Bingo Belles' great March game wrap-up (w/ pix!!)
On Friday the 16th, the Bingo Belles had our monthly bingo game, and it was GREAT!! :) The food, the company, the venue, the gifts -- everything! For a review, in words and pictures, just click below. (Oh yeah, and there's a mini squirrel update too!)
The evening had a propitious start, when Becky R. knocked on my door around 6:50 p.m., because she, my next-door neighbor Lisa M. and I were going to carpool to Los Gatos, where Gayle, the mom of Becky S. (beckerbuns) was hosting. I'll explain why she hosted on THIS particular month in a moment. :) Anyhoo, Becky said "Hey, I think I saw one of your squirrels," when she came in the door. I asked: "Did it run over to you?" She said no; she just happened to notice a squirrel hanging out in/on one of the camphor trees in the landscaping out front. So I stepped out the door onto the front step, and no sooner did I do that, than a squirrel came BOUNDERING joyfully across the landscaping, from the farthest camphor tree, and right over to my sidewalk. I soon saw a telltale notch in the right ear, so I knew it was PEANUT! :) My sweet little Pea is back! I hadn't seen her for a week or more, and whenever that happens, I worry about her, so I was very happy to see that furry girl! I haven't seen Goober since before the "squirrel smash" on the street a few weeks back, but I doubt he was the victim. He's too fast and smart to get hit. Or at least I hope so! I also hope the roadkill was not Twinkie!
Peanut was a little reluctant/nervous to come as close as she usually does, because she saw an unfamiliar person standing and watching in the doorway behind me (Becky). But Pea was very excited to pick up the walnut I rolled to her across the pavement! :D As is my usual M.O., as Pea was running away to hide/bury the nut, I scattered a handful of roasted peanut halves onto the sidewalk, so when she came back, she'd have a snack to enjoy (since she's NEVER eaten a walnut in front of me! heh) And sure enough, when I peeked out the front window just before leaving through the back of the house, I saw Peanut sitting there like a plump, furry little Buddha and chowing down on the snacks! *giggle* She's such a cute and funny character!
Okay, back to bingo! The reason Gayle hosted is two-fold. This year, we all decided that in each month, anyone having a birthday would get to play with three cards instead of the usual two. And since Gayle's B-Day is in March (coincidentally, the 16th!!) she figured why not host in a month where she gets a bonus card? ;) She's not a regular part of the Bingo Belles; she only plays when she hosts. On top of that, Becky S.'s/beckerbuns' younger son Andrew is also a March baby, and since Roo only plays when his grandma Gayle hosts, it was also a special opportunity for him to join us as a "Bingo Boy". (heehee) Coincidentally enough, this was also the weekend that Becky S.'s in-laws were visiting from Oregon and staying with Gayle, so mom-in-law Linda ALSO played with the Belles this month! LOL! She seemed a little reserved at first, since she didn't know anyone but Gayle, Becky S. and Andrew, but we all soon made her feel welcome. Hopefully she didn't think we were TOO crazy! *giggle*
Along with the three extra players of Gayle, Roo and Linda, we also had EIGHT of our regular players in attendance! (Well, me plus seven). I think this was the BIGGEST group yet! And so much fun! But I'll stop rambling and get to my photos, which tell the rest of the story.
As has become my weird habit, I took a picture of the gift pile. Don't they look FESTIVE? ;D And out of 11 gifts total, seven of them were gift cards/gift certificates! (I'm glad for a change I did NOT give one of these as my gift!) They were for the following cool places -- in alphabetical order so it doesn't look like I'm playing favourites: Baskin Robbins, Borders Books, ColdStone Creamery, iTunes, Longs Drugs, Shell gasoline and Sweet Tomatoes (a delicious buffet chain mostly in West Coast and Southwestern states).
Since the day after bingo was St. Patrick's Day, several of our treats came in green. One of my faves were the cupcakes baked by Lisa M., who used green Jello with a white cake mix, plus Cool Whip frosting and green sprinkles! BTW, can you spot baby Misty (Becky S.'s daughter) peeking in this photo? ;)
Misty's grandpa Steve took care of her for the most part, while we were playing bingo. She really has such a sweet, beautiful face -- and her personality is likewise. :) When it came time for Misty to go to bed, Becky S. left the game for a time, and Steve sat in and played her cards for her. I think he got a kick out of it! LOL But alas, he didn't win during the couple of games he sat in for. :(
Here we have the "kids table," where I sat the last time Gayle hosted. There were simply too many people for the main table, so some folks used this card table. Clockwise from left are Jeri, Becky S., Becky R. and Andrew.
One of two shots of the "big table". Going clockwise, after Andrew in the bottom left, are Linda, Jenny, Margaret, Gayle, Lisa M., Coleen and yours truly Scary Shari! Speaking of Margaret, she ended up winning the blackout pot of $22 at the end of the night. I thought there'd be a tie, since so many folks were playing, but NOPE! (heehee) It all went to Maggie! And speaking of Andrew, he was a fun and well-behaved part of the group, and a good sport. :) I was very happy that he ended up winning two gifts: a large, whimsical musical snowglobe, and an iTunes giftcard. I didn't know it at the time, but he gave the iTunes to his big brother Ricky -- how thoughtful is that? :)
Here we are again, but I don't need to repeat the names, since only I changed seats. *chuckle* I will just add that we missed our other regular players Ina and Katheryn, our semi-regular player Lisa L. (soojaebi) and our long-lost player Karrie. I felt the most bad about Lisa L., because for several months, she has wanted very badly to play bingo, but couldn't, due to one frustrating reason or another. She was ALL set and SOO excited to finally come to a game this time! :) But then, something happened again. :( She totally threw her back out while moving some furniture that she could barely even stand vertically, let alone drive a car! OUCH! I felt so disappointed for her, because in another few months, she and her husband are moving out of the country, due to his Air Force assignment. :'(
Gayle had a gigantic pencil laying around somewhere, which Andrew picked up during a break in game play, and drew some pictures for Jenny and me. I wasn't actually TRYING to catch the pencil in a "motion blur", and didn't think it would occur, due to the flash, but it did -- and I like it! :)
At the end of the night, I'd won not one, but TWO gifts, which is cool because last month when Katheryn hosted, I won nothing. One of my gifts was the Longs giftcard, and since Longs happens to be my fave drugstore, I was happy. :) I was even more happy to win a gorgeous pair of earrings HANDCRAFTED by Gayle! This is a photo of one of them, which I took holding the camera in front of my ear (talk about awkward). Gayle made the swirly glass bead herself, and then added the little plastic or crystal beads. And would you believe it -- the colours in these earrings were a PERFECT match for the colours in the shirt I wore that night! :D (see photo above)
The evening had a propitious start, when Becky R. knocked on my door around 6:50 p.m., because she, my next-door neighbor Lisa M. and I were going to carpool to Los Gatos, where Gayle, the mom of Becky S. (beckerbuns) was hosting. I'll explain why she hosted on THIS particular month in a moment. :) Anyhoo, Becky said "Hey, I think I saw one of your squirrels," when she came in the door. I asked: "Did it run over to you?" She said no; she just happened to notice a squirrel hanging out in/on one of the camphor trees in the landscaping out front. So I stepped out the door onto the front step, and no sooner did I do that, than a squirrel came BOUNDERING joyfully across the landscaping, from the farthest camphor tree, and right over to my sidewalk. I soon saw a telltale notch in the right ear, so I knew it was PEANUT! :) My sweet little Pea is back! I hadn't seen her for a week or more, and whenever that happens, I worry about her, so I was very happy to see that furry girl! I haven't seen Goober since before the "squirrel smash" on the street a few weeks back, but I doubt he was the victim. He's too fast and smart to get hit. Or at least I hope so! I also hope the roadkill was not Twinkie!
Peanut was a little reluctant/nervous to come as close as she usually does, because she saw an unfamiliar person standing and watching in the doorway behind me (Becky). But Pea was very excited to pick up the walnut I rolled to her across the pavement! :D As is my usual M.O., as Pea was running away to hide/bury the nut, I scattered a handful of roasted peanut halves onto the sidewalk, so when she came back, she'd have a snack to enjoy (since she's NEVER eaten a walnut in front of me! heh) And sure enough, when I peeked out the front window just before leaving through the back of the house, I saw Peanut sitting there like a plump, furry little Buddha and chowing down on the snacks! *giggle* She's such a cute and funny character!
Okay, back to bingo! The reason Gayle hosted is two-fold. This year, we all decided that in each month, anyone having a birthday would get to play with three cards instead of the usual two. And since Gayle's B-Day is in March (coincidentally, the 16th!!) she figured why not host in a month where she gets a bonus card? ;) She's not a regular part of the Bingo Belles; she only plays when she hosts. On top of that, Becky S.'s/beckerbuns' younger son Andrew is also a March baby, and since Roo only plays when his grandma Gayle hosts, it was also a special opportunity for him to join us as a "Bingo Boy". (heehee) Coincidentally enough, this was also the weekend that Becky S.'s in-laws were visiting from Oregon and staying with Gayle, so mom-in-law Linda ALSO played with the Belles this month! LOL! She seemed a little reserved at first, since she didn't know anyone but Gayle, Becky S. and Andrew, but we all soon made her feel welcome. Hopefully she didn't think we were TOO crazy! *giggle*
Along with the three extra players of Gayle, Roo and Linda, we also had EIGHT of our regular players in attendance! (Well, me plus seven). I think this was the BIGGEST group yet! And so much fun! But I'll stop rambling and get to my photos, which tell the rest of the story.
As has become my weird habit, I took a picture of the gift pile. Don't they look FESTIVE? ;D And out of 11 gifts total, seven of them were gift cards/gift certificates! (I'm glad for a change I did NOT give one of these as my gift!) They were for the following cool places -- in alphabetical order so it doesn't look like I'm playing favourites: Baskin Robbins, Borders Books, ColdStone Creamery, iTunes, Longs Drugs, Shell gasoline and Sweet Tomatoes (a delicious buffet chain mostly in West Coast and Southwestern states).
Since the day after bingo was St. Patrick's Day, several of our treats came in green. One of my faves were the cupcakes baked by Lisa M., who used green Jello with a white cake mix, plus Cool Whip frosting and green sprinkles! BTW, can you spot baby Misty (Becky S.'s daughter) peeking in this photo? ;)
Misty's grandpa Steve took care of her for the most part, while we were playing bingo. She really has such a sweet, beautiful face -- and her personality is likewise. :) When it came time for Misty to go to bed, Becky S. left the game for a time, and Steve sat in and played her cards for her. I think he got a kick out of it! LOL But alas, he didn't win during the couple of games he sat in for. :(
Here we have the "kids table," where I sat the last time Gayle hosted. There were simply too many people for the main table, so some folks used this card table. Clockwise from left are Jeri, Becky S., Becky R. and Andrew.
One of two shots of the "big table". Going clockwise, after Andrew in the bottom left, are Linda, Jenny, Margaret, Gayle, Lisa M., Coleen and yours truly Scary Shari! Speaking of Margaret, she ended up winning the blackout pot of $22 at the end of the night. I thought there'd be a tie, since so many folks were playing, but NOPE! (heehee) It all went to Maggie! And speaking of Andrew, he was a fun and well-behaved part of the group, and a good sport. :) I was very happy that he ended up winning two gifts: a large, whimsical musical snowglobe, and an iTunes giftcard. I didn't know it at the time, but he gave the iTunes to his big brother Ricky -- how thoughtful is that? :)
Here we are again, but I don't need to repeat the names, since only I changed seats. *chuckle* I will just add that we missed our other regular players Ina and Katheryn, our semi-regular player Lisa L. (soojaebi) and our long-lost player Karrie. I felt the most bad about Lisa L., because for several months, she has wanted very badly to play bingo, but couldn't, due to one frustrating reason or another. She was ALL set and SOO excited to finally come to a game this time! :) But then, something happened again. :( She totally threw her back out while moving some furniture that she could barely even stand vertically, let alone drive a car! OUCH! I felt so disappointed for her, because in another few months, she and her husband are moving out of the country, due to his Air Force assignment. :'(
Gayle had a gigantic pencil laying around somewhere, which Andrew picked up during a break in game play, and drew some pictures for Jenny and me. I wasn't actually TRYING to catch the pencil in a "motion blur", and didn't think it would occur, due to the flash, but it did -- and I like it! :)
At the end of the night, I'd won not one, but TWO gifts, which is cool because last month when Katheryn hosted, I won nothing. One of my gifts was the Longs giftcard, and since Longs happens to be my fave drugstore, I was happy. :) I was even more happy to win a gorgeous pair of earrings HANDCRAFTED by Gayle! This is a photo of one of them, which I took holding the camera in front of my ear (talk about awkward). Gayle made the swirly glass bead herself, and then added the little plastic or crystal beads. And would you believe it -- the colours in these earrings were a PERFECT match for the colours in the shirt I wore that night! :D (see photo above)