Every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end...

Let's try this again! I figure that everyone has stopped reading, so it's like a new blog. :)

My life is not as exciting as it used to be. I do a lot of different things that I never used to, and choose to keep a much lower profile. I'm no great writer, so don't expect that here either. I just need an outlet to put out some of my ideas, pet peeves and silliness.

I'm headed out soon to take my young cousins to lunch. One is 19 and is willing to try whatever random foods we put in front of her. She now likes sushi, oysters, and pho. The other is 15 and won't eat anything besides pizza, salad, and anything with a ton of sugar. It makes it tough because I love exotic foods and the area they live in has some of my favorite ethnic restaurants. If I invite one, I have to invite the other. If not, tantrums ensure. Why though? I know the 15 year old won't eat the stuff, but she has a fit if she's not asked. Usually she just turns down the invite, but when she does accept, she has a poor attitude in the restaurant. Who knows... I'm so happy I'm not 15 anymore!

Here come the holidays!

Only two more weeks of work, then I'm off until after the new year. I really need a vacation!

I've always loved Christmas... the way people seem to become more polite, smile more, and tend to be nicer to their fellow man. Time to spoil friends and loved ones with those gifts that they always think about but never seem to get around to getting for themselves. I've found some great stuff for my parents, my one sister, and a few of the nieces and nephews. I still have more shopping to do, but I have ideas about the right gifts.

It also means that Brian and I get to shop for one another. I had a few ideas for him in mind - new Nike ACG hiking boots (his Timberland ones lasted a year, but he wants to go back to Nike), new video games, and a few ideas I'm going to save in case I need to get a gift later. He had his own ideas for things for me. Instead, we decided to get a new TV. It's not something that we HAVE to have, but it falls under one of those gifts that you wouldn't normally get yourself. We're getting it for each other, so it follows the rules. :)

We've been looking at a 52" TV - either a Sony XBR-9 or one of the Samsung 240 Hz TVs. It's hard to decide which one to get. The Samsung ones have been touted as the best mid-range TVs, but their prices aren't too far off of some of the new Sony models. Anyone have some opinions to share on these?

My Bodog poker account is the reason we can get a new TV. Over the last year and a half, I've taken $20 to $1K. It's a slow process - win some nights, lose others. I'm proud of what I've done, and it will pay for about half of the TV. I'm not going to wipe out my account complately for this. :)

I still have a few bucks on Full Tilt too. Which low-limit games are the softest? Where can I get the best ROI for my money?

Maybe I can win some $5 twenty thousand player tourney and win the other half of the money.
One can always dream!

It's time for poker!

Tomorrow, starting at 4 PM EST and running for the next 48 hours, is Full Tilt's Sit-n-Go Madness! If I happen to feel a little sick tomorrow afternoon (*cough* *cough*), I'll be starting right at 4!

Watching the game, drinking a pepsi

Blogging has been an spotty part of my life for the last year. I think about writing, but I have a boring life. I'm not quite sure who wants to read about work tilt, and the amount of poker I play is negligible most weeks. I'm not the whiny type, and I don't want to come off as being that here.

I figured that tonight is a great night to blog. Just got home from errands after work. I'd stopped home, grabbed the dogs, and headed out along with Brian to do a little shopping. Picked up dog food, the makings of pastrami specials for tomorrow's lunch, and a few white rodents for the wayward snake that's still living in my house. The dogs had a great time people-watching (a favorite of mine too), and their great night continued with a couple of bully sticks to munch on while I made dinner. I love those dinners where you pop a steamer bag into the microwave and park your butt on the couch to wait 10 minutes. It's good for quick nights when the hassle of cleaning up far outweighs the need for finer dining.

I made the mistake of turning on the Phillies game. The first two quick outs were nice to watch. The home run that came next sucked. I love watching the Phillies, but I hate feeling like a jinx. I'll check back in a little bit.

Now it's Beetlejuice. I realized how old I was getting because of this movie. I'd mentioned it to Brian's 17 year old cousin. She'd never seen it or even heard of it before. It was older than she was! Of course, they cut out all the good parts on TV, and nobody likes commercials. Still a good movie though.

The peace will only last for another 10 minutes. Dinner has been eaten. The dogs are still quietly gnawing. While I still can, I need to get some water treated for the fishtank and get their habitat properly cleaned. The laundry needs to go into the dryer and the dry clothes need to get put away. The dogs will need to go out and get fed in about an hour. The kitty will be begging for attention if I sit too long.

Time goes by way too quickly. If I don't jump up and get moving now, time will pass me by. Not just tonight, but every night, every week, every month. I don't want to let too much pass. It's too precious to lose.

It's been so long...

since I've written on a regular basis. Feels like coming home, but now it's to a different house. Time has changed many things in my life. For better, for worse... just one of the changes in my life. I'm no longer married to Everybody's Wingman. Probably the biggest change in my life. We're still friends, or at least as far as I know. We lost touch with each other somewhere in the middle. We both decided that we wanted different things out of life. I wish him the best... and I still worry about him. I think he'll find what he's looking for one of these days. I hope it's soon.

Work is busy. I seem to have lost touch with my inner party girl. I've spent more time working on the latest software release than being out at the bar. The winter always finds me hiding out, and this year seems worse than usual. I can't wait for spring to arrive! I have so many things planned! Most involve the dog and the outdoors. I have several friends who love to go fishing, and I have the 4-wheel drive vehicle to go in. I've even had to promise to take my little brother fishing this summer. He's dying to go.

I've found more than just great friends while fishing. I found a really great friend who has turned into more. While I was trying to figure out what was going to happen with my life, he was going through a problem situation with his fiancee. We started out as confidantes who could understand what each other was going through. Now, we're pretty much inseparable. He loves to play poker (sometimes a little too much!), has a warped sense of humor (in a good way!), and is an all-around great guy. Maybe its because of what I just got out of, but I like the fact that he rarely drinks and usually dislikes being in bars. He does like hanging out with my random friends in the dive bars I prefer though.

Now, I'm focusing on the positives in my life and building on those. Did I lose the weight last year? No. I focused on quitting smoking instead. I needed that more. I quit August 23, 2008. My lungs feel so much better! My weight is the next goal. I started working on that again this month. Only a couple of pounds, but it's a start. Nothing happens overnight.

I'm also going to spend some spare time working on repairs and upgrades to the house. Mostly little things like fixing the window sill the dog chewed, but I would love to have hardwood floors put in on the first floor. I have friends who can do the work, so with a little bartering for food and booze, I might get away semi-cheaply.

I'd love to say that I could just pay for it all with poker winnings. I'm not in that position yet. I did turn $20 into $600 on Bodog, but it took me a while. Even now, I still have setbacks. I take it one day at a time. That's my LCD TV fund. I still have about another $1200 to go.

I have a lot of positives in my life. I plan on making the most of those. I'm still young. I'm smart. I'm funny. And I can probably still drink some of the other poker bloggers under the table. Hopefully, I'll have a chance to see some of you guys soon to try it!

I love you guys! :)

Evie

I'm baaaaack! :)

Something new soon, I promise!

Trying to get back on that horse...

Then again, all I have is a dog. :)

I'm sure everyone has seen the pictures Al has posted of my little Zeke. If I can't have a kid, I figured the next best thing was a dog. The bonus is that you can crate-train dogs... try that with a 3 year old, and you're going to jail. See, it all works out for the best anyways.

After a rocky start, the little mutt has become my pride and joy. I think I've bored everyone to death with the pics on my treo. So I downloaded them and got them ready for posting. I can bore more people that way. LOL! An undescribable amount of thanks goes out to Gracie for pointing me in the direction of the Superpuppy books. I've still got lots of work to do with him, but without the dominance training and a few other little tips, I think I'd be completely pulling my hair out now. I'll never be able to say thank you enough... but I'm sure my cat is cursing the both of us as we speak. He's still not too happy with the addition to the family. Does the book come in a cat version to show Meph how to teach the dog to leave him alone?

Zeke is not a big fan of poker. How do I know this? The amount of time that I have to spend away from the game while keeping him from getting in trouble while he doesn't have 100% of my attention gives me that impression. Live games or online. While playing HORSE on Sunday, I missed at least 10 minutes because he needed to go out. While he was "making pee", he saw his neighborhood girlfriend. Of course, he couldn't go in without wresting around in the grass with her. And it's really hard to explain that I can't let my dog have fun because I'm having to post an ante every hand and I don't want to lose much of my chipstack. (Maybe I just need new neighbors, but...) Luckily, it was an early level and I wasn't hurt too badly. After much time and much luck, I was able to kick Al's butt. :) It's the first "blogger tournament" I've ever won. Of course, with only 17 people (one of which was just donating), I had a much better chance.

Most weekends get spent with Zeke, lately at the beach. He loves the sand, hates the car ride. Not just that he "doesn't like it", but he vomits. A lot. I was given a little advice on how to deal with his little ailment though. Bonine. Motion sickness/anti-vomiting pills. It also helps to give him a pig's ear to gnaw to distract him until his body gets used to the ride. He's getting much better with short rides though. It used to be that he couldn't make it more than a few blocks before making a mess of the blanket on the back seat. Now, I take him to the dog park, the pet store, and McDonalds on a regular basis.

The dog likes food from the golden arches. My Mom's dog can recognize them no matter where they're driving to and goes nuts. Zeke isn't like that, but he knows the paper bags and waits for his double hamburger plain. I've learned that he doesn't eat ice cream though. Or dog biscuits. Or a whole lot of stuff most dogs would die for. He likes his dried chicken (best dog treat ever!), and I get him random assorted leftover cured livestock parts for him to gnaw on. And I do mean random. Who ever thought you could get whole cow hooves and noses at the pet store? He likes pig ears and cow tails too... not the caramel kind... but I've shied away from the lamb ears and some of the other stuff I couldn't identify. I guess I just feel bad for the fluffly little sheep. Kind of silly since my favorite ones are served medium-rare with a horseradish sauce. I think I have issues.

Well, it's almost 10 PM, and the dog and I have to get to bed. He has his pillow, I have mine. Spoiled brat. He deserves it though. Zeke the wonder puppy is definitely a plus in my life. I still haven't made it around to a lot of other stuff I wanted to do, but his company makes up for a whole lot. The rest will fall into place. It always does...