and met up with the rest of the family and Uncle Billy's house. We ate good food, had some good laughs, and played some good poker. I find it so humorous that on nights that I really don't feel like playing (like tonight), I end up playing til the bitter end....like taking second this evening. 4 hours of playing...yeesh. The little kids are always so bored and I feel bad for them. If we continue to keep this up, we need to develop a plan for them so that they are having fun too.

Jonny had fun...he narrowly beat out Grandma ? towards the end, and ended up taking first place! Hooray for him! The birthday boy was not quite so lucky.....he was one of the first ones out and had to spend the night watching everyone else play. Poor guy. Happy Birthday, Gramps!