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.