Sweet Dreams

I often have dreams where I am working on a project that never ends or I'm endlessly running around trying to do something. I wake up completely exhausted and wondering why I bothered going to bed at all.

Last night, I had the best opposite of that dream. All night long, I spent a day at "the spa." I've never actually spent a day at a spa so my subconscious had free reign on exactly what that entailed. I had a massage, spent some time in a steamy sauna, had a pedicure, had my every whim catered to, and otherwise relaxed all night long. I woke up well rested and ready for the day. Well done, Subconscious!

"I'm Looking for a Game . . . "

OK, I was not going to blog about games anymore, lest someone might think I'm obsessed, but "anonymous" asked for it (NO, I did not post that comment myself!) so I will post what I learned this month about choosing games.

Not so long ago, when someone asked about a good game, I would merely list some of my favorites. However, after working at the game store for a month of pre-Christmas craziness (By the way, December retail is NOT for the faint of heart!), I have learned that recommending just the right game is an art. What I like is irrelevant (as evidenced by Deli-Sub's reaction to two of my very favorites). The critical questions are:
1. Who is the game for?
2. How many players?
3. What ages?
4. What length is their attention span?
5. What other games do they like?
6. What games don't they like?

95% of the time, after answering all of these questions, the obvious choice is that they should buy yet another copy from the mountain of Ticket to Ride boxes stocked to keep up with holiday demand. I keep trying to get around it but it continues to be the best choice. Everyone in the world except me and Bill (a game store buddy) love this game. Thus my number 9 on Thursday's top 10.


Other good choices include Carcassonne, which I actually do like a lot . . .


And for the younger crowd, Gulo Gulo and Dancing Eggs

Top Ten Thursday: Things I Want to Accomplish By This Time Next Year

10. Research Sri Lanka.

9. Give pot, I mean Ticket to Ride, another chance. Unlike the Germans who made this their 2004 game of the year, and most other people who have played it, I don't love this game. It is often referred to as the "gateway game" for Eurogamers and it was that for me. It was the first one I played and I went back for more. So why don't I like it? Maybe I'm missing something. I will try it one more time this year.

8. Decide on a color scheme for my bedroom. (I probably won't actually implement said color scheme until next year but I want to at least have a plan.)

7. Decorate my guest room, or at least hang up the pictures that are sitting on the floor in a box.

6. Grow something beautiful in my yard. Last growing season was a miserable failure due to my lack of effort and a few sprinkler malfunctions. Who knew roses actually had to have water consistently to produce flowers? The Chinese elms seemed to do okay without it.

5. Finish my 72 hour kit. This has been a work in progress for years. It's time to wrap it up.

4. Spend every dollar on paper, on purpose. (That means budget better for the non-Daver's.)

3. Start hiking again. I did not spend nearly enough time communing with nature last year.

2. Paint my living room and kitchen. I've had the color picked out for over a year. It's way past time to get it done. (To see the color, go to http://www.rlhome.polo.com/rlhome/products/paint/default.asp and enter Paint Color NA 49. It's a lovely shade of neutral.

1. Blog more. If anyone is thinking "I sure wish Daphne would blog about ________" please share! I'm having a terrible time coming up with material.

Happy Birthday to Bubba!!!

Top Ten Sunday: Things I Like About Winter

10. I can ignore my yard and not feel like a slacker.

9. The endorphins that result from shovelling the sidewalk. (Why did I buy a corner lot? That's a lot of sidewalk! One of those things you just don't think about when buying a house in September. . . )

8. How cool is it that something as simple as salt can clear an icy sidewalk? (Can you tell what I did yesterday morning? We had at least 4 inches of snow from a storm that was supposed to be next to nothing.)

7. The Edison "white elephant" Christmas party. I work with a bunch of really fun people and my face always hurts from laughing after this one.

6. My birthday.

5. Bundling up. There's something really comforting about wrapping up with a scarf and gloves.

4. Christmas carols.

3. Seeing kids faces when a big snowstorm hits. Every year since I started teaching, I have had at least one student who has never seen snow before. It's so fun to see their reactions!

2. Hot cocoa, especially with peppermint.

1. Looking out my window and seeing everything all covered in snow.

Happy Birthday to Det Rode Hus!!!