I got my St. Patricks Day decorations up last weekend to have the spirit of the day with me for the full week. Just had to have a get together to celebrate the day, and what better way to do it than to have a backgammon tournament - actually, just a slug fest - cook up corned beef and cabbage, and have a few hearty souls over to party.

I started the party at 4:00pm with The Great Chopping of the Vegetables Passion. There was no charge for this event. But then again, no one except Steve bothered to show up to help the chef. And it's a good thing he did because he brought the Killian's Irish Red! And you just can't fix corned beef and cabbage without some Killian's to keep things rolling! I think it was a twelve pack of that he brought as well as another twelve pack of Smithwick's, just about all of which we took care of over the course of the evening. It was our obligation...

---

The first Killian's of the night! Now I can continue with The Great Chopping of the Vegetables Passion!

Steve showing his support of the effort.

Marissa and Gary ready to get into the mix.

Rick arriving with his contribution. The bastards kept hoping I'd have too much to drink and they'd get me to put this thing on. Didn't happen. But we thank Rick, none-the-less, for showing his support.

Marissa and Gary battled it out for hours over the board. It was almost personal.

Rick did his best to keep his mouth shut during the game, but got splattered for his comments off board while kibitzing Linda's game later in the evening. Face it: she doesn't want your advice. Throw the dice and send her home in a sandwich baggie.

Steve and I had some really good games. He had me down three points from Thursday night's warm up after karate class. But he couldn't hold the lead and I went ahead of him for the week. Nice try, amigo. Maybe next time...

Tim only thinks he's going to comment on Marissa's game. Her comment: "Later. When we play..."

And what could it be that has Rick in stiches? Well... he just offered a comment to Linda during her game with Tim. He took it full in the face. Just shut up, man. Just shut up...

Linda back to it with Tim. You don't see him commenting on the process of evolution or Linda's game, do you Rick? Do you?

I don't think Marissa is showing Gary any slack here. He appears... troubled. Life's just the same, so you just have to throw and move the best you can.

Happy St. Patrick's Day! As you can see in the background, there's still a few inches of snow on the ground with more predicted for tomorrow. We're closing in on Spring here, too!

Marissa's friend Courtney showing off real St. Patrick's Day spirit. Now, that's what we like to see! And the cute little beer bottle sleeve that she is showing is the same as one she brought for me.

And there's the little bootie Courtney brought for me. I love it!

Do you believe this bunch? Hey, just throw the dice and move. The rest is conversation for the losers...

But, Tim... no one gives a shit about what you have to say at this point.

Even that won't work. Oh, and by the way: you gotta use the other hand...

And these two guys at it again. Every party Rick and Tim are constantly nipping at each other's ankles. This is one of thier calmer moments.

Marissa with her Irish war paint on. It went great with the movie of the night, Braveheart.

This is the set up...

And here's the delivery. Double three's and y'all can walk now because the winner is about to talk!

Courtney can't believe it. Belive it, girl. Belive it...

And this is what happens to kibitzer's at one of our a backgammon games!