Super Service

I like to pass it along when I receive super service.

I would like to thank the guy at Tires Plus on the corner of Old Peachtree and Buford Hwy that loaned Jackie and I a tire jack to change her tire. Guess how many people and tire jacks it takes to change a Volkswagon Jetta's tire and you might win a prize!



Would also like tell you about the personal attention I received from http://www.bookcrossing.com/. I was so impressed with the idea that I shared it with lots of friends and added it to my blog. I got a very nice email from and a comment on my blog from the CEO, Scott. THAT is what you call personalized attention!

"God don't like ugly!"

Ok. I have heard some pretty strange things on the tennis courts. Yes, I've even said some pretty strange things. But this comment took the prize, especially in the context it was said. Jackie and I were playing a T2 match at Collins Hill. The play had been very close but an all around fun match. 6-4, 4-6 and then we were in a tiebreaker for the 3rd set. The bad guys were down in the tie breaker when I hit a pretty hard shot toward my opponent's alley. I must interject here...I had been hitting some great alley shots on this particular day. Anyhooo, the ball hit the net with a pretty loud pop and landed on my side when suddenly my opponent burst out with "God don't like ugly?" This comment was coming from a woman wearing red contacts ! At first, I thought she was saying it in fun because we had been going back and forth with witty comments. After realizing that she was not in jest, I, on my high horse, said, " Excuse me?". She repeated "God don't like ugly and you were trying to hit me". My only retort was,"I'm just trying to win this match and it is kind of hard against bad line calls and people refusing to admit to double bounces." To which she indignitely replied," I never make bad line calls." I think my partner may have said something but the incredulous look on her face made me forget what she might have said. I told her, let's just shake it off and play. On the base line, I begged Jackie to tell her that if I had been trying to hit her...well, I would have hit her! Probably more than once. Unfortunately, I must have been ugly that day because we did not perservere and win.

As we were driving away, I heard through my open window.."God don't like ugly!!" and looked into my rear view mirror to see Jackie laughing hysterically in her car. In the recent days, we have had several laughs at Veronica's expense. Many of our friends have laughed at the story and I hope you will have found some humor in it too!

If you have had stranger comments on the tennis courts, please add them here. Also, feel free to enlighten us if you have had the pleasure of playing Veronica. Apparently she plays T2, KSwiss, ALTA and the League because she kept telling us that she was a solid 3.0 player. I guess that is why she is playing 2.5.

The Book Swap

I got the bright idea to host a book swap brunch. I invited several of my girlfriends, told them to bring 5-10 books to swap and a breakfast item. Two days before the party, I realized that I didn't exactly know what we were going to "do" during this party. Suddenly I had visions of bridezillas fighting each other for the perfect dress and immediately envisioned my mild manner friends fighting over the perfect book. I immediately tapped into the internet to see what other people did at these parties. It was there that I came across the link for www.bookcrossing.com . Soon I had forgotten my real reason for surfing and was reading all through the bookcrossing website. It impressed me so much that I had to share it at the bruch. After we had all grabbed the books we wanted, there was a pile left. I told everyone about the website and they all agreed we should take one book, register it on the website and set it free. We were all particularly excited about a trip that one of the ladies was about to take to Australia and she plans to leave the book in the airport there. After we had all taken the books to set free, we agreed to take the rest to a woman's shelter so they could be set free also. We decided to do another swap in 3 months and are all very excited to see where our books may have traveled by then! Stay tuned for an update.

If you are reading this post and want to join www.bookcrossing.com please enter my name SmashGal as the referrer so we can see how each other's books are traveling. The more the merrier.

Out!

The turtles are ready to rumble!!!(Jackie)

Five for Five!

I'm still trying to decide what what was the most exciting. A come back to win from 0-5 bad guys or the way Linda Howell jumped up and charged the old rude guy. For a split moment, I thought someone was stealing the holy cow cake! Then Mary and JR rushed past and I am completely flipping. There was a fight brewing and HEY! I'm not even involved. Our sweet little captain is giving the rude dude the what for. Then it is over as quickly as it started and the ladies are playing again. I am amazed at their determination and mental discipline as the play resumes. We are cheering, they are cheering. I am smoking and Jackie is smoking. They are scoring and we are scoring. They are cheering but we are cheering more and scoring more and finally success!

Congratulations line five for bringing five home today!

And a special shout out to JR for talking me down off the ledge of my temper and for being our hero. Laugh..I later told Warren......I was wondering how many of us it was going to take to take JR down if he started wailing on the rude dude?

You won't believe this

I've got nothing to say about this week.

Weldon here I come and you better not be speaking Bosnian when I get there!

The Sunday to be forgotten

My partner and I are waiting on the courts for our opponents to join us. I'm already aggravated and the day just went down hill from there. My temper, however, continued to climb uphill for the entire match. Laugh...when Jackie tells me I am out of line....I am WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY out of line.

Sitting on the hill watching the rest of the match, I heard horror stories, one by one, from the rest of my team. Afterwards there was a flurry of emails. They all said the same thing. We may have lost, but we all kept our dignity and our integrity. Well, everyone except me. I wouldn't say I behaved in a dignified way. : )

Most importantly, this is what I learned or rather remembered, from all the emails. I play tennis with a great bunch of women. All supportive. All with integrity. All around a great group of ladies.

This is where I would usually say...let's go out and kick some butt, but on the eve on our next match, I will leave you all with, lets go out and have some great matches.

and kick some butt. (I couldnt resist)

Secret squirrel strategies for winning

Jackie's and I have an all time favorite....we must clack racquets..even when they make the good shot.
Use your frame as much as you can.....it provides much harder (crazy) shots to return.
Cheering from the crowd...even/especially when we make bad shots.
I learned this week that havng a partner that hits the opponent at least 10 times helps.
Voodoo is helpful....everyone bring your lucky charm.
When your opponent makes a really good serve....keep telling them how great is was...the pressure will be so great they wont be able to do it again.
I MUST hold ALL of the balls when serving.
I change the opponents scores but never my own. (Don't ask-I dont know why)
Rubbing your cookies on the net only improves your chance of winning.
Don't let the other team see you sweat(frustration)
Another one of our favorites...just because the other opponents seem like they are in shape does not mean they are going to win against us Clydesdales!
Our number one strategy is to walk out onto the court with a mountain dew and cigarrette complaining about the heat...Laugh..they think they have us beat everytime.

Feel free to add your own secret strategies. Just click on the comment button below.

Quote

“Never use a hatchet to remove a fly from your friend’s forehead.”

Tennis website for singles

Courtmetennis has a special promotion to introduce their new dating league. Sign up for a trial offer absolutely free. You will be matched with 5 other tennis players in your area for a fun night of tennis and socializing. It is a great way to meet new people and possibly meet that special someone. So grab those racquets and join the fun!

The Table was Set

The tennis table looked wonderful this week. A special shout out to Piper for adding her pretty little table cloth holders. Cute idea. Unfortunately I didnt get to partake in the food because OF COURSE I PLAYED 3 SETS! However, I heard that the kids treasure chest was a hugh hit! Thanks Christine!

I also didnt get to see much of anyone's game because I was playing in the dungeon due to a swarm of bees on court 3. I was lucky enough to see Casey and Linda play. Wow! They have really formed a solid team. I kept admiring Casey's grace and Linda's hard forehand.

In a recap of our match, all I can say is that I was totally annoyed during the entire first set. I can not, repeat, can not play moon ball tennis players and I was mad at myself. The 2nd set looked pretty doomed as we were down 1-4 and then suddenly it occured to me...you have to play their game to beat them. So I started lobbing all of their serves and Lori smashed their returns either at their feet or at their face. Laugh...she had no mercy. We made a run for it and finally won in a tiebreaker. I had my smoke with line 6 and she told Lori and I not to have pity on the sweet looking one because she kept smirking every time we made a mistake. Apparently that was all we needed to hear, because the opponent was hit at least 10 times by my partner and 3 times by me. They tried to change their strategy and go to an I formation which Lori promptly made them look silly for trying.

Alas, we overcame our rocky start and won. But the best part of the day was when we walked off the court, the opponents thought I was the "nice player". They even shook my hand. : ) Thanks Lori!