D is for ...

... Deal.

I'll rarely admit to being good at anything, but one thing I know I'm really good at is playing cards.  Not genteel card games like Bridge or Euchre but hardcore ones like Gin Rummy (and its many iterations) and real poker (Texas Hold 'Em? HA!  Amateurs!).  When most little girls were brushing the hair of their My Little Ponies, I was sitting at the kitchen table with my Papou and my Dad learning to play cards.  Holy Crap.  It sounds so white trash and Child Services, but seriously, when we weren't playing weeklong games of Monopoly or building epic cities with Lego this is what we did.  If you want to become great at something, you have to play above your level and playing with these two was some serious Mr Miyagi / Grasshopper stuff.  I may have been little, but I wasn't treated that way around the kitchen-come-card table.  I got really good, really fast and the one day when I finally beat my Dad I knew I was ready for the Big Time. (Relax people!  We didn't go on some father / daughter crazy Vegas gambling spree!  I was just allowed to play with all the other adults at Christmas Time!  Sheesh!). 

While I loved the act of playing cards, I always hated dealing the cards.  It's part of the game, sure, but it was just annoying.  I could never get the flow of that super awesome 'waterfall' like trick going and I'd always lose track of how many cards I had actually dealt and I'd have to start over and it was such a pain.  I always wanted someone else to deal for me.  I just want to play, I don't want to deal!  But that's not how it works.  I was never given a free ride, regardless of my pouting.  The rules were simple:  If you want to play, you have to deal.  And whether you're a little girl learning to play cards with the big boys, or a big one living your life large, it's simply impossible to ignore the rules of the game.  You can't just play.  You must deal.  Sooner or later, ya just gotta deal.

D is for Deal.