Caviar and Catan, The Only Way To Be

Panda, M. and A.'s dog, was not at her best that weekend either. She had played too hard with the other dogs and pulled a muscle. So, for the most part, her job was to be on painkillers and lie down. She did quite well at this...she also slept with me on my second night in the house. Zul sleeps with me, but a cat's mass (even one as fat as Zul) is not quite the same as that of a dog. Or, put another way, a dog's heft is more person-like. It has been a long time since I have regularly shared a bed with another. There is certainly a give and a take. Panda's take preference is to claim about as much space as possible, leaving me with a fair chance of falling out of bed. My take preference was not falling out of bed, so I authoritatively asked her to please move over (ie: nudged her a lot). The plus was, of course, the warmth and solidity of another living thing nearby. Hm. I have no point. Just thinking about sleeping with living things is all.
For dinner we feasted on smoked salmon, and two types of caviar...and pate. Because that's how we do and that's how we roll(ed that night).
We also had a truly excellent Pouilly Fuisse white wine. Mmmmm. Oh, and what do you see in that photograph? Yep, that's what I like to call Catan. Mainly because that's what the game is.

I brought Catan with me to Brooklyn on the off chance that stars would align and C. and I might end up playing. Alas, that was not to be...but I was pretty certain that A. and M. were totally going to be Catan people. Unfortunately it's been nine million years since I last played the game and I forgot the diagram that shows the proper beginners' board...so I approximated. It worked. At first M. and A. were entirely non-plussed. I did a shoddy job explaining it and I could tell they weren't getting the glory. But something happened mid-way and A., especially, really jumped on board...which when I think about it I think getting on board with Catan is almost synonymous with 'acting like an asshole and trying to trade one wood for five ore'. I was very pleased. Especially when, after the first game, it was suggested that we play again...immediately. I wish A. and M. lived in Philadelphia. I also wish they weren't moving to Seattle. Whatever.
It probably goes without saying that I won the games we played. While I'd like to say this was because of my awesome-ness, I think it was more about M. being new to the game, tired and sad and A. being new to the game and sad. I can't wait to play with them again.