One upon a time, Almanzo and I took a weekend trip to the Mendocino coast. It was a cold, stormy weekend and we survived off of a large pot of chicken and dumplings and three bars of Lindt Sea Salt Chocolate.
It was lovely, really. We climbed tall lighthouses, listened to jazz and watched for whales (didn’t see any.) And then on the third and final night of our trip, we went out for pizza and I challenged him to an innocent game of checkers.
It all went downhill after that. Girls, listen up.
For the next two hours we sat at this tiny hole in the wall diner, eating slice after slice of the best pizza of my life (no, seriously…it had a sourdough crust!) and battling each other out on the checkerboard.
I was up… and then I was down. I drank two sodas. He drank one. I made a double jump and he got kinged. I ate his crust and said a bad word.
Finally, there was nothing left to said or done. He let out a whoop, a “sorry, dear!” and a victorious masculine arm thrust.
I scowled and demanded a re-match but there was none to be had. The diner was closing and I was hungry again, anyways.
Moral of the story: don’t challenge your VERY competitive Aggie boyfriend to a checkers match.
It’s just a bad idea.
Jasmine @ Eat Move Write
October 19, 2010 at 12:36 pmHa! I hate when hubby beats me at stuff. Boooo! You should challenge the boyfriend to a cookoff and see how he does THEN. :p
Allie (Live Laugh Eat)
October 19, 2010 at 12:42 pmYou definitely need to go back and duke it out again. I have faith you can win this time. Or just challenge him to a pizza baking contest instead.
Jenny
October 19, 2010 at 12:43 pmThis is cute, and reminds me of the constant checker and chess battles I have with my boyfriend. It’s never a good thing.
Exercise and Eat
October 19, 2010 at 12:48 pmNoted!
Jessica @ How Sweet It Is
October 19, 2010 at 12:52 pmWhen I first met my husband we had a few weekends spent playing checkers. He usually won too. I was so annoyed.
jenna
October 19, 2010 at 12:56 pmsounds like such a memorable weekend!
Bethany @ More Fruit Please
October 19, 2010 at 12:58 pmGood lesson! I get very competitive with the boyfriend and will usually wear a sour puss for the rest of the day if I’m not victorious. Of course, it’s only me who’s competitive, he could really care less!
Estela @ Weekly Bite
October 19, 2010 at 12:58 pmOh those boys…..
They just don’t know how to let a gal win 😉
Heather (Heather's Dish)
October 19, 2010 at 12:58 pmnate and i aren’t allowed to play any games together unless we’re on the same team.
it’s not him, it’s me.
and yes, it’s that bad. 🙂
Hope
October 19, 2010 at 1:02 pmthis made me laugh! Reminded me of when hubby taught me how to play chess and I ended up beating him 3 times in a row! He was not a happy hubby!
Lauren at KeepItSweet
October 19, 2010 at 1:04 pmlol really your post just made me hungry:-)
Lori Lynn
October 19, 2010 at 1:05 pmBulldog pizza? Sounds rather interesting!
LizLivingVegan
October 19, 2010 at 2:03 pmHaha that’s super cute. You’ll get him next time!
kalls
October 19, 2010 at 2:08 pmOh girl, I know the feeling!! My husband skunked me in a game of checkers once…much to my everlasting shame…I didn’t jump a single one of his pieces…..We don’t play checkers anymore.
katie
October 19, 2010 at 2:15 pmgreat now i want pizza! and i just had lunch
Chicago Cuisine Critique
October 19, 2010 at 2:16 pmThat’s men for you, always super competitive!
Vicky @ eat live spin
October 19, 2010 at 2:22 pmMy favorite pizza is made with sour dough crust! It is simply the best. I can’t play games with the hubby anymore… I am a sore loser and a bad winner!
Dorry
October 19, 2010 at 2:25 pmHaha – my husband beats me in almost all games…except for SCRABBLE! I totally dominate there. Now I’d like a piece of pizza with sourdough crust.
Kelly
October 19, 2010 at 2:38 pmYes, we Aggies are quite competitive aren’t we? Whoop…class of 2003!
Camille
October 19, 2010 at 2:38 pmHaha, it is the same in my house only reversed. My boyfriend knows it’s bad news to challenge me to a game!
Jen
October 19, 2010 at 2:57 pmi would love to hear more about this chicken and dumpling soup….
Laura
October 19, 2010 at 2:58 pmHa, awesome. I could only imagine what would happen if my boyfriend and I sat down to a game of checkers. It wouldn’t end well!
Lisa (bakebikeblog)
October 19, 2010 at 3:01 pmhaha love it!!
eatmovelove
October 19, 2010 at 3:38 pmWhere’s the pizza?! 🙂
Checkers…wow, it’s been a loooong while.
Is anyone else having trouble getting into your site – because it’s IMPOSSIBLE! Super crazy….
Sarah (Running to Slow Things Down)
October 19, 2010 at 4:32 pmHaha…this is so cute.
And I love checkers. 😀
Krystina (Organically Me)
October 19, 2010 at 4:50 pmI also vote that you and Almanzo have a cooking competition.
Liz
October 19, 2010 at 5:14 pmHmm… well I have to admit I get that competitive over checkers….
But is that a checkerboard made from a cutting board? I think I am going to make something like that.
Moni'sMeals
October 19, 2010 at 5:22 pmHilarious!
This is why I can’t play chess or almost any game with my husband. We get so competetive and I (almost) always win. 😉
I have let him have his moment on purpose too, hehe.
Paige (Running Around Normal)
October 19, 2010 at 5:29 pmHaha – good [simple] story 🙂
Natalia - a side of simple
October 19, 2010 at 5:48 pmGreat story! (Oh, and I’m pretty sure I’ll be singing myself the Gullah, Gullah Island theme song to sleep now…)
grocery goddess jen
October 19, 2010 at 5:49 pmI’m always challenging my boyfriend to Scrabble. Sometimes I win, sometimes I lose. It’s always fun, except when he’s grumpy about me kicking his butt 🙂
Jamie @ Food in Real Life
October 19, 2010 at 6:12 pmI challenged my very competitive husband to a scrabble match once and he flipped over the board when I started whooping his butt. That was three years ago. We haven’t played since!
marli
October 19, 2010 at 6:12 pmbeen reading for about a month now… i love your blog! and i like it 10 times more because of your aggie love! =) WHOOP!
Mary @ Bites and Bliss
October 19, 2010 at 6:24 pmThis reminds me of the giant checker boards at Cracker Barrel. The match always gets SO intense right when the food comes..and you want to finish/rematch but you just can’t turn down that food. Or in your case, you run the risk of getting kicked out for closing.
Caroline
October 19, 2010 at 6:28 pmI love, love, love your writing style! Your blog has definitely become one of my favorites. I love the direction it’s gone in since I first started reading a year and a half ago (not that I didn’t love it then!). Great job!
Cara Craves...
October 19, 2010 at 6:58 pmMy husband is quite competitive!
He tries to hide it, but I can see his anger boiling when he
is losing at something.
chelsey @ clean eating chelsey
October 19, 2010 at 7:06 pmhahahah I loved this post – I don’t challenge my husband to games anymore. He has better problem solving skills than me.
Angela (the diet book junkie)
October 19, 2010 at 7:15 pmmy husband and i don’t play games for that reason alone. we can’t even watch Jeopardy, it’s that scary. :p
sarah k. @ the pajama chef
October 19, 2010 at 8:00 pmlove it! that would be me & my husband. we are so competitive.
Kasey
October 19, 2010 at 8:04 pmHaha…cute post! I’ve been known to get pretty competitive during friendly Taboo games.
Averie (LoveVeggiesAndYoga)
October 19, 2010 at 8:25 pmI tried to comment on this post a few hours ago..but I have the worst luck w/ getting thru to your site…I thought my comment went thru but it didnt…
Anyhoo…just wanted to say that I am fiercely competitive and thankfully my hubs (I think) lets me win at stuff just so I can say I won. Maybe not really…but he’s smartened up to me the past decade and how I am competitive at things! hah!
🙂
Jessica
October 20, 2010 at 2:35 amHa ha, I love hearing about other Ags letting out a “whoop”. Brings back so many memories!
Kristy
October 20, 2010 at 4:46 amI always want more more more of your stories! Obessed much? 🙂
Christie - Honoring Health
October 20, 2010 at 5:21 amLove this story! I haven’t played checkers in ages though I do think the last time was with my husband.
Alison
October 20, 2010 at 6:00 amLove it! So funny! I’m making dinner for my boyfriend for the first time– any suggestions for something EASY?
Logan
October 20, 2010 at 7:33 amMy first husband and I went to do some target practice with a new pistol he had purchased. I out shot him. Do you know that he took that pistol back and bought a .357 the next week and then I couldn’t hold it up to shoot it because it was too heavy. I guess that was a sign of things to come….he always had to win and always had to be right. I do have a beautiful daughter to show for that relationship!
Showty
October 20, 2010 at 7:50 amWell, here is a warning…it doesn’t get any better. I married a tried and true University of Alabama graduate. There is no team or group of fans that is as competitive as the Crimson Tide. He can’t stand for me to beat him (or anyone else for that matter). As much as he loves me (and he loves me a lot), he still has to win. However, his competitive drive has made him very successful in his career and for that I am very grateful.
Clare @ Fitting It All In
October 20, 2010 at 8:21 amHahah my boyfriend was NOT happy when I beat him in Shuffleboard the other day, but I took a picture of the score board for proof when he tried to lie later:)
Diana @ frontyardfoodie
October 20, 2010 at 9:06 amhaha, it’s fun to have a competitive significant other.Whatever you do, don’t buy a wii! You’ll have a never ending feud! haha
jenna
October 20, 2010 at 10:20 amI asked Almanzo once if we could get a wii and he told me “gee, why don’t we just get a puppy while we’re at it!”
I took that as a no.
Amber K
October 20, 2010 at 9:23 amI don’t usually have to worry about this as we usually play games that I’m way better at! lol But sometimes, I gotta let the man win. 😉
Kelsey
October 20, 2010 at 10:47 amThis reminds me of the time I thought it would be super fun to play monopoly with my boyfriend. After 15 minutes, he had bought houses and hotels and whole sections of the board and I had gone bankrupt. Naturally I got upset and had to explain that he missed the point and it wasn’t fun anymore and I quit, etc. Needless to say, we don’t play monopoly anymore. And I still get a little defensive when he brings up his great monopoly victory of 2010.
Sana
October 20, 2010 at 11:40 amI just asked the boy if he knew how to play checkers. He said no. life is good.
Kristen
October 21, 2010 at 9:35 amI remember one time when I played checkers with my boyfriend at Cracker Barrel. He was being kind of annoying, at the beginning I kept not noticing moves I could make that were good and then somehow near the end I ended up winning. After that our food came and we didn’t play again, but after I won he was all shocked and surprised since I was pretty much just moving pieces randomly without much of a plan and won.