Getting started BEFORE the new year

poker 2 |ˈpoʊkər| |ˈpəʊkə|
noun
a card game played by two or more people who bet on the value of the hands dealt to them. A player wins the pool either by having the highest combination at the showdown or by forcing all opponents to concede without a showing of the hand, sometimes by means of bluff.

Hi there .... thank you for the curioisity and although this first post may not show it, I hope to keep you entertained, amused and or thinking everytime you check in.

Without a doubt, 2009 has been the most memorable year thus far in this micro-fraction of time we call life.

My beautiful intelligent son, Alexander aka "Boobie" turned 1 and will be turning 2 next month. I am so amazed and in love with him. I've honestly never been so enamoured with anything before. Maybe dinosaurs when I was like 8. Its just ... the way he talks, smiles, even the way he thinks impresses me. I could die happy knowing that I helped create such a marvel...

My beautiful and intelligent wife, Acecy and I got married on New Years Eve 2008. I picked that date so I would never forget our anniversary. Unfortunately, getting to the first one has proved a trying experience. More on that later...

This is my first post, so I'll keep it simple.

For 2010, my goals are this: #1 is to continue to improve my poker game. The last year was a gigantic roller coaster trying to figure out what I was going to do with it. But now, my focus is clear and I am playing better than I thought, faster than I thought. My results are not where I would like them to be, but the way I am thinking about the game is definitely pleasing.

# 2 is complicated. For most of the year, I didn't think my marriage would last. It was definitely not a lack of trying ... or, actually it was because I don't think we were trying correctly. Finally, towards the end of November/early December I thought we hit a positive stride.

A few weeks later, in our typical fashion, we threw it all away. Now she is gone (not too far), but we aren't living together for the first time since we first started dating. I want nothing more than to reunite my little family- I love being a good Dad as much as I loved being a good husband. But as more time apart passes, I am convinced that it is the right thing. I want my family, but I also want happiness and unfortunately for us, these are currently mutually exclusive.

#3 is to continue to harness the energy vibes that have fueled me for the second half of this year and gave birth to this blog.

# 4 record an album- Not a lot of people know this, but I'm pretty nice behind the mic....

Since I have a few more days till New Years I can still add to this list. I take way too long to write these things and I'm never happy with the way they turn out, but that just means I need to write extra good future entries to make up for the first awkward, boring ones.

Ok, that's it for now. I'd be interested in hearing your goals for the New Year. Do you have any? Is it stupid to only do this once a year? I say yes, but not if you use it as a time to really get focused.

That's what I'm trying to do. And hopefully I can help motivate someone else to do the same...