This is an email I sent to my friends yesterday.

Every morning now when I awake the first thing I do is I write “gratitudes” on my blog, I just wanted to share a more personal thank you with the people in my life who mean so much to me, and have such a huge impact upon my life, my friends.

It is amazing when I awake each morning and really think about how much love I am surrounded by. Because of this love and support I live in an environment where you can’t help but believe anything is possible, and I may forget that every now and then when getting bogged down with the small things in life, but believe me, deep down I know how lucky I am.

We have all arrived into each others lives through different paths, but there is something that has attracted us all to the same place, and ultimately to the same people. I am thankful that I followed that path and it has led me to all of you.

Thank you all for your support, thank you for your understanding, thank you for your wisdom, thank you for your hope, thank you for your tears, thank you for your laughs, thank you for thoughts, thank you for your prayers, thank you for being you.

Thank you…

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays!

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I started writing my gratitudes just a few days ago, and already it is the first thing I think about when I wake up which is a blessing in and of itself.

In the past as my eyes opened and as I slowly slipped back into the conscious world my mind would more often than not go straight to my problems. Not now. I am excited about the future, I am excited about getting up and writing a new gratitude and now here I am.

As I wake up this morning I am so thankful for many things, but today I am going to focus on the loves of my life, my nieces. These two girls have brought so much joy into my life I can’t imagine a world without them. I have helped my sister raise them on and off for almost 15 years and have been more involved than your typical uncle, and I am thankful that I have had that opportunity.

I am thankful that they are two completely different beings. I am thankful that they are beautiful. I am thankful that they are intelligent. I am thankful that they are creative. I am thankful that they are caring, and loving. I am thankful for the joy that they bring me. I am thankful that they love me, and I am thankful that they accept my love in return.

Thank you Megan and Hanna for being in my life.

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My father is 69 and not in the best of health, so I make it a point to call him every night.  Some nights we only talk for an hour, most for well over two hours, and I am thankful that every time I call he is still around to pick up the phone.

I lost my mother in 2003 to suicide and I am thankful for the time I had with her, though it was much less time than I had expected.

I am thankful that my father is my best friend.  I am thankful that his love is unwavering, and he tolerates any and all of my flaws.

I am thankful for the sacrifices he has made throughout the years, and I am thankful that he continues to make those sacrifices for my younger brother.

I am thankful for the examples he has set for me in life, I am thankful that I will carry on his tradition of always questioning authority, always standing up for the little guy, for having a sense of fairness, and always seeking justice.

I am thankful for being born his son.

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This is a personal blog, this is mainly for fun and to experiment with various thoughts that just pop into my head. It is my version of the interwebs on ADD.

This blog is also about personal development as I have found I’ve been lacking in various aspect in my life. When you focus on one thing and one thing only, in an almost obsessive manner, to the exclusion of other things in your life. You become one dimensional and unbalanced.

I’m working on changing that, and that is what this blog will reflect from here on out.

I am posting this in a new category I call “gratitoodz.” I will be posting in this category every day to show what it is I can find to be thankful for. This will be different for a person who is prone to finding the negativity in life, it will be I’m sure a bit painful too.

I shall begin with this post right now…

What I am thankful for today

• I woke up this morning
• I am loved by family and friends
• I am respected by family and friends
• I am healthy

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Day 4
Coca Cola Christmas, El Cid and the jitney drivers, this pretty much sums up my day in Mazatlan.

Today was guys day out. Karen, Randi and Mylene were heading into town for $15 massages, and oh how I envied them. Me, I was stuck with Jim and Joe. We took Linda’s advice and took a jitney down to El Cid, which is a time share resort that opens its pool and beach to tourists.

We grabbed a jitney cab, which is sort of a golf cart with a Volkswagen engine. These little boogers are quick, and maneuver a bit too easily through the streets. The interesting thing about these drivers in Mazatlan, they all approach the four way intersection that has no stop signs the same way. With their feet pressed to the floorboard going as fast as they can. After about the 3rd or 4th time you have passed through one of these intersections as a gambler you do begin to quickly realize that variance occurs, and it’s time to get your aces cracked.

This video is a tame version of the ride:

Our first stop in town was at the Cathedral. But across the street there was something far more interesting, a Coca-Cola Christmas tree. The tree is set up right on the outskirts of this beautiful park.

According to Jim, he learned on his last trip to Mazatlan, that the Coca-Cola bottling company apparently subsidizes some program for the local elementary schools. In return, the kids get to drink coke all day long, but every morning they have to sing the Coca-Cola jingle. If true, Mazatlan’s children have a lot to look forward to as fat, toothless adults.

After the stop downtown we headed out to El Cid where we spent the day swimming, and lounging on the beach. My only complaint is the amount of vendors that hit you up all day long. However I did get a pair of $6 “Ray Bans” after Joe paid $15 just moments before.

The girls eventually showed up, and Mylene and Karen decided to go para sailing. The cost was right, only $25.00. I would have participated, but it wasn’t fear of heights that kept me from joining in the fun. But the fear of my 250 pound body being strapped into something so closely wrapped near my testicles.

We ended the day at a local eatery, the food was great, and the prices reasonable.
Our ride back along the cost:

And now the pics

Of course to top off the night…

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Day 2

We spent day 2 on the ocean as we headed down to our first port of call, Cabo San Lucas.

We held our first tournament that Sunday morning, and World Series Circuit winner, Doug Lee came in first.

Not much else to report for the day. We worked, we ate, and we played.

Day 3

We awakened on day 3 in our first port, Cabo San Lucas. An interesting town to say the least, a bit more touristy than the other ports in my opinion. It seemed that it was just 20 city blocks of tourist shops and not much else.

I didn’t sign up for any excursions on the entire trip. It was just enough for me to visit the towns and see what I could on foot. To get involved in local life is to me far more interesting than swimming with dolphins, or swinging from tree to tree via zip lines.

For most of the day we walked around the town just taking in some of the sights like for example Sammy Hagar’s Cabo Wabo. I didn’t do any drinking at Cabo Wabo, I did however do some shopping on the way back to the ship and bought my nieces some souvenirs

All in all it was a very nice day in Cabo. We returned to the ship in time for dinner, and then it was back to the poker room once we left port.

I once again got to bed sometime around 1:00 a.m. only to find another piece of art work created out of towels by our steward.

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Thanks to my good friends Linda Johnson and Jan Fisher, part owners of Card Player Cruises I was invited to be a part of the poker room staff on their 2007 Mexican Riviera Cruise.

This was my very first cruise ever, and to say I was excited about it would be an understatement. I’m pretty certain another good friend of mine Jim Leitner was quickly growing tired of my questions regarding the cruise.

The cruise was to last 7 days, from December 1st, through December 8th, and take us from San Diego, to Cabo San Lucas, Mazatlan, Puerto Vallarta, and back.

Day 1

I was awake early, all packed ready to go. Jim and Mylene were supposed to pick me up at 6:30 but of course as always they were late.

Linda after returning for a brief layover from her 6 week trip through the Cook Islands, Fiji, New Zeland, Australia, Singapore, Thailand, and wherever else, was up that morning when I awoke. She finally got to bed sometime around 6:30 a.m. only to be awakened about an hour later by knocks on the door and the doorbell ringing from two of the smartest dumb people I’ve ever known.

We quickly loaded up their car and we were on our way. If you have never traveled in time machine, then you have never ridden with Jim. We left Las Vegas sometime around 7:35 that Saturday morning, and we arrived in San Diego in November. Yes, that’s how fast Jim drives. Not to mention he weaves in his lane more than me in my Ford Taurus which is in bad need of an alignment.

I was amazed at how quickly we got onto the ship once we reached port. There really was no line, and once we dropped off our bags with the porters, I was in my room and unpacking within twenty minutes.

I quickly headed out onto the deck to snap a couple of pictures, sorry this first batch was set on a lower quality:

At roughly 5:00 pm we took over the Vista Theater, and handed out swag to the Card Player Cruise passengers while Linda entertained them on stage with some great advice peppered with a bit of humor.

Then it was onto our first dinner, with the poker room opening up soon after at 7:00 pm.

Joe and I handled the tournament sign ups, then worked the floor for a bit and I got into bed sometime around 1:00 am.

The service on the ship is amazing, and each night with turn down service, your steward always leave a little something on your bed to send you off to sleep with a smile.

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