June 27, 2007 - Not much happening on a Wednesday...

Things are all quiet on the Western Front. There must be a storm a brewing...

We have a few down days before the 4th of July Holiday. After that we kick into high gear. My sister Tara, her husband and two boys are coming in for a few days. That should mean plenty of touristy stuff - Aquarium, New World of Coke, etc...then we leave on the 7th for a week, just us and the kids. It's the first time Ilene and I have taken a whole week to be by ourselves since our honeymoon! We are really looking forward to relaxing beachside, poolside, on the deck and everywhere in between. We'll be at Rosemary Beach, FL which is my first trip to the Panhandle.

What else? The Fightin' Phils are now within 2 games of the Mets so that has me happy. Being a Philly native I'm all about Philly sports but to tell you the truth I am ready for football season. I can't wake to take the girls down to Gainesville on Sept. 8th to see the Gators take the field and defend our National Championship.

Running pretty well at the tables. Shout out to my good buddy Mark Arum from WSB. He played in a World Series of Poker (WSOP) $1,500 No Limit Event and came in 18th! Awesome job wading through 2,780 'donkeys' to represent! He had a great chance to get to the Final Table but caught an unlucky break. My weekly game is tonight and I'll hear how some of those guys did in Vegas as well. Looks like I may head back out there in mid-July for a couple of Production Meetings. Then I won't be back (barring a shoot) until the group trip in October.

Not running the Peachtree...pulled my hamstring at Softball last week and it's very tight. I hate missing it, but the 6 miles would do some pretty bad damage even running a 10 minute a mile pace.

That's it.


Peace,



G

June 22nd, 2007 - Has it really been 2 months?

I guess it has. As usual, a lot has happened but for whatever reason I have not kept up. Can I put 60 days into a blog? I'm sure I can, but I won't.

Highlights:

May
1. Rachel graduates from Pre-K and pronounces herself ready for Davis Academy and Kindergarten.

2. Cydney finishes Kindergarten and really shines. Every report has been amazing! She has wonderful teachers and is in an environment where she has really flourished. Choosing to go Private was a tough decision. I am the son of 2 Public School Educators and I taught for 4 years, but for US it was the right one. I have seen too many people argue about the Public vs. Private topic. It's like the working mom's vs. non-working mom's debate. Why can't people just respect others choices and not judge? What's right for me is only right for me, don't impose your beliefs where they don't belong.

3. Mother's Day - the girls' made some great stuff and we celebrated Ilene and all of the Mom's in our life.

4. On May 25th Ilene and I celebrated 10 great years of marriage. It's amazing how life unfolds and I couldn't think of it happening any better than it has! We had a great dinner at Bacchanalia and we will 'pop down' to the Ritz on Amelia Island in July to get away and celebrate.

June

1. Well, May ended with us waiting on my nephew. My sister, Carin, the youngest, finally gave birth to Henry Michael Mrotz on June 6th (my other sister Tara's birthday as well). Henry is Carin's first and so very sweet. We have been blessed now with 9 nieces and nephews and they are ALL special though my 'connection' to Henry is unique. First, I have 3 sibs, 2 step and 1 natural, though except for logistics we are all the same. Carin is my natural sister so this is my first blood relative outside of my parents, grandparents and aunts and uncles. I never thought much about it until I watched my sister talk about him and his name at the Bris. I think I was more emotional that day than I was at either of my girls' baby namings. Something about your baby sister growing into a woman and getting to share in it was just magical.

2. Right before going to Minneapolis for the Bris I got to spend 4 days in Vegas. So here are my 'passions' and I'll try to get this right...
a. Family
b. Community
c. Work
d. Faith
e. Poker or golf, they flip flop from time to time.

So I hit Vegas during the early parts of the World Series of Poker. Next year I want to have no work distractions or having to leave early for special events (see #1). If you play poker and can stand the insanity you can earn some really nice money playing the side games while the Series is going on. It doesn't hurt to know what you are doing. It's also nice when you know a half dozen or so of the most recognizable faces in poker and they come up to you every 2 hours or so just to say 'hi'. Let's just say it's helpful with the 'table image' at a medium stakes table. The Wynn was a great place to stay as usual and the food is always good in Vegas. We ate at the Red 8 at the Wynn, did the Voodoo Steakhouse at the Rio and Noodles @ the Bellagio. Got to hand out with a good friend from High School who lives out there as well.

3. Father's Day - I had a great day! I slept a little late (8:15) and had breakfast in bed. I swam with the girls and then played a Softball game. We are still undefeated and I had a bases clearing triple in the 6th to give us the lead for good. Later Ilene grilled and I got to just eat and relax.

4. June 19 was Ilene's Birthday and no I won't say how old, but she is younger than I! She was out of town for work but the girls', Lerato and I surprised her the day before with a cake.

5. Am I now by parents keeper? Yesterday made it 'official' my parents now live in Roswell, GA. True they built the house a year ago but now it's real. Truth be told I am really excited. Seeing my mother and father get to be around my kids will be a real joy. My mom will be wonderful with the girls and I can't wait to get to pal around with Art. I might even get him to take up golf. I know I have my Fantasy Football Partner back! As Jermaine Dupree so eloquently says..."Welcome to Atlanta"...

I think that gets us caught up at home! Work is good. We have done some US travel to do work for Lenovo (they bought the IBM ThinkPad line) and we just closed a big deal with SunTrust.

July will be hectic, my other sister visits with her family for the 4th, we go to Rosemary Beach for a week and we are remodeling the house.

Thanks to the handful of folks who have actually been to the blog and have said, "what the f" I want to see more...



G