A Risky Christmas in Pullman
News ·Tuesday December 26, 2006 @ 23:17 EST (link)
Pollocks
December 23-5:
Since power was back and the house was somewhat secure, we took up Honey's uncle and aunt's kind invitation to spend Christmas with them in Pullman. Their kitchen and dining room was being remodelled (everything was out, from fixtures to cabinets, and they'd put in new wood flooring and wooden posts for the stairs to the basement, but no railings yet), so cooking was being done in the basement with a Crock-Pot™ and a microwave.
We played several games; to Honey's cousin Will's delight, Risk (uncle Dave and I beat Honey and Will, by managing to take over two continents (Indonesia and Asia), and then arranging our men so as to give one of us the troop bonus for each, and then noticing that we win by just taking out either one of the opposing team's armies, and focusing on Will). They introduced us to Guillotine, a fun card game where players are executioners and have to collect noble heads, and in turn we brought Stock Ticker, a Canadian game simulating a very simplified stock market. We didn't play Scotland Yard this time, but for Christmas they got the U.S. equivalent, New York Chase, upgraded to give detectives helicopters to aid in the search (kids these days have it so easy...).
They gave us a Canada provinces puzzle (logos and symbols in the shape of a Canadian flag); we were empty-handed, given the tree-in-roof crisis and all. We headed back Christmas day; we'd bought chains for Snoqualmie Pass on the I-90, but although the web site said they were required, the road signs did not, so we didn't use them.
Martins
December 26: We called my uncle Graham and aunt Wendy who had invited us up for a Christmas dinner on Boxing Day (December 26); we thought we wouldn't be able to make it, because we needed our contractor (Jim Cameron of Cameron Construction, who's been absolutely great so far in taking care of cleanup and temporary repairs) to come out and shore up the tarps against some leaks, but we were able to arrange to leave a key for him and head up to Abbotsford by 1100. We're grateful to our neighbors who called the contractor (we'd given him the number) when they thought the tarp was leaking; he put up a temporary tarp that night and then put up another tarp and set up some fans and dehumidifiers while we were gone. And he was as good as his word; things were drying nicely when we returned.
Honey hadn't been to the (many) Martins' place in Abbotsford before, so she got the tour (complete with THX sound in the games room); excellent dinner and conversation; Ashley and Sean (please excuse if you spell it another way) were there, and Jordan and Liz, and of course Graham, Wendy, Chris, and Vanessa, who is expecting an addition in May; we wish them best of luck. We left that night and got back by midnight.
We played several games; to Honey's cousin Will's delight, Risk (uncle Dave and I beat Honey and Will, by managing to take over two continents (Indonesia and Asia), and then arranging our men so as to give one of us the troop bonus for each, and then noticing that we win by just taking out either one of the opposing team's armies, and focusing on Will). They introduced us to Guillotine, a fun card game where players are executioners and have to collect noble heads, and in turn we brought Stock Ticker, a Canadian game simulating a very simplified stock market. We didn't play Scotland Yard this time, but for Christmas they got the U.S. equivalent, New York Chase, upgraded to give detectives helicopters to aid in the search (kids these days have it so easy...).