The last two semesters have been so busy for Matthias and I! Optical Engineering takes a LOT of studying outside of class, along with really long homework assignments and lots of lab work. Mechanical Engineering isn't a walk in the park either, but I mostly blame that on my lack of dedication. I mean, I obviously have to work hard at it, but I always know that there is more that I can do, so I feel like a slacker. I have had a lighter schedule than Matthias, but I've also been working 12-15 hours a week while being a full-time student. Last semester I had almost NO free-time, and I just had to squeeze it in to keep my sanity. And of the little free time that I had, it seemed like Matthias had even less.
This semester is our last semester. Hooray! That also means that most of the hard classes are over with. We are taking classes *gasp* for FUN this semester. I needed 2 more credits to make my schedule full-time, so I got Matthias to sign up for a Classical Guitar class as well as a class called "Frontiers of Medical Research", which we joined for the easy A and free sandwiches, but is proving to be a very interesting and actually entertaining class.
I only have one class that will have homework (besides practicing the guitar), along with finishing up our Senior Design project. Senior Design isn't so stressful anymore because a)My group is amazing and we all work hard, and b) no more 3.5 hour lectures that could be covered in 20 minutes! There's still a lot of work to do, but my group leader is amazing and gives us a head start on everything. Yesterday we finished an assignment a week and a half early! How's that for progress, Gandtt Chart! We've got most of our parts in, now we just have to finalize our design and do the testing, which we mapped out yesterday and isn't going to be nearly as hard as I thought it would be.
Did I mention that my job at M3 that I've been working for the past 3 semesters anyway counts as credit this semester? I just have to write a 5-page paper on what I have learned and how my education prepared me for this job, and how this job has helped me with my education. I am so lucky to have a job that I enjoy! The only time I get annoyed is when I don't have enough work to do, but luckily they are all trying to get the most out of me since they want to keep me on after school.
With such a light schedule, I find myself doing things that are very unlike myself. I've started reading up on politics (a little late, I know, but better than nothing). I do my homework early, go to office hours to make sure I thought things through correctly, and then today I recopied my work so that it would look nicer when I turned it in. I am also recopying notes, which I attempted last semester, and it really helped, until I got behind. I have also really been enjoying doing Logic Problems. I love them! I even did a chipboard craft on Saturday (I still have to decorate it though).
What's also weird, is that many of the things I would do as I was procrastinating, I find difficult to do when I have free-time. Sadly scrapbooking is one of those things! I want to so bad, but every time I start a page I just don't like how it turns out. Plus we didn't exactly do much picture-worthy last semester while our heads were stuck in the books. There are other things like I really need to organize the music folder on my computer because for some reason a lot of songs are on there twice and it drives me crazy! And of course, I always will be a slob, so even though I have all of this time during the week, I still have to pick up after myself on the weekend to find my stuff all over the house even by Wednesday (hmm...maybe I should pick up right now to make Saturday easier...).
On Saturday, Matthias and I cleaned the house, I did a craft project while Matthias was working on programming a Wii Mote, and then we were at a loss of things to do! We decided to go for a walk, we made a good dinner, and then by 7pm, even though it felt like we had been dawdling all day, but we had no idea what else to do! So, we laid in bed and watched two episodes of Psych online. Totally unlike us! Usually by Saturday night we finally decide at about 7pm that it's time to take a break from studying and have some us time, at which point we were both so tired that watching a movie was the only thing we were up to doing because one or both of us had headaches. Now we have so much free time that it's truly refreshing. We just have to get used to having free time while we are in school mode!
Luckily Matthias is on the ball and is using this as a good excuse for us to exercise regularly and eat healthier. Yesterday we did Yogilates for the first time in a long time. I love it because I love Yoga and Pilates, and it's a mix of both, but I'm also a morning exerciser, and I have a hard enough time making it to work at 7 anyway that adding exercise to my mornings just hasn't worked. Now we have Tuesday and Thursday mornings off together, so we can do Yogilates! I ride my bike to school on MWF, so I usually count that. Plus we've been doing dance lessons that a couple in our ward is putting on every Wednesday night, and that's pretty good exercise as well.
Matthias is the super champion and makes it out for a run nearly every morning! He's been running longer and faster every time! He always times his runs with a stopwatch, and then maps it out on google maps to see how long of a run it is.
The one thing we have been procrastinating is laundry because neither of us wanted to go to the bank and get quarters. I got the laundry all sorted and ready to go on Saturday, which means sorting all of the pants that could get another wear but definitely would need to get washed soon anyway, so now that this cold front has hit Tucson, I've been wearing my thinner pants. So then I am even more grateful that I ride my bike to school, because instead of working up a sweat, I get this nice cool breeze the whole time.
In other news, our car hit 100,000 miles last Wednesday. We took a picture on Matthias's phone, but haven't been able to get it off yet. And no, we didn't even drive half of all of those miles, but it was still an exciting occasion!
That's all for now! Have a good day!
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Monday, January 26, 2009
Talk from last Sunday
I've been thinking about alot of things that I want to blog about, ya know with new school semester and stuff. Every once and a while I'll think of something profound and think that I should be writing it down. Alas that nothing like that is on my mind now. But besides that stuff, Megan and I gave talks last week in sacrament meeting. I think they turned out swell. Below is the talk I had in front of me while I spoke. It's more or less the talk I gave plus some stuff I cut out because I ran out of time. Anyway, I based the talk on President Eyering's January Ensign message, "Let Us Raise Our Voice of Warning." Or his message at least inspired my topic. Enjoy!
I begin by referencing Lehi’s vision of the tree of life. In First Nephi, chapter 8:
5 And it came to pass that I saw a man, and he was dressed in a white robe; and he came and stood before me.
6 And it came to pass that he spake unto me, and bade me follow him.
7 And it came to pass that as I followed him I beheld myself that I was in a dark and dreary waste.
That’s not the most pleasant way to begin a spiritual experience. Dark and dreary waste? I though spiritual experiences were about gloriousness and angelic visitations cloven tongues of fire speaking revelations of God! But that’s not how this experience for Lehi began. Continuing:
8 And after I had traveled for the space of many hours in darkness, I began to pray unto the Lord that he would have mercy on me, according to the multitude of his tender mercies.
Lehi knew this wasn’t where he wanted to be. That dark and dreary waste wasn’t for him so he searched and traveled for hours on his own, trying his best to cut through the darkness. But he couldn’t—not by himself anyway. He did, however, have faith in God and had a personal knowledge, probably from scripture study and personal experience, that Heavenly Father is merciful and all powerful and will give us aid if we will ask. So Lehi “began to pray unto the Lord” for mercy, and in answer to his prayer, the darkness cleared, and the way was made clear to the path to the tree of Life, which can be said to represent Christ.
Let’s reflect on this a little bit. When have we had this kind of experience? Have any of us been in times where we were in “dark and dreary waste”? Perhaps we were facing tasks and trials that seemed absolutely beyond us. Maybe we were having trouble overcoming sin and we couldn’t shake the bad habits alone. Maybe it was a time when we were struggling in our own testimony of the restored gospel and in Jesus Christ. I think these times in our own lives can be likened unto this portion of Lehi’s vision where he is wandering in the “dark and dreary waste.”
Then reflecting again on our own dark times, what tender mercies did the Lord grant us to help us overcome these trials, and make it back onto the path leading to the Tree of Life? In such times in my own life, Heavenly Father has most often blessed me through the actions of others. For example, in high school once, one particular point of doctrine was really bothering me and the more I tried to think about, the less it made sense. It was really beginning to make me doubt myself about the church. Then something happened that I thought only happened in church stories. I my priesthood leader got up to give his lesson one Sunday and said, “I prepared a lesson, but I feel impressed not to give it. Instead, we’re going to spend the hour talking about…” exactly what was on my mind. How did he know?
Another example, during one particularly trying time on my mission in the Dominican Republic, I was really discouraged. I was a zone leader but I didn’t want to be. I had been in my area and with my same companion for nearly half a year, and I didn’t like it. I was ready to give up and be done. During this particularly hard time, my dad wrote me a letter about having hope. He referenced Moroni chapter 10, showing me that my despair was simply a lack of hope:
22 And if ye have not hope ye must needs be in despair;…
“Oh!” I thought. “Of course!” I continued reading:
…and despair cometh because of iniquity.
“Oh.” I thought. “Of course.” I was in despair because I hadn’t fully been obeying all of the commandments and missionary rules as much as I could have been. But my dad also showed me in what I needed to have hope. Moroni 7:
41 And what is it that ye shall hope for? Behold I say unto you that ye shall have hope through the atonement of Christ and the power of his resurrection, to be raised unto life eternal, and this because of your faith in him according to the promise.
My dad had divined exactly why I was feeling so down, what was wrong with me, and what I needed to do to fix it and get back on the path back to the Tree of Life. But it wasn’t magic powers that he knew how to help me. It wasn’t because of the magic eight ball that my high school priesthood advisor knew just what lesson I needed to hear. My Heavenly Father knew, and He was able to influence those around me through His Holy Ghost to help me. Lucky for me, I’ve been surrounded by all kinds of good people in my life, and they’ve listened to the promptings of the Holy Ghost when I needed their help, even if they didn’t know they were helping me, or if I even needed help.
I share these experiences because I hope that you can think of similar times in your own lives. How did it feel to know that Heavenly Father specifically knew you and your needs? How did it feel to know that someone cared enough to follow the promptings of the Holy Ghost and bless your life? And best yet, how good did it feel to know that you were back where your Heavenly Father wanted you, on the path of righteousness leading towards a return to His presence?
Hold onto these good feelings, because I want to come back here later. As you think about these, I want to return to Lehi’s vision in First Nephi chapter 8. He describes these good feelings through the fruit on the Tree of Life:
10 And I beheld a tree, whose fruit was desirable to make one happy.
12 And as I partook of the fruit thereof it filled my soul with exceedingly great joy;…
Wow! So desirable that simply put, it fills you with not just joy, but “exceedingly great joy” and it makes you happy. So Lehi’s next move is perfectly logical. He finds a basket as big as he can and fills it full with the magical happy fruit and hordes it in his house so no one else will steal it from him. Right? No! Continuing in verse 12, we see how he reacts when he knows that the fruit is:
…wherefore, I began to be desirous that my family should partake of it also; for I knew that it was desirable above all other fruit.
So he spots his family, and they look indecisive not knowing where to go and in verse 15:
15 And it came to pass that I beckoned unto them; and I also did say unto them with a loud voice that they should come unto me, and partake of the fruit, which was desirable above all other fruit.
What Lehi had received for himself, he also wanted for his family. He wanted to share the “exceedingly great joy” and “happiness” with those whom he loved. This pattern is frequent in the scriptures. In the book of Enos, Enos, one of the grandchildren of Lehi, has a powerful experience in prayer:
4 And my soul hungered; and I kneeled down before my Maker, and I cried unto him in mighty prayer and supplication for mine own soul; and all the day long did I cry unto him; yea, and when the night came I did still raise my voice high that it reached the heavens.
5 And there came a voice unto me, saying: Enos, thy sins are forgiven thee, and thou shalt be blessed.
6 And I, Enos, knew that God could not lie; wherefore, my guilt was swept away.
What an amazing experience, to receive a reassurance direct from the voice of the Lord that through the Gospel of Jesus Christ, his sins were forgiven and he felt his guilt swept away. Immediately his thoughts turn outward:
9 Now, it came to pass that when I had heard these words I began to feel a desire for the welfare of my brethren, the Nephites; wherefore, I did pour out my whole soul unto God for them.
11…and I prayed unto him with many long struggling for my brethren, the Lamanites.
Next his thoughts turn to his brethren, and then to his enemies. More examples include Alma the Younger and Zeezerom in the Book of Mormon, and Saul (aka Paul) of the New Testament. All of these men before their conversions sought to destroy the church. I would fit that under the category of “dark and desolate waste.” But through the tender mercies of the Lord, they each underwent a miraculous conversion and spent the rest of their days preaching the gospel and bringing people Jesus Christ and share in the joy.
Okay, now I want to tie everything I’ve talked about together. Remember those times that Heavenly Father has granted us tender mercies in our lives and brought us out of darkness and dreary waste to know the “exceedingly great joy” and “happiness” that Christ can bring us. Remember that Heavenly Father can grant us these tender mercies and answer prayers by prompting others through the Holy Ghost to act. Just as Lehi, Enos, Alma, Zeezerom, and Paul knew, through our willingness to be missionaries and act on promptings of the Holy Ghost, we too can help others to feel the “exceedingly great joy” and “happiness” brought upon the fullness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ as contained by his church, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Reasons why we should share the gospel with our friends, peers, and family members:
It’s a commandment: The Savior’s last charge to his apostle’s in the New Testament before his ascension, Matthew 28:
19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:
20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen.
The Savior reiterated this commandment dozens of times in this dispensations in the Doctrine and Covenants, section 68:
8 Go ye into all the world, preach the gospel to every creature, acting in the authority which I have given you, baptizing in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.
More recently, President David O. McKay stated that “every member a missionary” and that we each do our part to bring others to a knowledge of the true gospel of Christ.
Saving ordinances: There are many churches and religions and ideas about religions in the world today. There are even many other churches that teach about Jesus Christ and help other people to lead more righteous and happy lives. A man told me on my mission that their church helped him to quit drugs and alcohol, keep a steady job, and be better to his family. That’s great! But even with those things, only the Christ’s true church carries His authority known as the priesthood. With this power from God, we can perform and receive the saving ordinances, such as baptism and receiving the Holy Ghost, which are necessary to return to Heavenly Father’s presence. While others may have pieces of the truth, only the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints contains the fullness of the Gospel of Christ, directly from Him. We are led by a prophet of God, President Thomas S. Monson. He is prophet of the whole earth, not just prophet of the Mormons, and it is our responsibility to make known that a true prophet of Christ, equal to Moses or Isaiah or Peter or any other prophet from the bible, is on the earth today.
Peace in this world and eternal life in the world to come: D&C 59 roles up the blessings of living the gospel of Christ in a nut shell:
23 But learn that he who doeth the works of righteousness shall receive his reward, even peace in this world, and eternal life in the world to come.
While people can find forms of happiness and joy through various activities in this life, true peace comes through attaining hope in the atonement of Jesus Christ, as mentioned earlier from Moroni, chapter 7. The cleansing effects of the atonement and the remission of sins can only be fully granted to us through authorized and true baptism in the true Church of Jesus Christ with His true authority, the priesthood, restored by the prophet Joseph Smith. Without, we cannot achieve a fullness of peace and happiness in this world, and we certainly cannot achieve eternal life in the world to come. It is our duty to offer this to as many as would receive it.
Even with all of these solid reasons of why we need to share the gospel, I’m still pretty good at rationalizing reasons why I shouldn’t. I’ve got some religious friends at school. Rather than try to bring up conversations about religion, I rationalize, Well they already have religion and they seem happy in it. I don’t want to impose my will on them right? Or my other friends from school that lead a typical party loving college stereotype I rationalize, Well they don’t really seem the religious type. They’re more into partying and college life. They wouldn’t be interested in religion. So I don’t offer. This may be like having a pitcher of cool lemonade on my table on a hot and humid summer day, and not offering to my thirsty friend because I’m afraid he’ll say “no thank you.”
I could easily bring up a conversation about religion with my friend that I know is interested in religion, talk about common beliefs, and then talk about things that make the LDS Church unique. Then a simple invitation to the tune of, “Ya know, I’m having two friends of mine named ‘Elder’ over for dinner next week who could tell you a lot more, if you’d like to join us.” The worst thing that could happen, they could say “no thank you,” and then we would continue to go to school together and be friends. With my friends that are less interested in religion, I could equally begin a conversation and seek to make some kind of an invitation. Again, what is there to lose except they decline the offer?
The most important key to remember though is that we won’t be alone it sharing the gospel with others. This is the Lord’s work, and he will certainly help us do it. Again in section 68 of the Doctrine and Covenants:
6 Wherefore, be of good cheer, and do not fear, for I the Lord am with you, and will stand by you; and ye shall bear record of me, even Jesus Christ, that I am the Son of the living God, that I was, that I am, and that I am to come.
I have a strong testimony that if we pray and ask Heavenly Father for specific help in our missionary endeavors, He will bless us with the opportunities and words to move his work along. Remember, when acting by the promptings of the Holy Ghost, we have the ability to bless the lives of those who need it and to bring them out of “darkness and dreary waste.”
My freshman year of college, I had one such experience. I had been praying for a missionary experience, and the Lord gave one to me. The Elders Quorum issued me a “Book of Mormon” challenge, where I was to give away a copy of the Book of Mormon to someone. I prayed again to ask Heavenly Father who would be ready to receive the gift. The answer came as I thought of one girl in my English 101 class. It just so happened that earlier in the semester, she saw me riding me scooter across campus on my way to the University Ward Family Home Evening activity. This wouldn’t have seemed like unusual encounter, accept that we were preparing to shoot a Superhero’s video, and I was dressed in a pink helmet, yellow goggles, a flowing red cape, a green tight shirt, blue sweats, black boots, and a speedo over my sweats. As strange as this encounter was, it led me to talk about my church with her the next day in class and the family home evening program instituted by a prophet of God here on the earth. So on the day I thought appropriate to share the Book of Mormon with her (incidentally the last day of classes), I prayed hard that Heavenly Father would give me the opportunity to talk to her and the words I needed to share with her. And lo and behold, she sat by me in class! Then after class, I said the profound words, “So do you want a go somewhere and see something?” It may not have been the best line, but it worked because she said, “Sure!” We went to a quiet area where I showed her the finished product of the Family Home Evening super hero video on my computer, and again I thought to explain to her that it was a program for families (or silly college students away from their families) as instituted by a living prophet. Then I told her briefly about the restoration, Joseph Smith, and I gave her the Book of Mormon. I know that on that occasion, Heavenly Father guided me through the whole experience, and that through me, I was able to share a portion of the restored gospel with her. Alas though, the semester ended, and I did a crummy job following up with the Book of Mormon, and I can only pray that more came of it on a later occasion.
Another experience I had was a little more unexpected, but I was in the perfect place to help another one of God’s children in need and help them come to the gospel. In August, I went on splits with the missionaries and they had an address of someone who had requested a bible and a Book of Mormon online. It was a good lesson, and I gave the person my phone number and offered to pick them up for church the next day. Gratefully, they accepted and came with me and Megan to church, but then after that, they fell out of touch, and the missionaries were never able to make contact again. Until several months later, while I was at a ward activity, I received a phone call from the person. They told they’d fallen on hard times, that they were out of a job, that they were moving out of a house into an apartment, and that they were nervous and frustrated and didn’t know what to do. I was shocked an surprised at first and my initial thought was to blow it off. But I felt impressed by the Spirit not to, and luckily, I heeded the prompting. This led to me reintroducing the missionaries to her as we spent the Saturday moving this person into their small apartment. From that led more trials for this person, but with the help of diligent efforts from the elders, a lot work and growth on their part, and a lot of prayer from everyone, I’ve seen a huge change in this person’s life. Now they are a great friend to me and I recently was able to attend their baptism. It wasn’t an easy road for them, but with the Lord, all things are possible. And I feel honored and blessed that I was able to help set things in motion and be a part of it because I was there when the Lord needed me, and I was able to feel the promptings of the Holy Ghost, and by acting on those promptings, the Lord was able to use me to do His will and immensely bless the life of this person.
In summary, we have all been in need of help out of darkness from one time or another. By the mercy of the Lord and through His diligent servants, we received His tender mercies and received great joy and happiness. In turn, we too can be instrumental in bringing others to know the goodness and necessity of the gospel of Jesus Christ, simply by asking the Lord how we can help, and attentively listening to the promptings of the Holy Ghost.
Sunday, January 4, 2009
Hand-and-Foot
We have been playing a lot of Hand-and-Foot lately ever since Kathleen taught it to us the night we made stuffed French toast. We really enjoy playing this game, and have tried to spread it around to friends and family. If we haven't taught it to you yet, we would love to play with you.
Because there are "so many rules", we decided to write them out as explicitly as possible, so that the amount of confusion can be lessened. It does look like a lot of rules, especially when written out as explicitly and card-game-like as we have done, but you really just learn as you play, and it's a fairly simple, and very fun game.
If you enjoy Canasta (which we would also love to play with you), you will probably understand Hand-and-Foot very quickly.
If you wish to print these instructions, copying them into a Word document with size 11 Calibri font and two columns reduces the printout to 3 full pages (or 1 1/2 front and back).
Matthias has also created a printable score card at the end, that printed at 3"x5" should be good. Let us know if we need to change it.
One last thing: If you find any discrepancies or run across any questions while playing, please comment below and we will fix it.
So, without further ado, here are the rules for Hand-and-Foot:
For 4 or 6 players*
How to Start:
Shuffle 5 typical decks of cards together, including Jokers. Partners should sit across the table from each other so as to prevent extra communication/cheating.
Each player will attempt to cut exactly 22 cards off of the top of the deck in clockwise order. Succeeding gives the player's team 100 bonus points. If unsuccessful, add or subtract cards until each player has 22 cards.
Each player will then deal their cards evenly into two piles. They will then pass their left pile to the player to their left, and the right pile to the player to their right.
Once each player has their new piles, they may look at the bottom card of each pile. Whichever pile has the higher-ranked card (Joker is high, Ace is low) now becomes the players “hand”, and the pile with the lower-ranked card is now the player's “foot”. The foot should be set aside until later on. Should the two cards be equal, the player may look at the next cards from the bottom of the stacks to make the determination of hand and foot.
Game Play
The Player who first cut the deck is the first player to take their turn.
Basic game play consists of drawing two cards and discarding one card. Players may draw their two cards before their turn provided the person before them has already drawn their two cards. A player's turn begins when the player before them has discarded their card.
Once a card is discarded it is out of play unless the discard piles have to be shuffled to continue game play. Each player may have their own discard pile to allow their partner to keep track of their most recent discard. Going through discard piles is not allowed.
During a turn, players attempt to lay down “books” of at least 3 cards (a book denotes all cards must have the same rank), hoping to “close” a book (see “Closing a Book”). A partnership forms books as a team. All turns are taken by partners individually. Partners simply build upon each other’s books and/or start their own during game play.
The only “table-talk” (verbal collaboration) allowed between partners is the determination of how many wilds they have in their hand, and whether or not they may go out.
Creating your First Book(s)
In order to lay down initially, a player must be able to lay down a book or books worth at least 50 points (this amount increases as the game progresses. See below). If a player or their partner has already laid down their first book(s), the team is able to play more books or add to books regardless of point value. Card values are as follows:
3 - 7 : 5 points
8 - K : 10 points
A , 2 : 20 points
Joker : 50 points
Initial Laydown
The amount required for the initial lay-down of a team increases as their total score increases. Total score is based on the sum of the previous rounds of the game.
0 – 2495 total points : 50 points
2500 – 4995 total points : 90 points
5000 – 7495 total points : 120 points
7500 – 10000 total points : 150 points
Wild Cards
Jokers and deuces (twos) are wild cards. They may be used with at least two other cards to create a book. A book may contain no more than two wild cards, unless the team is creating a wild book.
Closing a Book
A book containing 3-6 cards is an “open book”. A book of 7 or more cards is a “closed book”. Once a book is closed, cards of the same rank may still be added. Each closed book counts towards a team’s score at the end of a round.
A “red (clean) book” is a closed book that contains no wild cards, but only the card of the rank of the book. When a red book is closed, leave a red card (heart or diamond suit) on top, to make scoring at the end easier.
A “black (dirty) book” is a closed book that contains one or two wild cards. When a black book is closed, leave a black card (club or spade suit) on the top.
A “wild book” contains all wild cards. If no other red books exist, the wild book will be scored as a red book only. If a wild book remains open at the end of a round, the team will receive negative 1000 points. However, if a team has at least one red book as well as a closed wild book, they will receive 1000 points for their wild book.
Red Book : 300 points
Black Book : 100 points
Open Wild Book : -1000 points
Closed Wild Book : 1000 points
Even when a book is already closed, there may be no more than two wilds to a book (unless it is a wild book). If a book is closed red, but a wild is added, the book will then be a black book because it contains a wild.
Red Threes
Every red three in hand or on the table in an open book at the end of a round counts as a negative 100 points. If there is a closed book with red threes in it, scoring goes on as usual with no bonus nor penalty.
Going into the Foot
When a player has successfully played all of the cards of their hand, they may then go into their foot in one of two ways:
Directly: A player who has successfully played all of the cards in their hand may pick up their foot and start playing the cards immediately.
Indirectly: A player's last card will be their discard. He/she can then pick up their foot, but may not play until their next turn.
Going Out
Once a player is in his/her foot, running out of cards is called “going out” and ends the round.
In order to go out, the player's team must have at least one red book. If there are no other red books, but the team has a closed wild book, they may still go out. With no red or wild books, a team may NOT go out and may NOT discard (or play) their last card. Each turn still must end with a discard.
A person may go out directly or indirectly, as with going into their foot. If the player goes out indirectly (meaning their last card was discarded and could not be played on the table), then each succeeding player has one more turn before the game is over.
If a player goes out directly after someone else has gone out indirectly, the “direct out” takes precedence over the “indirect out”. If another person goes out indirectly after someone has gone out indirectly, the person who went out indirectly first gets the points added to their team's score for going out first.
If a player goes out directly, the round is over and players will add up their scores.
Scoring
Because there are so many ways to get points, scoring is done in steps.
The “base” score consists of all points for going out, closed books, wild books (whether open or closed), and red threes in hand or in open books. In review:
Going out:
Directly : 500 points
Indirectly : 250 points
Closed Books:
Red Books : 300 points each
Black Books : 100 points each
Wild Book : 1000 points
Penalties:
Open Wild Book : -1000 points
Red Threes (in hand or in open books) : -100 points each
Once the base score is established, players will then count up the scores of the cards they have on the table. Cards remaining in hand and/or foot at the end of a round are subtracted from their final score. All cards on the table are positive points, including red threes and wilds in an open wild book.
The easiest way to subtract points is to remove equivalent points from the cards on the table. (For example, having 85 points remaining in hand and/or foot, a player removes cards adding up to 85 points from the table before counting up positive points.)
Once all negative points have been removed, the remaining cards on the table (if any) are added up with the point values as follows:
Points
3 - 7 : 5 points
8 - K : 10 points
A , 2 : 20 points
Joker : 50 points
Game End
The game ends when a team reaches 10,000 points.
*Note 1: If either two people or an uneven number of players wishes to play (3 or 5), the rules are the same except that there are no partnerships; a player fends for him or herself, building only upon their own books.
Note 2: If there are 5 or 6 players (or more, but that may be stretching it) more decks of cards will be needed.
Because there are "so many rules", we decided to write them out as explicitly as possible, so that the amount of confusion can be lessened. It does look like a lot of rules, especially when written out as explicitly and card-game-like as we have done, but you really just learn as you play, and it's a fairly simple, and very fun game.
If you enjoy Canasta (which we would also love to play with you), you will probably understand Hand-and-Foot very quickly.
If you wish to print these instructions, copying them into a Word document with size 11 Calibri font and two columns reduces the printout to 3 full pages (or 1 1/2 front and back).
Matthias has also created a printable score card at the end, that printed at 3"x5" should be good. Let us know if we need to change it.
One last thing: If you find any discrepancies or run across any questions while playing, please comment below and we will fix it.
So, without further ado, here are the rules for Hand-and-Foot:
For 4 or 6 players*
How to Start:
Shuffle 5 typical decks of cards together, including Jokers. Partners should sit across the table from each other so as to prevent extra communication/cheating.
Each player will attempt to cut exactly 22 cards off of the top of the deck in clockwise order. Succeeding gives the player's team 100 bonus points. If unsuccessful, add or subtract cards until each player has 22 cards.
Each player will then deal their cards evenly into two piles. They will then pass their left pile to the player to their left, and the right pile to the player to their right.
Once each player has their new piles, they may look at the bottom card of each pile. Whichever pile has the higher-ranked card (Joker is high, Ace is low) now becomes the players “hand”, and the pile with the lower-ranked card is now the player's “foot”. The foot should be set aside until later on. Should the two cards be equal, the player may look at the next cards from the bottom of the stacks to make the determination of hand and foot.
Game Play
The Player who first cut the deck is the first player to take their turn.
Basic game play consists of drawing two cards and discarding one card. Players may draw their two cards before their turn provided the person before them has already drawn their two cards. A player's turn begins when the player before them has discarded their card.
Once a card is discarded it is out of play unless the discard piles have to be shuffled to continue game play. Each player may have their own discard pile to allow their partner to keep track of their most recent discard. Going through discard piles is not allowed.
During a turn, players attempt to lay down “books” of at least 3 cards (a book denotes all cards must have the same rank), hoping to “close” a book (see “Closing a Book”). A partnership forms books as a team. All turns are taken by partners individually. Partners simply build upon each other’s books and/or start their own during game play.
The only “table-talk” (verbal collaboration) allowed between partners is the determination of how many wilds they have in their hand, and whether or not they may go out.
Creating your First Book(s)
In order to lay down initially, a player must be able to lay down a book or books worth at least 50 points (this amount increases as the game progresses. See below). If a player or their partner has already laid down their first book(s), the team is able to play more books or add to books regardless of point value. Card values are as follows:
3 - 7 : 5 points
8 - K : 10 points
A , 2 : 20 points
Joker : 50 points
Initial Laydown
The amount required for the initial lay-down of a team increases as their total score increases. Total score is based on the sum of the previous rounds of the game.
0 – 2495 total points : 50 points
2500 – 4995 total points : 90 points
5000 – 7495 total points : 120 points
7500 – 10000 total points : 150 points
Wild Cards
Jokers and deuces (twos) are wild cards. They may be used with at least two other cards to create a book. A book may contain no more than two wild cards, unless the team is creating a wild book.
Closing a Book
A book containing 3-6 cards is an “open book”. A book of 7 or more cards is a “closed book”. Once a book is closed, cards of the same rank may still be added. Each closed book counts towards a team’s score at the end of a round.
A “red (clean) book” is a closed book that contains no wild cards, but only the card of the rank of the book. When a red book is closed, leave a red card (heart or diamond suit) on top, to make scoring at the end easier.
A “black (dirty) book” is a closed book that contains one or two wild cards. When a black book is closed, leave a black card (club or spade suit) on the top.
A “wild book” contains all wild cards. If no other red books exist, the wild book will be scored as a red book only. If a wild book remains open at the end of a round, the team will receive negative 1000 points. However, if a team has at least one red book as well as a closed wild book, they will receive 1000 points for their wild book.
Red Book : 300 points
Black Book : 100 points
Open Wild Book : -1000 points
Closed Wild Book : 1000 points
Even when a book is already closed, there may be no more than two wilds to a book (unless it is a wild book). If a book is closed red, but a wild is added, the book will then be a black book because it contains a wild.
Red Threes
Every red three in hand or on the table in an open book at the end of a round counts as a negative 100 points. If there is a closed book with red threes in it, scoring goes on as usual with no bonus nor penalty.
Going into the Foot
When a player has successfully played all of the cards of their hand, they may then go into their foot in one of two ways:
Directly: A player who has successfully played all of the cards in their hand may pick up their foot and start playing the cards immediately.
Indirectly: A player's last card will be their discard. He/she can then pick up their foot, but may not play until their next turn.
Going Out
Once a player is in his/her foot, running out of cards is called “going out” and ends the round.
In order to go out, the player's team must have at least one red book. If there are no other red books, but the team has a closed wild book, they may still go out. With no red or wild books, a team may NOT go out and may NOT discard (or play) their last card. Each turn still must end with a discard.
A person may go out directly or indirectly, as with going into their foot. If the player goes out indirectly (meaning their last card was discarded and could not be played on the table), then each succeeding player has one more turn before the game is over.
If a player goes out directly after someone else has gone out indirectly, the “direct out” takes precedence over the “indirect out”. If another person goes out indirectly after someone has gone out indirectly, the person who went out indirectly first gets the points added to their team's score for going out first.
If a player goes out directly, the round is over and players will add up their scores.
Scoring
Because there are so many ways to get points, scoring is done in steps.
The “base” score consists of all points for going out, closed books, wild books (whether open or closed), and red threes in hand or in open books. In review:
Going out:
Directly : 500 points
Indirectly : 250 points
Closed Books:
Red Books : 300 points each
Black Books : 100 points each
Wild Book : 1000 points
Penalties:
Open Wild Book : -1000 points
Red Threes (in hand or in open books) : -100 points each
Once the base score is established, players will then count up the scores of the cards they have on the table. Cards remaining in hand and/or foot at the end of a round are subtracted from their final score. All cards on the table are positive points, including red threes and wilds in an open wild book.
The easiest way to subtract points is to remove equivalent points from the cards on the table. (For example, having 85 points remaining in hand and/or foot, a player removes cards adding up to 85 points from the table before counting up positive points.)
Once all negative points have been removed, the remaining cards on the table (if any) are added up with the point values as follows:
Points
3 - 7 : 5 points
8 - K : 10 points
A , 2 : 20 points
Joker : 50 points
Game End
The game ends when a team reaches 10,000 points.
*Note 1: If either two people or an uneven number of players wishes to play (3 or 5), the rules are the same except that there are no partnerships; a player fends for him or herself, building only upon their own books.
Note 2: If there are 5 or 6 players (or more, but that may be stretching it) more decks of cards will be needed.
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