July 7th

The weekend was really good. Got some really nice weather up there, so I cannot complain in the slightest. Did some boating, a lil tubing, got a lil sun, and got to relax for 2 days...was a nice break. Decided to not even bring up my laptop...so a 2 day vacation from poker was really nice. Got back late on Saturday night (the boat ran out of gas on the lake, so we had to get towed in. Then we fill it up, take it out, an we get engine failure 10minutes later....have to get towed in again), and fire up a quick session. I've been super lazy so far this month. I have 10K hands done over 7days, which I'm really disappointed about. This month I set my goals really high, but I have a really full schedule with family stuff and such...so hopefully I can get a decent amount of volume in anyway.

I got a good coaching session in on Sunday, and decided afterwards I would do a video. I like doing videos and coaching on the same day: might as well do both when your brain is working overload. The video turned out well and can be seen here. A couple of odd spots in the video, but I think I did a better job than normal of really talking through my thought process. Feel free to give it a look and give any criticisms.

I spent most of Monday just relaxing. The GF was working most of the day, so I got a lot of my errands done early. I went over to her place to do dinner with her family (yea, she lives with me, but her parents/family are in the next town over. Long story). Kind of odd that I've been dating her for 7months, yet I met her mom for the first time at this dinner. O well. Everything went pretty smooth, so I really couldn't complain at all. Her younger brother was super overtired and really cranky (he's almost 2), so most of the attention was on him the whole time, so I didn't really get grilled by her mom (score +1 me). Got home and immediately left again to go to this meeting.

Decided it would be beneficial and supportive if I went with my dad to this group counseling session for people that have lost a family member. My brother passed away last year at 18 and the 1yr anniversary is coming up soon. So I went with my younger sister (both our first times going) to this meeting. It was pretty awkward. I was the youngest person there by 10years minimum, and it was pretty sad to see people in this shape. Now, I cannot say that I think groups like these are the worst thing in the world for people in hard times, but I think its very dependent on the vibe given off. I think going to a place like this, being in a circle with about 15-20 other people, and just listening to the stories of people that truly pained, is very hard to do. But it's even harder to watch them spiral further and really not begin the progression stage that is necessary to come to terms with such an incident.

I think it's really vital that the group is moderated by someone who is strong, compassionate, and positive. By letting a group just sit there and dwell about the tragedy or tragedies that have occurred in their lives, a moderator is failing at their job and not helping the group progress. It's really about making sure that people realize they have a safe haven where they can let go and cry, but also that they are being helped and shown the ways to move forward in life. A death in life, especially one that happens close to home, can really stunt your own life and create such a deep psychological pain. However, it's imperative that the survivor can stay strong, begin to come to terms, and move forward in a healthy way. I think I'm doing a decent job in that regard, and really hope that the rest of my family can make the same progress.

Well, on a happier note, my birthday is on Wednesday. So any presents are more than welcome =) I'm not 100% sure what I'm doing for it, but hopefully it'll be nice and relaxing. I'm also going to Foxwoods for the first time in 2 years this weekend, so if anyone is gonna be around, feel free to let me know, or just say 'hi' to the kid with the mohawk.