My Aunt Rosie died tonight

My mom's younger sister died tonight after a long battle with Huntington's Disease. Here she is, almost four years ago at my house.

Huntington disease (HD) is a hereditary brain disorder with devastating effects on both mind and body.

• One in every 1,000 Canadians is touched by HD – for example, as an affected individual, person at risk, friend, family member or caregiver.
• One in every 10,000 Canadians has Huntington disease.
• Every child of a person with HD has a 50% risk of inheriting the disease.

My mother is one of five children, and she is the only one of the five who didn't inherit the disease (80%). This means that neither I nor my siblings can get it. Mom's other younger sister (Suzie) passed away several years ago and her older brother (Patty) passed away several months ago. She only has one sibling left, an older sister (Patricia), who has been in a home for several years now with the disease. It is very difficult to watch as a loved one slowly deteriorates from the disease.

I am very saddened at her passing. She was (as were each of my mother's family) a very good person who had been through a lot of hardship in life, especially early on. She has found peace and is now with Uncle Patty and Aunt Suzie.

God bless you Aunt Rosie.

Move over Minnesota Fats

I play in two seperate pool leagues. Although the game frustrates me at times, I find it to be a fun and challenging way to spend some of my free time. Like I said, I'm in two leagues. My Wednesday night league is a "fun" league. Anyone can join, the rules are a little bit relaxed, and the stakes are low. The Monday night league is a "Vegas" league. It's a little more intense and competitive. The winning team earns a free trip to represent the league in a national tournament in Las Vegas, Nevada. BIG stakes!

Now the news...

In my "fun" league, my team barely made the playoffs by coming in 6th place, the final berth of the playoffs. We played well and it came right down to the wire... We tied the championship round and forced a tie breaking playoff. We lost... er... came in second place overall.

In my "Vegas" league, the top half of the teams played the finals in the "A" division, competing for the trip to Vegas. The bottom half played the finals in the "B" division, competing for pride and a couple of bucks. My team was second to last place in the regular season, pushing us into the "B" division competition. We pounded our fellow "B" division teams and earned an opportunity to compete for the title. Well, we clinched the title tonight... 1st Place among the losers!

What a week! Second place AND the best of the losers!!! Imagine what I could accomplish if I could actually shoot pool...

Permanent Vacation - almost

Well. I did it. I resigned from the company I've worked with for 6 and a half years. I've had a great time, learned a lot, and had the opportunity to work with and for gobs of great people, many of whom I hope I remain in contact with.

So, the good news for all of y'all out there is that hopefully my posts regarding me being a workaholic and my exposure to the she-devil will be a thing of the past!!!

My last day was last Thursday, and I start my new job this coming Monday (the 24th). I'll try to post more often and more interestingly going forward...