After the All-iday

The party went well yesterday, I think. Had over a dozen people show up which is more than I expected. People really kept to the theme of tying their potluck contributions to a holiday. Some of my favorites were fresh tomatoes & green peppers (Procrastinator's Day; she put off actually making the salsa); turkey franks & challah (Challah-weenie); and pulled pork (which Terry Pratchett fans will immediately associate with Hogswatch Night). The ground-slap game (see below if you are unfamiliar with this) was popular & people seemed to like the prizes. They were: a "Schoolhouse Rock" DVD (won by DN); a set of scented candles (won by M from Faire); a Boyd's Bear figurine (won by W from Faire); a smores ornament (won by The Boy); a Halloween-lantern votive holder (won by MH2); and a Mancala set (won by R from Ralph's work).

Today of course will in theory be cleanup, but knowing me the decorations are going to be up for another week or two. LOTS of food left over--Sis, you forgot to take home your pasta salad--including a frozen lasagna that we bought in case there wasn't enough food, and the cream puffs that I totally forgot to put out. Guess I know what will be served at Ralph's next D & D game.

So, the ground-slap game is fun but kind of hard to describe. A group of people kneel on the floor or lawn in a circle. You put your hands on the ground crossed with the hands of the people next to you. So, if you had "Jane" on your left and "John" on your right, looking in front of you the hands you would see would be your own to the far left, then Jane's right hand, John's left hand, and then your own right hand. Got it? OK. Then you choose a person to start & a direction to go (clockwise or widdershins). For purposes of this explanation, we'll say that you are starting & it goes widdershins. You slap the ground with your left hand, then Jane would slap with her right, then John with his left, then you again with your right, and so on around the circle. BUT!! If a person slaps the ground twice, the direction changes, so it could go your left, Jane's right, John's left *twice*, Jane's right, your left. If you slap when you aren't supposed to (or even start to do so) or hesitate too long when it's your turn, or slap with the wrong hand, that hand gets taken out of the game. You tighten the circle & re-cross as people are eliminated until only two people remain, who are the winners. It's easy in theory, but harder in reality as you lose track of which hand is yours, or anticipate slapping only to have the direction change. Here's a short video of the final round of our game. The contestants are MH2, The Boy, and W from Faire:



Actually, it just occurred to me that a better use for the frozen lasagna & cream puffs (which I keep typing as "pussfs") would be to feed the folks who will be helping out with the haunted house this year.