Room for improvement.

Two more weeks, two more games and two more wins. Neat. Wannerroo was sitting in first place when we played them two weeks ago, just one game ahead of us, so we went ahead and took their spot, beating them by 26 points. I had 25 points, 9 boards, 4 assists and an alarming 6 turnovers. Despite the final score, the game was in fact close for the first 3 quarters. With a few exceptions, that has been our method all season--outlasting teams in the 4th quarter. This weekend we played Kalamundo at home, a top 4 team that disrupts teams with their in-your-face pressure defense and up-tempo offense. We certainly struggled early on, missing heaps of wide open lay-ups and just as many outside shots. We led by 6 at half and it was still close going into the 4th quarter before we went on our run, winning by double digits. We missed early and often, but when it counted, we made big shots. I had 33 points, 8 rebounds and 5 steals. I made 7 3's for the first time ever, but it took me 17 attempts. You read that right. That is just woeful. Normally taking 17 shots total in a game is a lot, but 17 3's? Someone sit her down!

We have the bye this week and then we start up play for the second half of regular season games the following Friday night. We have been playing pretty well overall, but we certainly have room for improvement if we want to continue winning the second time around. Since we don't have a game this weekend though, we had a little team bonding action Monday night at my teammates place instead of training. Everyone made food and brought games. I know I don't have to tell you what I made--say it with me: deviled eggs. Bingo. In addition to bringing food, there was a dress code--onesies. I have a little experience in this department so I felt pretty confident. And just to clarify, it appears I am flipping the bird in the team picture, but I assure you there is another finger up too, it's just blending in with my hair...or the really white wall.

The Eurobasket website announced their "all-league" teams and awards earlier this week for the German leagues since the championship is over, and it turns out they picked me for stuff. Somehow I was named guard of the year, and was 1st team all-league and all-imports. I don't know who votes for this--I envision a panel of middle-aged men that don't actually watch our games but instead cast their votes based solely on arbitrary facts, like the color of our shoes. I wore purple shoes so naturally I carried that vote--ipso-facto--guard of the year. Thanks guys. Incidentally, I got new shoes recently and they are neon green and a sharp blue, sooooo, my future looks bright.

The more I work at the store, the more I've discovered what years of high school math proved to be impossible--I am rather good with numbers. I think I just lacked the proper arena to truly nurture my gift before. But now, surrounded by numbers and calculating customers' change, complicated math equations are nothing. Your total is $5.50 and you give me $10? $4.50 change, boom. Not impressed? How about the total is $25.75 and the customer pays with $50, but then, last minute tries to bamboozle you by adding in the .75 cents. I can do that change without even counting on my fingers. Yeah... I know. I would have dominated calculus if it was more of this and less of the, well, the calculus.

I have also been able to tap into my undeniable comedic wit at work, as I was put in charge of our street sign in front of the store. This is a real task, I assure you. The space is limited and obviously it needs to be relative to our services, but I accepted the challenge. I included a picture of the verbiage I came up with, and I gotta tell you, I am pretty proud. So here is some background: we sell Rosie's tasty chicken at the store which a lot of people come in for, and most the workers are ladies so... look, if you aren't laughing now, you suck.

So you know how a lot of talents and gifts can be inherited or "run in the genes"? Well, I am here to tell you that golf is not one of those talents. My entire family is good at golf. My grandpa coached at my high school and can still shoot a 78. My dad has been winning pro am's and tournaments since he was a kid and my brother has always had a natural knack for it too. Even my mom--God bless her nonathletic soul--has game. Maybe the golf genes can only be given to the first born. Seems legit. Don't get me wrong, when I don't whiff the ball, I hit the crap out of it, usually in the general vicinity of the hole. From there though, it's all down hill. I played the back 9 last week at this lovely golf course nearby, and while it's been awhile since I've actually golfed, I don't remember being this bad. It took me one hole to decide I was not going to be scoring my round, but it doesn't take a genius to know that losing multiple balls and 4 four-putting every time adds up. As a general rule for my life, I don't like doing things I am really bad at, but the beauty of this is, I am pretty great at most things. It's a burden really. Still, it was a beautiful day and I had a good time so I will be back to swinging away soon. Putting it mildly, Sam's got room for improvement. I reckon my biggest hurdle will be finding someone willing to play with me again.

I got a new guitar for myself this week. Pretty happy about it. The last guitar I played was Morty's in Germany and you could barely call it playing then, but it's fun and I've got a huge void to fill in my life now that I am caught up on breaking bad. I have more time and lots of sadness, and let's face it, those are the two prerequisites for playing a guitar. Win-win.

I've got two words for you.

Whenever I can, I try to pass along any nuggets of wisdom or pieces of advice that I feel are pressing. But, being that I am not wise and I tend to not listen to the advice of others, I've never had anything to pass along...TILL NOW! So listen up, cause I've got two words for you: breaking bad. Don't confuse this brief moment of sincerity for my typically sarcastic, glib nature. If you haven't seen this show, your life isn't as awesome as it could be. Really, you owe it to yourself to be better--I want this for you and so should you. I started watching it just shortly after getting to Australia and you've seen how great my life is these days. Coincidence? I think not.

Alright, now that that is out of the way, who is ready for a riddle? What's rusty, debilitated and way past it's prime? Kudos if you said the Celtics, but I was actually referring to my new "previously-owned" vehicle. He's a bit of a fixer-upper, but he sure does have character. What he doesn't have is curb appeal...or power windows...or power locks. Or a cd player. But he's got a trunk that won't quit and goes 0-20 in like 15 seconds flat. Least we know I won't be getting any speeding tickets with this bad boy (challenge accepted?). He's a bit camera shy presently, but I'll post some pictures next time.


We've won our last two games, extending our win streak to 7. I expect ESPN will be calling soon--just 27 more wins and we'll break the Laker's record for longest win streak. I don't want to count my chickens before they hatch or anything, but I think we can all agree that the first 7 wins are the hardest, so it's basically smooth sailing from here. Neither of the games were very close, but the wins moved us into 2nd place. I had 26 points, 10 rebounds, 5 steals and 5 assists in one game and the same stats the next game, except I scored 25 points. After our game in Bunburry, our furthest opponent--a mere hour and a half away--both our team and the men's team decided to stay and go out in the city after our games.

The city is actually shockingly banal, but I guess that wasn't really the point. It was a rather fun team activity and served as a platform for me to showcase my sparkling personality as I got to know everyone better. It is stunning to me that no matter where I go to play, I always meet someone who played with someone I know or played with. Basketball is so unique in that regard. We play tomorrow against the first place team. I don't need to tell you how excited I am about this game, but I will so that I have something to write about. I am very excited about this game. Good talk.

I've been a working girl (in its less venereal terms) for 3 weeks now, and I can't be 100% sure since this is purely based on my deplorable narcissism, but I think in congruence with my employment at the store, there has been a coinciding increase in sales and customer influx. I don't have "facts" or "numbers" or anything, but I did earn a respectable B in my college Econ class and it seems this is a classic case of supply and demand. Obviously I am in demand, in case that wasn't clear. Economics isn't for everyone. I'll probably bring that up with management, maybe even include like a bar graph? I pretty much run the store these days--I'm a rather quick learner. Like, this one time, my boss told me not to let anyone rob us. Seems basic, right? Well it's not, don't be fooled. Still, I'm no moron so it only took me being robbed once to understand why we don't want that to happen. Quick learner. Can you say upper-management?

Even with my part time job, I find myself with heaps of free time and so I decided to start working out with a personal trainer. My teammate Tucker has a brother that started training people professionally about a year ago and she and I had been doing some workouts with him, occasionally. This past week I decided I wanted to do it regularly with him and see how it goes. So far, it's not fun, I won't lie. Garth kicks my butt, which is great after the fact, but during it's absolutely miserable. I was actually scared to sneeze the other day because my "abs" were so sore. I should have bought a puppy.

Sunday is Mother's Day! I sure did get lucky in this department. Not only did I score the greatest mom, but I have been blessed with having a lot of other people's really awesome moms in my life too. I've sorta got a monopoly on the quality moms in the world. Jan, when you aren't annoying me, and we've seen great improvement in that department over the years, you are such a delight! I love you SO much and am grateful you put up with all my nonsense. I know it's moments like these that make it worth it :)