Pics Galore

* Rylee and Cousins, Sawyer and Juliana *

*Rylee, Mommy, and Rylee's BFF Aubree (Philibin)*

Jay-Z Show w/ Pharrel and N.E.R.D.

Went down to the Schott Center for the Jay concert with a few friends from the poker world that came into town. Usually the pre-concert adventures are frustrating, but everything went smoothly as far as parking etc etc. The crowd was standard, due to Jay-Z being very much mainstream these days. N.E.R.D. opened the show and to my surprise they were pretty damn good. Pharrel basically took over the stage and randomly was picking out people to come up on stage with him. Very entertaining.
Jay came out to "Run This Town" obviously, and there wasn't a second of the show that had a dull moment. The spotlight song of the night went to "Big Pimpin". Jay also did a mix which helped him cover just about every song you can imagine, including "La La La", which I didn't think there was a chance in hell that was getting played. So that was cool. It was an incredible show, and for a rap concert the sound was clear cut. Good times.
Tonight is trick or treat night here in Lewis Center. Parts of Columbus had their night of treats on Thursday and other parts on Friday. Rylee is gonna be a bumble bee, we plan on just taking her to the surrounding neighbors for a quick laugh. I will definitely have pics coming in the next few days. The Philibin's are also making their way down for the night with Aubree. A few other friends are coming over as well, so I geuss you can call it a "party". The Yankee's game will be the center of attraction at 8p.m. tonight. I'll be drinking my usual (White wine /Kim Crawford Sauvignon Blanc). Quantity of glasses depends on how the game goes :)

Cheers Mates.

Just Tryin to Buy Another Title

I figure that title is appropriate since that's what everyone loves to say about the Yankees. Unfortunately, the Yankee's haven't won or bought a title since 2000. Last night the Yankee's put themselves in position against the Phillies to claim another title. Game 1 scheduled for Wednesday, Sabathia vs Lee.....gonna be an incredible series. GO YANKS!

Yanks Sweep, Rylee Pics, Poker

So the Yankees swept Minnesota in 3 straight games to win the ALDS. They now face a tough opponent in the Anaheim Angels, thanks to a late ninth inning rally by the Angels to sweep the Bosox. I must admit, it was pretty delightful to watch the Bosox choke in the 9th. Should be an outstanding series against the Angels and hopefully we put those historical woes aside and get the job done. Series starts later this week, get it done gentlemen.We took Rylee to a pumpkin patch on Sunday morning. It was bit nippley, but she had a great time and even picked out her own little pumpkin. She will be walking very soon, she has been pushing her baby stroller around the house like a maniac. It is hilarious to watch her grow and learn as each day passes. She has been a bit sad the past 2 days, Junior has been away at the doggy hospital with some sort of stomach problem. With Junior away, she has nobody but a non-interested ziggy to torment. Ahh well...good times for sure, pics....
Poker is back on track. I feel alive like it was 2005 again. As most people know, for the past few years in poker I had a financial backer. A quick explanation..."backers" have become a huge part of the poker business these days. Basically, "backers" finance poker players. Many, many of the top players in the world do not want to put their own money at risk, so they use their "backers" money to play. Compensation of somewhere between 30-50% of the players profits are than returned to the backer, along with the dreaded word "makeup". Makeup is the amount of money at loss and is paid back to the backer upon success. For example: Boke plays 10k worth of buyins on Monday and proceeds to lose all 10k, however on Tuesday Boke wins 20k. Boke than pays back the 10k (Makeup), and splits the other 10k profit with the backer (Being that the backer agrees to a 50/50 deal).

Now that the business part is explained, I will continue...so like I said above, I had decided on trying out the backing business and being a backed player in 2007ish. It wasn't like I was broke at the time, but more so on a huge downswing. During the 1-2 years that I was backed (up until like Mayish of this year), I felt like my game was diminishing. I was a break even player and ended up eventually winning the Stars Million for 200k in August of 2008. I paid the backers and ended up scooping about 90k after all said and done, not including taxes :( . For the following 6-9 months after this big win, I went on a monster down swing and accumulated over 100k in makeup. This sucked more than anything. This meant the next 100k I made went to the backer and that I wasn't gonna see any profit until this monster figure was cleared. Ughhz. As crazy as this seems, it is amazingly common in the poker world for guys to accumulate an astonishing amount of makeup. Anyways, April/May 2008 rolled around and I started hearing rumors that my backer was gonna fire me. I thought no possible way they would just fire me and free me from that figure. Most cases backers will offer buyouts to release a "horse" (backers use the "horse" term for their players they back). An example of this would be, if I had 100k in makeup they would offer me a 20k buyout, meaning I pay them 20k and Im free. Anyhow, the rumors were right, my backers wanted to release me. The great thing for me is, they never once mentioned any buyout and therefore just cut me absolutely free of charge. This may have been my 2nd best acoomplishment of my poker career. HAHA, getting fired and having 100k makeup just vanish. That is right they fired me for free! I would have definitely paid to be released at that point. Lucky me.

So for the past 4 months I have been trying to get that "feel" back for being on my own. The "grind" type of feel, if you will. It's coming back for sure, it's just a slow slow process. I grind the cash games for the most part and mix in a few tourneys here and there. My game has definitely been at it's sharpest point since early 2008, and the checks are on their way. Weeeeee.

Pics from the weekend...OSU game

My parents came down this past weekend for the USC game. My Dad and I decided to go play 18 early Saturday morning before the big game that night. I actually played pretty well, shooting a 42 on the front, and a 47 on the back. I'll take it. My Dad obv beat me as he does everytime we golf. I gotta let him beat me in something I suppose :)

Later that evening my parents watched Rylee and Leandra and I headed down to campus for the game. We stopped at a tailgate lot and downed a few shots of JD and 1 mixed drink before we headed into the game. Thankfully so. Our seats were at the very top, but on the 20 yardline. There was a pole a bit in front of us which blocked our view for about 20 yards wide, but beyond that the seats were great. As far as the game itself, meh, I'm pretty over it and have no desire to write a huge rant about it.

Mommy and Rylee
Incredibly CuteGaga and RyleePrincess

Never Forgetting

It's the day we will never forget. I was student teaching freshman history at Western Reserve High School on 9/11. We quickly got word of what was happening and I put the TV on for all the students to watch. The first plane had all ready hit, however my students and I witnessed the second plane hit on TV. At the time many of my students, as well as myself, were very confused to what was happening. My cooperating teacher came into the classroom to watch what was unfolding, and he instantly said, "my God this has to be terrorism". I will never forget those words he spoke and/or this time in my life. To this day when I look at photographs and pictures of what happened on 9/11 it brings a tear to my eye. The way our country united and came together really makes me put all the negatives behind and makes me proud to be an American. God Bless those who lost lives.

Fun Weekend, No Disappointments Please

First and foremost, I #2 clippered my hair after a poker rage on Saturday. Definitely the shortest my hair has ever been since senior year of high school when I mistakenly let Ryan Philibin cut it. I would say that I look much better with hair than I do right now, but it'll grow back. I feel like in some ways that I shaved off all the bad juju vibes that I've been going threw with poker. New beginnings FTW. If I ever remember, I will post a picture (I need to take one first).

Buckeyes got USC coming in to town on Saturday night. Leandra and I will be in attendance, and I'm looking forward to the game and meeting up with some friends during the pregame festivities. Turk is coming in from Cali and Hanysh will also be tailgating with some of his boys from Youngstown. Anyone else who is going should get a hold of me. Should be a blast. Hopefully, not another let down in a monster game. OSU needs to gain some national respect in a bad way.

Just yesterday I picked up the Blueprint 3 album. Jay-Z pulled an MJ by un-retiring and releasing yet another album. I think it was a good idea on his part due to the last few dud albums that he made. The BP3 was a good excuse to make a final comeback. My professional grading of the album is a B+ / A-. Leaning towards the A- after a few more listens. He collaborates with some of the top names in the business at this time in many of the tracks. Timbaland produced the album and his synthesizing (sp) type beats don't fail anyone once again. Tix go on sale for the tour to the public on Friday. I'm planning on going with a few friends from the poker world in late October at Value City Arena on the OSU campus. Been a while since I've seen any show, so I'm definitely looking forward to it.

Quick Summary: North Myrtle Beach, 12 hour drive to Myrtle (left in morning...7 stops..lol), 10 hour drive on way home (overnight). Rylee disliked the sand, but loved the pool. Leandra and I drank multiple bottles of wine. Time went way to fast, 8 days minimum next time. Enjoy.

New Additions

I added some pics on the side column, as well as a music player at the very bottom. If you aren't interested in listening to music while you read my Pulitzer Prize winning blog, just scroll to the bottom and press stop.

Love, Peace and Hairgrease

Catch Up Time....Rylee's 1st Birthday and Sports

Sports: Michael Vick is back and signed with the Eagles. When I listened to his interview on 6o minutes last Sunday it left me with a bitter taste in my mouth. It's hard for me to believe a guy who said he has changed completely after one year in prison. I mean it was an operation that was running for SEVEN YEARS. I mean a seven year operation seems a bit habitual to me, so for him to say he wanted to quit was a pile of shit. There is a difference between wanting to quit and having to quit. He had to quit, end of story. Break a leg this year Mike, good luck to you.

On a more positive note, the Yankees keep rolling along, while the Red Sox continue to struggle. The Yanks stand at 74-45 and have a 7 game cushion on the Bosox. That 74-45 record is also the best in all of the majors. This has to be our year as a Yankee fan. It's been quite sometime since our last celebration and this years team seems to be focused and have the closeness of a family.

THE GOOD STUFF: Rylee's 1st Birthday party

-Went great with the exception of rain most of the day. We kept it somewhat small with a few family and friends. Rylee seemed to be overwhelmed for the most part. She isn't much of a fan of getting dirty, so cake time wasn't what we were expecting. She really didn't want anything to do with her over sized cupcake. The mess was limited, but we think she enjoyed herself. Everyone was so generous with their gifts and we couldn't be more thankful to everyone that came. Here are some photos of the party.......

Rylee's new car, from Cousins: Sawyer and JulianaBirthday Cupcake and Cousin MikeyUncle Alvin, Aunt Cara, cousin Sawyer, Aunt Terry & Graham, Grandma and Brian in background.Mrs. Philly with the Cruz GalsMommy, Daddy, and RyleeRyleeGrandma and Rylee

End of party, nearing nap time

What a Great Listen...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-PzoKyv9fvk&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Efacebook%2Ecom%2Fhome%2Ephp&feature=player_embedded#watch-main-area

Thanking God for such a Great Man's Life

Unfortunately on Wednesday we lost the life of Grandpa Mikula (Leandra's Grandpa). Instead of mourning his life, I'd rather celebrate and remember him for the amazing gentlemen that he was. In my eyes, Grandpa Mikula couldn't have been a better husband, father, grandfather, and great grandfather. He was the ideal role model for any family man. When we would bring Rylee to see him and Grandma Mikula, his eyes would glow as if Rylee was his own daughter. Thats how he treated his entire family. Always so gentle and kind. Rylee will miss him dearly.
I always looked forward to speaking with him during our visits when we were in town. He loved to talk about golf and sports and was never in a bad mood, always so chipper and smiling. Easy going and always had something to talk about, we will miss Grandpa forever and thank God for the presence of a Great Man's Life. We love and miss you Grandpa.

August 26, 1921 - August 5, 2009

"A failure is a man who has blundered but is not capable of cashing in on the experience."

So I failed with the diet over the weekend. The diet went great from Mon-Thurs, than took a dive over the weekend. Leandra claims I didn't over eat, but I feel the opposite. Friday I had a dish from Noodles & Co. called Pasta Fresca. It's really not that bad of a dish. Pasta, veggies, and a small cut of grilled chicken. Saturday was a good day as far as calories went. We had pictures in Cincinnatti with Natalie in the morning and stopped at Arby's (Bad decision) on the way home. It made me sick, therefore it was basically the only thing I ate on Saturday. Sunday was an entire different story. Leandra really wanted to go to the Ohio State Fair. I obviously caved and took her and Rylee and ate like a pig. We started off with the obvious, fair fries and a lemon shake. We shared both. Than I moved onto a gyro, which was outstanding, and Leandra had a steak sandwich. After that, we were told by some friends that there are multiple "deep fried" stands (lmao). So we came across and figured we had to try it out. We got an order of the deep fried buckeyes (which we both ate 1 and were not impressed, believe it or not), and also a deep fried twinkies which was amazing. It was so good that I don't even remember chewing. I think it was bite and swallow, or straight inhaling. I ate the entire thing. Sigh....by that time the lemon shake was history and we got a sweet tea to replace that. We went and showed Rylee the pig farm, and ended the walk back to the car with a delightful elephant ear. So I geuss it wasn't a totally disgusting display, but definitely didn't fit into my diet. It's gonna be rough to keep up the diet in the next few weeks due to vacation (North Myrtle) and some light travelling to Indiana for poker. So I got some serious thinking to do about this diet, either man up for a few months or just let myself go like Adam Chine did.

Ladies and Gentlemen: I now present you Adam Chine doing the Truffle Shuffle at the original Goonies house in Oregon. Enjoy.

Day 5 "Trim the Fat"

I really F'd that up yesterday as far as the diet goes. From the legendary Jimmy Valvano..."Don't give up, Don't ever give up"...thats what im gonna follow after a bad eating day. Im gonna do P90x today and hopefully walk 3 miles in the evening with Rylee and Leandra in hopes to make up for a really bad day yesterday. Leandra wanted to go to the Ohio State Fair tonight, I had to say "No".

Weigh in: 177 lbs
Weekly Total: 7295 (Starting from Monday)

Today: Cup of coffee (105)

Day 4 "Trim the Fat"

Weekly total: 4750

A.M. weigh in: 177 lbs

Cup of coffee: (105)

1:00---Lunch, sandwich same as last 2 days (240)

Goin to The Outback tonight, so who knows how ugly that could get. Self control ONE TIME!

I lost. Had some sort of chicken pasta which wasnt all that bad lool (800 calories) and an estimated half order of cheese fries LOOOL (1400), I did however just drank water.

UGLY!!!

Daily total: 2545 F&%K!

Day 3: "Trim the Fat"

Weekly Total: 2885

8 a.m. weigh in : 176.5

8:10a.m. Cup of coffee (105)

8:30 a.m.---2 eggs (egg beaters) - (60)
2 pieces of light white toast (70)
butter---(50)
Another cup of coffee :( (105)

Daily total: 390

11-12:00-- P90X -Shoulders and Arms (The easiest of all imo).

1:30----Turkey and swiss with lettuce/onion/light mayo on light white bread (240 calories is rough estimate from calorie king...bread is 35 per slice, turkey is like 45, cheese is 106 ish)
----celery and light ranch (145)

Daily Total: 775

F me! Total breakdown. Had a chocolate chunk cookie from caribou coffee (440) and a cup of coffee (105)

Daily total: 1320

Im about done eating for the day besides a rice bowl for dinner and its only 3:20 in the afternoon. SHAT!

Dinner: Salad (Turkey, cheese, little bread crumbs, etc) ---(250)

Late night snack: Popcorn (130)
Bowl of cheerios (165)

Daily total: 1865

Day 2 "Trim the Fat"

July 28th....

Weekly Total: 1390 Calorie intake

8 a.m. - -- Weigh in --178lbs

8:45a.m. ---breakfast: Cheerios (165)
Coffee (105)

12-1:30 : p90x (Plyometrics...makes you sweat like a fat kid..oh wait I am fat).

1:30----Turkey and swiss with lettuce/onion/light mayo on light white bread (240 calories is rough estimate from calorie king...bread is 35 per slice, turkey is like 45, cheese is 106 ish)

daily total: 510

2:20----celery and light ranch (145)

6:00----fish (200)
corn on cob (60)
8:00----Melt down #1 of "Trim the Fat".....Nutri Grain Bar (130)
Large Arizona Green Tea (210)

Daily total: 1255

9:35 Fruit salad (240)

Total: 1495

Day 1: "Trim the Fat"

Shooting to stay under 2000 calories per day:

July 27th

7:30 1 cup of coffee (30)
1 banana - (105)

9:30 daily weigh in --180.5 lbs

11:00-12:20----P90x (Chest and Back)

2:00 pm---Lunch

6" sub from Subway --- (342)
Veggie chips (yuck) --- (50)
Powerade (Bad choice)---(125)

Daily total so far : 652

6:32 pm ---Dinner

4 oz Grilled Chicken Breast --- (120)
2/3 cup green beans ----(50)
Baked potato / w butter -----(268)

Daily total: 1090

8pm ---Starbucks coffee - (105)

9 pm--- cheerios/milk (195)

The Devastation of What is Real.

So the Philly's had their annual summer bash this past Saturday and it was fun and entertaining as usual. Lots of food, drinks, socializing, cornhole, wive's attitudes, kids, and the guys acting like we are 18 again. I mean these are the same clowns that I have been friends with my entire life. So obv we just pick up where we leave off....and thats usually around our younger years.

The party always consists of a cornhole tournament. They pick teams out of a hat and this year looked to be my year to scoop up the title. I got Joey Hudak as my partner and he is know to be one of the best players there. Unfortunately we end up taking 2nd, losing to Danielle's Uncle and his partner both times we played. Danielle's Uncle straight hustled us hardcore. He is a little Italian guy who might have been the best cornhole player I ever saw. No offence to his partner, but I think the Uncle coulda beat us by himself. Little did he know, he just hustled a hustler.

Now, the devastation of what is real. As I was catching up with Zoc and Shina about life, Zoc looked at me with a straight face and told me that he has never seen my belly so large! I asked Shina if this was true. Sadly with an embarrassing look, Shina confirmed it. This leaves me with one option starting today......Operation "Trim the Fat". This is gonna consist of: counting calories and working out. I got 2 weeks till Rylee's birthday to see some results. Sigh...lets do it. Im gonna track and post the following: everything I eat, workouts, and current weight on this blog. Wish me luck.

Summer Time

Hit the golf course up for the first time in 2009. Shot a 93 (44/49). Golf is such an interesting sport. I find that the less I play, the better I score. Perhaps I think about it too much when I play on a regular basis. Ehh who knows, hats off to Tiger. He won another tournament yesterday. Shocking I know.
My motivation to write has gone to shit. It may be a while before I blog again. I think I am on a bit of a downer right now. Maybe because the WSOP Main Event is going on and I'm not there, or maybe because Leandra is going to Dallas for a week, or maybe just a midlife crisis. WTFK's. Ahh wellz....Rylee's first birthday is coming soon! That should be a blast. I'll have plenty of photos from the party. Till than...live well.