Off to a Good Start

Following some fairly wild New Year's Eve festivities, A road-tripped with his brother down to the Rose Bowl game. They were at the stadium today to watch the Ducks win their second Rose Bowl (last win was in 1917). Go Ducks! I looked for them in the crowd on TV, but it appears that all Ducks fans look alike and I could not spot them.

I had a most glorious quiet day at home catching up on things and getting organized (mostly work related) for the New Year. I finally watched the movie Bridesmaids, and even exercised. I'm feeling rested and energized for a great 2012. Perhaps I should take down the Christmas ornaments so we can put the dead tree out. Maybe next weekend. (oh wait, is that a little bit of new year procrastination, already?)

Cheers to 2012!
Let's get this party started.

P.S. We met the deadline of finishing all of the homemade Christmas treats before the New Year. That way, the Christmas calories don't count!

Settlers of Catan

One of the things I love most about the holiday season is having time to play board games. It feels great to sit around a table of family and friends in a warm cozy house, perhaps even by the Christmas tree. This year, Santa's elf (aka my Sis) put the game Settlers of Catan under the tree. A and I used to play this game with our pals in Boston and are having a lot of fun with it again. It's been great taking time over New Year's weekend to play Settlers of Catan.   It might be that it replaces Risk as the game of choice in this household. We'll just have to see.

Of course, we didn't completely ignore the modern world this weekend. We did have some Wii fun too.

Here's my take on Settlers of Catan.

 It's a strategy game that everyone can play. The rules are not complicated. You spend your time gathering and bartering for five resources: sheep, wood, brick, grain, and rock. The goal is to build roads, settlements, and cities working your way to ten victory points to win. There are dice involved which means most of your fate rests on luck. But, you have to be ware of the robber.

He's pretty good at keeping you from your resources.

Happy New Year! May the time for board games be plentiful in 2012.