Bridge and Margaritas - and Making Friends

Note to self: Drinking margaritas before playing bridge does NOT help my game.

I started to learn how to play bridge 15 months ago in Vancouver. It takes a long time to learn how to play bridge competently - I should have started to learn when I was young and still had a brain and memory. When I came to Wichita, I called the Wichita Bridge Centre and I was warmly greeted and welcomed by their director, Mike. Mike urged me to come to play. I'm so glad I did - I was a very inexperienced player, but the Wichitan BridgeAddicts were welcoming and friendly. One woman, Arlene (bless her), asked me to play as her partner most evenings and she was understanding and supportive despite my lack of skill. Arlene and some of the other women invited me to join them for a quick dinner before the games - and so my weekly (or sometimes twice weekly) games included a visit (and dinner). How friendly is that?

Which brings me to last night's margaritas. As my time here is winding down, we branched out for dinner last night to a Mexican cantina near the Bridge Club - and we tested the theory that Margaritas might make us play more brilliantly.

I started to learn bridge in Vancouver thinking that it would be a good game to play with friends - never knowing that it would be one of the ways I could actually make new friends. I will miss my Wichita bridge friends very much.

Today we will find out if Miguel is strong enough for his final two chemo treatments and then we are heading off to see the Chicago Cubs play in St. Louis. Miguel loves the Cubs and my friend Beth (who lives in St. Louis) has organized this baseball outing for him. He has his Cubs hat and Cubs hat (and Cubs wristwatch) on - he is ready.