Watch out, World Poker Tour

By far, the funnest thing I did this Christmas was help teach my 11-year-old cousins how to play Texas Hold 'Em. Actually, their mother is my cousin, but we just call everyone "cousin" in this family. It's much less complicated, and links us to about half the state.* They picked it up so fast! By the end of the weekend, they knew all the terminology (check, raise, fold, shuffle up and deal, burn and turn, etc.) Unfortunately, there are no pictures, something I highly regret. Their mother threatened to call us to pay the bail when they get arrested for cleaning out all their fifth-grade classmates, but it was sooo worth it.

I drove off to Arkansas not expecting to have a great time with the family horde, but it was much better than I expected. I could have done without my brother, but that's not anything unusual. You know, we (as a world) are so very, very lucky that my brother is around because, in case civilization has to start over for some reason, he knows everything and can instruct the rest of us on the proper way to do things! We're in such good hands!



*which comes in very handy when stopped for speeding in certain parts of the state. "Officer, I believe you know my cousin, the sheriff?"