This past weekend my tennis team went to state on a wild card. For those of you who don't know what that means, it means we came in second place but they choose a wild card team to go from each division. (We played in the Women's 3.0 division.) My friend Jerri picked me and our friend, Connie, up late Thursday afternoon and we drove up to Jackson, MS. It's about three hours away. We got to the hotel and met some of our teammates/friends and went across the street to Olive Garden for dinner and drinks. This was a treat because the Olive Garden in Gulfport was on the beach and obviously got washed away in Katrina. Dinner was good, altho' our waitress must have been new and a wee bit clueless. After dinner we went to Target, an even bigger treat! We got there at nine so we only had about an hour to shop. Of course that was not enough time so Jerri and I planned to go back before we left town. That night I was wired from the drive and the Dr. Pepper I had on the way down so I decided to take a Benedryl to help me sleep (this was about 11:30pm). I was very excited about the fact that I could sleep all night without having to get up to feed a baby. Not that I mind at all feeding my sweet little girl in the middle of the night but I was excited none-the-less. I was also excited to sleep in a bit since our first match was not until 11:00am. Now for those of you who know me well know how much I love to sleep in. Jerri, bless her heart, is a morning person and was out of bed by 6:30 a.m.!!! Poor thing would have gotten out of bed earlier than that but she was trying not to wake me. She tried being as quiet as she could but when she came to wake me up a little before 8:00 she found a pillow over my head. Even though I didn't get to sleep in as late as I wanted Jerri was such a great roommate and we had the best time together. I'm so glad I got to know her better. We have the same sense of humor and I feel like I have found a friend for life! The hotel had a very nice breakfast each morning and it was fun visiting with other Gulfport tennis teams who were there.
My cousin in law, Chuck, had warned me how hot Jackson is. Especially playing tennis and even more so playing singles. I figured it would be hot but really had no idea. He was so incredibly right. I played singles Friday morning, it was so hot and I was so lethargic from the benedryl that I felt like I was swinging my raquet in water. You know how if you swing your arm underwater it moves really slow. That's how my body felt. Sadly I got creamed 6-1, 6-0. I am actually shocked I won a game at all. We did go to duece a lot though. She wasn't that much better than me but I played awful and she was pretty tall so I couldn't get anything over her head at the net. Anyways, I volunteered to sit out the next match that was later that day. We had 9 people there so someone had to sit out each match. Thankfully Alicia (our beloved captain) let me sit out because the next place was even hotter. There was absolutely no breeze and it was 3:30 in the afternoon. I'm surprised no one fainted on the courts. Friday night a few of us went to Stix, which is a Japanese restaurant where they cook in front of you. It was very very yummy. We had planned to go to the players party afterwards but we were so tired and our bellies were so full we decided to go back to the hotel and crawl in bed.
On Saturday I woke up feeling much better. Although, once again I didn't get to sleep in because Jerri's son called her on her cell phone at 6:45am. Apparently everyone in her family is an early riser!! Our only match that day was at 12:30 so Jerri, Lucie, and I did a little shopping at one of the local tennis clubs (great pro shop with lots of awesome clothes). I asked Alicia if I could play doubles that day since it was so freakin hot. Thankfully she obliged and I played with my friend Robin. We kicked butt! Well, you wouldn't know it by the score, we won the first set in a tie break 7-6, and the second set 7-5 but both of us played really well. After the match we found out that one of the gals we played went to state in high school and WON in singles. That made us feel even better. Apprently she just had a baby but so did I so she couldn't use that excuse. Robin is a ton of fun to play with so we had a really good time. After that we all went to lunch and then Jerri and I decided to go home early (instead of on Sunday). We both missed our families. So we went back to the hotel, showered, loaded up the car and hit Target again on our way out. Gotta love Target. We got home around ten Saturday night. Unfortunately Zachary was already in bed but I got to see Jason and Addison.
Unfortunately I didn't take hardly any pictures. I wish I would have because we had such a great time. I did manage to get a team photo. From left to right it is: Elizabeth, me, Alicia (in back), Leslie (in front in the green), Stephanie, Lucie, Lee Ann, Robin & Jerri. We had such a good time, hopefully we'll go again next year!!!
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