playing cards with my mother and her friends

My mother is well-liked.

She has always had a lot of friends. Growing up, my mom and dad were very social. Before I was old enough to go out with boys — but old enough to babysit my younger sister Jean —my parents would go out every single Saturday night. Valerie (my middle sister) and I became Gunsmoke addicts.

So it's no surprise that now, at almost 91, my mother still has lots of friends. Her phone rings more than mine does. 

And, many of her friends are closer to me in age than they are to her. 

Today we are playing canasta both online and in-person. Hope and Phyllis join us. 

While I am the instructor for anything technical, I can't figure out how to sit at the table and keep my computer plugged in. The cord is not long enough, and my battery is too weak to endure more than an hour or two of playing.  

After much discussion of where I can sit while remaining plugged in, Hope finally suggests moving the table closer to the outlet. 

And then Phyllis goes out without asking her partner, which she is something she is supposed to do. "Why didn't you ask your partner if you can go out?" Hope asks. 

Phyllis responds, "When you play on the app you can't ask your partner." 

"Well you can when she's sitting across from you," Hope counters.

Perhaps it's the sun that has fried our brains. 

And while everyone is a good player, not everyone is good on the Canasta Junction app. I won't name names, but it takes forever to get to the point where we can begin play. And unlike my games in the city, these women play for money — which I think makes it a lot more fun. $5 each to enter (all in ones). Partners are rotated and you get a dollar for every special hand, a wild card canasta, a sevens' or aces' canasta, and winning a game. 

It's a great way to spend a rainy Thursday. And with $3 more in my pocket,  I'm the big winner.