Now I like backgammon. I really do. When we lived in Turkey, I'm the one who wanted to get a board, which we did. I was also the one who wanted to play, whereas Elvis did not.

My oh my, how things can change.

Every night at the pub these days is the same. If it's not already out and being used, Elvis will ask for the backgammon board from the bar. Sometimes, he even does this before he orders a beer. The rest of the evening goes like this: the guys sit around playing backgammon, and those not playing will watch. Sometimes, I'll play a game or two. I like it. What I do not like is sitting around watching other people play-- at least not for extended periods of time. Whereas the guys. . .

Did I mention that we had a great Christmas? We did. We spent the day at Molly and Sean's, talking and laughing, eating cheese and drinking wine. Then we ate a wonderful Christmas dinner of turkey with all the trimmings, followed by trifle and tiramis� and coffee. And, of course, by more wine, and port, and Bailey's and Jameson.

And then, the men got the backgammon board out.

So they stood around, watching each other play, whilst us girls talked and laughed, played Jenga and Cosmic Wimpout, which is a dice game that I've had since university. It features silly rules (the "Futless Rule", for example, and You May Not Want To, But You Must") and lots of laughter. More importantly, from a general enjoyment standpoint, it's a game everybody can play at the same time. We added an embellishment, that whoever was in the lead at any given moment had to wear a witch's hat. We had a blast!

And the boys enjoyed themselves, too, I am sure-- albeit in a quieter, backgammon sort of way.

Last night, before I arrived, Tigger asked Elvis why he didn't go out for dinner with the group last night. Elvis told her that he had been playing backgammon online, and was in the middle of a tournament or three, and just didn't feel like going. Tigger told Elvis that he should consider joining Backgammoners Anonymous.

"Do you really think we need to?" asked Elvis.

"You do," she replied.

Things were fairly dull at the pub, what with all that backgammoning going on, until the arrival of Joe, who has not completely fallen under the spell of the game's siren song. He and Joey and I played darts, and even Pooka Boy (who is also pretty thoroughly addicted) joined in. Mouse showed up, and she and I had a good gossip, and that was good. We were overrun by teenagers, back from their Christmas holidays, but other than that, it was a good night.

We did go to the Late Night Bar of Evil, although it was (gasp!) pretty dull. The place was abandoned, in fact, and Mr. Evil was still pouting because nobody went to the LNBOE on New Year's Eve. That it was his own fault, for charging �30 per person and not even opening until after midnight, even if there was an open bar, seems not to have occurred to him. (Originally, they advertised that they were opening at 10pm, �26 for women and �30 for men, open bar plus food. We would have done that, but even after advertising, he changed his mind shortly before Christmas. So much for that.)

Anyhow, Elvis and I went. Joey was there for a while, went off to get some cash and collect Layla, and never came back. We figured they went to the Green Bar, but couldn't be bothered to go join everybody. We were sort of tired, or I was, and truth be told I felt sort of sorry for the Evils. We left around four, when Elvis said he was tired and ready to go. "Besides," he said, "I want to play backgammon online."

I thought he was joking.

Silly me.

I woke up as Elvis removed my glasses and put my book on the bedside table. Obviously, I fell asleep whilst reading. The sun was up, shining cheerfully through the window. I asked him what he was doing up so early.

Turns out that he hadn't been to bed yet. He had, of course, been playing backgammon. Online. "Do you know what time it is?" I asked. He looked at his watch, discovered that it was half past nine in the morning, and conceded that perhaps it is possible that he DOES have a backgammon problem.

He might even, he said, give up playing online, or at least try to cut back.

Although not, of course, until Sean and Seamus get back and he can start learning to play the guitar.