Poker Pros

Two weeks of the poker tournament are now over for Don and me. The tournament is still going on, but tonight was the last night for us to deal cards. We were both in the main event tonight. Players started out with $50,000 in chips.

Kathy Liebert was playing at the first table where I dealt. For those who don't follow much poker, she's a professional poker player who I see on television a lot. She does quite well at it too. I really enjoyed dealing to her. She was very polite and quite social. Don dealt to her after I did. I've included a picture of her here that I found on the internet.

It's kind of sad that the tournament is over now, but I'm glad for the break. I think they have another one in June, but I'm not sure. Frodo will be grateful it's over. He'll be getting in his walks a lot more often now. We went the other day to the park, and the pond was covered with ice. It was pretty that way.

Feel Like Hibernating

"Our Adventures" is the name of our blog, but lately, it's just been too cold to be adventurous! Even Frodo hasn't been taking his regular walks. I know he wants to go out, but I'm not that fond of the cold weather. Maybe I should get him a treadmill! I've seen some dogs exercising on them on television. It wouldn't be the same though, and he would probably hate me for it.

Don and I have been dealing poker at the Borgata during their tournament. It's a lot less stressful for both of us this time. We are actually having fun with it. I wouldn't mind doing it more often. I especially like the fact that we are doing it together. We drive to work in one car and eat dinner there together. I think we are the only couple dealing cards there (at the tournament, that is).

During these cold days with poker in the evenings, I've been wearing pajamas during the day until I get ready for work. They're really nice and comfy along with the slippers my daughter-in-law, Stephanie, got me for Christmas. Non-skid too, I like that on my laminate floors.

It's that time again. We are getting ready to deal poker at the Borgata Winter open. This is our second time dealing. I feel a lot more confident this time. It's amazing how much pressure there is. You would think it's just a game, but I have always done well at anything that I have tried and want to do well here too. My wife is a natural at it. Her big problem is counting the chips when they get to be big stacks, hence the picture of the chips and our practice at home.

We have been down at the Borgata all last week practicing and I hope that all the extra work will pay off. Our goal is when we get to "officially" retire that we can move some place that has poker and deal part time while we enjoy our retirement. We really would rather be playing the game, however that takes money!

The worst part of all of it is that our baby (Frodo the Beagle) will be home alone a lot. He handles it pretty well, but is sure glad to see us when we get home!

America the Beautiful

Well, we finally did it. After all these years of talking about it, we finally bought a parks pass. We ordered it today online at http://store.usgs.gov/pass.

And for your viewing pleasure, that's where I swiped the picture for this blog. Hopefully, they won't mind though. Maybe it's good advertisement. Anyway, the cost of the pass is $80 annually. It's good for fees at sites managed by USDA FS, NPS, USFWS, BLM and Reclamation. I only know what some of these stand for, but I do know that we can now go to any federal park and bypass the entrance fee. Yay! I guess that means we're going to go to a lot more parks this year.

We went to the Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge just this morning. We will probably be going there a lot actually. It's close and Frodo loves to walk there. There are all kinds of trails to follow. Short ones and long ones. It wasn't too cold this morning, but there was ice on the water anyway. We saw a few ducks and one crane. There were a lot of people taking pictures. Don thought they might be members of the Audubon Society.