Pretty Good Week

Last week was a pretty good week. The week was shaped by three small but exciting events.

Employment - Yes, that's right, I'm finally employed. Now, it's not my dream job but it will help pay the bills and get me out of the house. I'll be tutoring high school kids that are out of school on medical leave. In the state of Massachusetts, the school districts are responsible for providing tutors to these students. My first tutoring "gig" is today, I'll be tutoring 10th grade Biology.

Deal - There is a Savers about 3 miles away from our house that I enjoy lurking in. I'm always hoping to find the next hidden treasure, the vintage piece that someone is too dumb to appreciate so they give away, take the tax deduction and go about their business. Well, I haven't exactly found diamonds, vintage Chanel or the Holy Grail, but I did get an insanely good deal on a clutch last week. Taupe, late 70s/early 80s, leather clutch. The best part? It was only $2.99. Suckers.



Scrabble - Please refer to the last sentence of Rick's January 26th post, "...I am unbeatable in Scrabble, which makes me feel...umm, good." I am pleased to report that he has been beaten. Here are the details...

It was a cold and dark Saturday night. Our tummies were full of steak tacos and we were not interested in watching a movie so out came the Scrabble board. Now, I have come close to beating Rick in the past couple months. He is a very frustrating person to play with. Every time I had a great word like "avoid" he'd ad "ed" for "avoided". Or I would play "event" and he would put "pr" on the front of the word for "prevent". He's a bit of a word mooch. I don't feel that he ever contributes to the playability of the board. By that I mean making long words in open spots on the board so there are more areas to place words.

So, on Saturday night, I had played the word "fade". Rick then played the word "jest" using the "s" in "jest" to add onto "fade" to make "fades". Now I was not pleased with this move and was wondering if it was legal. I thought the "s" had to already be on the board for him to build off of it. We needed to call for clarification. Rick's sister, Alli, is fair and knowledgeable about board games so she was our first call. No answer. Our second choice for this very important decision was Stacey, Rick's cousin, also a connoisseur of Scrabble. She did not provide the answer I was hoping. Finally, we called my mom for a second opinion. She's not one to lie or twist the truth for family when it comes to Scrabble. The woman has played that game more than anyone else I know. She and my aunt would sit up late on Saturday nights and play when we were kids. They know every "q" word that doesn't need an "u"! She confirmed that Rick was correct.

So, "jest" and "fades" landed Rick 66 points. Arrrgg. Now let me tell you I was pretty peeved because not only did he get the 66 points, but he did a jig. Yes, a little dance next to the dining room table. This was war. The game went on and came down to the last tiles. I played my final tile. Rick's turn, he couldn't make anymore words with his tiles. Scrabble rules then dictate that he must subtract his tile points from his score and since I used all my tiles I get to add them to my score. Final score....Liz 234, Rick 225.

Here's the board to prove it:



So all in all, it was a pretty good week.