Just as lazy as I am.

I know, I know, I am waaaay behind again with this thing. But listen, it's not as though the blog will write itself--I mean, what do you think I've been doing for the past month, just sitting on my lazy butt doing anything but this? Alright yeah that's accurate, but that is only half true. I was also waiting to see if this blog would "write itself" like I keep hearing people insist, obnoxiously. Well, after a month of waiting and checking, I'm disappointed to announce my blog is just as lazy as I am. That was a real bummer. Looks like you're stuck with me.

I had my first visitor a few weeks ago. I know what you are thinking: why...why would anyone come to Slovakia to visit me? Valid question--rude, but valid. My high school coach and mentor Coach Joe Vaughan made the easy trip to Slovakia to hang out, and while I couldn't help but be surprised by the incredible gesture, I really shouldn't have been. He came to all my high school games (sure he was the coach, but still), he travelled to Seattle for my final home college game and to a handful of my college games over the years, he traveled to Chicago to watch me play (mostly sit the bench) for the Chicago Sky so, naturally, he'd come to Europe. Really, I should be asking why he didn't come sooner! Totally kidding, I know he was holding out for a tiny village in Slovakia to visit. Can't blame him. The man may be retired in theory, but he's still teaching, still coaching, and above all, still giving. It’s remarkable.

When I sat down to plan his visit as any good host would, I came up a bit empty. Of course we'd eat and nap and there would be the occasional conversation, but then what? Napping and eating, despite my best efforts, can't take up an entire day. So I talked to my teammates and they gave me a couple of touristy things I could do with him if we were feeling adventurous. My coach was visiting me in Slovakia, safe to say he's fairly brave. We took off in my car one day and drove to the mountains and went for a little hike and then we drove the opposite direction and found this amazing castle just 20 minutes outside Spisska. The castle was stunning and the perfect backdrop to get a picture together. Why is it that no one is ever hanging out around the castle to take a picture when you need them? The sprightly athlete that I am, I was able to set up my camera timer on a ledge and then leap across to the other ledge where we posed, all in 10 seconds. Don't act like you're not impressed. The rest of the trip was spent revisiting our favorite memories together and loads of laughter. You can’t pick your family, but you can pick your heroes. Coach Vaughan is mine.

Okay so I guess I ought to talk about basketball and our games. Let me just make this easier for all of us, though mostly me: we've played a lot of games, we won some we lost some. Yep, that about covers it. Gosh, this blog really might as well write itself with this kind of dodgy writing. Seriously though, we were struggling for a while there to beat a quality team. We could handle the less talented teams, but always came up short when challenged. There were meetings, arguments, debates and lots more meetings and then we beat a good team at the buzzer at home and it felt like maybe the monkey was off our backs. Then we beat another really good team on the road and then another team and now I think, perhaps, we have figured out how to be successful together. We are in 2nd place in our Slovak league but still in the bottom half of the MEL, which is the significantly more competitive league that we want to have success in, as well. 

Bri and I were finally able to do a bit of traveling this season. We had a Friday night home game and our coaches were kind enough to give us the weekend off a couple weeks ago. 48 hours is all we ever need to orchestrate a travel adventure—last year it was London, and this year Bri and I decided on Budapest. We drove the 4 hours early Saturday morning and came back Sunday night, as we had practice Monday morning. So I booked us a hostel and a couple days later we were off. We got to Budapest at noon, checked into our room, and headed directly to our first stop on our cultural awakening: Footlocker. This would perhaps be moderately shameful, however, I’ll remind you that Bri and I are professional basketball players, so maintaining proper foot ware is paramount for our success. It’s not that we wanted to go shoe shopping, it’s that it was our professional obligation, nay, our duty, to go. Now, were we also obligated to go to Victoria’s Secret and H&M? One could argue no. I assure you we dedicated a substantial amount of time to experiencing the beauty of the city, as well. We crossed the chain bridge, rode the incline up to Castle District and overlooked the stunning city at dusk, while sipping a coffee from Starbucks. Really, what is more culturally illustrative than Starbucks? We also checked out this amazing Basilica. Bri's basketball friend from home plays professionally in Romania so she hopped a train and met us that night as we hung out at some of the local pubs and tried to find fellow english speakers. We failed, though I say walking away with this little moment captured truly makes us winners. That blank stare flawlessly encapsulates our evening. 

Thanksgiving is just around the corner and Bri and I have once again successfully coerced our European teammates into participating in our delightful holiday. They'll surely thank us for this trespass whilst relishing in their tryptophan comas. Bri and I are responsible for the turkey, stuffing, mac n cheese (Kraft thanks to Dan!), green bean casserole and, of course, my famous deviled-eggs. Our Presidents are hosting the celebration at their hotel tomorrow night. I felt bad when I heard that Bri had volunteered us to cook so much food, cause her and I both knew she'd be cooking alone. So, this year, I decided to try something new. I'll admit this probably isn't the best time to be experimenting with recipes and cooking, but it's not like these Europeans know what a green bean casserole is meant to look or taste like. I figure this is my time to shine. 

Our Christmas break is less than a month away. I will spend this break traveling like I did two years ago. We have two weeks and as always I will be attempting to squeeze every ounce of fun and possibility out of those 14 days. I will spend a few days in Germany catching up with some of my former teammates from Wolfenbuttel and from there I will fly to Italy and meet Kindra in Venice. Kindra, if you recall, is who I traveled with to Paris two Christmases ago. We are eager to reproduce the fantastic experience we shared in France. We will see Venice, Florence and Rome. From Rome, I will fly to Madrid and see one of my favorite people and families, Theresa and the rest of the Olivier gang. I will catch them on their last day in Spain, so I will spend the rest of my time in Barcelona alone, including New Year's Eve. I head back to Slovakia the 2^nd of January. I am overwhelmed just writing all of that. Yikes. 

 

Well, this will certainly be the final post of this year. That's insane. I wanna wish everyone an incredibly blessed Thanksgiving and Christmas holiday, and of course, a wonderful New Year! Look forward to catching up in 2014.

Let me break it down for you.

I'd been living in Slovakia just a few days shy of a month when I had my first run in with the police. That's gotta be some kind of record, not that I’m bragging. Unless it turns out to be a record, than I’m bragging, but I’ll wait till we can get that corroborated. The encounter occurred while I was driving (no real surprise there).  Bri and I were heading home from practice when the obnoxiously bright lights flashed in my rear view, imploring me to pull over. Historically this would trigger a simultaneous panic- induced paralysis of sorts, but instead, I was almost excited. Forgetting that I had just moved from Australia to Slovakia, my life hasn't been especially thrilling lately, but I suspected this would change that. Sadly, I was wrong. While it was particularly fun laughing awkwardly with the non-english speaking policeman as we attempted to execute gestures, the universal language, it turned out to be nothing more than a simple break lights malfunction. I was so disappointed I briefly considered running, surely provoking a smidge of controversy or, if I got really lucky, propagating a police chase! Needless to say, I did not. Next time. 

Okay so it seems there has been some confusion surrounding the details of my Slovakian team and league. Let me break it down for you. We play in two leagues over here, our Slovak league and this new league, the MEL (middle european league). The MEL is comprised of teams from Slovakia, Hungary and Croatia. It's a very competitive league, so it's pretty cool to be apart of it. Simple enough so far, but I am guessing the confusion comes in comprehending the calculating of points. For each league we accumulate points from wins, but there are some games that count for both leagues. For instance, there are a handful of Slovak teams in the MEL including our team, and when we play those teams we get points for both leagues if we win. Thus, those games become more measurably significant. Hopefully that clears things up a bit. 

 So let’s play catch up now. Heading into league play two weeks ago, we had one final preseason tournament at home against a couple teams we would face in our Slovak league and a team from Poland. We played pretty well the whole weekend and won the tournament. We opened up league play the following weekend with games on Saturday and Sunday. Despite our best efforts, we won our game Saturday on the road against a team we had just played in our tournament. It was a poor showing for our opener, but we won so we'd take our two points and move on. Sunday we played at home against a much better team, a team, in fact, that also plays Euroleague, and winning again would require marked improvements in everything. We lost by 25 and in my estimation seemed unprepared and intimidated—a guaranteed losing combination. 

We had a quick turn around as we played again on Wednesday the following week, also against a solid team, but one we had already faced and defeated in our tourney at home. It's amazing how a team and the players on said team can play so fundamentally differently. We were aggressive this game from the start and disciplined on defense--we controlled the game. We weren't perfect, far from it, but we worked and we competed and ultimately won by double digits. Sunday we faced another Euroleague team and had another great opportunity. Despite coming up short again, we proved this game we are more than capable of competing with and beating Euroleague teams. The game was close throughout, but the final was 62-52. 

In other news, Bri and I moved from the hotel into a house recently, and so our time living amongst the privileged has ended. We had a good run, but it really needed to end. I’m 25 years old, no one should be making my bed besides me. And, on occasion, my mom. Relax, it's part of the job description. The house is really adorable. It's small, but cozy and we have our own kitchen again which is crucial. Bri's domain is downstairs and mine is upstairs. Normally I wouldn't have agreed to this so eagerly--every day having to walk up and down stairs, ick--but when I noticed there was a spiral staircase leading to upstairs room, I was sold. I don't know if you know this, but spiral staircases are magical. Seriously... look it up. 

Life here has assumed the blueprint of my former european basketball lifestyles. I am back to two-a-days, most notably. My body is protesting. Seems to have aged exponentially in the past year. I am sincerely terrified of life when I am 30. It is certain to involve a cane or some variation of reinforcements for moving. Speaking of being old and decrepit, turns out that Bri and I, at the ripe ages of 26 and 25, are the oldest on the team. I feel burdened with this horrible responsibility of doing old people stuff. Like, being slow, never hearing what people say and going to the bathroom absurd amounts of times. And having opinions...on everything. When you are the oldest, people expect you to know stuff about lots of other stuff. It's brutal. I tell a lot of stories now, too, about the glory days and life before DVR. It isn't easy being old, who knew. 

We've got another double header this weekend. I might not move Monday. Except to the bathroom, naturally. 

It's not what you think.

Practice makes perfect, they say, so in theory, I should have perfected the craft of leaving by now. In reality, it seems to become increasingly more difficult. And Australia might have been the toughest place to leave so far. Undeniably it's thrilling traveling to new places and meeting new people, but goodbyes inevitably follow, typically without any reassurance or certainty of reuniting. That is sort of the cruel contradiction of this job--always beginning a new adventure, but never without leaving one behind. Despite my uncanny experience, leaving Australia tugged on my heart strings. Fortunately, I have signed to play again next season so this time I know I am going back. I take comfort in that.

Before heading to Slovakia and another basketball season I made sure to organize a little mini holiday for myself to help restore my mental and physical constitution after playing for a whole year now. I went where the locals go, Australia's equivalent of Tijuana or Vegas--I went to Bali. This was really one of the better decisions I have made lately. Bali is what every holiday venue should be: cheap, beautiful, warm, more fun than anyone can handle and culturally rich. Did I mention cheap? No one ever wants to spend a lot of money, but on holiday I think we all concede to the notion that we are spoiling ourselves and so money becomes marginally less relevant. You couldn't spend a lot of money in Bali if you moved there for a year.

Most of my time in Bali was spent reapplying sunblock, but in between applications I had a jolly good time. I persuaded 3 of my teammates to skip out on work and come with me, which wasn't as tough as ya might think. We went to a water park our first day and wailed as we flailed down frightening slides and dubious rides. We parasailed, jet skied, fell off a banana boat and went underwater sea walking. People keep asking me what that is--it's literally exactly what it sounds like, except there is astronaut gear. Really really awesome astronaut gear. We bartered and bought and even got our hair braided (I did at least). When in Bali, hey?

I found the most interesting aspect of the Bali experience, and by interesting I mean life-threatening, is the driving. I can't be too positive, but I am pretty sure there aren't rules. Heck, there are barely even lanes. Instead it's just space, just space for people driving one direction and space for people driving the opposite direction... and that's it. You've had a good driving day if you didn't die. There are no traffic signs and very few traffic lights, but those appear to be merely guidelines as well and every cab driver ignored the red lights recommendation to stop. I wonder why that didn't make the brochure.

After Bali, I had just enough time to pack, say my farewells and attend a couple banquets. Our team one was actually the night before Bali and afforded me an auspicious opportunity to spend time with some of my favorite Aussies before leaving. My last night in Oz was spent at our league banquet. It was a nice evening but the sight of Wanneroo players soured it a bit, naturally. I won MVP, but I desperately wanted the title more than any hardware. Sometimes I wonder if people truly understand the definition of "valuable". I reckon someone on that Wanneroo team proved their value unmistakably more. That little nugget is gonna haunt me for the next 7 months.

While it isn't always easy closing one chapter, it's fantastically liberating beginning a new one. Probably why I enjoy reading so much, you just aren't sure what's going to happen next. Germany has been pretty great to me the last two years, all things considered, but after all those speeding tickets I figured I'd better cut my losses. I'll admit Slovakia wasn't high up on the old list of places I'd like to live--or places I'd like to visit for that matter--but they wanted me so here I am. Slovakia has been better than I expected, though I set the bar pretty low. Perhaps due to it's more eastern location or perhaps just from my own ignorance, I had a less than fair image of Slovakia in my mind; an image marked with ghettoes and filth (pardon my candor). I've never been more grateful to be wrong. It's lovely. The hotel I am living in (we'll come back to this) is in the middle of a national park and the view from my window is endless rolling fields and mountains. It's stunning, truly. Check out the picture I posted below. Nice shot hey? I didn't take that specific one, but I could have. I know my way around a camera. Okay, so the living in a hotel bit--it's not what you think. Unless you think it's awesome, and then, well, it's exactly what you think. Free meals, free cleaning service and the constant feeling of being on holiday. I dare you to not be green with envy. Just watch Home Alone 2 some time and you'll understand. I imagine this is what famous rich people feel like. I gotta say, it's not too shabby. Bri and I have our own suites across the hallway from each other with living room, bathroom, dining area and bed. When we leave our doors open and shout from our couches, it's almost like we live together. Spisska is remarkably small, too. How small, you ask? There's no McDonalds. Yep. Spisska has somehow remained untouched by modern influences, for better or worse. I say worse, but whatever.

We've played two games since I have been here, both against the same Hungarian team. We lost both, but the second game was markedly better than the crap we did the first game. We've got all the tools--big posts, smart point guards, good shooting guards etc we just have to put it all together. We play at home this weekend in a tournament and season officially starts the following weekend. I need a holiday again. Oh, and let's not forget the uniforms. Somebody somewhere hates me. In fact, I actually think there's a group cause their scope is expanding. Seriously, look at that top. It's quizzical. Who could possibly think physical activity is enhanced with tight, suffocating apparel? Those people irk me--they are irksome. I feel like if I eat one meal the jersey will rip off me like the Hulk, except it's because my belly not my biceps. No one's a winner there. Misery loves company as they say so I am delighted to have Bri back as my teammate to share in these irritations. It stuns me at how fortunate I have been with teammates--Morty last season, Bri again this season--though I guess when you factor in the bankruptcy and fired coaches and teammates, it balances out.

I have my first visitor next month. Coach Vaughan, my high school basketball coach and mentor is coming to visit on his way home from a missions trip. What a treat that will be. It will be a short trip, only 3-4 days, but I couldn't be more excited.

Here is the link to our team website where you can access our season schedule as well as the link to the live feed for our games. It should be a great season! Gooooo... shucks, I don't know what our mascot is. Eesh. I'll get back to you on that.

http://www.skbd-snv.sk/program-zapasov/rozpis-2013-2014/

http://www.rucon.tv/

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!

I immediately regret this decision

Fear is a funny thing. It gets a bad rap, but when you think about it, it accompanies all the really great moments in our lives. I know it seems counterintuitive, but rather than strategically avoiding situations cloaked in fear, we should indeed be seeking them. I did this--I sought out adrenaline spiking activities--for two weeks, and became a bit of a junkie real quick. I started simple, nothing too crazy, and went snorkeling with some sharks. I know what you are thinking, and the answer is yes, I have this much free time. I coerced Tucker into joining, which at the time she wasn't pleased about, but ultimately thanked me for enriching her life. We were freaking out in the moments leading up to it, and even in the moments after we were in the water with the giant man eaters, but once you accept that death is probable, you find you become shockingly liberated. We were in the water for about 45 minutes with the 10 or so sharks, sting-rays, turtles and other freakishly large fish. Seriously. I don't know if these fish compete in athletics for their schools (see what I did there), but if they do, these were the Shaquilles of each. At the end of our fear factor thrill, we were issued certificates demonstrating the completion of our impressive experience. Those bad boys went straight to the fridge when Tucker and I got home.

Next stop on the adrenaline train was a little cliff diving. One of my new Australian friends actually suggested this and when opportunity knocks, well, you answer my friends. And so, on a lovely Thursday afternoon I met Taryn at the train station and we headed to "Blackies", a popular cliff line near Perth just along the river. I was really looking forward to this and wasn't scared at all. That moment was fleeting, unfortunately, and as we approached the rocky cliff I suddenly felt as though I might throw up my intestines. Pretty graphic image, but that's what good writers do, we put you in the moment, and in that moment it felt like projectile vomiting was a virtual certainty. As with any moment involving the upchuck reflexes, witnesses are always ideal, so I was rather pleased when I saw that there were two guys fishing while we were preparing to jump. Amused and eager to watch, the guys became instrumental in our jumping as photographers. Anyways, back to the throwing up, it didn't happen, luckily, but that doesn't mean I didn't find alternative methods of embarrassing myself. Like screaming. Man can I scream. It's frightening, honestly, and typically scares me more than I was originally scared. The worst part of the jump, hands down, was the piercing temperature of the water. It truly takes your breath away as well as your ability to swim without flailing your arms dramatically about. I understand it's winter or whatever, but someone should do something about it. Unacceptable.

After successfully jumping off Blackies, I decided I wanted to be scared like that again. Cliff diving on steroids essentially, so the natural progression lead me to skydiving. Fifteen minutes later I was booked for the following week, though this time I found myself less persuasive in convincing Tucks (or anyone else) to join me; however, Tucker wouldn't miss the opportunity to be there for what could be my final morning. The days leading up to the dive I actively avoided thinking about the jump. My check-in time on Thursday was 8:30am in York, about 2 hours away. Eesh. That was both the longest and quietest car ride I've ever experienced. Neither of us knew how to say our potential good-byes, and both of us surely couldn't be bothered to figure that out at 6am. I think the insanity of what I was about to do truly hit us as we turned onto the dodgy dirt road leading to perhaps the tiniest and presumably hazardous plane you'll ever see. I immediately regretted this decision.
I wanted to back out, but that would mean losing my 300$ and I couldn't live with that. What can I say, I was raised to appreciate the dollar more than my life. So I boarded the death trap, begrudgingly, and thought of all the things I'd miss. I had skipped breakfast that morning (admittedly, I was worried the jump would strip me of my ability to control my bowels) so most of my thoughts drifted to my favorite meals: In n Out burger, Sushi, Chipotle, breakfast foods, leftover stuffed-crust pizza, Thanksgiving, Haribo candy, all other candy, the large green olives found at bars, Girl Scout Samoas, Magic Mountain funnel cake, and cherries. The basics really. Things happened really quickly once we had reached 14,000ft. In addition to myself, there were 3 other paying jumpers and 2 who, I am guessing, were jumping to save us in case our parachutes didn't work. I wasn't reassured by this for some reason. I was last. As I scooted down the bench towards the false door on the plane I was grateful I was both dehydrated and starving. Strapped to my master jumper in what can only be described as an adult-bjorn, my legs dangled from the plane along with my remaining hope for survival. And then it happened: he leaned forward and we were plummeting toward the ground, somewhere between flying and falling, and I couldn't help but be overwhelmed with excitement. We were free falling for a minute before the parachute deployed, and then for four minutes we just floated among the clouds. It's unlike anything else. It was the longest and shortest 5 minutes of my life and I can't wait to do it again someday.

There is something to be said for finishing strong and in our final four games of regular season we did just that. Sure, it wasn't always pretty, but we worked through it and came up with 4 wins heading into our bye weekend and playoffs. The final games of the league will be played this weekend, so I don't know yet who we will face first round or even what position we finish in (2nd or 3rd for sure). So I will briefly recap the last games instead. The Cockburn game was close for a bit, but we controlled most of the game and as I mentioned, having Darcee back was fantastic. Half time turned into a 45 minute delay thanks to their Super Bowlesque lighting malfunction. I stunk but Tucker was awesome and saved us. The Mandurah game was ugly. We won by 30 or so, but nothing about it was pretty so I'll spare you. Bunbury was certainly the most challenging of the games. Bunbury beat my team last year for the championship, but earlier this season we killed them by 49 at their place. We suspected this game would be more competitive, especially since we were missing Darcee this time. We were down 5 at half and at some point in the 4th it was a double digit deficit. Fortunately, we rallied together and got stops and converted on offense and managed to get within 2. With under a minute, our point guard hit a deep 3 to give us the lead which we kept. It is always a bit more rewarding beating Bunbury than the other teams. The next night we travelled to Lakeside for our final game. I was especially keen to win since it was my birthday and no one wants to be a loser on their birthday. We opened the game on a 13-0 run and never looked back. It was a really fun way to end season.

This is the first year I've celebrated my birthday outside the country. I assumed that would mean it would be a very unremarkable one since I'd be away from my closest friends and family, but I was happily mistaken. Tucker, my lovely teammate and roomie decided to throw a little surprise party for me at her place on Sunday afternoon. The surprise was successfully alarming and the party was equally fun! There was even cake and presents like birthdays in America--who knew? It was a great day and another happy reminder of how blessed I am. I missed my mama, who always takes me to sushi dinner with family, but it was still a great time.

Although I pretend to not be, I am still a tourist of this fine country, and so I still do touristy things once in a while. As I approach my final month in Australia, I am doing my best to ensure I have seen all this place has to offer (at least Perth area where I live). All the locals repeatedly informed me that a visit to Rottnest Island for the day was a must. It's only a 30-minute ferry ride away and it's meant to be remarkable. Taryn, my mate that jumped Blackies with me, was the lucky volunteer who gave me the tour. We snorkeled, biked and played with Quokkas and it was nothing short of brilliant. All that is left on my list of Aussie adventures is attending a footy game, Australian Football Rules, and thanks to our bye this weekend, I will be doing just that on Saturday.

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!