Live and Let Di

Dart Night

Last Wednesday, I went to Darts with my friend Kim and her team. Yes...there really is a dart league...actually several, with multiple divisions and everything. It's not easy...but it certainly is interesting.

 Why isn't it easy? Have you ever thrown a dart? Hitting the board isn't easy. And hitting a specific number when you are aiming at it is practically impossible. AND they have a game called 301 where you have to subtract whatever you score from 301 down to zero. Subtracting double digits from triple digits is hard. And harder still when you have to do it in a blink of any eye between shooters. Kim is amazing at subtracting.

Why is it interesting? Let me count the ways:

1. The teams are quite diverse. There was the guy with the crazy Christopher-Lloyd-in-Back-to-the-Future hair. There was the guy with the soccer shirt and shorts on who looked like his other sport might be, um, soccer. There was the really tall guy who didn't seem to care if he won or lost. He just liked to be there. There was the well-dressed guy who looked like he just got off work at a bank who kicked the wall when his dart didn't hit the board, and later, just for balance, hit the wall with his fist when he didn't hit the number he was looking for.

2. Kim is like a rock star there. She has been playing darts for years. Her ex-husband plays...and is even sometimes on her team. Everyone knows her...plus, since she is in remission from her Stage 4 Inflammatory Breast Cancer...everyone wants to hug her. I was there, showing everyone pictures of her bald on my iPhone. Amelia, a girl we met there, borrowed Kim's fake boob and wore it around for a while.

3. There is serious Dart etiquette. Like, if you are the scorekeeper, you need to stand up near the scoreboard, not closer to the shooter where you could get in his peripheral vision. If you don't adhere to this etiquette, people can get really pissed off and pout for the rest of the night.

4. There are stories...oh, there are stories. And I'm new there, so everyone gets to tell me the stories everyone has heard a hundred times before. And they are still funny!

5. There was a guy there who was like a stoic robot for most of the night. When he was scorekeeping, he looked like on of those Indian chief statues except for the split second when he subtracted the two-digit number from the three-digit number and then returned to his pose.

6. Best line of the night...by the Indian chief to his team in a moment of unusual animation..."This isn't rocket surgery, you know!"

One of these days, I'm going to seriously practice at the Cantina and be able to play well enough to be on the Dart team. Not like Friday night when I had the advantage of a seven foot tall partner who needed only to lean forward and his dart was about three inches from the board. I think I hit a total of 3 points the whole game. But I have my professional coaches...Kim and Jim...and now I have a goal. Guess that dryer STILL isn't going to get unloaded.

Di

Santa Capers - the next generation

***this post is dedicated to Patti who requested it from my list of things to blog about***

In December, 2007, Mike and Patti had their annual White Elephant Christmas Party. The concept is that you bring something outrageous, ugly, stupid or obscene as a gift. As the gifts are opened, wild trading takes place. That year, one of the most popular items was a full-sized, light-up lawn Santa. The trading was intense with various groups of friends combining their gifts to trade for Santa. When the night was over, the Bentwinds (my neighborhood) crowd drove away with the prize. Santa stood proudly in front of Kim's house. You all remember Kim. She's the proprietress of The Cantina (aka her garage) where we hang out every Friday and the occasional Accidental Tuesday.

When the season was over and Kim and her husband went out to take down the decorations, they found that Santa had mysteriously disappeared! Where he used to stand was a note, a poem actually, giving clues as to his whereabouts. He was stolen by another group from the party. At that point, it was game on!!!

This year, with Kim fighting Inflammatory Breast Cancer and everyone trying to pitch in as much as possible, it was decided that all the clues for the Santa Stealing would be posted on Kim's CaringBridge Web site (which is fun reading in and of itself...when not fighting cancer, Kim and her friends are determined to laugh at it).

Santa traveled far and wide...well, as far and wide as our small town anyway. One of the last steals took place on an aforementioned Accidental Tuesday. Since none of our crowd was alcohol-free at that point, we beseeched our youth to do the Santa stealing for us. With Sean (teenage son of Marcy who is one of our crowd) there, it didn't take much beseeching. He made a phone call and moments later Garrett (Sean's friend and son of Naomi, another of Kim's helpful friends) drove up. We laughed as we visualized THAT conversation. Garrett: 'Mom, I have to go pick up Sean so we can steal Santa and bring him back to the Cantina.' Naomi: 'OK, honey, drive safely!' The scary thing is that is probably exactly how it went as the whole neighborhood seems to be in on this now.

Pretty soon, a gaggle of kids had filled up Garrett's car and Santa was in their sights!

OK troops...keep your heads down and move in.

He's here! He's here!

Missy and Sean...we got him!

You just gotta love these small-town white kids with their gang signs!!! Look Naomi, Garrett is keeping his eyes on the road despite the mayhem behind him. (L-R: Nora, Sean, Montana)

Santa has returned to his rightful home at the Cantina (that's the Cantina to the left...if the garage door is open, the light is on and you can get past the barking chihuahuas and the dachsunds, come on in!)
(Front L-R: Nora, Sant, Rory; Back L-R: Montana, Missy, Garrett, Sean, Brendan)

Of course, Santa insisted on returning to Patti and Mikes for the party, but eventually he returned to the Cantina where he watches out the window and waits for next year's Santa Shenanigans!

Di
 
 

Newbies, Cancer and Hilarity at the Cantina

Last Friday (the day after Thanksgiving) we had a couple of newbies at the Cantina. They fit right in!

Karla was just coming off her shift at Kohl's which had started at 3:30 a.m. She said there was no violence, but she did observe someone paying a woman $5.00 to get her cart when she was done. And I get annoyed at having to put a quarter in the carts at Aldi's!

Nancy and I laughed over the challenges we share, both having teenage daughters. If you don't have someone to laugh about it with, you will surely cry. There's nothing like another Mom to keep you sane and let you know that it's not just you and your piss-poor parenting!

You've all heard about the Cantina and its proprietress, Kim. If not, basically it's a full bar in Kim's garage. Bar, barstools, darts, music, karaoke and everyone is welcomed a la Norm from Cheers. Friday nights at the Cantina are a neighborhood staple.

Well, this past week we got the news that Kim has Inflammatory Breast Cancer. It's rare. It's aggressive. But the Cantina contingent is in action. We started a CaringBridge site which doesn't have an iota of sentimentality or maudlin thoughts...it's kind of like the Cantina on the web...lots of fun, irreverent jokes and good-natured poking fun. Just to give you an idea, this is currently posted as the Welcome Page photo (photo courtesy of Mary who is a Cantina staple herself, despite the fact that she lives 700 miles away):

If anyone wants to visit, Kim's CaringBridge site is:

http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/cantinakim

Fighting cancer, one laugh at a time!

Di