new life - we are having a ........

march 5

in the end, we decided not to find out - what difference would it make anyway? i'm trying to scan in the ultrasound pictures so stay tuned

actually, i have some good news to report (but anything would be considered good compared to my last post)

i survived round 2 of layoffs and am actually starting to get busy again - i almost forgot what is was like to still in the office until 3 in the morning but was rudely reminded this week of how painful that is (especially when you have a 9:30 call the next morning). however, the work is interesting and challenging so i have nothing to complain about

until this week, i had so much time to go to the gym and it was starting to really pay off - i am really close to sending a couple of hard (for me) rock climbs - i really need to work on balancing my schedule and taking time to continue to go to the gym. one a positive note, i'm two weeks into my cholesterol lowering diet and so far so good - few more weeks and i'll go back for a blood test

last weekend we went down to vegas east (a/k/a atlantic city). the drive was a bit longer than anticipated but after getting acquainted with the town (its small), i sat down at a 1/2 no-limit table. my very first hand, i flopped a set (which turned into a full house) and had someone call me all the way :) within a couple of hours, i had doubled my money and things were looking good. we had dinner and then i sat down again and proceeded to hit the nuts on the turn and had someone call my all-in

why i can't just walk away when up big is beyond me???

needless to say, two mistakes/bad-beats and it was all gone. fortunately, i had an ace up my sleeve (a/k/a my fearless rebekah). having never played poker before, i explained the rules over dinner and she decided it would be a good idea no-limit hold'em for the very first time. some may call it beginners luck, others, divine intervention. but in the end, we left atlantic city with winnings sufficient to pay for gas and parking :)

looking forward to this weekend - friends from out of town and maybe even a chance to go climbing at the gunks and/or play a round of golf!

one more year

(my attempt at artistic photography - taken at the national art gallery in washington d.c.)

february 17

so, its that time of the year again to evaluate life and make resolutions going forward - sure i made a few 'new years' resolutions but have always felt that one's birthday is the best time to sit back and do a self examination.

looking back over my 3oth year, there were many highlights and in no specific order, the following are just a few:

- summer vacation 2008 - rock climbing and golfing everyday for 2 weeks - need i say more

- surviving (so far) financial crisis 08/09

- being surprised by the unexpected expectancy

looking forward to my 31st year, the following are what i expect/hope to be significant highlights:

- surviving financial crisis 09/10

- qualifying for the ny public links and climbing my first 8a

- hmmm.......oh yeah....the baby

1. surviving the financial crisis

i took the picture above during our recent visit to the smithsonian institute museum of american history in washington d.c. i think think it is a good reminder as to what is required in order to get the economy going again. i believe that the mess we are currently facing can be partly attributed to a breakage between labour and capital and people forgetting that one requires the other in order to survive. unfortunately the amount of 'cheap' capital in the system for the past 6 - 8 years was funneled not into labour (both manual and intellectual) but rather into cheap goods that depended on other people's labour (i.e. china's). i hope that this stimulus plan (which is a first and necessary step in a long road to recovery) will produce the promised jobs and help people realize that anything worth having is worth working for.

in terms of resolutions, i want to be keep a positive attitude, work hard (when there is work to be done) and keep learning . its really easy to get depressed with all the bad news and the only thing i have control over is my work product and my knowledge base.

2. golfing and climbing goals

as previously noted, work has been slow. last wednesday i took advantage of a remarkably warm day and made my way out to la tourette golf course on staten island. for the past number of years, i have repeatedly beat myself up over the fact that i struggle directing a small white ball into a 3 inch hole. however, hope springs eternal and this winter i realized a swing flaw that resulted in my club head going to far outside on the way back and subsequently snapping to far to the inside (a.k.a. bad all around). once i realized (and corrected) this flaw, i've been hitting the ball great (at the range) and to my very pleasant surprise, the swing held up quite well on the course. there is still much to work on (especially putting) but the public links qualifying round is at la tourette on june 9 and i really hope to put in a good round.

i've also been getting to the gym quite regularly and have definitely been getting stronger. however, my climbing goals are only going to accomplished with an accompanied reduction in in weight so i've been running on the treadmill a couple of times of week. resolution: keep up with the running; goal: to climb predator (8a in rumney, nh)(shown below)

3. on becoming a father

we (and by we, i mean rebekah) are now 1/2 way through and things are being to take shape (and by shape, i mean round). since i have no meaningful role to play right now i've taken to observing parenting behavior. i think i know what it means to be a good parent and the fact that i just wrote that statement proves to all that i have much to learn.

so to all you readers out there, let me know what you think makes a good parent

1 down 11 to go

february 2

one month into the new year and my new year's resolutions are off to a shaky start. having said that, i structured the resolutions such that they can be bent without breaking and the beginning of a new month is just the time to rededicate myself to the task at hand.

my first re-resolution is to floss daily and wear my retainer every night - growing up i had such terrible teeth. my parents sacrificed a lot so that i could get braces and somewhat straighten them out. i never really gave my thought to this sacrifice but now that i am responsible for more than just myself, i feel like i owe it to my parents to see that their investment is not wasted.

this past weekend went by so fast but it was fun. i played basketball on friday night and didn't get to bed as early as i needed to in order to wake up at 5:30 a.m. to pick up my friend and head up to the hills. however, a couple of venti coffees woke me up and a super nice day of the slopes was had by all (although i'm still terrible at taking jumps and rails)

on sunday we went to church and found out that the financial condition of this particular church is quite dire. however, what made the most impact on me was seeing the pastor's 4 kids and feeling the stress that they must be experiencing. i remember someone telling me that if you go into ministry to get rich, you're not smart enough to go into ministry. while this is true, i find it unfair that pastors and their families are often expected to live up to a higher standard on a less than standard income. perhaps there is a better way to finance church operations....

anyway, i'm back at work now and nothing has changed. in fact, it is slower than before and now i sense that everyone is worried. as previously discussed, i believe that i have a good plan in the event that i am laid off but i'm still hoping for a better outcome.

its been a few weeks without poker and i'm happy about that - even though there is skill involved, it ultimately is a game of chance and the outcome is predicated on something that you have no control over. i think that is why i enjoy golf and rock climbing so much.

on the home front, apparently the baby now looks like this

its getting closer and so far so good - we're going to the midwife again on thursday and will post another update then