Christmas Break

The last week has been so hectic and crazy that it just wouldn't be fair to call it a vacation or even a break!! It started at the Chemeketa tournament in Salem where we played extremely well and beat both Treasure Valley (110-65) and Seattle (113-72) and then had the opportunity to play Chemeketa. Once again that didn't work out when Chemeketa couldn't guarantee that the weather wouldn't keep their players from making it back to the gym.

So instead of playing another game, all the girls scattered for various destinations and Linda and I drove back to Roseburg by ourselves. Most of the girls made it home without a problem but not all of them. Mykie ended up spending a day and a half in the Portland airport before she could finally get a flight out to LA; Cassie had to take a 12 hour detour driving to Idaho because I-84 was completely closed; and Titi's standby flight to Hawaii was first redirected to Utah where she remained for the next four days.

Kristi sent me a text Christmas morning asking if I would open the gym again for her after everything slowed down. (We worked out a couple days ago.) So at 7:30pm nine year old Taylor and I picked up Kristi and headed to UCC. As I was driving I couldn't help but making up my own version of "The Night Before Christmas."

"Twas the night we call Christmas and all through the Northwest; not many players were shooting; only the best. . . ."

After we shot for an hour, Kristi kind of put her around Taylor and said, "Now you're a day ahead of every other fourth grader you'll play against." Not only was it a very wise statement but it also gave us great insight into Kristi's thinking. I couldn't help but wonder how many times Kristi has walked out of the gym after working out by herself and thought, "Now I'm one day ahead of everyone else!" Probably too many to count.

(Mykie just called from a pay phone at the Portland airport to tell me that she made it back safely. She is going to meet Titi, who is on a flight now, in an hour and then Cassie will meet up with both of them on her way back from Idaho and drive them to Roseburg. It's always a proud and happy time for "dads" when they see their "kids" looking out for each other!)