There Can Be Only One…(Except When There Are Two)

The 2012 Druzgal Olympics have begun! Help us choose a new game!

Last weekend we kicked off the 2012 Druzgal Olympics.

Started for our 5th wedding anniversary in 1998, the Druzgal Olympics are a series of games between my husband and I, held annually around the time of our wedding anniversary. Since we were married on New Year’s Eve, it’s convenient to hold a lot of the games during our holiday vacation.

20 favorites are played. A few have switched over the years, but we have several favorites that have been in play since we began. Sometimes we have to take into account favorites. For example, Kurt always wins Pool. I always win Boggle. So if we have one, we must have the other. We keep stats and journal entries regarding the games and have developed a rule book which includes tips and things to improve the games in each successive year.

We’ve skipped years, and some years have dragged on for a year.

We play for nothing but bragging rights, and we don’t allow anyone else to play.  But friends and family get oddly excited, nonetheless. Some have played their own games simultaneously. Others have bet on the outcome of the year. People seem to root for Kurt most of the time.

As if playing our own version of (mostly) board game Olympics weren’t enough of a dorky thing to do, we also have an opening ceremony. Over a Riesling toast (this year accompanied by low-fat stick ColbyJack cheese), we hold up lighters to the Kurgan’s theme from Highlander, Queen’s “Gimme the Prize.”

And of course, we dorkily say to each other, “There can be only one.” Which, in fact, isn’t true since we intentionally have an even number of games to allow for a tie.

(Warning: the following video contains graphic violence!)

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We have picked games 1-19 but are leaving spot 20 open until we can choose something fresh and interesting.

Here are this year’s games (this isn’t the order in which they’re played, however. Loser choses each round.)

1. Monopoly (Best of 2)
2. Boggle (Best of 7 Rounds)
3. Pool (Race to 3 in 9-ball and 8-ball)
4. Uncle Wiggily (Best of 2)
5. Battleship (Best of 2)
6. Shanghai Rummey (Best of 2 games)
7. Life (2 games (tiebreaker = $ totals)
8. Trivial Pursuit (1 game, regular rules, 4/6 final round)
9. Payday (Best of 2, 6 mos/game)
10. Yahtzee (Best of 5)
11. UNO (to 500 pts)
12. Aggravation (Best of 2)
13. Inventors (Best of 2)
14. Sorry (Best of 2)
15. King Oil (Best of 2)
16. Mastermind (2 games each. Lowest # total rows wins)
17. Chutes & Ladders (Best of 2)
18. Blizzard of 77 (1 game)
19. Clue (Best of 2)

Do you have any good suggestions for the #20 spot this year?

Love, Marla

P.S. I’ve been thinking a lot about accountability when it comes to my fitness, and have decided that I want to be accountable to you, my readers. I wanted a trainer that would ask about my progress daily and keep me on track, but I’ve not yet found one who does that. It’s pretty much hit or miss. I’ve considered hiring an online trainer (and still might) just because I am somebody who needs a stranger to coach and motivate me and expect me to work hard. It’s not something I will take seriously from a friend or family member.

But in the meantime, I’m going to be accountable to you, my readers, by posting a daily fitness log, whether it’s a fitness post or not. Sometimes it’ll be a photo. Sometimes, like today, I’ll just put some stats in a star. In the meantime if any of you have had experience with online personal training or know a good fitness community network, please hook me up!