Random Thoughts After 3 Days in Peace & Quiet:

• Cupcakes are awesome.  Yummier than cake and half the guilt!
• Catch and Release is not a great movie, but I loved it for the scenery.  Made me want to be in Montana NOW.
• A clean house is overrated.
• Sailing in Gustav is overrated.  But sailing will still be fun when I go next weekend, since I wimped out on this weekend.
• It’s a shame that Lauryn Hill has become whatever it is she has become, because The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill really is a great album.  I pulled it back out this weekend, along with 3 Years, 5 Months and 2 Days in the Life of… (also one of the greats!), and I cannot stop dancing around my house.
• I still need to lose 5 to 10 pounds.  I think I want to buy a jump rope, because walking the puppy isn’t doing it for me.  She gets easily distracted, so we never get very far.
• I wonder if there are Latin ballroom classes anywhere in town?
• Facebook is crack.  Crack is whack.  Therefore, I am whack.
• Finally watched Black Snake Moan from start to finish.  Wow.  That’s all I’ve got to say about that for the time being.
• Um.  I cannot possibly keep up with all of the Palin pregnancy drama if it keeps up at this rate.  Too bad Palin opposed Sex Ed.
• Kinda loving Emiliana Torrini right now.
• I’ve invited a guy I barely knew in college to stay here for Homecoming.  Uh, what?!
• Found out today that another friend from college is in rehab for the second time this summer.  I can barely wrap my head around that, and then I start thinking about her poor son.  I cannot imagine what his life has been like so far.
• Played some crap poker this weekend, but at least I won.  Maybe I need to go to poker bootcamp.
• Talked to the crush for the first time in about a year.  Might see him next weekend.  He sounds miserable, so I’m not so sure I’m in the mood for that.
• Life isn’t all bad.  I’m very lucky.

Favorite Poker Players to Watch on TV:

1. Daniel Negreanu – How can he not be? Just to watch him call out his opponent’s hands… Damn.
2. Erick Lindgren – OK. So he’s my poker crush. That pushes him to the top of the list.
3. Jennifer Harman – Even though the nose twitch can become tedious, I still think she’s fun to watch.
4. Gavin Smith – He’s completely fearless. Better yet, he’s got a great sense of humor.
5. Doyle Brunson – Duh.
6. Howard Lederer – He was really the first player I remember following. I haven’t actually seen him play in a long time.

Obviously, I’m not a big fan of the drama queens (Phil Helmuth, Humberto Brenes, Antonio Esfandiari, Phil Laak, etc.) I appreciate the people who spend more time on the game than playing to the camera.

Not that anyone cares.

What’s New?

Not much!

Still no word from South Africa. Work is a bit chaotic right now…we’re going through a big restructuring process and people are dropping like flies. I think my job is safe, but one can never tell. It’s definitely a bad time to ask for a leave of absence, though. Gotta come up with a new plan.

I bumped in to my long-time crush the other day. I still think there’s real possibility there, but there’s a hurdle I just can’t seem to get over. OK, a few hurdles. But I’ll figure it out somehow. He’s been very encouraging on this whole dropping-everything-and-going-to-Africa thing. I hope it’s not just to get me off the continent! But I don’t think I’ll see him again until after the holidays.

I caught up with my gay husband and my gay lover this week, which was good. My gay husband really wants me to move to DC to be near him, which I agree would be great. I’m just not sure that I can move to be near him just to share him with his boyfriend:) And I’m going to be able to see my gay lover and his boyfriend on my trip to my parents’ for Christmas. If only I were a gay man… Why are all the great men in my life gay? How did I become the woman with a posse of gay men around me? I guess it doesn’t matter–I wouldn’t trade either of them for a… Well, maybe.

Played poker last weekend for the first time in a while. Just me and the guys from the regular game. It was really good to catch up and just play, even though my game was crap! I really need to get some practice in. Even though I was playing such shit, I managed to get to heads up with a pretty big chip lead, but after four hours and 10 diet cokes, I lost my concentration. It’s the first time I have played at the bar since I quit drinking, and I might’ve overdone it with the caffeine. But, I didn’t have any desire to drink, so that’s good. Over four months without a drop! Not bad.

So, in honor of the holidays, my Christmas Wish List: (Don’t worry, I don’t expect any of it!)
1. iPhone
2. bicycle
3. flat-screen TV
4. a new job
5. an idea of what to get for my family

OK, that list made me realize how lucky I am. I don’t really want or need much of anything. But, I would love a bicycle…

Poker Update

Played in an online tournament yesterday… Came in 1st out of over 2,500 players. I won an imaginary 5 million dollars! It’s time to play for real, me thinks. I haven’t played live poker in a few weeks, but it is time to get back on that wagon and take the boys’ money!