A Cry For Help

I have pretty much always been a game player. Many people have heard the story of my brother's first day of kindergarten but for those unfortunate souls who haven't I'll recap. My mom and I walked Gerry down our street in Scottsdale, Arizona to Miss Ingalls kindergarten class at Paiute Elementary School. My mother and I left Gerry and walked back home. We were going about our business when the door slammed and Gerry called out, "Dona, do you want to play a game of Parcheesi?" This incident took place when I was three or four years old. I believe that the adage "train up a child in the way that he should go and when he is old he will not depart from it" seems particularly applicable in this situation. I was trained up to be a game player. It is not my fault. I cannot help myself.
I sound like an addict. I am an addict. Through the years I have experimented with various games and have had a pattern of zeroing in on one game for a period of time until noone else can stand to play it. It is sad really. There were board games: parcheesi, clue, masterpiece, yahtzee, trouble. There were card games: Battle (or War), Fish, slap jack. My Dad was always good for a late night game of gin rummy. We used to play "Spoons". (This was my mom's favorite, which is surprising because it got pretty dangerous sometimes and she usually frowned on violence.) My brothers taught me how to play chess but this was not a game that I excelled in. I always wanted to keep my horses at all costs (who cares about the king?) Risk and Monopoly ---not so much. Then there was Scrabble. Ah Scrabble. My inlaws introduced me to Master Boggle and I was hooked on that one for years (despite that one time that Gerry beat me with the words western, westerns, westerner, westerners. I might never get over it.) I made my poor, non-game-loving husband get up at 3 o'clock in the morning when I was pregnant with our first child because I needed a Rummikub fix. There was Pictionary, Phase 10, Quiddler, Five Crowns, Rook, Cranium, and more.
I thought I had seen it all but then I was introduced to the Settlers of Catan. The obsession has bordered on madness. We have played this game for the last four years. Two years ago I played all night long while I was in labor with my last child and noone even knew I was in labor until we went to the hospital. I think that qualifies this game as a drug. It looked for a time like we might never play any other games. But as a group we have recently ventured on to "Ticket to Ride" and "Blokus". I felt hope that I could escape the addiction which had culminated in Catan but then one day recently I thought I would just check out the internet version. That was a big mistake. I am hooked.
I have recently been quite concerned and thought that I needed to address this on my blog, get some emotional support for my addiction/obsession. So I went looking for an illustration for this post I checked ''flickr " hoping that I would find a random shot of Settlers of Catan. Guess what!? It turns out that I am not obsessed! I am A OK! Get a load of a couple of these pictures. THESE people are obsessed. And while it is true that I entertained the thought of naming my youngest child Catan the fact is, I didn't. These people, however, are crazy. So I'm good. Anyone up for a game? It doesn't even have to be Catan.