First Steps

"You've just taken your first steps into a larger world." (Obi-Wan Kenobi)

Yesterday, Meron was trying to take some pictures of Benjamin (of which the above is one), but he was just being too active to get still shots of him, so we got out the video camera. Moments after we got it out and turned on, Benjamin pulled up on his Pack and Play, then let go--and took about three steps before crashing down. Needless to say, Mom and Dad burst into applause and cheering, which caused him to just beam with delight. Later on he took one more, but that's been it. It may be a while before he's really walking or even stepping with more frequency, but he knows it can be done now.

He's starting to be a great American: He started crawling on the Fourth of July and then took his first steps on Patriot Day. Not sure what Columbus Day or the day after his birthday (Veteran's Day) will bring!

That was the highlight of a fairly routine weekend. Benjamin attended the birthday party I mentioned in my last entry and had a pretty good time. Meron made sure he saw how Tyson went about dealing with the cake so he'd be ready for his own party. It's so hard for me to believe he turned 10 months on Saturday--where does the time go? I'm sure you parents with older or grown kids are saying, "It doesn't get any better!"

BTW, his pinkeye is drastically better (thanks, Dana, for the well-wishes). We're still giving him the drops, of course, but it is almost unnoticable now.

Poker Friday night went much better than normal. I caught cards all night long. I had two flushes, a few full houses, and actually bet them well also. I had a nice full house after the flop once and I started out with a $10K bet. Only one person was left, and he called. After the turn, I bet $30K. Joe thought and thought, but called again. The river comes and I know that the only thing that beats me would be pocket queens, but if he had that, he'd be betting harder and faster. I bet $50K and surprisingly, he calls. That was a nice pot to rake.

So I went into the final head-to-head matchup with about a 3-1 edge over Russell. That's when my hot streak ran out. When you aren't in the head-to-head, you can fold 2-7, 3-5 and not worry too much about it. In head-to-head, you are always losing at least the little blind (which by the end was $80K to the big blind $160K) if you fold, which I had to do a few times.

Russell took chip lead before I won a couple of hands, but finally it (basically) came down to a hand where I went all in with a Q-7 clubs and he called with a 4-5 diamonds. The flop and turn gave us nothing, but the river was a 5, so he took it. I didn't even have enough for the big blind next time, so I was all-in and lost with squat.

Still, I took home $35, which was $20 net profit, so I can't complain too much. Probably means I won't catch cards again for another two months, but that's the way it goes.

Starting to really get into Lost. We've made it through the first three discs (about half the season) and are started on the fourth. The tension and mystery are really just starting to pick up, but the stories have been interesting. Looking forward to seeing how the rest of the season plays out.

Cards won three of four from the Mets this weekend, which cuts their magic number down to 6. It's a good possibility they will clinch the division this week, which means they'll have plenty of time to juggle rotations, rest people, and get ready for October baseball.

My friend Robert is over visiting his wife in the Philippines--please keep him in your prayers as he travels. Last thing he told me is it was looking like November for Wendy to make it over to the States. Here's hoping that it's even faster than that.

We get back in the PK groove tonight. One of our members subscribes to the Marathon DVD series put out by PK and #5 is in, so we'll get started on that as well as decide what we want to read/do next.

Have a great start to the week, everyone!