Tea time update
I haven't written for a while, so I thought I'd do a quickie update while I'm waiting for the water to boil for my tea.
Tennis has been going well. I had three matches last weekend. One was a USTA doubles match that I lost with my regular partner Donna, 3-6, 3-6. At least it wasn't a blow out! I wasn't happy with how I played as my normally consistent serve seemed to have gone the way of the woolly mammoth. Donna and I stuck around after, though, and played a practice singles match, 6-3, 6-1. I was toast for pretty much the rest of the day. Sunday I had another singles match, not USTA but an online challenge ladder on which I participate, and I won 6-1, 6-3. I played great. I wish I could play like that for a freakin' USTA match.
I had a lesson with Nadeem Monday night in which I poured out my frustrations. His philosophy, with which I agree, is that practice and match play can be two completely different demons. I play great in practice, but then tighten up and don't play nowhere near my best in matches. I always try to compare everything to my performance experience, but then I sat back and realized...I practiced clarinet almost every day for hours FOR YEARS. I'm only in my second year of this tennis thing, and if I keep progressing at even a fraction of the rate I have in this past year, I'll be just fine. My head is what is holding me back right now.
This week marks the last week that I teach anything before and/or after school. My remediation class ended this morning, and I gave my students their pocket dictionaries. I hope they appreciate them!
Chorus ended yesterday with a pizza party while we gathered around and watched the video of the concert. I had a match scheduled later in the evening, but I thought the other team was going to default my court, so I had some pizza. Turns out, I ended up playing, and pizza and tennis don't mix real well for me.
I played doubles court #3 with Kim, a member of my team that I just met last week. She was scheduled for singles, but the other team defaulted the singles court, so she and I paired up. We lost our first set 4-6, but came storming back in the second and took it 6-2. We were ahead in the third set 4-3 when we ran out of time, so we ended up winning on total games (14-11). And, that was my very first USTA victory!!!! Yay! Hopefully this will be just the beginning of a trend.
However, this meant I was playing tennis for two straight hours after an exhausting day, after a string of exhausting days, and today I really felt it. I haven't been sleeping well or enough, and today I thought I was literally going to yak all over one of my fifth grade classes. I didn't though. It is kind of funny, I was this way even as a little girl...if I went too long without enough rest, I would get nauseous. I'm sure the pizza didn't help either. I'm sure it would have brought on a gall bladder attack...if I still had one.
So, I finally made it home, caught up on the finale of Alias, have the DVR all ready to record Lost, and now that my tea is steeping, I'm going to crash real soon. I can feel what a few days of crap eating and not resting is doing to me, and I don't like it, not one bit.
21 days to the end of the school year, and have I started packing? Nope.
Tomorrow after school we get to visit the new building. I've heard rumors that my room is fabulous. It better be...I freakin' deserve it after being in a stanky trailer for years. Nothing like having kids puke and pee on your carpet, you don't have plumbing, and you're locked out of the building. That *should* all be in the past now, though.
Ok, I'm rambling, time to go.....
Tennis has been going well. I had three matches last weekend. One was a USTA doubles match that I lost with my regular partner Donna, 3-6, 3-6. At least it wasn't a blow out! I wasn't happy with how I played as my normally consistent serve seemed to have gone the way of the woolly mammoth. Donna and I stuck around after, though, and played a practice singles match, 6-3, 6-1. I was toast for pretty much the rest of the day. Sunday I had another singles match, not USTA but an online challenge ladder on which I participate, and I won 6-1, 6-3. I played great. I wish I could play like that for a freakin' USTA match.
I had a lesson with Nadeem Monday night in which I poured out my frustrations. His philosophy, with which I agree, is that practice and match play can be two completely different demons. I play great in practice, but then tighten up and don't play nowhere near my best in matches. I always try to compare everything to my performance experience, but then I sat back and realized...I practiced clarinet almost every day for hours FOR YEARS. I'm only in my second year of this tennis thing, and if I keep progressing at even a fraction of the rate I have in this past year, I'll be just fine. My head is what is holding me back right now.
This week marks the last week that I teach anything before and/or after school. My remediation class ended this morning, and I gave my students their pocket dictionaries. I hope they appreciate them!
Chorus ended yesterday with a pizza party while we gathered around and watched the video of the concert. I had a match scheduled later in the evening, but I thought the other team was going to default my court, so I had some pizza. Turns out, I ended up playing, and pizza and tennis don't mix real well for me.
I played doubles court #3 with Kim, a member of my team that I just met last week. She was scheduled for singles, but the other team defaulted the singles court, so she and I paired up. We lost our first set 4-6, but came storming back in the second and took it 6-2. We were ahead in the third set 4-3 when we ran out of time, so we ended up winning on total games (14-11). And, that was my very first USTA victory!!!! Yay! Hopefully this will be just the beginning of a trend.
However, this meant I was playing tennis for two straight hours after an exhausting day, after a string of exhausting days, and today I really felt it. I haven't been sleeping well or enough, and today I thought I was literally going to yak all over one of my fifth grade classes. I didn't though. It is kind of funny, I was this way even as a little girl...if I went too long without enough rest, I would get nauseous. I'm sure the pizza didn't help either. I'm sure it would have brought on a gall bladder attack...if I still had one.
So, I finally made it home, caught up on the finale of Alias, have the DVR all ready to record Lost, and now that my tea is steeping, I'm going to crash real soon. I can feel what a few days of crap eating and not resting is doing to me, and I don't like it, not one bit.
21 days to the end of the school year, and have I started packing? Nope.
Tomorrow after school we get to visit the new building. I've heard rumors that my room is fabulous. It better be...I freakin' deserve it after being in a stanky trailer for years. Nothing like having kids puke and pee on your carpet, you don't have plumbing, and you're locked out of the building. That *should* all be in the past now, though.
Ok, I'm rambling, time to go.....