Michigan Rummy

 Our weekly habit is to play a hand of Michigan Rummy every Saturday morning with my brother. We're serious about winning and hold it over the others throughout the week like a grudge. Today - New Year's Eve - I asked Mom if she'd like to play a game.

 So mid-afternoon, out came three bottles of hand lotion (the better to hold the cards with), a sheet of paper and pen for scoring and our old, beat-up deck of cards. Don't feel sorry for us: we have half a dozen decks of cards, a couple brand new, but none feel as good as this worn deck.

 First step: hand lotion on all hands. Rub it in good. Add more ... lots more.

 First hand. Things are not looking good ... for Mom.

 Serious thoughts ensue ...

 And then we're ready for a move ...

Which is to throw down a card but not begin building any runs ...

 I'm getting ready to shuffle the deck for the next move.

 Mom makes a play on my side of the table ...

 This is what we've always called "Michigan Rummy" but I've had others watch us play and tell us that isn't what it is. You deal out eight cards to the one who begins the play, seven to all others. You try to lay down runs of cards (same card as on the left; a run in the same suit as on the right). Wild cards change with every hand, counting up from the ace (A,2,3 ...), and Jokers are always wild). This is hand number six. You then discard a card. When you're out of cards, you win (and the other person totals their remaining cards). The lowest score wins.

 Mom has a good hand and has six of her seven cards down on the table.

 We're getting down to the end and it's Mom's turn to shuffle. This is something she has a hard time doing. Her hands are too dry (even with the lotion) or too cold where she cannot easily feel the cards. I usually do the shuffling for those reasons.

 Here's how the scoring works. When you've finished all 13 hands, the low score wins the game.

 That's how our New Year's Eve afternoon has been progressing. Our actual New Years Eve will find us in bed! Mom will hit the sack about 7:30 p.m. I'll follow no later than 9 p.m. On the rare occasions where a distant neighbor makes some noise at midnight, I might wake up for a few minutes. But if it's like last year, I'll wake up to the new year tomorrow morning.

[This post was intentionally produced in b/w]