All the world’s a stage,
And all the men and women merely players.
They have their exits and their entrances,
And one man in his time plays many parts,
His acts being seven ages. -William Shakespeare

I played poker for the first time last night - not for money, of course.

I won the first real hand, but it was downhill from there…

Some highlights:

• Byron bluffed the whole table and won a ton of chips with a 4 and a 5.
• I got excited and raised the ante without ever looking at my cards.
• I stayed in and tried to win with a pair of 8’s - acting like I had a full house…it didn’t work (I lost everything).
• Kayleigh won the night…barely.
• Barry really doesn’t like to lose (but he makes great chicken Parmesan and garlic knots).
• Playing poker with Byron is just like monopoly…he always seems to win even if he’s dealt a terrible hand.

All my Christmas trees are down, and most of the decorations have been packed away…

We leave for the ocean tomorrow - I can already hear the waves.

2007 is winding down. I can’t say that I’m sorry to see it go…

There will be more peace in 2008, I’m confident - there has to be.

Back to packing up Christmas boxes…it looks too sad to have them just sitting around.

Peace.