Dewey, That's Not the Cue Ball.

We've had such a great week together, but it's been a little cold for these Texans.  However, spring is coming.

Jacob had the last of the leftover pancakes.  Sometimes food becomes a work of art.

This is actually not an example of that.  I baked chocolate cupcakes, but they didn't cook as long as I thought they had, so I finished them in the microwave.  I know it looks terrible, but it was delicious, although the ice cream helped.

Problems with Ben's project meant we lost power again today.  Pool waits for nothing.  Btw, I'm getting better at pool.  For one example,  Nate now allows me to break.  But no one is forgiving me for my blunder yesterday.  The kids do not forget to ask me if I'm aiming at the cue ball.  Sadly, sometimes I'm not.

While Nate and Julia took turns playing pool with me, Ben sat in the passenger seat of the Tesla and encouraged Jacob on the road.  Jacob said he had a great time but admitted Papa had to remind him to breathe.

Several times today I hit in all my balls before my opponent hit in theirs.  My biggest weakness is that I am not very successful in hitting in the 8-ball.  I frequently shoot it in the pocket, but not the one I specified.  This is why people are willing to play with me.

I want to give you a heads up about my favorite hustler.  Don't let her size fool you.  She's very good.

While we played pool, people upstairs painted rocks.  Frankly, Julia and I were quite surprised to come up and find her parents painting.

Other people planned dinner tonight.

I don't like meals from this restaurant.  I do like onion rings.

The topic of conversation involved the difference between 1/8 of an inch and one millimeter.  When I mocked, I was told a machinist sees the difference as comparable to the Grand Canyon, while a pipefitter sees the measurements as nearly identical.  To sum, there were far too many engineers at the table tonight.

We included Matt in our doubles game tonight.  I love these kids.  We've had the best time.

The Nine Ball

A little nature made its way to the breakfast table.

Julia and I put together one of my favorite puzzles while we waited for Melanie to arrive.

After breakfast, Dave practiced.  Don't ask me why he doesn't have any lights on.

Some of us painted rocks.

Julia gathered these rocks a few days ago, but our to-do lists have been pretty long.

Carolyn is taking an Arabic class.  I think that explains her rock.

Lots of pool, every day.  I am getting good enough that the kids sometimes let me break.

We quit for lunch.

My new favorite company meal is emergency meatballs.

Julia's strong desire was for us to play games all afternoon.  Mel won the first two rounds of Mexican Train.

Nate won the next three.  We were all pretty happy for him.

This man won the next game.

Each had one domino left.  Who will win?

Victory is sweet.

Then it was back to pool.  Dave and Carolyn challenged Jacob and me.  We were having a fun game until....

Yes, it's true.  I mistook the 9-ball for the cue ball.  I did make the shot, but oh my.  I will never live this down.

Sometimes I Care About Winning

Papa's specialty is blueberry pancakes.

Julia helped with the blueberries.

Canned whipped cream is a staple here.

We got some snow last night.  I couldn't talk the kids out of snow pants.

Nate was determined to do this right.

We had a lot of fun.

All of us.

The snowballs were a little icy.

This was not Dave's first day in the snow.

Dave found an opportunity to teach me about pine cone seeds.

I have realized that I play pool to spend time with the kids.

I do work on my skills, but my motive is to strengthen our relationship.

I will brag a bit and mention that today I hit in both the 5 and 7 in one shot.  Unfortunately, neither ball was mine.

After many hours of pool, Julia read some of her poetry to me.  I loved it.  Then we played Go Fish!, plus a little Memory.

However, I learned that when I play Memory, I play to win.

Lights Out

I told Jacob my new mug was great for hot chocolate.  He agreed.

Carolyn made some suggestions for my kitchen.  Jacob implemented them -- not an easy job.

Melanie appeared in time for a late breakfast.

Btw, because our guests have not been vaccinated, we are pretty much home.  Nate is taking advantage of this situation by seeing if he can actually stay in his pajamas all week.  So far, so good.

I believe I have mentioned that we play a lot of pool around here.  Julia tries to shake things up.

I enjoy telling kids how old some of the things are in my house.  No matter how much I reduced and simplified during the last year, these slippers, which I bought for Corinne, still bring me joy.

My pool skills are improving.

Papa has had a project going on, and today it required that we played without electricity for a few hours.  He brought down lanterns for us, although it was still pretty dark.  I told Nate I wanted a picture.  He took advantage of the photo op.

I am not used to seeing shadows on the balls.

I am having such a great week.  We put together several puzzles.

Julia creamed me in Memory.  I loved it.

Takeout Thai worked today, since we couldn't cook.  Matt and Mel joined us.

We had fun with the fortunes.

We played many games of Mexican Train.  Mel won several times.

So did Dave.

Carolyn won once.

Nate was relieved when he won.

I learned that Go Fish! can bring calm.