Last month, amidst the lingering ice, snow, and cold, a neighbor casually asked if we were game people - as in card games. The answer was kinda, sorta, maybe, mostly no for me but a solid yes for Michael who grew up playing bridge with his brother and parents while they were stationed abroad. On my side of the equation my father played in a weekly poker game and my mother in a weekly bridge game but we never played together as a nuclear family and other than "Go Fish", which I learned at camp, I was a fish out of water when it came to cards.

So, long story short, my neighbor Lisa came over with a deck of cards and we proceeded to learn Phase 10. We pored through the instructions/rules together as we struggled with melds, runs, and having to meet specific criteria for each ascending level of play. It took more than a few nights but someone finally won - success!

Lisa then turned our attention to dominoes (something I had NEVER considered other to stand them on end then try and make them collapse in one continuous move) and a game called "Mexican Train." Fun!

By this time Michael was hooked and I was coming round to the possibilities. It helped that we alternated houses, our dogs are play pals, an easy dinner was always involved and, it occurred to me, this is really good brain activity! I also remembered playing Canasta with my grandmother and wanted to recreate that experience although no one else had ever heard of the game.

Not to be deterred, I ordered a boxed set (double decks, revolving holder, online tutorial, etc.) and we set out to learn a new game for all of us.

Turns out Canasta was invented in Uruguay in 1947 and is best played in 2 teams of 2, although three people can make it work. (How I played alone with my grandmother remains a mystery). We struggled for several nights, playing each segment of the tutorial multiple times but it didn't light a spark for any of us so we set it aside and have moved on to Gin Rummy.

This was a new game for me too but easy to sink my teeth in since I can play one on one with Michael as well as adding other players anytime. I'm still learning to watch the discards, keep note of what cards are on the table, and the number of cards still being held but am happy to say I hit the magic 500 points for the first time last week!

So - let me hear from YOU. Do you play cards? And, most importantly -

DOES ANYONE OUT THERE PLAY CANASTA? Please let me hear from you . . .