Friday, March 11, 2011

Friday Family Updates

Sometimes things just do not work out, as my oldest daughter found out the hard way. Her move to Texas this past January did not turn out the way she hoped. She was immediately homesick, had difficulty finding a job, had to deal with bed bugs three times, had car problems, blew a tire, on and on ... We finally decided that enough was enough and pulled the plug on her Texas adventure. She is really looking forward to coming home despite having to immediately live with her parents! I'll be heading into Lucki Duck territory in a week to get her.

Mrs. lightning has a job interview at the neighboring university next week. We hope it goes well. Although she has applied for a number of university jobs, this will be only her second interview. She is almost at the two year mark without full-time professional employment. She has always been able to find part-time gigs that don't pay much, but getting something more closely fitting her education, experience, and skills would be nice.

It was about one year ago that we started checking into a health problem my son was having. On April 2, 2010, I wrote a post about my son's early struggles in life. Among other things, I said "Challenges exist in every family. We seemed to have weathered this major one." Little was I to know that on one week later my son would be diagnosed with a rare form of cancer, necessitating an immediate trip to the Mayo Clinic for surgery.

I am happy to report that my son's recovery has been excellent. He appears to remain cancer-free. He has really gotten into school work, and we think that by the end of his high school junior year he will have already accumulated 29 hours of college-level credit thanks to taking Russian at the local community college and testing high enough to receive many AP credits.

My youngest daughter survived her bullying problems from a couple of years ago and can not wait to get out of middle school and begin high school in the fall. She is still waiting for her dad to take her back to Las Vegas!

As for me -- well, I'm still chugging along. My plan for healthier living got waylaid last spring due to dealing with the cancer ordeal. However, I am giving it a shot again and have already started changing my diet and eating habits. The exercise part will soon follow. I continue to have a great secure job, and I am certainly thankful of that in this economy. However, the legislative peckerheads in Illinois are doing everything they can to get at my pension money. Only time will tell how successful they will be.

I continue to play online poker, probably with less enthusiasm than in the past. I need to play more b&m poker. I am excited to hear, however, that BBT6 is on the way!

That is it from my little corner of the world. Challenges are always present, but I am thankful to have the life, family, and friends that I have, including several of you online poker donks! My best to all of you as we make our way through this thing we call life.

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Monday, November 08, 2010

Lunchtime Gab

This is one of the busiest times of the year at work for me, so time is a bit precious. A few things on my mind ...

2010 WSOP
Thanks to ESPN3 for the live streaming of the WSOP final table. No extra charge? Amazing. I cannot wait to view the new episode Tuesday night. What an exciting final table. No matter how much skill is involved, the river can still crush dreams. If you have been keeping uninformed to make the viewing fresh, I will not spoil it for you. But know that I am rooting for the underdog when heads up begins.

That lightning boy ...
I occasionally get asked how my son is doing. He had an appointment at the Mayo Clinic today. Things continue to look good. There is no sign of any return of the cancer and, outside of making these visits to Mayo every three months, life proceeds normally. His local doctor is fantastic, so we really are blessed to be receiving the best care for him in town and at Mayo. He is already six months past his operation. We are soooo thankful.

Instead of donking off money in online poker, ...
Things have otherwise continued to be busy as I have been spending time preparing my talk and PowerPoint presentation to the board of trustees at my school, a requirement for those who have had sabbaticals. I also have to make a presentation to the school's senate. Finally, I have to file a written report by the end of the year. Yeah, this stuff is a pain, but I am so fortunate to be employed by a school that provides these opportunities to its employees.

So ... it may be a Monday, but things are good in my corner of the world. Not perfect, of course, but pretty damn good.

So ... how is your life looking?

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