Back and Better Than Ever

My life has changed considerably since I last posted in March of the previous year. 

The most notable of those changes is that I have transitioned from my Human Resources Director position to Stay at Home Dad.  What a huge change in lifestyle.  In November of last year, my wife accepted a position in Northwest Kansas. 

We found and bought a house.  She moved up to start working once we were back from our Disney trip.  I stayed in my position and lived in South Central Kansas with plans to move up at the end of the year when the kids semester was over.

As it turned out, the person replacing me was not able to start until January so I stayed on for another 3 weeks to train the new Human Resources Director.

Time has flown by since then.  It feels like I was just working last week.  Now I stay home with my 3 year old daughter and greet the boys when they get out of school at 4:00.  They only have a 4 day school week so we have a weekday together as well. 

A lot went through my mind when deciding if this was the right direction for my life.  Leaving the working world can be a career buster if you stay out too long.  I was ready for a change in my career path anyway.  At some point I will either go back to school for a new career path or hopefully start something on my own.

I considered what people will think.  That has led to most of my decisions in life.  They were not all bad decisions, I just wasn't really happy.  I am 37 years old.  It is time to start living my own life.

Money wise, we are better off than we were before.  I thought that we could really stack in the money if I took another job up here.  That may still happen at some point, but for now I am enjoying my time with my daughter, and I'm not sure money can buy that.  

Since my transition, I have found out that my 3 year old daughter loves fishing more than I do.  She has already out fished me once.

I do chores around the house and transport kids to all their sporting event stuff.  We have to travel 20 minutes to practice and games.  I do a few things on the side to bring in some extra money, but try not to do too much as I am home to take care of my daughter.

Recently I picked up a landscaping and mowing job at a local business to have a little extra spending money.

I have started playing online poker again with limited success.  I was having good success until yesterday.  Every player ended up having pocket aces any time I got a decent hand.  Thankfully that streak broke this morning when I played.

I have been considering adding to the blog now that I am playing again and have more time to do so.  This seems to be the right time as I leave for Vegas tomorrow.  Every year I try to make it out to meet a friend from Ohio.  It has been a year and a half since our last Vegas adventure. 

Next week I should have some fun stories to share with you. 

BREAK

I wrote this quite a while back.  A lot has changed quite majorly since I wrote this and I will catch you up on that in a future post.

O.K. Maybe it's time to give a little update.  Reason for lapse in posting:  Rattlesnake bite to the groin!  No, not really.  I guess I just needed a break, had a lack of things to write about, got really busy with 3 kids, etc.

So what have I been doing?  I can tell you that poker has taken a back door.  I still play in a local game occasionally but took a break from it as well for most of the summer.

Recently, I have started concentrating on the game again and have found some success.  The first week of the year I won the local game.  From then until a few weeks ago I did not make the final 4 places.  The game has gotten bigger, the rules have changed a little, the players are getting better.  I have a lot of excuses.  The main thing was that I was not trying to improve.

A few weeks ago, I played online to get my groove back.  I read some card player magazine articles.  I focused on my play and the play of the others at the table.  Since I started doing that, I have finished 3rd and 2nd at the local game.  The payouts were a nice boost to my depleted bankroll.

My plans were to go to Las Vegas in October.  I had everything planned out and approved by the wife, then I changed gears.  Some friends offered to take us along on their Disney World trip in November.  Once I decided to do that I knew all of my discretionary money would be going towards that. 

The trip has been booked and mostly paid for.  Now it's time to start planning a trip to the desert.  I'm thinking January would be a good time to go.  I might have to go out sooner.  I'm craving a Vegas Vacation.

This summer has been really busy.  We moved to the country.  The boys and I have picked up several yards to mow in town.  It has rained every week.  The grass has needed mowed a minimum of once a week.  On top of the town yards, I have several acres to mow at home. 

Now that we are in the country, I have started a garden, hatched and started raising chickens and guineas, built coops and pens for both of them, and drive the kids back and forth to town for sports.  That takes up all of my time.  I'm ready for fall.

I decided to set up an account for Draft Kings.  I had heard very little about it out here.  I am excited for the first week of NFL now.  I have several teams drafted in several of the contests.  I might have gotten a little carried away this first week, but I think it may turn out to be profitable. 

I have done some dabbling on some of the other sports, and have finished o.k. in a couple of the contests.  I just don't pay attention to baseball, mma and golf as much as I do football.  I'm not an expert by any means, but it looks fun to try.

Going forward I am not going to be posting on a regular basis.  I will try to post a little more than twice a year.