Getting ready for London and Watch Craig Ferguson Thursday!

I am getting ready to head off to London to play in the Premier League poker event there.  It should be fun but it is another trip away from the kids and Joe so quickly on the heels of Australia.  This whole balancing the family and work thing is a tough one.  I have spent every minute with the kids since I got back from Australia, having so much fun baking with them and cuddling and catching up on American Idol.  I wish I didn’t have to be away at all, ever.  But that is just not how it ever is going to be.

The problem lately is that I don’t have Joe around as much to take the edge off of missing the kids.  Joe is working as a director/producer for The Craig Ferguson Show.  It is a damn hot job, producing and directing comedy segments for Craig and I could not be more proud of Joe.  I could burst I am so happy for this opportunity for him to shine, shine, shine!   But it is a real job.  I mean a real job…leave at 9 am or earlier and get home at 7:30 at the earliest.  No just up and traveling with me whenever I go overseas.  None of that.  I have been so spoiled by his flexible schedule as an actor that I am having a hard time adjusting to the demands on his time from this new job.  I have to admit that as happy as I am for him I am a little bit lonely.  Which makes me feel like an asshole, but I am just a little but lonely asshole or not.

Anyway, Joe’s first segment is airing Thursday night so make sure to watch The craig Ferguson Show on Thursday (it is on right after Letterman).  I have already seen the piece and it is brilliant and fucking funny.  I mean FUNNY.  And I am not just saying that because Joe has sex with me.  I am saying that because the piece is really hilarious.  So tune is and then you be in on the secret that my boyfriend is a genius

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So last weekend I taught the Ladies World Series of Poker Academy.  It had a good turnout and the group of ladies was fantastic.  One of the women, Joan Enoch, is my college boyfriend’s mother.  It was really nice connecting with her and she was so sweet she gave me a cute lazy susan and she gave my kids each a gift as well, necklaces for the girls and a totem for Leo.  It was so nice of her to think of my whole family and I had a really nice time seeing her.

I was the main instructor for the camp so basically taught from 9 am till 6 pm each day with just a break on Friday for Joe Navarro’s wonderful lecture.  I was tired at the end of it but I always find the Ladies only camps to be really rewarding.  First, I always get the sense that the women are more dedicated in general and really thirsty for the knowledge.  Second, I love the idea of empowering these women with the knowledge to go out and kick ass in the poker world.  I think many women are intimidated to play with men at the tables just because they don’t have the confidence in their own abilities.  If I can make a dent in that and give some people the confidence to know that they have the tools to succeed then I am thrilled to have any part in that kind of confidence building.

I can’t wait for the next Ladies Academy in June and I am also looking forward to the Advanced Camp in April.  You can find out the details at www.wsopacademy.com.

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On to my marathon training:  Today I set a personal record, running 7 miles at an everage pace of 8:54.  So far my best average had been 9:20.  The key for me is that for a long time I was really afraid of running long, just th thought of getting through the 26 miles scared me.  I was just focusing on being able to run that long and not really worried about speed. But now I have done a 19.5 mile run and a 20.5 miler so I am confident that I can run the marathon.  Long no longer scares me.  So now I am working on fast.  I have a new goal to try to break 4 hours in the marathon.  Let’s hope! 

Tomorrow I am doing another long run with Mike (remember my running soul mate?).  We are doing some extreme hills during the run but nothing like the 20.5 miler we did last week.  So I am hoping we can get close to a 9 minute average mile on the run.  When we did the really extreme hillwork last Thursday we averaged a 9:50 so I would love to shave a bunch of time off that.  We will see!