Some people have to work.

I’ve been negligent. And I don’t have an excuse for not writing—actually, that’s a lie, I have heaps of excuses, but I’ll spare you…mostly because they are pretty pedestrian and you deserve better. I find myself spectacularly overwhelmed at the moment with the amount of information I have to cover (a months worth), so if this post becomes progressively unimpressive and vapid, well, tough crap. Some people have to work alright, and just because I don’t happen to be one of those people, doesn’t mean I’m not allowed to use that argument. Annnnyways, here come the goods, so stay sharp.

Last I left you, we were about to play Perry Lakes and East Perth in a double-header following my first lost since I got out here. My summary of the Perry Lakes game is simple—we got out-worked. Our effort was atrocious, and that’s all I have to say about that. We faced East Perth the following night at home and decided we could be bothered to work hard this game and won by a fair margin. We headed to Kalamunda the following Saturday night and despite an embarrassing first quarter that finished with us down 27-7, we got our poop in a group and tied the game up by half. We dominated the next 20 minutes and won by 20, giving Kalamunda their first home loss of the season. We followed up a great win at Kalamunda with an appalling loss to Willetton at home. I reckon Willetton is the best team we’ve played, but I still think we should beat them. We either play very well or just shockingly poor, it's interesting. And by interesting I mean completely maddening. Long story short, we turned the ball over and didn’t defend—not a winning combination. After the disappointing loss to Willetton, I had to do my least favorite activity: feign cheerfulness. It’s frustrating and I am revolting at it, but it’s part of the gig I suppose. It was my teammates birthday party following our game and it was costume themed, so there was really no way out of this one since I’d spent very little time and money on my costume already. Still, I couldn’t let either go to waste, so feign I did. We were meant to dress up as something starting with the initial of your name—so “s” for me. I considered “single white female” or “sunburnt” before landing on Sandy from Grease. Throw on some black leather and red lipstick and bingo-bango, Sandy. I don’t recall why I thought this would be a good idea, cause it wasn’t, but people seemed to recognize who I was, so yay me. Despite myself, I did end up having some fun, though I made sure the fun was limited, after all, we did just lose.

We had another double-header this past weekend against Perth and Wanneroo. Perth is not a very talented team but they kept it close until the 4^th quarter. Fortunately we were able to string a little scoring run together and get the win at home. First place Wanneroo was the following night and we now sat just behind them in second. We beat them at home by 26 the first time around, but I knew this game would be much closer. For a half the game was much closer, in fact, it was tied after 20 minutes. It stopped being a close game after that. I don’t know if it was fatigue or lack of focus, but we stopped executing on both ends and ended up losing by double digits. Eesh. So after not losing for 9 games, we have now lost 4 of our last 7. 

I’ve been at my job for about 5-6 weeks now, and I am still not allowed in the kitchen. Of course I can be in the kitchen, as an observer or distraction (semantics), but not as a cook or something productive. Look, I don’t blame them, but it is mildly insulting. Surely I can be helpful somehow! Last Friday, however, I was working with one of our chefs, Lisa, and she decided to throw me a bone: skinning the carrots. This was it, I’d finally been called up, I thought. Sure, a 5-year old could do this job, but that wasn’t important. This was my moment to show them I was just as capable, if not more, than a 5-year old, so I needed to bring my A-game. I was going to be the best carrot skinner ever. Obviously this little anecdote wouldn’t have made my blog if that last statement came to fruition. Somewhere in the midst of all my excitement (it was palpable) I must have stopped listening, so instead of skinning the carrots I went ahead and just peeled the carrots… every last one. Too keen, Sam. There’s really no coming back from that either, in terms of a quick fix. Lisa wasn't amused at all. As she approached me, I peered up at her, proudly, anticipating her approval. Instead I got a disgusted if not confused gaze and an escort back to the register.  Looks like I’ll be working there for a bit longer. It’s better this way, not everyone can hack it in the big leagues.

It hasn’t been all work though for me this past month. I’ve been rock climbing (indoor, but still, feel free to be impressed), golfing and dog walking! The golfing turned out to be a bit of an adventure since we decided to rent carts AND let Sami drive one... eventually. I went with a few friends, all of them named Ryan, which was an irritating coincidence, and played a round of 18 for only the 3^rd time in my life I’d guess. We rented carts though, as I mentioned, so I wasn’t too worried. As a matter of fact, being the speedster that I am, I was really excited about potentially driving. I rode with Ryan (haha, obviously) and he took the wheel first—I was fine with this because I knew my moment would come. Well, two holes in and I still hadn't touched the gas pedal; I was starting to worry that maybe Ryan was a bit of a sexist and I’d never drive. I decided to take things into my own hands and 2 holes later I usurped Ryan as the driver while he was searching for his ball in the rough. Boom. I started out slowly, easing my way into things, following the paths and avoiding people. It wasn’t till the 8^th hole that things got disastrous. Ryan hopped out to retrieve his ball and I was feeling entirely too confident behind the wheel when I overlooked a giant sandpit and dove right into it. Just like that, I was the clichéd, incompetent female driver, stuck in a sand ditch. And I kid you not, the 3 Ryans had to dig the cart out for about 10 minutes before it would move. To be clear, I didn't drive into a bunker next to the green in plain sight, no no. I'm not some sort of idiot. This guy came out of nowhere and was suspiciously located alongside the fairway. Needless to say, I was stripped of my driving privileges and viciously mocked. Good times.

We play this weekend at Cockburn and, finally, with our stud post Darcee who has been gone playing internationally for Australia nearly the whole time I've been here. Must be nice. Anyways, she will undeniably be a huge boost for us so I am excited to have her back. We only have 4 games or so until playoffs start, which is both exciting and hard to believe.

Happy Independence Day everybody! If my memory serves, and it usually doesn’t so fair warning, this is my first 4^th of July outside America. I am incredibly bummed to be missing it, but I know I can count on all of you to do some extra celebrating for me. Go USA!