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 |  of a tennis player, hiker, writer |
 A bird in the bath. well, just before.  On court 1. Lookin' to own.  In Jax, enjoyin' some solid juniors tennis.  I love my new phone cam.  * Clears throat * “Um, Robin here, your friendly neighborhood MC(Mistress of Ceremonies). Welcome to my blog. In it you’ll find my rants, ramblings and random updates on everything ME... …and since I’m the typo queen and master of misspelling, these will be present in most, if not all my posts.”  A few of my better entries - all quick reads: |
| I play tonight. first it was at 8PM, but now they moved it to 7PM. I close my facility at 6:30 so i need to scoot over there. I talked to the ref who assured me i would not be defaulted for being late. whew. It's just a round robin with two singles matches and one doubles match. Should be fun and i hope i win - since i'm playing 2.5. i'll keep you posted. |
| The seeds were posted last night - 9:15:15 PM EST. It's just before 8AM now and yes i've already logged on. No berating emails about how we seeded. Whew. There’s almost always one unhappy camper. One parent who thinks their son should be the number one seed, not the number two. Most all details are taken care of save an umpire on Saturday. I know - huge uncrossed item on the To Do List. All I can say is...emergencies happen. Add a mistake and and mix in an oversight and you have Robin, stressed out. My friend Sarah, who runs many more tournaments than me, says "Relax. It will all work out." In the mean time, I’ll be on the phone and email, begging all the umpires I know to pretty please with sugar on top come work for me this Saturday. And yes, I know it's the Saturday before Memorial Day...and part of a three day weekend |
| Pandora.com is a pretty cool music site You key in a song / artist you love, and they create a customized radio station just for you! http://www.pandora.com/people/twinsis |
| Super bowl Sunday and I’m not ready. I’m in it for the commercials anyhow. And sometimes, the halftime show. Well, not really, but if some sexy male rock star wants to flash some skin, I so wanna be there to see it. Football was on at our house all season and I gave it the minimal glance. Remember, in the beginning of the season? The media raked the Manning vs. Manning thing over the coals. Turned me off. I’m a hoops girl to boot – college hoops. I did, however, regret not watching the Bronco/Sooner game. With its tricks, skills and bazaar coaching, a Boise 43-42 win in OT must have been off the chain. How could I have fallen asleep in the first place? It’s not everyday you get to see the Statue of Liberty Play in action. I got the play – by – play the next morning. Early. Like Shower Early; Before Coffee Early…Bryan burst into the bathroom dying to relay his commentary to someone. Anyone., and it didn’t matter that I was lathering up my hair. He was good. I regretted trading sleep for excitement. Nice and tight action like I like it. I heard you could d/l the entire game on the compie but I never did. Scott and Colleen will be over for our SB / Bryan B-day get together. Chips n Salsa and grilled or smoked chicken. Beginning and ending with Hornsby’s …or maybe it will be cosmos. Like last year, minus the Lucky Strike Bowling. |
| I’m so out of the writing zone. I need to go blog-hopping. Maybe I’ll find m rhythm. Baton Rouge was a blast. I loved every minute of it. Well, except getting the bill for a $12.00 spinach salad for lunch at the Cheesecake Something-or-Other. twelve dollars! I can’t remember the name. The waitress was top-notch though, with her attentiveness, double, triple and even quadruple checking to see if we needed anything. Taking care of a party of seven can be taxing. She was on her game. Even still, twelve dollars still hurt. The salad itself was decent. A bit too salty for my taste buds, but loaded with vitamin A helped me overlook the salt. Not the price, which I somehow got confused during the order, believing the lunch version, was less expensive. (Guess I was wrong.) The matches were good and our team competed in four of them. I played two. (Won one and lost one.) At least I lost to the team who finished just ahead of us. My win was sweet. Played at night, under the California Corners lighting, I could really see the ball. Even better than at Tattnall, on court one. I played relaxed; not even worrying when we lost the first set in the set tiebreaker. “We got some ground to make up. “ My partner said using an encouraging tone. I was ready for the challenge. During the first set, my service return was off. This is usually a winning point shot for me, if not a set up shot. However, during the first set, it proved to be a point for our opponents. What a suck deal I finally realized what I was doing wrong, adjusted, and quit giving points away. We won the second set 6;2. My partner was an awesome baseliner which works well with my net game. Tournament format called for a ten point match tiebreaker instead of the third set. We were down 4-9 – which meant our opponents had matchpoint. We came back to win the thing 13 – 11. OMG! What a win. As a team, we won three of our matches and lost one, putting us in second place in our group, so we didn’t qualify for the championship round. But I’m looking at it this way….had the tournament offered a 3/4th playoff, we’d have qualified and played for third or fourth place in the tournament. Not bad, considering this was a nine state event! |
| Sweetie is doing better. I’ve been afraid to blog about it. Birds are so fragile sometimes. We never really knew what was wrong with him. His lab tests just showed an elevated white count. Plus, the vet said he was fat. Bryan feeds him almonds. We’re still keeping the space heater by his cage cuz he freezes otherwise. He’s been so quiet during this ordeal; we’ve barely heard a peep out of him – uncharacteristic of amazons. Yesterday, he was whispering some, and last night, I scrambled him an egg – per the vet’s instructions and after he ate some of it, he said a few of his normal words. I will be glad when we don’t have to keep the heater on him and he talks up a storm like normal. (He sings Tied to the Whippin’ Post by the Allman Brothers. )  I leave for sectionals Thursday morning. Macon is sending five teams to this nine state event. I played in the Healy Point tournament last weekend for practice. Click on the picture for details.  tonight we have team practice and tomorrow afternoon and Sunday afternoon. Monday, m friend Sarah and I are going out for drinks – my belated birthday. Cosmos, baby. Heck yeah! |
| We brought Sweetie in first thing this morning for his tubing. The vet slid a thin long metal tube deep down his throat and into his crop(a place where birds store food prior to digestion. He hated it. Making these pitiful grunting noises, breaking my heart while I talked to him. He bit the crap out of me when she unwrapped him from the towel she used to hold him in place. He had to go back for another treatment this afternoon. But I was at work and didn’t have to watch. Knowing what was up, he wasn’t too cooperative and the process took longer. He is still shivering. Still inactive. Not eating – but with two feedings, she said he might not eat. His white blood count is up but that is it. no other signs of illness. Tomorrow, if he isn’t better, he will have to stay at the vets for x-rays and other medical things. |
| I'll blog later - hopefully today, but my pet amazon - his name is Sweetie, has been sick all day yesterday. At first, i thought he was missing Bryan - who was out of town for the weekend, but when i got home from the tournament, and Bryan was there - he was worse. He's at the vet now with Laney and Bryan while I'm at work. i'll keep you guys posted. |
| I’m exhausted. Three hours of tennis plus about the same in shopping, add in lunch out and watching a one of my tennis partners play her singles match and you can guarantee low levels of energy. I’m also happy. A first place singles trophy has a way of putting a goofy grin on your face. Add two large bags filled of on sale adidias tennis gear, and I feel like alcohol might have been involved. The country club hosting the tournament where I played, had a clearance rack – all skirts TEN dollars, all shirts TEN dollars. Plus, before heading home, I made a pit stop at The Sports Academy and swiped two adidias warm up suits for $19.88 a piece! Heck yeah, baby. I’m good, tired, but good. Off to bed – I have a doubles match tomorrow. If I win it’s another first place trophy. If I loose, it’s a second place trophy. ife is good. |
| Sixteen days till Baton Rouge and the countdown begins. We had our first team practice last night and I played well. I serve and volley. Not that my volleys are on, but I like blocking that much of the net. A few solid hits on the ball and everyone gets nervous when you are there. Four of us played three sets; switching partners with each set. I was worn out by the beginning of the third set, regretting my decision to skip dinner. Two hours of tennis on an empty stomach isn’t a move I’ll make again. At least intentionally. I was supposed to hit with the pro who wants me to write an article about him. He patented this teaching tool called the slinghopper. So, in order for me to write a better article, I told him I needed a 30 minute drill session. Only I forgot about my dental appointment. No tennis today, unless I score a quick lesson with my boss. Wed, I hit with my 3.0 team and later that day, the 30 minute slinghopper lesson. Thursday is team practice and Friday, Saturday & Sunday I’ve entered a local tournament on clay courts. I’m playing singles and doubles. I HAVE to be ready for Baton Rouge! I just checked our schedule for Baton Rouge…we play two matches on the 26th – Our first is against Mississippi and then we take on South Carolina. On Saturday, we play Arkansas and then North Carolina. If we’ve done well, we’ll play in the finals on Sunday the 29th against the winning team of the other division. I WANT to play on the 29th! |
Jeepres! I’m jealous. I just finished reading emmyloo’s blog entry, "Invalid Entry"  . First off, She’s gonna win the Erma Bomback contest, I just know it. And plus, she has a more funner job than me(funner isn't a part of my normal vocab. but it fits here just fine). During my job, I get to watch hottie 4.0 men sweat it out on the tennis court while grunting during the point of contact, trying to spank their opponent into submission…but that French maid outfit emmyloo wears while she’s faxing papers….And to make matters worse, she gets erotica merit badges from some guy named bassmaster  even before she writes the first erotic word! What’s up with that?You know what I think? I think she’s making it up. Well, at least some of it…I’ll bet the researchers didn’t keep their thigh high stockings on while they had wild nasty sex, I’ll bet they did it barefooted. And bassmaster …I’ll bet he’s really her husband and she bribed him into that erotic badge…“Hey, dude! If you want any hot nasty action later, you better pony up…for starters, I’d really like one of those erotic merit badges…” Those hot emails she sends him are probably more like Hey babe. Abby just puked all over the carpet and I’m on my hands and knees trying to ‘resolve’ the issue... We’ll just tell your mother it’s not really a stain in the carpet she bought us for Christmas, it’s her poor eyesight. All kidding aside, all of emmloo’s entries bring loud uncontrollable laughter and provide me fun breaks from watching athletic legs and listening to intense tennis grunting. |
| Thanks to emmyloo I now have a contest to enter. does this count as a submition for the "Invalid Item" thing? hmmmm i wonder. anyway, here is the link: http://www.wcpl.lib.oh.us/adults/erma.html Get busy. |
| I scored another writing gig. (yay me!) which is so totally cool too cuz I’ve joined this wdc group; "Invalid Item" . And one of the requirements is to submit one piece of writing for publication a month. Once a month. Publication isn’t considered. Get the dang thing submitted. That’s the group’s focus. Anyway, the guy told me he’d pay me to write about his tennis product…and any money I get from any publication is my gravy. (triple yay) I’ve got a few articles in the works and I figured this group would really help me focus in getting them polished up and submitted. I’m better now, but I’ve been sick. Had the stomach flu the day after Christmas. I grabbed the blueberries (which are supposed to be great for that sort of unpleasantness – among other things) I swear by them. Bryan was hurling like every hour. (bless his heart). I shivered, curled underneath my comforter, but never puked. (thank goodness). There aren’t many thinks I find more “oh my god I am soooo not doing that”, as tossing my salmon and rice and dark chocolate kisses into the commode anytime after I’ve fallen asleep. So, um, yeah. I was pretty stoked at keepin’ it all in. Blueberries are also supposed to help X out the damage aging does to your muscles. (I’ve been eating them for ten years now.) I’ll let you know in another ten if I agree with this assessment. Anyway, I’ve also joined "The WDC Angel Army" . The focus here is helping newbies to the site feel welcome and provide in-depth useful positive reviews. I figured my reviewing skills could use a workout so I joined. (new year’s resolution thing).Speaking of NYR’s. did anyone make any? Please, share… |
Just for fun. Created on http://artpad.art.com/artpad/painter/  "If everyone used a few energy-saving bulbs, it would be like taking eight million cars off the road each year."  ** Image ID #1122011 Unavailable **   |
| When Georgia beat the Zags I emailed a friend of mine. I was happy for Fenton and wanted to spread the news. “I really don’t keep up with basketball until March,” he replied. What? I got two words for him…HOLIDAY HOOPS With several games going into overtime, on court action offers a great preview of March Madness. Not to mention a terrific break from cleaning bird cages and changing bed sheets. While I’m partial to a few teams I love the non-stop sweaty athleticism, not caring what color shirt the guy or girl is wearing. This means, as a fan, I’m almost always satisfied. Today was no different…I wish I had been in Knoxville. The Volunteers vs The Longhorns. Mr. Chris-I can shoot and score from the parking lot-Lofton was so totally on his game. His 3-pointer over Durants’s head was amazing every time they re-played it. Durant scored at 1.1 seconds left forcing overtime at 89-89. Final score Tenn; 111 – 105. Hope everyone else is enjoying their holiday season. |
| oh yeah! Georgia slapped the Zags 96-83. |
| Ten hours of house chores this past weekend and my house still has clutter. I sorted through office drawers, and dresser drawers, did laundry, cleaned out a closet, medicine chest and supervised the cleaning of Laney’s room. It’s funny how fast she moves if you threaten restriction and once I swiped up her cell phone, she was in spring cleaning mode. Spring cleaning. In the dead of winter. Well, okay, so, I know you snow birds up north are used to tempts in the teens, but my deep south skin, tanned bronzed even in September, can’t take the thought of gusty winds coupled with dropping tempts too cold to go outside without a coat / hat / gloves on. Lucky for me I springed cleaned so I actually knew where my gloves where. I did have to brave the cold Saturday night. Bundled up in a burgundy turtleneck and so last year’s coat to attend a Christmas party. My tennis partner and his wife’s Christmas party. The food tasted so good I couldn’t stop eating. I’ve know idea how she made it all. Mexican corn salsa, buttered garlic(and something else but I’m not sure) shrimp, meatballs swimming in her grandmother’s secret sauce…I gained ten pounds that night. There was tequila there, too. It was a damn good thing my tennis partner and I didn’t have a match the next day! |
| It sucks waking up at two-something in the morning. It sucks even more when you can’t get back to sleep. Still further on the suck scale is insomnia on a night when you know have to go to work the next day cuz there is absolutely no one available to cover for you. My muse woke me up. She didn’t just nudge me awake either. She jolted me. “Can’t you read a clock?” I asked her snuggling deeper under my covers. “No,” she yelled. (In her defense, she could have whispered, but at two-something AM, any voice sounds loud like a mother of five threatening her children to clean up their rooms.) “You’ve been ignoring me,” she berated “Actually, it’s called work.” I rolled over, my back to her. “Twelve days in a row,” I added for good measure. Also in her defense, I’ve barely written anything in months. Since landing the Editor’s gig for the tennis newsletter and the occasional blog, oh, yeah, and my FOURTH article which will be published in January, I’ve hardly put more than a few sentences together. Writing felt more like a chore. In a weird sorta way, it was good to see my muse again – so full of energy and ideas. Albeit I would have preferred a more reasonable hour but who was I to demand? I relented, relaxed and mentally created. Hell no I didn’t desert the warmth of my covers to head for the compie. I did the ‘mental’ thing. (Don’t even.) you know, when you repeat it over and over in your head so you can remember one tenth of it when you finally do make it to the computer. I used to naturally wake up say, around five-thirty, create all sorts of stuff. I think I’ll train my internal clock back to that schedule. IN OTHER NEWS I’ve started a new blog. I know. I barely keep up with this one, but my new blog is different. It’s work-related. All about tennis. Posted on our website and written by yours truly. It’s at www.MaconTennisConnect.blogspot.com if you want to take a peek and leave a comment. (Hint) A cool feature blogspot software has is the ability to allow others to write entries and post them into the blog. This works out perfect as my boss, the City of Macon’s Tennis Manager / Head Pro may want to post an entry. Darrell, Sarah, Lorena, Paul, may get a creative itch they need to scratch. I’ll be getting mine at five-thirty tomorrow morning. Oh wait, tomorrow’s Saturday, maybe I’ll just take some Benadryl and sleep through it. Start fresh on Monday morning. |
| we won! we won! we won! our team finished first in our division for the season. i'll update later. Okay, so, um, yeah, i was so excited i didn't even tell you guys what...my tennis team won! i won my match and the rest of my team mates all won their matches, too! |
| I’m not very good about putting things into the mail. Real mail, delivered by postpeople who drive those white government postal trucks and walk the neighborhoods avoiding vicious dogs, scattered toys and strewn lawn furniture. Every since the internet, with it’s instant communication capabilities, real mail is slow and outdated. Real mail is filled with electric bills and campaign adds from sneaky politicians begging me for votes. Packages. That’s a whole different story – and should go without saying. I love packages. I’m not even picky about where they come from either. Amazon.com, Gevalia Coffee, wdc’s storymaster & storymisstress…and from…  oh, never mind. Let’s see, where was I? Oh, yeah, I’m not a big fan of real mail. Who wants to be reminded they owe $141.76 to Cox Cable anyway? But that’s about to change. Today, a tall blonde hottie with blue eyes and an athletic build handed me three letters of office mail. Yummy. I’m gonna have to start generating outgoing mail from work. |
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