Well, I was feeling a bit overwhelmed this weekend. I was WAY behind on preparing my lecture for this week, and I really needed some time to get away because I just had not had any fun time this past week. I know. That probably sounds backward, but in all reality, I was not going to get anything done until I had some down time.

Ray goes to play cards at one of the assisted living facilities in town. I asked if I could join him after work because it seemed like a fun way to spend the evening. He said it would be OK.

I was welcomed by his gaming mates. They are a great group of ladies. One I already knew because she works with Ray as a monitor. The other two were her grandmother and another woman living there. They were very funny and quite patient with me as I learned the game. They play a variation of scat, which is not a hard game, but a little different. It is like playing a combination of blackjack and rummy while only holding three cards at time.

I was really glad that I went, and they all seemed happy to get to meet me because Ray has been talking about me to them. They also are excited about my running for school committee so they had a lot of questions for me. It seems that I have another round of supporters who are also helping to do some campaigning for me.

I have been invited to play with them every Saturday evening so I think I have somethin to do now. It was a little different than my plans to host a few couples to play cards, but it works all the same.