Confidence Booster

I finished second in the latest poker tournament at Adam's place on Saturday night. This is a big improvement from my last two performances (eighth and sixth).

For those of you poker fans, here's a description of probably the most exciting hand of the night:

With four players remaining, I am on a short stack, as is Carl, the player to my immediate left. The other two players are doing fairly well. I'm on the button. Adam, the player to my right, folds. I draw a pair of nines and decide to go all-in. Carl, who has fifty cents more than me, calls without much hesitation. Loren, the player across the table also goes all-in.

I'm holding 9s-9d. Carl has Ks-Kc. Loren has Kd-Qh. This makes Carl the favorite before the flop. I'm hoping for a nine to show up.

The flop comes 5s-10c-8h. No help for anyone. The turn card is Jh. This gives Loren an inside straight draw. If a nine comes up on the river, I would have three of a kind, but his straight would beat me. Am I drawing dead?

Nope. This picture shows the table shortly after the final card was dealt. What a lucky draw for me.

More photos for you!

Here are pics from the MS Walk.

We ended up having only five SC Johnson team members at the walk, but we still had fun. The weather was nice enough for shorts, and even though we were right by the lake, it was comfortable most of the time.

After 2.5 days off last week, it's time for a full week of work for Jenelle and me. Which also means I'll be trying to make three or more trips to the fitness center. I'm managing to run 4.5+ miles every workout, about which I'm very pleased.

However, I still need to practice my guitar more frequently. I guess I'll go do that now.

The heat is off

It's a beautiful day in Wisconsin. Jenelle and I will be heading out to enjoy it soon, but we really wanted you to see these Easter Photos. One of my personal favorites is Jenelle with her new sewing machine. Her mom helped her make a cushion for our bedroom out of an extra bed sheet. It turned out really well -- perhaps I'll take a picture of that for the NEXT album.

Oh wait, tomorrow is the MS Walk, so pictures from that event will be in the NEXT album. In any case, we're finding plenty of things to take pictures of these days. :)

He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

Jenelle's parents flew in from Oregon on Saturday, and they're still in town. Jenelle and I took some vacation from work to spend more time with them, and it's been lots of fun. They're not flying back until 5:00 p.m. tomorrow, and we have more exciting things planned before their flight.

Coming soon:
--Easter pictures.
--Pictures of Jenelle and her new sewing machine!

Stay tuned.

Walking for M.S.

My parents, my wife, and I will all be participating in the MS Walk on Sunday, April 18, 2004. This is an event sponsored by the Wisconsin Chapter of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. We are walking 3.1 miles to raise awareness and to gather financial support to help find a cure for MS. More information on MS and the walk is available here.

If you'd like to support the four of us in some way, here are some things you can do:
--Give us words of encouragement. I don't know how many of you have friends or family members affected by MS, but sometimes a note that says "I appreciate what you're doing!" goes a long way. I can pass on any e-mail replies to the appropriate person(s).
--If you live in the area, you can participate in the walk yourself. We're actually all signed up on an SC Johnson team (of which I'm the captain), but friends and family are welcome to join it. The more, the merrier!
--If you would like to support us financially, you can give online. Go here and click on the "Pledge a Participant" link by the MS walk logo. If you would like to send a check, e-mail me for details.

After the walk, I'll post an entry here that outlines how everything went. I'll probably get pictures online as well. :)

I appreciate you taking the time to read this message -- just doing that really means a lot.

Music and more

The Concerts section is up, and there's three new sets of pictures. Enjoy!

In other news, I finished sixth in a poker tournament on Friday night. That's two spots better than last time -- woohoo!

Jenelle and I are both excited about the weeks ahead. Her parents are coming in for Easter, which will be great. We haven't seen them since Thanksgiving. We're both taking a few days off work.

I haven't lost any more weight in the last week or so, but I haven't gained any either. :)

Coming soon: An announcement about another fundraising walk.