A Wednesday Night on the Town in Joplin

              I had some relatives come down to visit last week for Dylan’s birthday. He turned two years old. My wife’s sister Melisa flew in from Anaheim, and my mom Patti and my sister Leah drove from the panhandle of Oklahoma. Melisa arrived on Tuesday March 29^th. We spent that evening staying at home and playing catch up on what her sister has been up to and giving Melisa a chance to get to know the kids whom she has never met before. We played Dance Dance 2 on the Wii that evening as well. I took the two following days off so that I could have a five day weekend to spend with all the family that week.

 My mom and Leah made it to Carthage about 5:30pm the following evening. Kelly and I decided we would take our sisters out to play free Texas hold’em at Turtle Heads that night. Poker started at seven so Leah had to hustle getting ready but everyone else was prepared. Once we got there I ordered our table a round of irish car bombs and some food. We all downed our drinks but we were still waiting for our food when the card game started. It wasn’t long before I realized that I was going to have a bad night of cards, but Melisa could do no wrong.

            By the time we reached last second chances she had a fat stack of chips and I was struggling making the blinds with my short stack. She also had a few admirers. This was the first time I met her and she seemed like a lot of fun. She’s quick to smile and likes to talk. She is also very pretty so the guys were showing interest. Leah is also very pretty but more stand-offish and reserved. She wasn’t getting near the attention as Melisa but as far as Leah is concerned that is a good thing. She and I were both out of the game fairly quick so we went and played pool inside while Kelly and Melisa finished up on the patio.

            I was shooting pretty good and wasn’t beaten that night. Soon Kelly and Melisa were out and we played a game of cricket on the dart board while we waited for the ten o’clock match to start. While we waited Jameson (one of the guys that played at our table) came around and visited with Melisa for a little while. It was pretty obvious she was in to him as well. Soon the other game started and the split us up this time. I started at the same table as Melisa and Kelly was at the other table.
            Leah decided she didn’t want to play again and that she would just shoot pool while we played. Since the bar had emptied out some we played the second match inside where it was warmer. I played smarter and took my time. I did well but still didn’t make it to the final table. We left shortly after I was done because Kelly was already smashed and was sleeping in the suburban. Melisa gave Jameson her number, then we tabbed out and headed back to Carthage. The four of us went out twice more that weekend, so that Melisa could hang out with Jameson, but that is another story.