All These Things That I've Done

I just sat down to write this, knowing that it has been a long time since I last posted. I'm going to stop promising that I'll post more often, becuause the truth is I probably won't. I'm going to be a lot busier in the next couple months than I have been, so I know more frequent posts are not in the near future. The point I'm trying to make is that life is busy, and I don't know how much I'll be able to post coming up, but that's ok. My life seems to be coming together, and it's a good feeling.

I've been thinking the past couple days about how lucky I am. I have a wonderful family that has supported me in anything I've ever done, whether they agreed with it or not. They've always been there, and have provided me with the material things I've needed (or wanted) to the best of their abilities. I have really great friends who are always there, and we always look out for each other, while having a blast together at the same time. Most importantly though, I have the best finace anyone could ever ask for. She puts up with me when I'm in a bad mood, and sometimes I'm sure that can be a chore in itself. She's beautiful, caring, and she's the woman of my dreams. I'm very lucky to have her, and she's spun my life around 180 degrees, which is exactly what I needed.

The reason I've been thinking about this is because of the things I've had the opportunity to do in my life. I might not have the best job, I might not have the best things, but I've had the opportunity to do A LOT of things. Now that we just went to the Final Four, I've got to watch both a College Basketball and College Football National Championship. I've been to like 30 states. I've played baseball everywhere from Ohio to Tennessee to Oklahoma. I've played poker at some of the biggest and best casinos in the world. Now, I'm no high roller by any means, but I've had the opportunity to do a lot of things in my life, and for that, I'm very thankful.

Well, Vegas was fun…I don't feel like talking too much about it right now, so that'll be that. I might post some pictures on here randomly just for fun.

The Final Four was cool too…it just sucks we lost the National Championship game…especially to Florida. Oh well, nothing we can do. Here are a few pics…

That's all for now…who knows when I'll be back.

"Have you ever wondered what marks our timing? If one life can really make an impact on the world? Or if the choices we make matter? I believe they do. And I believe that one man can change many lives... for better, or worse."

Lifetime Piling Up

Whew…doesn't seem like there is any time to slow down these days. When I was younger, I always wondered why adults always said they were so busy. I didn't understand how they had all these things to do. Now I do. Everything is so hectic, and there is just so much to get done. There just isn't enough hours in the day.

We've been back from Vegas for about a week and a half, and yet I still haven't had time to post a trip report. An abbreviated version might come in this blog futher down, but I haven't decided yet. I'd like to do a nice full one, so we'll see.

My mom got out of the hospital while we were in Vegas, but then had to go back in 3 days later. She had fluid on her lungs, which was causing her a lot of pain, so they had to put a chest tube in to drain the fluid. The problem is that she has been on blood thinner (and will be for awhile) to stop clots from forming, so they had to stop her blood thinner and wait for her blood level to get back to normal so she wouldn't bleed to death when they put the tube in. So she's been in the hospital for a week and a half. The good news is that she had the tube taken out yesterday, and as soon as they can get her blood thinner level back up, she should be able to go home for good…at least let's pray it's for good. She's been through more in the last year and a half than any human should have to endure during their entire life. She deserves to catch a break here soon.

Other than that, we're trying to find a house still. It's starting to get a little frustrating, but hopefully we can find something we like soon. I'm also trying to get some bills paid off before we get a house. I've been pretty irrresponsible with money this past year, and I'm paying for it now…literally. I've been trying to work some overtime to get the extra cash to pay off some of these debts, but with my mom in the hospital it's hard to find the time. I try to go see her everyday because I know it can get lonely in the hospital, but it shortens my evenings. I shouldn't be complaining though, she's the one that has to be in there.

I did finally pay off Kylie's ring!!! I'm pretty proud of myself actually. I came up with $5,000 in a little less than 5 months. That's pretty impressive…at least to me. I had 0% interest until December, but I didn't want that big debt hanging over my head, plus it wouldn't look good when we apply for a loan for a house. That's all for now…I've decided to do a full trip report here soon. Give me a week. I'll talk to ya later.

"There are moments in our lives when we find ourselves at a crossroads. The choices we make in those moments can define the rest of our days. And, of course when faced with the unknown, most of us prefer to turn around and go back. But, once in a while, people push onto something better. Something found just beyond the pain of going it alone. And just beyond the bravery and courage it takes to let someone in. Or to give someone a second chance. Something beyond the quiet persistence of a dream. Because, it's only when you’re tested that you truly discover who you are. And, it's only when you're tested that you discover who you can be. The person you want to be does exist; somewhere on the other side of hard work and faith and belief. And, beyond the heartache and fear of what lies ahead."

Truth, Bitter Truth

I've been thinking a lot this week about being a good person, and if it really matters or not. One of my favorite shows had an episode this week, which got me thinking a lot. The premise of the episode was whether or not the actions you take, even the little ones, affect your life and the lives of the people around you. Since it's a TV show, the final verdict was yes, it matters and can affect others as well. But my question is, does it really?

I think it's pretty obvious that what you do affects others, and sometimes the affects can be profound. But should you consider others feelings when you make decisions? It seems that in todays world, you need to be cutthroat in order to succeed, and being a good person and being kind takes a backseat.

This brings me to two things. First, I like to think I'm a good person, and I care about others, and try to do what's right. This hasn't always been the case, but I like to think I've come along way from the person I used to be. Although I have along way to go, I think overrall I'm the type of person I want to be. Well, do the people I used to know when I was different really care? Does it matter to them that I've changed, and I'm different? When I see someone I used to know, in the mall or something, will they mutter "he's an asshole" to the person they're with. Probably. So, in some (not all, hopefully) cases, no matter what you do, you'll always be the person you used to be. Some people will always judge you by some wrong that you committed against them, and even if you cure cancer you won't be able to change their opinion of them. I must say that I am sometimes guilty of judging people this way. I try all the time to get better, be more mature, and forget about things that have happened in the past…but it's not always easy. So, to some people, I'll always be the arrogant, selfish, high school jock that I was 7 years ago…and that's fine, because I know that's not who I am now.

Secondly, can you be successful, and still be a good person. Pretty much every successful (mostly $$ wise, and I mean successful as in owning a company, big house, etc.) person you hear about or know is arrogant, full of themselves, or incredibly mean. I know the business world is hard place to succeed, and sometimes you have to be cold and cutthroat to be successful, but can you be the person you want to be and be as financially successful as you want to be? Or do you have to sacrifice your morals or values to be successful?

I'm not sure what conclusion I'm trying to come to here. I just think maybe this is a bridge I'll have to cross in the future, but I guess I'll worry about it then. During this thinking process of mine, the only thing that has become glaringly obvious is that I'm neither the person I want to be nor financially successful as I want to be. So maybe I shouldn't be worrying about this. Regardless, it's something I wanted to figure out, and I thought that writing it down may be helpful…it really wasn't. Til next time, enjoy this freezing cold and enjoy the holiday season.

"Regret comes in all shapes and sizes. Some small. Like when we do a bad thing for a good reason. Some are bigger. Like when we let down a friend. Some of us escape the pangs of regret by making the right choice. Some of us have little time for regret because we're looking forward to the future. Sometimes we have to fight to come to terms with the past. And sometimes we bury our regret by promising to change our ways. But our biggest regrets are not for the things we did but for the things we didn't do. Things we didn't say that could have saved someone we care about. Especially when we can see the dark storm that's headed their way".

Can't Stop This Thing We Started

So I'm back. I wish I had some awesome story to tell you about traveling the world or hitting the lottery or something…but I don't. My life has been painfully, well, painfully the same lately. I haven't done much to alter this routine, so I guess the only person to blame is the person typing these words. Which by the way, although they are arranged differently, are mostly the same words I've typed in the past 4 or 5 entries. I need to get a life!!

Poker was going good the past week or so, but I've managed to dust off all the profits from the past week in the past two nights. I attribute my success, and then my terrible failure to a couple things:

1. I was playing too many hands (i.e. suited connectors, big connectors like KQ & QJ, and small pairs) either too aggressively or out of position.

2. I was bluffing entirely too much…and getting away with it. So when I started to get called, it was big trouble.

3. I was calling too much, especially out of position.

All 3 of the problems listed above are BIG trouble. If you do any or all of these with any regularity, it's going to catch up with you. Couple those with a few bad beats (ex. My AQ against Q8 on a flop of QQ6. All the money went in on the flop, which was about $125 and the 8 hits on the river to send me packing with my balls in my stomach) and you get the past two days for me. Thems the breaks I guess, so it's time to stop feeling sorry for myself and correct the problems.

Onto other things. Next weekend Kylie and I are going to Chicago. We're flying out on Saturday morning and coming back late Sunday night, so it should be a nice little escape for us. I'm really looking forward to it, and I hope I can get some really cool pictures to post. I think we're both looking forward to getting away and spending some time together.

I'll try to post between now and then, but if not I'll have a full trip report afterwards. Everyone enjoy your weekend!!

"There are moments in our lives when we find ourselves at a crossroads. The choices we make in those moments can define the rest of our days. And, of course when faced with the unknown, most of us prefer to turn around and go back. But, once in a while, people push onto something better. Something found just beyond the pain of going it alone. And just beyond the bravery and courage it takes to let someone in. Or to give someone a second chance. Something beyond the quiet persistence of a dream. Because, it's only when you’re testedthat you truly discover who you are. And, it's only when you're tested that you discover who you can be. The person you want to be does exist; somewhere on the other side of hard work and faith and belief. And, beyond the heartache and fear of what lies ahead."

All Is A Game

Hello everyone! Things have been going pretty normal for me lately. I haven't really had to much to report, so that's why it's been kind of quiet on the blogging front lately. There just hasn't been anything to report lately, so I have spent the time writing anything.

On the poker front, I had the old UB account up to $175 before yesterday. I managed to win 3 out of 4 sit n go's, and place 2nd in the other one, so that had my account on the upswing…but yesterday I had a bad day and it's down to about $125 now…which isn't a big deal.

Since I was doing well and won a $10 sit n go, I decided to try my luck and jumped into a $20 one. You're not going to get anywhere if you don't take any chances, so I went for it. I didn't cash though, so I jumped into a $5 10 person SNG and a $10 6 person SNG. Well, I busted out of both of those too, so I was down about $40 the day. I'll just jump back down to the $5 ones until I hit a little run again, and then I'll take another shot at the $20's.

Nothing else to report really…I only have 2 guys left in our WSOP Main Event pool. Let's go Daniel Negreanu and Carlos Mortenson!!!!!! Take it easy everyone!!

" Attitude is more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than what people do or say. It is more important than appearance, giftedness, or skill."