A good weekend

Howdy folks. For those of you who don't know, this past Saturday was my 34th birthday! Unfortunately I had to work 1pm-9pm behind the craps table that day, but I've had the last two days off. Much to my dismay, I was called into work on Friday, which was the day I was planning on catching up with my friend Steve and diving into his bachelor party activities. It just never happened though. My birthday wrapped up a work schedule that had me working 7 out of the previous 8 days, so on Friday and Saturday nights, I just didn't have much motivation to do much of anything. Sorry about my previous post promising the sorted details of the partying, but I just didn't feel like going out and spending all of the money I'd made each of those days on stippers and booze!

Yikes, I guess I AM getting old!!

Instead of hittin' the town Saturday night, I just came home and cracked open the case of Coors Original I've had in the fridge for a couple of weeks now. The beer helped me enjoy the NASCAR race from Bristol that I'd DVR'd earlier that night (and successfully avoided watching at work) and the triumphant USA/Spain Olympic basketball game that I watched LIVE around 2am. I know that's not much of a birthday party, but my roommate Jeff said I looked like I had a great time (as well as the few people that I drunk-texted that night)!

However, on Sunday I got my birthday treat. Danielle took me down to Amore's for some authentic Chicago deep-dish goodness! Like always, I went with the stuffed pie with their awesome homemade sausage, and I even added in a second topping of mushrooms. I don't think I've mentioned this on the blog yet, but I got some blood work done about a month ago and my cholesterol was a little high at 214. I know that's not too terrible, but I've always been under 200. Also, my triglycerides were really high! So I've actually been eating pretty damn responsibly these past few weeks. Nothing but salads, lean turkey sandwiches and fruit at work with some healthier choices at home. I wouldn't call it a diet, but I think I've drank a total of three pops (or sodas, whichever you prefer) the entire month. So Saturday night/Sunday was my time to splurge a little. Well okay, a LOT!!! The pizza and Pepsi were a little shock to the system as I felt pretty lethargic the rest of the day. But man it was good!

After pizza, Danielle and I went over to the Las Vegas Outlet Mall to do a little shopping. While there, I bought a new pair of work shoes (the first new pair I've sprung for since starting to deal last year) and we also stopped by a sporting goods place and I finally made the commitment! I bought my Santonio Holmes jersey! Since I was in the splurging mood, I went with the jersey that is the step above the "replica" jerseys with the better fabric and sown-on letters/numbers (not the cheaper screen printed stuff). I must say I'll be looking pretty damn snazzy during Sundays at work this football season!
A special thanks to my parents for sending me a birthday check with the express written agreement that it much be used to purchase the jersey. I mentioned to them a couple of weeks ago about being able to wear it at work and they immediately told me it would be their birthday gift to me.

I also had Monday off, but didn't really do much of anything. Our weekly geek-squad poker night was pretty fun, even though Chris is back home in Michigan and a couple of the other regulars have moved to New Mexico (a different story all-together). We used to just play a no-limt hold'em cash game every week, but it has slowly turned into a dealer's choice game. One oddball game that I had never considered before was a hold'em "double flop" game, which I actually thought was pretty cool. Basically, you play it exactly like regular hold 'em, but there are two boards to play from. The player who has the best hand on each board gets half the pot at the end of the hand.

Unfortunately, Tuesday marks the beginning of another 7 days out of the next 8 at work. The only day off that I have until next Thursday will be Saturday of all days! In case you're wondering, I DON'T particularly care for this kind of schedule. It seems like I get two days off in a row every other week, and the weeks in-between contain split days off. It is VERY good that I'm getting solid hours in at work since our tokes only average about $85 per day, but when I have one of those lonely stand-alone days off, it almost doesn't feel like I have a day off at all!

There's one fortunate aspect of spiking this Saturday off though, and that would be the FIRST COLLEGE FOOTBALL SATURDAY!!! Last week I bought Danielle a Buckeye t-shirt and Buckeye bead/necklace to try to sway her towards the good guys (she doesn't really have a true football college allegiance.......YET) and I've talked her into wearing them as we go watch Ohio State play Youngstown State down at the Boulevard Bar and Grill, a Buckeye backer bar across the street from South Point casino. She's going to make the road trip with me and my friends in October to Michigan State, so I'm just getting her in the mood early!

Okay, that's it for now. It's after 4am on Tuesday morning and I have to be into work at noon. Have a good Tuesday everyone.