Bacon, Babies, Bowers Oh My!

Saturday night we went over to the Schickers' apartment (Bret & Stephanie's) for an evening of playing cards. We've all been so busy lately that I think it's been nearly a month since we last met up for some fun. Their daughter Ava, the Schicklette, is nearly a year old and is probably the cutest thing ever. We showed up a little early to have some Ava time, since she usually conks out by 7:30.

Ava's a little leery of strangers these days, so when Jesse approached her upon our arrival, she burst into tears. I, on the other hand, was smarter and bribed her with Cheerios. I could see the love growing every time she shoved one in her mouth with those cute pudgy fingers. We were BFF's in no time. After she realized that Jesse was an OK guy, she let him hold her for a while. The whole time though, she treated him as if he was the dorky kid in middle school who just asked her for a slow dance. While polite enough to accept, she behaved like a total dead fish - looking around at everyone else in the room, and vowing to hate Led Zeppelin as long as she lives for their epic ballads.

Oh, and newsflash, apparently my BFF status with Ava was totally in my head. Yesterday afternoon I found a baby-sized hand mark on the back of my shirt. It's made out of (what I assume is) a teething biscuit and drool. Dude, Ava-cakes, you can't just wipe stuff on the back of your BFF's clothes and expect to get Cheerios next time.

Since the Schickers cooked shrimp scampi for dinner(very classy), we decided to bring along salad - Bacon Cup Salad (also very classy). I'm sad to say that I didn't invent the ingenious woven meat basket. I got the idea from Not Martha. Essentially, you make a bacon bowl/cup to hold your lettuce, tomatoes, etc. It's pretty easy, I just stuck them in the miserable oven at 400 degrees and baked for about 20 minutes. The end result was tasty and a huge hit with Bret, the tater-tot casserole king.

Of course you really can't fit very much salad inside, so we all went back for seconds and thirds after the bacon bowl was all gone. Once dinner was devoured, it was time to play cards! I think we and the Schickers have endured 3 or 4 whole years of card-playing mayhem. Happy Card Playing Anniversary to Us!

(Speaking of anniversaries, big 'ol shout out to Serena and her Little Lady. We send you a marriage toast with our bacon cups.)

Just like any relationship, card night comes with routine, ritual, and the natural up's and down's. We always play the same game, sit in the same order, divide into the same teams, and pass around a bowl of chips clockwise. Inevitably, the game goes on for one round too many and yelling ensuses. Saturday night was no exception. "Eight-bid-Erin" (my card-playing alter ego) astonished all of the participants, including her own partner, by outbidding Jesse without the joker or either bower - the three highest cards. Ballsy? Yes. Smart? Eh, not so much. Did she pull it off? Totally, it was a classic move.

At the end of the evening Bret and I always make up (I say I like him, despite his faults, and he forgives me for flipping him the bird). Then, Jesse and I walk home exhausted. Unfortunately for us, this will probably be one of the last few card games for a while. The Schickers are bound for Arkansas in just a month or two. We are going to miss our occasional weekend games. But mostly, though, we're just going to miss the Schickers...a lot.