Playing With Riesa

Riesa loves to play games, and this was one of those mornings when she voluntarily came out of her room to hang out with me. After 278 viewings of Old Yeller, I guess even I was less boring than viewing #279!

So...we played UNO. There's only one little problem with playing UNO with Riesa. She always wins. How is that a problem, you ask naively? Well, I hate to lose!
And this is how she begins: all smug and everything. Can't you just see the "I'm-SO-gonna-whip-your-butt" look in her eye?! This is what I have to put up with!

AND...she's SOOO confident that she begins each game by showing me her hand! What arrogance! "Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha! Look what I have!"

Then....after she plays a "DRAW FOUR" card, this is what I get:

Oh...the unmitigated gall!! (movie reference there...anyone?)

Speaking of "Draw Four"...the player who lays it down gets to choose what color will be played next. Here's what the card looks like...well, sort of...I forgot to put my glasses on before I took the picture, so it's a little blurry:

Most people, after playing the card would say "Yellow" or "Red." Not Riesa...she doesn't say a color at all. She says, "Letter B" which means she wants to pick Blue.

However, when she plays THIS version of a wildcard:

She'll say, "Letter I" if she wants blue, because the letter "i" is blue. Some would say it's just the way her brain works...but me? I know this as a deceptive and clever strategy she employs to keep me off-balance...and it works!

Actually, Riesa does this in other areas of life as well. When I ask her if she wants mustard or mayonnaise on her sandwich, she'll say, "Letter W" which means she wants mayonnaise. Huh? Well, mayo is White. Juice or milk? "Letter R" for Red juice...or maybe "Letter A" for Apple juice. Thankfully, I grew up around her and understand a little bit of the way her brain operates.

Anyway, back to UNO...not that I really wanna go there...because THIS is how the game ends: with her cackling because her final card is indeed the right color...

And me...stuck with this:

Which leaves me looking like this:

She's not responsible for the haggard, unkempt look...only for the distraught facial expression. The haggard part comes from living in a testosterone-infested household and the unkempt part is a result of driving home this morning (65 beautiful degrees) with all my windows down.