I like bubble wrap.

Life is tough when you are a procrastinator. I should know, I've been carrying on as one for 20 years (I figure it started once I hit kindergarten). I've been meaning to work on it, but for some reason, I keep putting it off. Someday. I keep putting the blog off too, but with a keen and mildly impatient (if I do say so myself) Mom on the receiving end of it, I can only get away with that for so long.

Okay, so, I've got good news and I've got bad news--which one do you want first? For the sake of my storytelling, we are going to go good news first then bad.  If that wasn't what you voted for, I'm sorry--if it makes you feel any better, no ones vote actually mattered to me, not just yours.

Alright alright, so the good news! Not only did my team qualify for playoffs, as previously mentioned, BUT, this time, my team actually got to participate in them as well. Evidently, that is standard procedure--who knew? If you know the story of my previous team you'll appreciate that bit of comedy, if you don't, then go educate yourself by perusing my archives before questioning my jokes. Anyways, that's only half of the good news--that's right, this is a two-parter so hold onto your hats. The other half is that we finished 2nd place in league, so we would have home court advantage through the playoffs. Go us.
We faced Cockburn first, the 7 seed, who we had beaten both times in regular season, though never by a large margin. They're a pesky team and always seem to stick around even though we are far more talented. Playoffs are best of 3 over here, and home court advantage means you get games 2 and 3 at home, but play game 1 on the road. Stupid. That's right, I said it--I think that is crap. I didn't find this out until right before playoffs started otherwise I would have staged a riot or something. It was irrelevant in our first series--we beat Cockburn in 2--but I still contend playing game 1 on the road is a disadvantage. Neither game against Cockburn was close and we moved onto the semi-finals against Wanneroo.

Wanneroo finished 3rd place behind us and is undoubtedly the toughest defensive team in the league. Conveniently, we are easily the best offensive team in the league, so the series would certainly be a test for both sides.  In regular season we killed them at home and got killed on the road, but both games were tied at one stage in the 3rd quarter, making it tough to predict this series outcome. Here is where playing game 1 on the road can crucially impact a series. We lost at Wanneroo in an ugly, physical game by 9 points. It was one of our less impressive games and arguably one of their best, so a 9 point deficit wasn't insurmountable moving forward. The following week we hosted them and happily returned the favor, winning by 10 though leading by as much as 22, tying up the series. Game 3 was the following night again at home and the fatigue had visibly set in. Both games 1 and 2 were high scoring, while this game was 31-27 at half, us on top. No one could score so it came down to who could defend better, and by the end of the 4th quarter it was the team who had built their whole season on defense that won. Certainly we weren't great offensively, but they were stellar defensively, giving credence to the adage "defense wins championships". They will get their chance on Friday in the championship game.

So another season has ended with a disappointing loss. I am grateful this time we at least got the chance to play for a title, but losing game 3 to get to the championship is brutal. Incredibly, I was asked to re-sign, which of course I did, so I will be back next season. Our banquet is this Saturday and should be a nice opportunity to celebrate a memorable season and say goodbye. The league banquet is the following Saturday, the day before I fly out, so I will get to attend that as well.

I don't leave for Slovakia till September 8th so I've found myself with a couple weeks to kill between seasons. Other than a couple banquets a week apart, I don't have too much on the ol' calendar. It occurred to me: I could mope around and do nothing, or I could fly to Bali and quit being a poor loser. Bali it is. Admittedly, I don't know much about Bali, except what I learned from Julia Roberts in Eat Pray Love. Here is what I know about Bali: beautiful beaches and cheap massages. Sold. I didn't even bother researching the area after I confirmed those two facts, I just booked my trip. I also got 3 of my teammates to come along with me. We leave Sunday and come back the following Thursday. I can't wait. Fingers crossed I run into Julia's friend Ketut, the medicine man. I bet he's exactly like his character in the movie.

I'm not a big fan of surprises... unless they are for me... and include a really big, mysterious box... with sparkly wrapping... and tons of bubble wrap. There has to be bubble wrap. I like bubble wrap. That's a surprise I can get on board with. Otherwise they sort of stink, ya know what I mean? Last week I got a huge surprise, and notwithstanding the bubble wrap oversight, it was one of the greatest surprises to date. Bri, my teammate from Wolfenbuttel, signed with my Slovakian team last week, reuniting us for another season in Europe. To give you an idea of my level of surprise, I peed a tiny bit when she told me. That's when you know it's good. We will be living together again and now I am certain at least one person on my team will speak english, so that's a win-win.

Next time you hear from me, I will be in Slovakia, fresh off my Bali adventure and starting a new one. I am sad to be leaving Oz after such a great experience, but I am really looking forward to beginning the next chapter. Besides, I'll be back for Oz part two next summer, so at least I got that going for me. Catch ya!