Christmas break/45th birthday

Nothing too exciting to report. Ate/drank too much of course. Back to counting calories today.

Had my annual Nightmare Before Christmas poker tourney. $40 tourney, no cash game. We only had 8 people due to some nasty weather. Data and big Keith went heads-up, Keith won. Had intentions of hitting the casino for at least 1 session, but never made it.

Went to see Quire Cleveland do 600-700 year old Christmas carols, which is always pretty cool. TK and Crina joined us. Met up with Mr Coleman afterward. Always a pleasure.

Saw The Hobbit again with my mom this time. Better the 2nd time. Saw Django Unchained on the 27th. GREAT freaking movie. Best movie all year, although Moonrise Kingdom was close.

Got some cool gifts for Christmas...clothes, Brita water filter for the fridge, sweet new Swiss Gear backpack,  some cash, books, etc. I would have been happy with just a nice dinner with family/friends.I bought 8 tix to see Brian Regan on 1/20/2013 in Youngstown, so that should be cool.

Caprice had a small get-together for me on the 28th for my birthday. Had about a dozen people over. Good times.

Spent NYE with some friends at a small party. Ate beef tenderloin, shrimp, and some other great stuff. Turned 45 at midnight. Didn't dread this b-day nearly as much as 40.

Watched the first 2 seasons of The Walking Dead. Pretty decent show, although they do so many stupid things it drives me nuts. It's the zombie apocalypse, and most of the characters are walking around unarmed. They sleep in tents when there are probably tons of working RV's nearby. There should be plenty of food, guns/ammo, medicine, etc, yet they act like there is nothing left. They often needlessly risk the safety of the entire group for dumb reasons.

Browns lost to PIT in their last game, but the Stillers didn't make the playoffs either, so the CLE win against them last month really helped knock them out. Who knows what's next for the Browns after the coach and GM got canned. I'd like to see Saban come back to town, but it ain't gonna happen.I also found out that 2 guys I know may be giving up their season tix. I may take 1 of them. Same seats we always have. I'll get 8 home games but will trade around so I get 4 pairs.

New Year's resolutions

• Lose 25-30 lbs by June
• Exercise more!! I really don't exercise much in the winter. I still get killer sinus headaches if I do anything strenuous when temps drop below 45 degrees. I definitely want to get some hikes in with the meetup group.
• Put some more $$ in the bank while also reducing my debt. I managed to save some money over the past year, even more than I had planned to. I also want to stash some cash for our trip to CA either this spring or summer. I'd like to fly in to SoCAL then drive up the coast to Portland or Seattle along the Pacific Coast Highway. Want to make stops in wine country and SF, and see some comedy at the Ice House in Pasadena. Lots of big name comics test out new material there. Supposed to be a great room.
• Brown-bag it at work more. I eat out almost every day at work. I think I spend about $140/month on lunch. 
• Reduce my cable bill. Might get a Roku box after checking out TK's. 
• Learn to play PLO. I keep hearing how juicy the PLO games are at the Horseshoe. I know the game, but need to read a book on it and really LEARN what the hell I'm doing.  I'll also sit down at the $2-5 NL game more often. Over the years I've done very well at $2-5 at casinos. 
• Volunteer. I never did do anything this Christmas, but I really want to do something meaningful. 

So, I'll be going to bed hungry for a while. Gotta immerse myself in healthy foods too. I also still want to do a 3-day juice fast or something similar. Last time I tried, 1100 calories/day was easier than 1800/day. I also went nearly 100% vegan for almost 3 weeks, but that wasn't easy. I think an 80% veggie-20% meat ratio is decent. Either way, I have to give it a try.