Bachelor Party

I was a bachelor for half a day Saturday and then Saturday night.
I had completely forgotten what it was like to sit in the house in the morning and contemplate what I was going to do that day, rather than trying to keep my nose above the rushing tide of chaos. Usually by that time I'm holding a twin or trying to keep Jayden from throwing something through a window.
Friday night, after my buddy decided not to climb Mount Elbert, it occurred to me that my guided hike wasn't going to happen, and the only two people going on the trip was my running partner and her husband. I would have enjoyed a day with them up Colorado's tallest mountain, as my chances to climb this year have been, shall we say, limited.
But then it occurred to me than since Kate was already planning to head down to her parents' house, about an hour away, I could actually spend the day alone.
In the past, before I had children, namely before I had twins, spending the day alone would have been a good excuse to head up to the hills. Why would I spend the day in the house when I could be on a peak?
These days, spending the day in a quiet house, with no one to answer to myself (well, nothing but the lawn, the dog and a pressing need to get groceries), sounds like paradise island. I mean party playing poker with the naked cast of "Sorority Girl 8" doesn't sound as good as that these days.
I did momentarily question my devotion to the mountains. Here was a free chance to head up a peak, without any guilt attached, and I chose to spend some time at home. But I used to beat myself up for taking a weekend off even in a summer when I had already climbed 20 peaks. Having the twins has left with no apologies on how I spend my free time these days because free time only comes in bits and pieces, not the huge chunks I enjoyed in the past. So I do what I want to do, not what I think I should do.
That meant playing a video game for two-and-a-half hours, then mowing the lawn (ah, well, we can't escape everything) and then watching a movie and going to the store (I don't mind those trips as much because I can buy myself treats like Recess Peanut Butter Puffs cereal).
And finally it meant going down to Denver to see my kids.
And playing poker at Black Hawk.
When the movie ended, and the store was behind me, and the lawn was mowed, I realized that I was a little bored. It was 3:30 p.m. Now what? It made me realize how little there was to my life before I had a family.
Now I used to hate it when people said that in the past. A family isn't everything, I would say, and my life was pretty darn fulfilling. Well, I think I was wrong about that, and today I can't even believe I'm saying that. I always thought I would be fine if I lived alone.
I'd still be fine, but my life would not be as full. It's such a cliche, and yet even the lamest cliches sometimes are true.
I did head up to Black Hawk to play some 2/5 limit poker. It was pretty uneventful. I played too tight, but then again, I only lost $11 after getting dealt a bunch of crap most of the night.
Live, $2/5 limit poker, I've found, isn't a very interesting game. It's so much fun to play live, I'll play it, but I'm discovering how boring it actually is. I've only played $3/6 limit live once in my life, but they seem like equal games. All you can do is play good hands, play them hard and hope no one sucks out on you.
That's it. There's no bluffing, there's no trickery since you really just want to get bets in, and yes you can raise, and you should raise, but don't expect that raise to push people off hands.
Given that, I try to pay attention to position and play only the best hands to a raise and many other hands that could turn into big ones with good flops, including connectors and small pairs. It's pretty boring and predictable, but it's also effective. I just didn't get enough hands to make it pay off. My only flaw was folding too many hands I could have played to a raise, but that's a small mistake, and though some hands would have hit, others would have cost me, like A,J.
I haven't played live poker in Black Hawk in a long time, but even that was not the highlight of my day. All I needed was just a little time away to realize it, but the highlight was the hour and a half I spent with Kate getting Sonic burgers, sharing a shake with Jayden, holding Allie and playing "superbaby" with Andie (her current favorite game, she loves to be in the air).
Well, that and beating that next level on my video game. Yes, I'm maturing, but I'm not overdoing it.