Finally ... I Am Back

I can't believe that it has been almost three weeks since my last post. At that time, my family was waiting for my mother to pass. Unbelievably, after being admitted to the hospice inpatient center and essentially being ready to die, my mother lived for a week without food and water. It was a very difficult time for my family, as you might understand. Thankfully, she finally passed away on Thursday, June 16. My wife and I were hoping that she would not pass on the 17th, which is my son's birthday.

I came back home on Friday the 17th, but was too physically and emotionally drained for us to go out for my son's birthday that night. Instead, we went out Saturday night for an all you can eat Korean BBQ dinner. This was the selection by my son, a foodie who greatly enjoyed the night.

My mom's visitation was Monday, June 19 late afternoon and evening, and her funeral and burial was the next morning/afternoon. I was fortunate to have several of my close friends from work come up for one or the other, and was able to reconnect with many of my cousins, aunts, uncles and other relatives I had not seen for ages. It is amazing how time flies.

I also got in several poker sessions at Harrah's Joliet and Par-A-Dice Casino in East Peoria over the past two weeks, and showed a nice profit for them. I was back at work for one week, which was quite a struggle. I feel like I have been living in a fog the past week. I have made dumb mistakes like forgetting to sign a check and adding up two numbers wrong. I hope I am out of the fog or at least almost there.

I have a number of things hanging over my head, and was hoping to get away next week. I just don't know if the time is right yet. I already cancelled a trip to Las Vegas from last month and also a trip that I was taking to New Orleans with my wife. She is vacationing in Arizona right now, so I do have some leeway in what to do. I planned to do some things with my kids, but right now I just seem to be living in a big bubble of indecision.

Such has been my life the past three weeks and extending to six weeks. You know it has been bad when a flooded basement can't crack the top two list of bad things that have recently happened to you.

And once again, a huge THANK YOU for my friends who connected with me in one way or another during the previous difficult three weeks. I feel fortunate to have so many friends I have met in person and/or virtually due to poker and my blog. I heard from a lot of my current friends and also many whom I do not interact with much anymore. I am also fortunate to have a great job and to work with many wonderful people. All this made the recent downswing in my life much easier to handle.

So ... it is time to turn the corner and start resuming some semblance of my regular life. The journey continues, although with a little less enthusiasm, at least for now.