Today was the last Saturday before Christmas and we all know what that means--well at least those of us in my family do. That means today was the annual Hayes family Christmas party at my aunt's house in Ventura. (You know, Ventura--the county that prides itself on being not quite L.A. and not quite Santa Barbara) I spent the day playing with my cousin's five kids who are just now getting old enough to be fun to play with. Braden, who is four, has decided his new specialty is giving backrubs and believe it or not, he does a pretty good job. I think he is my new favorite. Meanwhile, I learned how to play blackjack from the older two, who are eight and six. I know I come from a gambling family (my aunt takes the Greyhound bus to Laughlin, Reno, Carson City or Vegas--or some combination of those--every other weekend. She's earned enough "frequent gambler points" or whatever they're called to reserve an entire floor of rooms for free at the Golden Nugget in Laughlin.) Even though it should not surprise me that my little cousins can teach me blackjack, it still surprises me that not only can they kick my ass at it but after I finished losing about $500 in fake poker chips, the younger of the two (who is six years old, remember) exclaims, "Sucker! Too bad we aren't playing for real money because you'd have to go home crying!!"
Harsh.
That's ok, my small revenge came a few hours later when I watched her open her present from my aunt Renee (who we all know is infamous for only giving clothes every year--the most boring and dreaded Christmas present possible) that was--surprise!--clothes. She tried her best to hide her utter disappointment as she held up her bright pink crocheted pants and matching (?) tie-dyed sweater. Hee hee hee. Now who's going to go home crying?
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