Countdown to Feb 11...43 days

It has been a while since I posted I tried to avoid the computer while I was at home! I will start from the beginning the night before I left we had a game and after the game the president came up to me and said "big problem we don't have enough money to pay for you... so you can leave after Christmas or come back for half your salary! I just took it all in while thinking I have people visiting in Jan and Feb this is not good. I asked if I could finish out euroleage (with my regular salary) which ends in Jan and hten head home. This agreement appears to work and I couldn't be happier about it! Apparently we lost money when we didn't win euroleage games which coming in I was told we would be lucky to win one so I don't know if they were just overly optimistic or what. It all works out great for me I will be outta here on Feb. 11 and I think as of right now I will have the first 10 days in Feb to explore Europe with Michelle and Jen because my contract ends but they will let me stay in the house and keep the car until then. I would love to say it is generous of them but I don't have a whole lot of respect for the way they handle things around here so I won't. I will spend the spring trying to heal my stubborn foot that has been acting up quite a bit as of late and hanging out in Salt Lake with Ben.
Christmas was great so good to see everyone all my connections were good I made the trip to Salt Lake and back and while I wasa overly jetlagged that was it. I got a lot of dvds and books which is great I have been busy watching them inbetween our practices. I I am quite ready to be done with this season just a frusterating experience!
I am heading to Paris tomorrow we practice early and then have the 1st off so we are driving down and spending New Years there! I am quite excited about this.
I am still trying to adjust to the time here I think I fell asleep around 4 this morning and had to get up at 8 for practice so I am hoping tonight will be a little better!

I am going to watch more Heroes, these shows are all so addicting!
I hope everyone has a safe and happy New Year!

1 more sleep!

Alright well the day has finally come I have one more game and I am out of here it is in less than 12 hours I leave I really can't wait. We lost another euroleage game our team is crazy some people really don't try so it should be interesting to see if coach actually fires people or what happens after Christmas. It was a frusterating game one of those teams where one cut and I was open but nobody was really looking for it so what can you do!
Nothing much else has happened this week I had my first dental expereince in Belgium. It was interesting I honestly feel like I have a rotting tooth not a cavity that was a few weeks ago maybe a cavity it came to the point where I couldn't drink or eat anything on that side of my mouth so I finally got in. The dentist was in a guys basement of his house with equipment that looked a little old but I guess I have been spoiled. The exam started with him hitting me on the face in different places then looking then an xray (took a good 8 minutes to produce) and he said nothing wrong with your tooth. I was like no something is wrong it is killing me apparently I have a sinus infection. I was pretty skeptical and I felt bad because if it was my dentist from home I would have believed him but the way hte exam went and the location I was skeptical. However mom convinced me this is an actual diagnosis so now I just have to find out somebody who can heal it for me! THe dentist gave me a "colgate shot" I don't really know how to describe it but it made me feel better for a few hours and now the rotting tooth is back. I have learnt how to drink water and eat with only one side of my mouth and I have been researching some home remedies for this. The internet is crazy some of the stuff was like witches potions all the ingredients you had to put in others were steam rooms what not so I have been doing hte steam thing but so far still in a lot of pain! Hopefully my trainer understood me last night and is bringing some medicine tonight.
I leave tomorrow get to see the fam quick in the airport and then I am off to see Ben!! I really can't wait I hope all my connections go smoothly and it is a good travel day.
Merry Christmas everyone!

some pics

I am posting some pictures of the Christmas markets I went to last week in Brussels. There is a picture of one of the 20 cocktail bars in the market. A roasted pig with Christmas decorations stuck in him... I don't need to say anymore. The grand place in Brussels, the Pis Mannekin in Brussels, and the live sheep in the Christmas manger.

We have 6 practices left and two games I am just trying not to pull a muscle and stay alive... it is like preseason college all over again!! It appears as though I have switched sports and am now training to become a sprinter! Coach actually said hte other day "your body can die many times before you actually die so he never again wants to hear that our legs are sore or tired" apparently he knows some people who do triathlons and they told him this! My body has died and I would love to call up one of these triathletes and find out when it is going to come back to life because coach never mentioned it. Ohh did I mention we end this week with back to back games...

time has stopped!

My Mariah Carey Christmas CD has been playing non stop for about a month now and time appears to have stopped, I do'nt think the days could go by any slower. I can not wait to go home but it feels so far away!

My body is a mess! I am laying in bed aching all over after yet another hard practice wondering what happened. The days of walking into a gym lacing up the shoes and throwing up shots are oficially over. My body creaks and groans every morning when I roll out of bed and then the process of walking down my tiny stairs trying not to put too much pressure on my left foot because if it is not warm pain shoots through it rocketing me to cling onto the frail railing as I wait out the discomfort. I never used to understand stretching and jogging before you start it is all clear to me now! That was also when I thought I would play until I was in my thirtys, Not going to happen!!!!

We lost again tonight but it wasn't my turn to play so I just sat on the side and watched it all unfold, our team seriously has way too much drama it is a production but it's just a job! The loss means we will have an incredibly hard practice tomorrow most likely all defense... can't wait!

Perspective

Well the hope of a long Christmas break is gone we lost at Valenciennes... it was a bad game. Things got crazy today coach some players didn't pass the ball and didn't really try, subbed themeselves in a total prodcution so we all got chewed out and spent 2 hours working on D. After the game I was really frusterated I rushed my shots in teh second half and thus didn't make any of them so I am just trying to find my shot still. I was trying to see the big picture that our struggles all happen for a a reason so I will be stronger when I push through this. All this was running through my head on the drive home. I was driving with a teamate and there were 3 cars following each other I was the middle car. It was a really really foggy night couldn't really see well and we were a litlte lost the coaches were still eating adn drinking (120am) so we took off and got directions. We came to a road with a yield sign and the first car went thorough I slowed and drove through and saw headlights I was like wow they are kind of close and then a second later in my rearview mirror I saw our third car get completely t-boned, the sound too of hte cars scrapping together so I stopped the car right away and my teamate and I sprinted to the car whch after the hit roated and was perched up on a solid cement street sign. The other car was going about 90 (or 65 for the Americans) so it looked awful. Thank God they were both alright albeit shoken up freaked out and the player in teh passenger seat has a bump on the back of her head.

It was crazy though normally another girl on our team sits in that seat in their car but since she is from France she drove with anotehr teamate so she could load up her car with Christmas decorations. The back is where the otehr car hit so if she was in the car it could have been really bad. The police came and our coaches and we wound up getting home around 3am. I certainly could not sleep just really shooken up watching it happen it is so crazy how life can change in a second so I stayed up until around 5am talking to my parents and Ben.

I was woken up this morning at 1030 by two policemen who were coming to confirm where I lived and my identity as I am just now getting my working papers! I answered the door my hair a mess just looking like I had 5 hours of sleep!
Today the president came to practice and gave us our "official car insurance papers" good timing!
Everyone... please drive safe!

Win # 2 and a chat with the big man!

Alright well this was rough one tonight... bad Belgium team that we actually almost lost to. I really felt like I couldn't get my wind in the first half was kind of struggling and nobody was really playing all that great so we were only up by 10 at half. In the second he tried to rest the starters as we have a big euroleague game on Wednesday but all the sudden they were up 1... with 4 minutes left in the game so went back in. I had not played so stellar on offense up to this point but this was my Christmas break on the line so I started driving and scored a little at the end we wind up winning by 4. Hey a win is a win so whatever its over! After the game of course I get called over by the President (the equivalent of being sent to the principals office when you were in school you knew you were in trouble) so he says "I know you good player but you need lead like you did at end of game all through game. I know you in your mind (with hand actions and facial expressions) because 2 bad years in WNBA but you good and we need good from you. This doesn't mean shoot everytime but end of the game good now do this all game." Then a high five! Ohh man I feel bad but I think I may have given him a little attitude I mean he is really cute and nice and then he talks.
We head to Valencienne tomorrow for a game Wednesday... this is the big one!

1 down 5 to go.....

The day after the beating we took at Gydnia coach informed us at practice that we have 6 games left before Christmas and if we win all 6 we can stay at home longer! Instead of coming back on the 27th I could come back on the 1st. This is his way of motivation and it has worked for me I am ready to go I wish all the games were in a row to take away the suspense. 4 of the games are Belgium league games so we should be able ot handle them all two are euroleage and we can beat these teams but it will be pretty hard! The first euroleague game is Wednesday in France so hopefully it all turns out great!

I went to my first Christmas market today in Brussels. Apparently the Christmas market in Brussels is one of the best because of its size and quality. I wasn't sure what to expect but this did blow my mind... it was so neat! In Belgium you can have some players on your team that play on lower division teams and one the girls that plays with us sometimes lives in Brussels with her boyfriend so she met us in Brussels and showed us around. This was really helpful as we avoided getting lost! My other teamate Jen and I were in the car together and parking has never been one of my strong points well we had to parallel park this I realy don't do well so after 5 failed attempts and the car perched up on the curb I got out adn let Jen have a go at it... first try I was mildly embarassed! The market stretched out over a few blocks and was broken into three main parts a lot of it is little crafts that people make, food, and of course beer. There were full on bars in this market I will post some pics later but people were walking around drinking shots, full bottles of beer, so funny! I had my first sample of hot wine pretty good I guess they add a different liquor as well as the wine there is a hint of apple cider taste in it but better than apple cider for sure. I also sampled my first hot beer. This sounds a little nasty but I figured if anybody knows about hot beer it would be teh Belgians as I never really liked the taste of beer but Belgian beer doesn't taste like beer so much better. The hot beer had lemon, cinnamon, and apples in it it was also pretty good I was surprised. I bought some beer I am thinking about trying to bring it home in my suitcase underneath... any suggestions and how much beer can I bring back into Canada? I finally saw the Grand Place in Brussels it was part of hte market it had a bunch of lights up it was really pretty and it also had a big manger display with live sheep! Emilie (teamate from Brussels) said htey normally have a live donkey as well.
Emilie was telling us the legend behing the famous pis mannekin (little boy peeing statue) apparently during the war the building caught on fire and legend has it that this little boy peed on the fire and saved the building thus the statue and postcards, bottle openers, shirts of him. We ate at the the Greek market and then headed out for a white chocolate covered waffle... so good I can't even put into the words the taste of these waffles. I also tried my first chestnuts roasting over an open fire (just like the song) however they were the one food of the day I would never eat again or recommend.

Emilie had a game in town so we checked out a bit of her game and then contemplated a movie but there wasn't really anything good playing (movies here are way behind) the choices were Georiga Rule, Beowulf, Mr. Brooks and a few others nothing striking us so we headed home... mighty proud that we didn't get lost once over hte course of the day!

Game two tomorrow.... Go Dexia!

Delirious

We had our first official blow out in Euroleage the other day got smoked by the other team now I know it is bad to make excuses but I am going to throw some out there...
A 14 hour bus trip the night before resulted in some serious grumpiness exhibited by the coaching staff the NIGHT before hte game at practice we got a lecture on our last Belgium leage game and how we were taking too much rest maybe we weren't in shape and thats why we have been losing at the end of the games! Then we set up into all sorts of defensive slides and half court one on one... right into 5 on5 full court. Not my favourite type of practice but acceptable the night before a game ridicilous. I woke up the next morning with my groins on fire and not feeling ready for a game. Then shootaround we spend 10 minutes shooting the rest of the time 5 on0 3 times all our offenses!
Needless to say we got smoked down 11 points in the first 5 minutes (mostly on fast break baskets!!!) so it was unfourtanate but as I have gotten older I have finally realized it is just a game and am able to forget about it quickly.
Good news was that Maiga (teamate from first year in Sac) plays for the other team so it was so nice to see her I really wish we could have stayed the night and I could have hung out more with her but we had to bus home. She is a really neat person and was so helpful and encouraging my first year so it was great to catch up with her and see a familair face!
Onto the bus ride back home our coaching staff, president and groupies take hte losses hard so when we lose they take the stat sheet and a lot of beers and basically go off on their players!!! So there was beer flowing after the game and we were supposed to depart at 10 so the whole team is waiting in the lobby and at 1030 a teamate went down and told htem we were supposed to be leaving. They got a little upset told her they were in charge and we would leave when they were ready. New departure time 1130 (we all waited in teh lobby as we had already checked out at 10pm) Once we boarded the bus the alcohol had put people in an interesting mood and we had the opportunity to fall asleep to 15 tipsy adults singing and clapping along to the French music!! We made it home in one piece so it is all okay, my body however has no idea what time of day it is or day of the week I am off.
Belgium leage game Saturday (not my turn to play) and hopefully Sunday off!

All lies!!!

Sleeper Bus (def): A sleeper bus is a type of coach used to transport bands and their roadies between cities and shows. In Europe, these vehicles are full sized coaches but are only designed internally to carry between 8 and 18 passengers. There are always full galley facilities, comfortable lounges and bunk beds to allow the passengers to eat, relax & sleep.

The bus we rode on: a glorified school bus (maybe thats a little harsh we had a bathroom) the seats supposedly reclined but never stayed reclined always crept back into the straight up position. I had really hoped that this bus was goign to be so amazing that I set myself up for failure I don't know what I was thinking but as soon as we boarded I knew I was in trouble... luckly I wasn't one the players who had to share seats (because all the people who travel with us were taking up their own seats!!!) most of the players staged a takeover in the early morning hours and won their own seats. This was after they slept on teh bus floor for a few hours. As promised by coach we did get to watch film!! A full two hours was devoted to watching us screw up while teh staff drank their beers. This fun ended at 1am when coach was threatening putting in a scouting tape for our game tomorrow luckily it turned out to be The Mummy 2. I tried to fall asleep listening to the sounds of hte movie! Around 4am following 3 hours of tossing and turning I found myself worked up in a angry rage at a number of things
1- who was the idiot who thought of leaving at 10pm and sleeping through the night?
2- how many hours of sleep am I going to get?
3- who is snoring?
4- how in the world did our coaches call this a "nice big sleeper bus"?

I had to seriously calm myself down... I get really grumpy when I haven't had my sleep so it took a little for me to settle down. Once I did I managed to doze on and off until we stopped at a gas station. I went out ot stretch and a bunch of hte guys were peeing off the side of the bus I was like come on there is a washroom 200 feet away... seriously. It was here that we found out the bus ride wasn't teh original 20 hours we were told but only 14. The first positive but then it got me even more flustered as to why we wouldn't leave early morning and at least get a couple good hours of sleep.
I should be thankful because we made it to teh Czech safe and sound apparently we drove through some nasty snow storm (I guess I slept for a while!) and were barely moving sliding a bit over the road!
Well I need to go for another walk trying to stay awake so I can sleep tonight!

swollen nose

I am writing this today with a pack on ice on my nose as I got a good hit in it last night. I was going up for hte rebound and this girl came down on me and it started gushing so I turned to the bench right away and asked for a sub the refs didn't notice though so I had to run back on defense blood flowing all over the place, I finally knocked the ball out of bounds and just walked to the bench. This is where my trainer pulled something that resembled carpet out of this kit and ripped a piece off and shoved it up my nose. I said what are you putting in my nose because we do NOT have that in Canada. He just laughed at me, it is not broken just swollen... very sexy!
We won the game although we almost had practice today because it was really close but here is the thing coach tells us to take the game seriously however all pre game he talks about why we lost our euroleague game. Then he starts random people and gets mad when they aren't ready but how should they be. We ended up winning by over 40 and coach let us have today off so it all worked out in the end I guess.
I am looking forward to tomorrow we start our 20 hour bus ride to hte Czech somehow they worked out (in their heads) that it would be just as long to fly so we bus (or our version it would be cheaper to bus) coach said in pregame yesterday that we will watch teh film on teh bus ride. I am scared we have 20 hours to watch film not good! He always says we will only watch 10 minutes and we wind up watching over an hour. I just wish coaches didn't lie I mean let us get mentally prepared to sit down and watch a full hour of film don't tease us with teh in and out 10 minute film session.
I am headed to go and explore some caves today so I will update later.
21 days until I am home for Christmas!!!!!

My ride

Just came back from Poland... we lost another euroleague game and again it was close and we could have won so dissapointing. I finally had an okay game though which was good I am starting to get back to the ball hog I was freshmen year! The internet is so great to have at the house I am so thankful that it is working. I didn't get to see too much of Poland they had some crazy fans, and our hotel was really nice but other than that. This morning before we left I woke up a little early and got my lift in... may have been the first one this week (Allison and Mike don't get mad!) it is really hard to fit it in with Euroleage travel. Anyways after my lift I found out that we weren't leaving until later so since I was awake I decided to talk a walk on the beach. It was cold (nothing like Megs is dealing with) but so pretty we were right on the Baltic Sea and it was so peaceful this morning except for the man in a speedo (although this is quite normal here) running up and back, swinging his arms not sure what he was up to but he entertained me a little. On the subject of mens clothing, a few of us tried to go to the hotel spa last night and boy were we surprised when the man in the jacuzzi was not wearing anything... yikes!

I have included pics of my car from all angles... Michelle I hope you now see the possibilities for the Viper.

Finally!!!

I finally have internet... I feel connected to the world now! My Christmas flight has been booked I have my trip to Salt Lake planned, I can't wait. We leave for Poland tomorrow really early so I don't have time to play on it. It feels good to know I am back online!

Slow week

I get to fly home on the 22nd I was pretty excited when coach told us although he will not budge on coming back on the 28th. I am now trying to plan a flight to Salt Lake to visit Ben... I can't wait!
This week is going by really slow I think because 1- I don't have my internet and I thought I would. 2- my parents sent me a package and I can't get it because I have to sign for it but I am never home so now I have to wait until Thursday and hopefully my neighbour can sign for me. I am working on my note in French tomorrow! My body is just a little tired as well, I did something weird to my shoulder not sure what but it has been a pain. My knee bursa broke the other day and I spent a good 20 minutes with the other Americans trying to explain an ace bandage it all got lost in translation so I think I may take a picture of one and see if we can figure out the french word for it. It could be that they don't use them in Belgium though because our coach and players who speak English and French were also confused, who knows somedays it feels as though we are playing charades. We play the stacked team in Europe Thursday a bunch of the WNBA all stars who all have European visas somehow??? We are trying to put together an American Thanksgiving the day after the game although Turkeys are not easy to find around here, unless maybe at the market where you can pick them out from a cage and take to your backyard to slaughter them. I understand it happens I just find it so disturbing I can't even walk through that part of hte market on Saturdays without wanting to run through and let them all free.

Is it December yet?

The countdown to Christmas is oficially on and I can't even explain how excited I am to go to Christmas markets and do all that fun stuff. It also means I get to go home and hopefully Salt Lake. I ask my coach daily if I can go home earlier as he is trying to change the game on teh 23rd to the 21 which would mean I could come home on the 22nd!
The internet is still not working and from what I hear I may be offered a new apartement but it has yet to happen and so I think I will be waiting unitl the 27th now. It is scary though because who knows if they can even get it figured out by the 27th.
The body is kind of holding up I am taking full advantage of our days off when they come I do nothing basketball related!
The drama on the team has maybe calmed down I don't know I just try to avoid it all! We had a Belgium league game the other night and these girls were some hacks. For some reason the refs do not like our team or our coach so we had a few technical fouls and the foul count was really one sided despite them being complete hacks. I am a little black and blue it is so funny these girls guard me like up in my shorts when the ball is on the other side of the court I just want to help them out ask if htey have ever heard of help side because they are gettign scored on but it is all about the one on one D!
I found out today that my tiny couch thing can pull out into a bed... pretty exciting.
We went out to eat last night and I have now learnt that you should never go out to eat in Europe if you are actually hungry because it takes like 3 hours to get fed.
The team gave us this big old jacket that is not in the least bit flattering but I have been pulling it out as temperatures are dropping I hate scrapping off the car! Everynight this week they have salted the roads I don't know if they are expecting ice or snow or they just take good care of hte roads I am hoping it is the latter.
For some reason they give us these tiny uniforms and giant jackets that are 10x too big.

Are you serious?!?!?!

Alright so no internet yet... ya I am so upset, I actually had severe road rage driving over to my teamates house to use the internet once again. The little man Michele that takes care of the houses told me that it will be on the 27th now I almost slapped him and his freaking pipe smelling poodle that follows him around everywhere.
In other news we lost our euroleague game we should not have so that was a little dissapointing but ohh well. Then we had a little team meeting... all sorts of drama going on with the team I feel like I am back in high school, she wouldn't pass the ball to her because they are trying to protect their own country people talking crap in crazy languages... so much fun!

Well I have to run to practice again!

I am in Slovakia today big euroleague game tonight! Slovakia is not a really pretty country it appears to be really vandalized and a little on teh dirty side but I will ahve time for some more exploring tomorrow. Here are some pics from Brugge Brussels a cool little town. Our yellow game jerseys... there is such a thing as too much yellow and we are it.
Internet it supposed to come to my house today but apparently it may not work because they have to download a program on my computer what is this!!

Free advertising

Well I forget to tell you all I did get my car, she is beautiful. I am having some problems without the camera cord but I will keep trying to post pictures. Anyways it is silver, quite small but decked out with stickers of everything from basketballs to radio contact stickers! People know I am coming down the street, the unfourtanate thing is it is a beast on gas 67 euros to fill up and doesn't last that long. When I picked it up I actually got lost and was 10 minutes late and they closed of course nobody from the team was there or anything so it was just like good luck finding it and if you dont not our problem. The next day I got my car and it is a semi automatic which basically means really bumpy ride fom 0-50. They gave it to us on empty as well I was praying I could get to a gas station... I made it. Good news is that I think I can get gas paid for if I drive to games so I drove ot the last one.
Sunday was a day off so we headed to Brussels actually it was a little town outside of Brussels and had a display of mini europe it was really cool, little tiny displays of all of Europe.
We saw a little of Brussels downtown not a lot saving it for another day as well.
LEave for Slovakia tomorrow another euro leage game, hopefully internet when I return!!!

Hey all so we had our first euroleague game last night and we won! We played Valencienes a team from France and they brought some rowdy fans with them. It was a great atmosphere as we had a bunch of drunken old men... good times! I was matched up against Gomis one of the top wings for the French National team so it was good to play against some competition. I hit a couple of outside shots so now the president is convinced he coached me well! His kiss on the cheek came awful close to the lips.
I re rolled my ankle the other day just as I thought it was getting better! I am thankful I was still wearing the ankle brace or it may have been really bad.. I guess I should still be walking around in the aircast... Ree I hope you are wearing it!

Heart to Heart with the Pres

Alright well first off it is Tuesday and no cars!! Surprised you shouldn't be that is the way it works but apparently today at 430 we can go and pick them up... he said don't forget. We were like are you serious we have only been waiting 4 weeks for the cars. Many things have happened since the last post we lost a Belgium league game... we played really bad but in our defense I don't know what on earth was going on with the balls and the rim but the ball wasn't going in! I only scored eight points so this promped our president to have a heart to heart with the whole team. He told us in his version of English that we can't blame the coach this year the last couple of years yes but this year he is good and teaches modern basketball... we can't be stuck in the 80s basketball way we have to listen to what he says. THen I got pulled bakc in the room I guess after scoring only eight points I needed a pep talk. He said probably because I didn't play in the summer I have no confidence and I need to make everyone around me better. "You are a good shoot but you don't shoot to make it... you need to shoot to kill" I should listen to him because he knows he was a player and a coach... when he was in shape! I didn't know if I should laugh or slap him both thoughts were running through my head at the same time.

I had my first Belgium waffle on the weekend... it was amazing something I really don't even think that I can describe. They are on the streets and you can get them dipped in chocolate it was so good, and surprisingly fulling.

Sunday we had off despite the loss thank goodness we scored 0 fast break points and I think the reason may have been because nobody could run! Sunday a couple of the girls and I headed into Brugge a really beautiful city with a river running throught it. We walked around, climbed 366 stairs to the top of a bell castle and took a boat ride all in all a really great trip. I will post some pictures later of the waffles and Brugge.

I

New car Monday???

The countdown is on until I get the internet I can not wait! The manual cars are also supposed to arrive on Monday! The car I am driving now is awesome... the gas gauge is definetly broken and has me going to the gas station every couple of days to put in 10 more euros because I keep hearing "the cars are coming". The car has no radio just a tape cassette player I have asked around and nobody seems to have them anymore. The heater is on 24/7 even when it is off which isn't bad because it is kind of cold here the brakes make all sorts of noise which can be heard by pedestrians on the street, I thikn they are all jealous for sure!! I am excited to get the decked out Dexia Namur car complete with basketballs and sponsors everywhere!! We play tomorrow night against the second best team in Belgium so I guess it could be a good game... I don't really know. Sunday is a day off thank goodness we played 5 on 5 pretty much all practice today... we seldom do drills in practice only playing. I never thought I would have missed drill work.

Happy Halloween!

Well we got a schedule today looks as though we will have four days off in the month of November not too shabby. I know I said that I had to play a little point guard in the last games but I think I have made my concern for playing that position clear which is a relief. Now however I just guard the point guard some games... all of the sudden I am a "defensive stopper" I don't how this happened good thing in the Belgium league all the guards are short and I can use my length Euro league a different story. It is pretty funny coach told the team the other day that I was the only one who could play full court man to man press, which we do every game all game long. I am not going to lie it is tiring having to pick up and you start to feel bad when you are winning by so much but I guess they are trying to set a precedent and hoping teams will follow them and the league will improve. I know hte only reason they think I am good on D is because I try... some people don't really try on defense at all and so they are not so good but they work really hard on O!
We had shooaround this morning which consisted of 30 minute walk thru on O where he told us we needed to "hurdle" at free throws I couldn't focus after this I wasn't walking through because I don't play tonight, so the focus was officially lost at this point!

I have a phone number now for skype if anyone is interested it is 1 860 881 2144. I am not online very much but once I get the internet it should be easier to get a hold of me.
My address is

Rue de Sarpettes 30
5020 Namur Belgium

Nothing new~

Alright well we are back into the swing of two a days but there are promises of more days off to come if we play well. They have told me the internet will be at my apartement November 14th... this scares me as that is a long way away and they told us we would have our cars a week and a half ago (at least I have a loaner). Not much is really new we have a game tomorrow night... I don't play in that one apparently it is our rivals from Namur.

Well today is the quick turnaround practice so I am about to head back at it after an hour break!!

Day off!

Finally a day off!!! I guess we reached our magic number and we got Sunday off so today was a little adventure up to the Citadel. The citadel was amazing it has been traced back to the year 890. It was a lot to discover in one day so I will definetly be back but it was very extensive I will add some photos the lookout over the city was gorgeous! The citadel was targeted and changed hands a lot because of its location between the two rivers Sembre and Meuse. There is a tour of hte underground caves there as well so I will be taking that next time. Some of the pictures come from the underground passageways and Michelle and Erin you will understand that in the midst of Alias I really felt like I was on a mission. One of hte pictures is for you guys... I think you may be able to guess which one.
Things are getting better still no internet but hopefully the new cars will be here anytime! Who knows when internet will come.
I am off hopefully I make it home as I have no idea how much gas is in the car and everything is closed on Sundays so I can't get any! This place really shuts down on weekends.
Here are the pictures I included some of my house as well, excuse the clothes drying everywhere I didn't have a drying rack before but I do know.

you make like this

Alright so the day after back to back games we have two practices... "not as a punishment but because we need it!" My body does not feel like it needs it! Today is the no break practice though so we go at 1030 and then again at 3. I dont even go home because sometimes it takes a little longer... police men will randomly come and stop a roundabout for a while. Or cars park on teh street and you have to wait to go by. It is some treacherous driving I am glad my car insurance will have expired when I get home because I am getting used to this kind of driving... taking up two lanes swerving in and out. I am still convinced I will get in an accident in a roundabout before my time here is over as these roundabouts are like 3 lanes and when you have to exit you have to get to the outside lane but people are crazy adn they go so fast around them. Sometimes when I am lost I just drive around them in a full circle trying to jog my memory good news is that I am learning my way around!
While our coach talks English it is broken english and so I find myself talking in broken English now as well his favourite sentence is "you make like this and then you make like that" for looking at options. I actually found myself saying this sentence the other day.
I forgot my camera connection so I can't get pictures of my place onto my computer I will try and come up with a solution. The apartement is still awaiting internet hopefully one day soon!
Time for practice again...

A few Belgium notes!

Alright so still no internet and yes I am going insane... I am at a teamamtes house again. I tried to shoot this morning but the gym wasn't open even though I told the coach I was coming. We have had two games now the Belgium league is HORRIBLE! I can't really explain how bad the teams so I am a little dissapointed about that because if I am going to be over here I want to be getting better. We had a game the other night against a better team from France and we lost, I didn't play so great perhaps part of the reason is because I was playing point guard for some of the game. I hate playing point guard, I was being pressured full court and we two really good point guards so I don't really know the meaning of this. I am thinking about telling him I really don't like the point. Or the other reason that I didn't get a warm up because the new players had to go nad meet all the fans before the game... and after as well but instead of warming up we got to stand around with the fans. So crazy! You have to kiss everyone once on the cheek too everytime you see them. It is hard to get adjusted to this habit I don't feel all that comfortable kissing someone I don't know but thats they way around these parts.
Practices are okay we go two a days EVERY DAY... with no day off in sight. So as far as experiencing Belgium I can't tell you a whole lot otehr than I am already developing shin splints!
Every morning I have to scrape off my car from the frost it is cold in these parts! This old car that they gave me takes a good 10 minutes to warm up and if you don't it makes a lot of noises so I try and make it happy while I wait for the new car which like the interent, dryer and cell phone may never come!
We did however get to go to a spa the other day in the Belgium town of Spa we had our opening weekend there so we had to stay overnight and after our game the team sent us there to use the sauna and steam rooms and pools. It was very nice actually a good relaxation.
The food here has been pretty good, I can find most the things I need although with the two practices I do mostly snacking and not much cooking. The waffles have their own section in the grocery stores and they are really good!

Almost settled!

Alright well I know some people have been wondering but yes I am still alive here in Belgium. I did get picked up at the airport and was driven straight to the gym to watch my team play and them socialize and then to my apartement. I do not yet have internet so I feel like I am dead to the outside world, I have yet to talk to anybody although I will try later on today. First off my apartment is very cute although it is quite far from the gym. All my appliances are new but I do not have a dryer even though I am supposed to have one, my clothes are all over the the place drying right now. I live in a converted garage the lady who owns the house is very nice, she is a fan of the team and so very helpful whenever I have a question. The french has come in very handy as I got lost the other night and drove around for 3 hours. I know some people may not believe me but it really was 3 hours maybe more. Every time I asked for directions I got a new way to go but none led me to the little village I live in way out in the country. A few of the girls live together in a house way closer why I am not with them I don't know.
It is certainly a different way of live here as I was told to be at the gym at 830 this morning it is now 854 and I am waiting watching some boys play volleyball. Of course the cellphone that was also in my contract I do not have.

The coach is okay he talks in English for the most part. The girls are nice some very young and some old. One has her daughter on the team!

I have yet to explore much as I have gotten lost just going to the gym but to my defense there is freaking 100 roundabouts and 1 way streets and every time someone drove me they all went a different way.

The president did take me to the Citadel it is the fortress and it was really cool I can't wait to go back and check it out. It sits way above the town right on the river and there are massive holes in the walls from bombs but a lot of it still stands. The view from there is very nice as well.

I have a car an automatic thank goodness I could not have lived where I do if it wasn't! Right now it is a temporary as they are still ordering it or something I don't know. But it is the smallest car you have ever seen. It is great as far as driving though as people are freaking maniacs around here I thought the Viper could go fast. No these people drive like 160-170 on the highways and honk when you go slow. In town it is all fast too although the speed limits are the same as back home.
I also have some sort of satelite tv it is supposedly for watching English channels there are about 300 channels and so far I have found about 10 in English... BBC all news stuff. There tv is about 80% porn. I kid you not almost every channel is that. My teammate said but that is universal because you do not need an language. I am so thankful for Alias.

I am off!

Well I have not updated seeing as though I am taking off today and it felt like there were lots of things to do and people to see. I really have no idea what is in my bag at this point. Hopefully someone will pick me up at the airport and I will let you all know how everything looks!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Well I am back in BC just in time for two Thanksgiving dinners! The visit with Michelle was great she got Energizer hockey tickets to the Flames game on Saturday night... they were playing the Canucks. It was an awesome game the Canucks won it with 4.7 seconds left in OT! The seats were amazing 3 rows up behind the Canucks bench. The most entertaining part of the game had to be when we were pulling into th parking lot in Viper. Michelle said the strategy was to reverse stall at the back of the lot so that is what we did but it actually took us 3 tries to get the Viper in between the lines. I said that the truck a few cars down was probably laughing at us seeing as though they did it one. She said they wouldn't be watching. Sure enough we get out of the car and walk past the truck and the man said we were thinking there must be some alcohol involved with that parking job over there! I was laughing especially since they were for sure all drunk with the one dude peeing in behind the truck and calling out Michelle because she can't park the mini van. Her response "someone my age should not have to drive this!"
Well Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!

Roadtripping

Alright well MIchelle and I embarked on a Alberta adventure driving out to Lyodminster (no I don't know how to spell it!) to visit Megs. We were both up really early and since Megs didn't get out of class until 230 we needed something to do for a few hours loyd is a little small not many places to kill time so we headed to West Edmonton Mall. Then it was time to hit the road, it was a gorgeous day just open sky so Viper (Michelles new van) was crusing and we got to visit Megs, watch a practice and eat at a tiny little restaurant that was recommended by all the locals. Megs was lighting it up at practice and it was so much fun to picture where she is.
Megs and her roomate had the next day off so we headed back into West Edmonton Mall and hit up the amusment park staring death in the face. I have to say I may have screamed a little but because right before the rides I found out that the roller coaster had come off the track and killed 7 people I don't know when a while ago but still! It was a great day of shopping and rides and we put Megs and Sam on the greyhound back to Loyd as we were off to Calgary.
We were both really tired and just wanted to get a little road behind us so we decided not to stop for gas in Edmonton (we had more than a 1/4 tank). In the middle of nowhere the gas light comes on, some of you may already know this is a big fear of mine I always fill up when it gets below a half tank! We are both freaking out a little I know they say you can drive for a while but there is nothing in sight. After about 4 minutes of driving we see an exit with a gas sign but it may be a truckers gas stop only and in the confusion we missed the exit! Bad news so we had to drive another 10 minutes where all we saw were exits to other highways finally we saw some lights and no gas signs but we had to get off the highway we thought we were pushing our luck a little. We got off and both of us were leaning forward trying to push Viper to the gas station I called Dad because I was so nervous and I just needed to hear his reassurance I think. We wound up making it okay didn't run out and the rest of the ride was uneventful!

Finally arrived!

I always find flying somewhere seems to take less time than when you have to fly home. This was no exception it all began in Valdivia where we were checking in, remember this is the incredibly small airport and the Argentinians show up like 15 minutes before the flight leaves to check in so this flight is delayed a good 45-hour. Then it makes two stops so we flew away from Santiago to make a stop and then we had to make another stop for gas or something so this just got us off to a wrong start because I thought it was a quick 1.5 hours in the air and we were down but it was like 3. When we landed we had to re check in our bags the only problem was that our whole team did not get our bags! The Americans and the Argentinians both got their bags a little outrageous if you ask me seeing as though we checked in before Argentina. So then we had to describe our bags to a lady who spoke a little English and try to explain how my personal bag was different from the team bag. I will be very impressed if I get my bag back before I leave for Belgium. It is supposed to be sent to Mission we shall see. The worst part was that some of the girls on teh team are leaving for overseas tomorrow without their bags I feel really bad for them!
Other than losing the bags the travel day was uneventful... long layovers and long flights. I was pretty excited when I made it into Edmonton and got to shower and Michelle such a sweetheart picked me up some Zellers underwear when she was out with her reps. The little things that can excite you! We are off to see Megs today and check out what her little town has to offer and maybe go shopping because I was up at 730! Two hour time change.

4 more freaking years

Alright so I am assuming most of you have followed we played horrendously and didn't qualify for the Olympics. We only scored 14 first half points against Cuba it was horrible I can't even describe it and the dissapointment of once again not qualifying. We just came out and could not buy a basket, got freaked out and were down 39-14 at the half. We came back though cut the lead ot 12 but kept exchanging baskets from that point on. I really played bad didn't finish, rebound super frusterating. I was up all last night envisioning my missed shots and turnovers. Sometimes it is hard to put everything in perspective when it is something that you want so bad and you come close but never get there. We got smoked by the US today as well.
My ankle is a little worse than the tweak I had hoped for so talking with physio, and the coaches about what to do tomorrow.
It will be good to get home for a quick visit and hopefully this trip to Belgium will be a positive basketball experience it has been a while since I had one!

One down!!

Alright well the first game is officially under the belt and we pulled it out. It was a very scrappy game a lot of fouls but we came out on top in the end. Actually they didn't score for the first 7 minutes of the game but we didn't really score that much either. Doesn't matter we turned it on and pulled away, it felt good to play again it had been a while!!
Tweaked my ankle in the game a little bit not a horrlibe one but enough to be sore and a little swollen. Hopefully the needles work wonders and I will not be able to feel it tomorrow.
I am off for treatment so that is all for now. Hoping the US can pull out a win against Cuba real close game last 4 minutes. GO USA!!

One more sleep!

Well it is the day before the game... finally I get to play again. Everyone is pretty excited to get going again, our assistant coach got in today after 35 hours of flying! She coaches at a unversity so couldn't come to the last phase but it is good to have her here now! Our doctor also got in yesterday after travelling for 2.5 days ya she topped us all and to make matters worse they have no idea where her bags are!! Imagaine trying to buy all new clothes in Chile!! Today we got to sleep in as we opted out of the first practice of the day at the cold gym. Instead we went to a fortress that protected Valdivia for many years, it was gorgeous and pretty neat to see the history of it all. It was incredibly fortified. We also learned about hte largest earthquake which was in Chile and it topped off the richter scale and other measaurements the fortress actually sunk and then was topped by a tsunami. There was a ship in the middle of the river/ocean you could still see hte mast sticking out it was near land and got dragged out to sea and then sunk by the earthquake/tsunami. They chose to leave it in the middle for history!

Practice tonight was a lot of shooting and then some pictures. Dinner toniht was chicken... I was pretty excited! It is time for bed!

If you want results I think the best site might be fibaamericas.com. I am not sure of our schedule after the game but we play at 1 here so 10 on the west coast. It is against Jamaica.

Some things I have learned...

Chile is a beautiful country! I believe I mentioned the other day that it is winter here... comes a little earlier in Chile but we attempted to crank the heat in our room and this was successful until we belive it was the hotel that turned it off because all of our rooms were cold again this mornning. Our first practice this morning was at 830 it was in a different gym and ohh my gosh it was actaully colder in the gym... quite comical we were doing walk throughs in our sweats some people toques and mittens. Then this afternoon we toured Valdivia. So as I said the airport is tiny and from what I can see and what our translator has told us it is not really a tourist area. There was a chocolate factory and we were asked if they did tours and they said no but when they found out we were here for the bball they let us come and tour. It was really cool I wished I had some pics. First off it was inthe middle of nowhere on a farm. To go in we had to wear coats and hairnets. I now understand why some chocolate is so expensive honestly this was all done by hand. THey had mixers and what not but most of it was done by hand whether this was painting the molds and pouring the chocolate in to rolling out and cutting the dough. The best part was that we got some samples and it was delicious but the crazy part was after I left I feel like I don't chocolate for a while now.

We also made a detour to check out some sea lions. It is so wild these sea lions sit on the side of a river and people just walk right past them they get upset if you make loud noises they yell back. THey just lay and suntan all day on a dock, our translator said when they rowed past that area you had to go faster because they would try and play with the boat and knock it over. These things were absolutely massive.

The only complaint thus far is my calves are acting funny, I don't know if it was those compression socks or the cold temperatures in the gym, but they feel like they are going to pull when I run.

I think that is all for tonight, my computer needs to charge!
Yes Michelle it is big J!

30 hours later!!

Alright so we made it to Chile! It feels so long ago now but I woke up early yesterday morning got a pool workout in and hten we headed for the Toronto airport at 9am. Our flight didn't leave until like 1 the bad thing about travelling in a large group is that sometimes they make you get there really really early! Played some card games and tried to exchange some money however the lady kept telling everyone different prices and differnt stories so I felt like she didn't know what she was doing and declined. THen it was the 7.5 hour layover which actually went great as we got to sleep in the hotel and have our "last meal". THe flight to Chile was 9.5 and it went alright it was long but I managed to sleep almost the whole flight. Cleared customs where we had to pay 132 US dollars to enter the country the most any country had to pay who knows why! The 2 hour layover before our flight was filled with an interesting Chicken sandwhich which I avoided for the most part.
When we arrived in Valdivia our plane pulled into the tiniest airport I have ever been to. There was a total of two planes, one building and one luggage carousel. We were greeted with pictures and filming and a local dance complete with spurs and music!
It is really pretty here albeit freezing... I can see my breath. I was not yet ready for this dramatic change in weather. The gym thus far does not appear to be heated should be fun. The food has been okay so far and the rooms are not too bad once we got the heat cranked up.
That will be all for tonight I got to see some people though B and Klaw from the team visited with them tonight. Crazy I got to see a girl from UTPA that played with Michelle, Jenn. I got to talk with her as well!
It is time for treatment and bed but I will be updating the blog as there is free wireless in the lobby!

Chile Bound!

I am off tomorrow morning beginning the long 24 hour trek to Chile, I am not sure I will be able to update this while I am gone but if you are interested in following the tourney we have to win our first two games and that means we will advance to next summers qualifier tourney. THe big goal is to beat Jamaica and then Cuba!
Should be exciting but it is time for me to head to finish packing and head off to bed.

training camp comes to an end!

Practices are done! Exciting we finished off practices in Waterloo today it was a really good training camp and once Ree gets healthy we should be ready to go! I had a rough practice this morning woke up with some sort of charlie horse on my ankle hurt to jump or walk but after my afternoon ice bath charlie horse was gone and I am all better!
It is pretty funny the little things that can excite you at training camp but I am fired up because there will be a starbucks run later tonight... nothing like a little vanilla steamed milk before bed!
I didn't nap today and instead took a little trip to Shoppers with Ree so that she could get her prescription. I purchased some compression socks, I guess they keep the swelling out when you travel for a long time. I believe the trend started with Clo, the smarty pants suggested it and we all followed suit and it has been working for people so I jumped on board. Our flight is going to be fun it will be a full 24 hours of travelling complete with a 7 hour layover in Atlanta!! The good news is that we have a hotel room I believe so we can relax a little bit maybe lay down watch tv!

Man Down

Today we had a morning off, it is always great to sleep in made it to 1015 this morning and woke up so that we could catch the end of the free breakfast buffet. We started watching film on Jamaica doing a little scouting and then it was time for a quick pool workout for me just to get some cardio in. I got to trade in my Kobes today, I was a little nervous because I had worn them once before but they didn't look to closely and they had dried out by then so you couldn't really tell. I got a new pair of bball shoes for overseas I should hopefully be set. Tonights practices the NEDA girls came out to watch but disaster struck when Ree went down with an ankle sprain. She is looking like she is in a bit of pain but hopefully the accpuncture can work the same miracles on her as it did on me!!
Speaking of Accpuncture I am off for treatment I will keep you all updated.

Old lady!?!?!

Alright well training camp is well under way the schedule is up on the wall and the days till we play are being crossed off everynight before bed. Training camp as been an adjustment for me to say the least I wake up every morning my body creaking and cracking wondering what in the world I am doing to it. I have not done two a days for over 2 years now! I am so sore I honestly feel like an old lady, today appears to be somewhat of a hump day my calf is finally feeling a little better thanks to a whole bunch of accupuncture those little needles work wonders!!
The team went over to Chelseas parents house hte other night and had an amazing meal, it was such a nice break from eating out at restaurants to have a home cooked meal. We threw Carrie a little Bachelorette party complete with games and a movie!
The stag shop in town was slightly overwhelmed with a number of girls over 6'0. I bet they are wondering why the Canada Basketball girls are all looking in the stag shops!
Time for my nap!!

The baby is Jeff and Getti's (my strength coach).
The glasses are from the Imax.

Welcome Back!

Here are the pictures as promised. They are from the drive home from Sac to BC and then some from BC hanging out in Vancouver. The last one happened my first day back at camp... I got a black, a sprained finger and a sweet scratch on my cheek!! Today got a cut on the black eye so a little blood to add in the corner. Good to be back!!