Bad Luck and The Glasses

Life

where-are-my-sunglassesA few days ago was Friday the 13th.  For many people, this is a day to cower in fear of bad things happening.  Good thing I’m not superstitious, right?  Or am I?

This was to be quite the busy day.  B needed my help going through the boys’ clothes. With spring here and a trip coming up soon, winter clothes just wouldn’t do. So I took up bins of old clothes from the basement and we figured out what they had outgrown and what they could wear. Clothes that JSL could grow into got put back away while two big bags of clothes got ready to be donated while we were out getting haircuts and buying some needed new clothes at Target.  On the way out, I grabbed my light jacket and stuffed my sunglass case in the pocket.

On the way to our first stop, NHL commented that Friday the 13th was an unlucky day. I told him that "bad luck" didn’t really exist and was just a superstition that people used to believe in.  Then, we went to get our haircuts, stopped by Target to buy a few needed clothes, and stopped by Goodwill to donate the used clothes.

After leaving Goodwill, the sun was glaring in my eyes. I reached for the pocket with my sunglasses. Empty! Glancing around the car in sudden panic, B asked me what was wrong. I told her of my missing sunglasses.

Let me pause for a second to clarify something. This was no cheap pair of sunglasses. They had prescription lenses in them. Replacing them would cost over $200. You can see why I’d be upset.

B executed an emergency U-turn and we backtracked. Goodwill hadn’t seen them. Neither had Target or the haircut place. We ransacked the car but came up empty. They were gone. My expensive sunglasses had vanished.

I spent the rest of the day feeling depressed.  Yes, they were just sunglasses, but I couldn’t help it.  I kept thinking about each thing I could have done differently.  Not taken my sunglasses.  Left them in the car.  Checked my pocket more often.  So many things and it was all my fault.

The next day, after going to temple (and, yes, I did pray that I’d find my sunglasses), B decided to call Target again.  After all, they had told me to call back in case someone found them.  She described them to someone and the person looked in the lost and found area…. And found them!  Target had them!!!  We nearly jumped with joy as we all but pushed the kids out the door on our way to pick them up.

I decided that perhaps Friday the 13th might be a bit unlucky after all.  Even so, perhaps Saturday the 14th is a lucky day!  Or so I thought until my regular glasses broke.  (Not bad,  but enough that they’ll need to be fixed this week.)

Disclaimer: The sunglasses image above was modified from one on OpenClipArt.org.

Aloha Friday: Picky Passover Progeny and Cuisine I Crave

Aloha Friday, Food, Holidays, JSL, Judaism

Passover means that a lot of our favorite foods turn into shadows of their non-Passover selves.  Cakes and cookies get replaced with bland knock-offs that use matzo meal instead of real flour.  Bread is a big no-no.  Pizza is just sauce and cheese slapped on matzo.  The less said about “Passover Pasta” the better.  (NOTE: Just because a food claims to be “Passover Pasta” doesn’t it will cook up anything even remotely resembling, much less tasting like, real pasta.)

As I posted earlier this week, JSL has had a hard time this year.  He’s a very picky eater and all of his favorite foods are Passover no-nos.  He is refusing to try new things.  Why?  Because he doesn’t try a food unless he already knows he likes the food.  (Yeah, yeah, I know.  Doesn’t make any sense.  You try arguing with the 4 year old.  I’ve already tried tons of times.)  The few times he’s tried something (under heavy protest, mind you), he’s either spat it out or proclaimed that he loves it but doesn’t want to eat it ever again.

All this has got me thinking about what foods I miss.  I certainly miss my usual breakfast of oatmeal and bananas.  Bananas are fine, but replacing the oatmeal with matzo and cream cheese just isn’t the same.  I also miss being able to use beans and corn.  Most of all, I guess I miss the pasta and bread, though.  So much of what I eat contains pasta or bread in some way, shape, or form that I couldn’t imagine not ever eating that again.

My Aloha Friday question for today is: What one food could you never give up for good?

P.S. If you haven’t already, try out my Twitter applications: FollowerHQ and Rout.

Thanks to Kailani at An Island Life for starting this fun for Friday. Please be sure to head over to her blog to say hello and sign the linky there if you are participating.

Aloha Friday by Kailani at An Island Life

Aloha #134

Review: Angry Birds Card Game

Games, Review

IMGP5739

My boys are Angry Birds addicts.  Whether playing the original Angry Birds, or the latest Angry Birds: Space, they love flinging those feathered fighters to pummel some pigs.  So when we saw the Angry Birds Card Game in a local store, we had to buy it for them.

After the second Seder, we gave it to them for finding the Afikomen.  (Quick explanation for those not in the know: During the Passover Seders, a matzo is broken in half.  Half of it is hidden and kids get to hunt it down.  The one who finds it gets a prize.)  The next day, we sat down to play some Angry Birds cards.

P1080059The play is very simple.  There are five different kinds of birds (Red, Yellow, Blue, Black, and White).  Each of the structure cards (the equivalent of the buildings that the pigs are usually positioned upon) have either one of the birds on them or a "X2".  (The latter require two matching birds.)  There are also special cards with actions like blocking someone’s turn, allowing yourself a re-roll or making them draw another structure card.  There’s a six sided die with one bird on each face, plus one "Wild Bird" face featuring all of the birds.  There’s also a King Pig to stand in the center.

P1080061Each player is dealt 6 structure cards and places them in a line from them to King Pig.  The players also get 2 special cards, but keep these secret.  The first person rolls and uses any birds they can to remove structure cards.  Then, the next player does the same.  At various times, players can also use special cards to affect the gameplay.  When a player has removed all of their structure cards, they get the chance to knock down King Pig by flicking a die at him.  The first to knock over King Pig wins.

We found this game highly entertaining.  JSL only played one game with us, but he’s on the low end of the age range.  NHL, who is firmly in the age range, loved it and kept begging to play "just one more game."

Overall, I only had two problems with the game.  First of all, it went by a bit too quickly.  The 6 structure cards were gone pretty fast and the 2 special cards were used up way too rapidly.  Secondly, flicking a die at a pig might simulate the Angry Birds computer game, but it can lead to die flying out in unintended directions.

P1080062We solved the first problem by expanding to 10 structure cards (2 towers of 5 since we had no room for a tower of 10) and 5 special cards.  We also changed how King Pig gets bumped off in the end: Players now had to roll a Wild Bird to get to knock him over.

This is definitely a game that we will be playing over and over.  I really liked how the game went by quickly so that you could play multiple games in a single gaming session.  This meant that more than one player got the chance to win.  (NHL beat me quite a few times.)  Our expanded towers also meant more dramatic come from behind victories as special cards or lucky rolls eliminated multiple structural cards on each turn.

Given how portable this is, we will be packing this to take with us on our upcoming Disney trip.  While it won’t make for a good airplane game (those tray tables are just too small), it will be perfect for the hotel room.

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