Thursday, August 16, 2012

Beating the Odds

Today's Workout :
2 mile Fast Walk (is that an oxymoron?)
30 minutes (3 "miles") steady pool running

I won't bore you with the boring details of my boring walk and boring "running" back and forth (endlessly) in the boring pool.


(just a teaser. there was pavement! grass! mailboxes!)


Instead, today, I thought we'd celebrate the fact that the 2012 WSOP (World Series of Poker) is currently being aired on ESPN. Televised poker is Reality TV at it's finest. There's money, tension, laughter, drama, romance, celebrities...and, of course,  poker.

While my husband and I are not big gamblers, per se, we do enjoy a good card game. And, when one isn't available, watching other people enjoying a good card game is sufficient.

Raising children, (3 boys, in this case) can often feel like a high-stakes, life-long tournament. You invest everything. All of your time, money, patience and love gets dumped into the pot, from the day they're born. The payoff can be phenomenal, but grinding it out, for decades is exhausting, to say the least.

As much as I love (I really do!) having all the boys home with me for Summer Break, it often feels like we're involved in a 3-month tournament. Winner(s) take mom's sanity.

This brings us to the subject of Proposition Bets. These are commonly referred to as Prop Bets or Side Bets and can add an extra level of excitement to the game. (reference)  Apparently, the regular Summer Tournament wasn't exciting enough for them. Halfway though a poking, screaming, food-throwing, milk-spilling, incessant arguing lunch, yesterday,  I told my husband I was onto them.

 "They must have a Prop Bet going on! They're competing to see who can make me scream say "I can't wait 'til you all go back to school!!" "
totally staged. They don't often sit around, gambling.

Luckily, I'm a much more skilled poker player than they are. Despite being the serious underdog, (3:1 odds?! ...they're almost guaranteed to win!) I know how to beat them at their new game and hold my tongue.

Also, come Monday morning, I know the scene will look a little something like this :



My heart will break. As much as I'll try, I won't be able to wish Summer 2012 back. At least I'll be able to let them go with zero regrets...and a couple of extra chips in my pocket.

6 comments:

  1. That boy in the middle has quite the poker face. :)

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    1. haha! One of the pictures that didn't make the cut involved him showing everyone his cards. He may not make the family poker team, this year...

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  2. Again, with the tears in my eyes!

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  3. I'm excited for heading back to school. I would keep my daughter home all year, but my son needs the friends and classroom time. And I need my away-from-the-craziness time. Shhh, don't tell him I said that.

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    1. haha. Your secret's safe with me...
      I look forward to it, for them. They need the routine.
      It's the 1st year, for me, of having them ALL gone, though. I'm pretty sure once I've dried my tears, I won't have too much trouble filling all my new free time. ;)

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