So, the last time I left you, I was on my way to our friend’s house for Friday night poker. We first had to make a stop at the Reno Verizon store to pick up a new phone for Gary. It was a good thing that Gary knew exactly what he wanted, or our two-hour wait in the store may have turned into four hours. As we left the store, I told Gary that I was glad he really liked their phone service because their sales and in-store customer service was enough to drive me away. I have a different carrier, and at that point, I was glad.

We finally made it to John and Susan’s house around 8 p.m. and started playing Texas Hold ’em almost immediately. It wasn’t too much longer after that when I became the official dealer of the evening. Yup, I didn’t win one hand. If it wasn’t suited and it was under a 5, it was in my hand. Anything other than that was dealt to someone else at the table. So, it was obvious that I needed to practice on my bluffing more.

Gary didn’t fare well, either. In fact, he repeatedly glared at me for dealing him the junk that I was getting before. I guess it just wasn’t our night.

My sister and Scott drove up from California to spend the weekend with us. Laura tries to make time in her schedule to see the Nevada part of the family once every couple of months. The Nevadans include parents, grandma, sister and brother-in-law, and son. Her middle son, Brett, moved up to Minden, Nev., five years ago. Scott, a member of our race team crew, is her youngest son. The brothers spent most of the time playing Frisbee golf and soccer.

Sunday, Laura and Scott returned to California, and the drywall was installed on the addition to our house. Gary and I went out to clear more land for our landscaping. At first I was kept to loading duty as we moved the sagebrush to the burn pit, then I had my turn on the tractor. Gary gave me the short and quick lesson on the moving and dumping. There is certainly no fear of speeding and losing control, but it was fun to be able to dig up a big scoop of ground and move it without getting dirty.

In the evening, the burn pit was relinquished to ashes for the next day’s work. That about wraps up the weekend. I will check back in a couple of days.