Monday, February 16, 2009

Top Ten: Tennis

Over the past few months I have been playing tennis, mainly with Aaron and Cinda, but occasionally with others. We also take turns cooking dinner once a week after a few sets on the court. This has proven to be a lot of fun and a good way to unwind after a day at work... or to continue a relaxing day off. Tonight, while finishing up a set with Cinda, I realized I would probably only play with them a few more times before I move. That is pretty sad! We've had some good times. I decided to compile some of the highlights in a list, so here they are (in no particular order):

1. Doubles
This is probably the most hilarious one of them all. Aaron, Cinda, Cam, and myself were playing tennis out at Hampton Hall in Bluffton. It was a doubles set, Aaron and Cam versus Cinda and me. As anyone who has played with me knows, my first serve has A LOT of force beside it.. which rarely makes it over the net and into the box.. basically.. they suck. When they do make it in, they're really good though so I figure what the hell. Alright so we're playing a doubles set and I am serving. I toss the ball in the air, pull my right arm back for a vicious assault on the ball, make contact, and WHAM! The ball shoots off the strings like a bullet and hits my poor teammate Cinda square in the ass! It was so freakin' funny! I am sure anyone who may have seen us probably thought we were drunk. Cinda is doubled over in pain while the rest of us were about to pee on ourselves from laughing so hard. Funny how no one wants to be on my team anymore.. and when they do.. they stay far out of the way when I serve.

2. Sea-saw.
Oh man, I can't remember where we were playing for this instance. I want to say Hampton Hall, anyway, not important. We're out on the courts and it is Aaron, Cinda, and myself. Sometimes when we have three people playing, we rotate and one person sits out for a game, then rotates back in. It was me and Cinda on deck and Aaron was sitting out. He walks over to the plastic bench on the sidelines and takes a seat on the far end of the bench. Unfortunately, physics and gravity were not on his team because as soon as he took a seat, the opposite end of the bench shoots up in the air, leaving Aaron flat out on the ground. So funny.

3.Reason #11.
Cinda is a Physical Education teacher for Beaufort Middle and has a conference (I think) shirt that list the top 10 reasons to be a P.E. teacher. Most of them are kind of funny with some type of innuendo attached. As part of her job, it is important that she teaches her students the importance of good sportsmanship. Well, lets just say she doesn't always adhere to the practice what you preach rule. Aaron and I agree that number 11 on her top ten shirt needs to be, "You can cheat to win without others ever knowing any better."

4. Stouffers
As I mentioned earlier, we take turns cooking dinner in a rotation of once per week. One week it was my turn and for whatever reason I did not have a lot of time that day to prepare a meal. I dashed over to my local grocer deciding on a Stouffers lasagna, salad, and bread. Easy and quick! I quickly read the directions on the Stouffers box and thought, "Great, an hour and 10 minutes to cook! That will give me enough time to prepare the bread, salads, and enjoy a couple glasses of wine." I arrive home giving my roommate, Anne instructions to preheat the oven when I call so that we can pop the lasagna in and be good to go. We head over to Palmetto Hall, play a few games, and finally return to my apartment for dinner. I take the lasagna out of the packaging and someone asks me how long it takes to bake. I re-read the instructions and realize that I was an idiot and thought 110 minutes was an hour and ten minutes when in reality it is much, much longer. With it already being after 8:00, there was no way we could wait until 10 to eat. Instead we hop in the car and head down to La Hacienda for a quick meal and dollar margaritas!

5. In the Dark...
As any tennis player on this island knows, lit courts are quite the commodity. In order to utilize these hard to find gems, we usually have to either get someone to call us in a pass to one of the plantations offering such amenities to their residents, or battle private lessons and USTA people at the public courts (which is another story all in itself). One night, we could not find any available lit courts to save our life! After hitting up a variety of different options, Aaron suggested Marsh Point on the North End. We drive all the way up there, find that the courts do indeed have lights, and immediately realize the gate is locked from the inside so that only residents with a special key can use the courts. We were so close, yet so far away! I refused to give up. All that needed to happen was for one of us to scale the fence, hop over, and open the gate. Easy enough. I climb to the top of the fence, take a peek over, and immediately realize that I am going to die if I try making it down on the other side. There were no spots to catch my footing. After climbing back down and retiring that idea, I think maybe there is a hole or something in the fence. After checking the perimeter, I find where the bottom of the fence has been pushed out a big, giving some leeway. A few scrapes and a little less pride later, I made it under the fence, onto the courts, and open the gate. Unfortunately you had to drop quarters for light time and after about ten minutes the lights went out and we we're unable to get them back on.

#6. Building Blocks
Up until I started playing tennis again, "hanging out with friends" meant meeting up at whatever bar, drinking way too much, and going home to pass out. It can be a lot of fun, but doesn't lead to very substantial friendships, nor is it physically healthy. This has provided me with a positive outlet to release stress and increase activity levels. I have thoroughly enjoyed getting to know people through this common interest. You never know who likes getting out and smacking around a ball!

#7. Lushes
Every dinner most always involves the consumption of two bottles of wine.... if not more. It kind of defeats the purpose of getting physical exercise, only to go home and smash some food with a few glasses of vino. Oh well!

#8. Children Playing
As I mentioned, finding lit courts on this island is rediculous. I did a little research and found that there are public courts on Cordillo that are lit! Perfect, I thought, close to my apartment, how convenient! Aaron met me at my apartment and we headed towards Cordillo for a few games of tennis! We find them and it is pitch dark, all we can see is the movement of children running around on the tennis courts with the only light being a flood light plugged into a long, orange electrical cord. It is kind of a sketchy neighborhood and was not about to get out of the car to find the switch for the main lights, who knew what this group of kids would do. As we drove closer we realized that they we're kids at all, but rather a group of hispanic men playing soccer. I am an idiot, but it was funny.


I can't, for the life of me, remember the last two. I will have to get with my people (Cinda & Aaron) and try to remember.

After looking at the schedule today and seeing my last day posted on there, things are getting really real. I am starting to kind of freak out. What am I going to do with my furniture? Do I have enough money to really do this? It is too late to back out now, even if I wanted to (WHICH I DONT!). I HAVE SO MUCH TO DO IN SO LITTLE TIME, ALONG WITH SO MUCH GOING ON!!

Tomorrow: Work, Going away cookout with Salty Dog folks.
Wednesday: Work, Cleaning, hardcore.
Thursday: Work, Tennis and I am cooking dinner.
Friday: Work, Jen comes!
Saturday-Monday morning: Hanging out with Jen!
Monday-Tuesday: Packing, Mom may come down to collect some of my stuff?, Figuring out what to do with my furniture (I think it needs to go to Pittsboro, thats another rant for another day).

AHH!

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