Volleyball Provincials

This weekend sure was an exciting one for me and my volleyball team "Royal City Ravens". Our weekend started of at 11:00 on Friday morning ranked 56th out of 70 teams in Ontario, because of an unfortunate loss in an earlier tournament. Even with this low ranking, we went into provincials with a good attitude, and definate improvement in skills.

Our first 3 games went by without any issues, and as my Dad, or 'Coach Jason' would say, we put on a clinic. In one of the games, I managed to serve 21 serves in a row, out of the 25 points. So, with all of our success that day, everyone was pumped for Saturdays game...accept for the fact that it was at 8:00 in the morning, which meant a 5:00 wake up call. Not cool. So lets just say, the morning came and went and we were still pretty much sleeping on the court, which led us to lose a game against a weaker team.

The rest of Saturdays games were successful and we were told that on Sunday we would be moving onto the quarter finals. But, once again we had an 8:00 game, but this time, it was a MUST win, because it would either lead us to 1st place, or 9th. So my dad told everyone to eat a lot of breakfast and drink a large Tims hot chocolate, hoping to wake us up and raise our energy level. Unfortunatly, I think our team had to much energy because we ended up hitting the ball so hard that we lost 19 points to hitting the ball out of the court. Not good. In the end we lost that game which meant that we had no chance in winning gold, but we still fought hard in the game that followed, and ended up winning to a team we had lost to earlier.

To conclude, my first experience of provincials was a very good one, and I can't wait until nationals next month!

Bucket list

Don’t rush me! According the average life expectancy charts I still have some time to go. If anyone has seen the Bucket List you will now that the result of fulfilling it is not necessarily positive. But, I get the concept we are working toward here so I will play along. I would prefer to look at this like the Pot at the Beginning of my Rainbow instead of a rusty old bucket. Soooo, in my lovely shinny solid gold with diamonds encrusted pot I would like to put the following, with an option to add more items as time goes on:

1. Scuba diving on the Great Barrier Reef (GBR). This will require me first to get my diving license (no ‘r’, yet) which I plan to do in the next couple of months so the only thing I need to figure out is how to make my way to Australia. I am thinking I could stow away in Katies luggage or something next year. Do you think she’ll notice? The great thing about Diving on the GBR is that it may easily lead in to the next thing on my list which is

2. Swimming with sharks. I know that this may not be everyone’s cup of tea, and as you know sharks are one of my biggest fears in life, but think of it. Would it be cool to be within a breath of death while knowing that you have more things to complete on the Pot of Gold list so nothing can happen at that moment? I am generally terrified of sharks and the ocean in general so I thought this might help me in the end. Which brings me to the third thing on the list. While in Australia, I should do as the Aussies do and go

3. Bungy jumping. Hey they invented it and have been doing it reasonably safely for more years than I have been alive so I am all in. Some of you might have heard that roller coasters throw me off a bit (actually they make me throw up, but that is a different story) so you might doubt that I would strap a bunch of rubber bands to my ankles and jump off a perfectly good platform. However, I love the feeling of heights and the view would be great so. Height and scenery are the two aspect of my next item on the list which is to

4. Climb the Eiffel Tower. Built in Paris for the World Fair it was never meant to stay around this long (I learned that from my sister Lauren’s project), but it has ended up being an icon for Paris and a tourism magnet. MY parents think it is all a ruse to get to Europe, connect with Leena, and tour Paris and beyond. They are likely right, but hey if an educational trip to discover the marvels of steel engineering is what it takes then so be it. Maybe when Leena and I will make our way to Italy, since we are only a short train ride away, where I can

5. Learn Italian! Hey my Mom is part Italian, which makes me part too so it might be nice to understand my heritage. The good news is that I like pasta, bread, balsamic vinegar and oil so I won’t starve even if my language skills suffer from my lack of practice. You see, I believe that my Pot of Gold should bestow upon me the ability to speak Italian (and play the guitar, piano, and sing) with little to no practice. Isn’t this how life was supposed to go? I am finding out, bummer, that it takes more hard work than I had ever imagined so it might mean that I just have to stay longer in Italy!! Maybe if I am able to perfect my language and music skills, I can

6. Meet Justin Beiber. Maybe even on stage??! Ok, I know that is pushing it but wouldn’t everyone just freak if I did? I would. Consider that just a year ago Justin was hanging out a few kilometers from here trying not to get beat up by the nasty types at school. Now he is travelling the world, hanging out in Paris – maybe I can meet him at the Eiffel Tower, Hmmmm. Wow hoe things change. Did you ever think you would see Justin on TV on SNL like on Saturday? This makes me wonder if I can fulfill my next list item which is to

7. Be on TV! And not for getting arrested or anything like that. Something cool, something fun. I actually missed my debut opportunity at the Regional Science Fair when the news reporter interviewed the girl across from me, probably just making due because I wasn't there. I was probably over chatting with Cassie, or trying to avoid the judges, and missed my gig. Maybe next time... Which brings me to the last item on my April 2010 list and maybe the first item on my April 2011 Pot of Gold list. I want to

8. Go to at least 20 different places in the world!! I know this is not overly specific, but that is the beauty of it. When I get to each of these places, I can have a new list for every stop! That is the way to create a sense of eternity for myself. If I keep creating lists, then I need to be around to keep checking them off! With at least 69 years to go, I don’t want to limit myself to what I know now so I will keep my options open.

Harlem Globtrotters

When my Dad told us that we he had tickets for the Harlem Globetrotters I have to admit my first thought was “LAME!” Who are the Globetrotters? Well he seemed pretty excited about it so I thought I would give it a little latitude. Everything seemed to be rushed that day – my Mom was going to drive us which meant that there was a reasonable chance we were going to be late because my Dad was unexpectedly having to go to Vancouver. Great news, his flight was cancelled due some mechanical failure on the plane caused by lightning. Better before takeoff than after, that’s for sure. So it worked out that he was going to take us and since it was his idea it only seemed fair that he was now able to go. Perhaps the evening would work out after all.


So we get there and make out way down to our seats, right on the court, under the basket so I knew we would be right in the middle of the action. As we walked in the Globetrotter’s theme song was playing – you know it. The lights came up, the announcer left the court and the ball was put into play. This is when is started to get interesting.


The team played the infamous Generals who, in any normal situation, would be considered great players, but their shtick is to be the patsies on the court. I have never seen such control of the ball and dunking and passing in the game of basketball. Ok, the SJK guys team does well and they can run up the score, but they are a ways away from these guys when it comes to the finely tuned skills and what they can do in the air. My little sister Hillary got pulled up to the middle of the court and they made her run around the court, and spun a ball on her finger! That was entertaining but the funniest part was when one of the players came over, grabbed me, and started dancing with me. That was rather embarrassing. I guess he felt bad for me because later in the game he came over and threw his wrist band to me – kind of sweaty, kind of gross, but a good keep sake of the game.


After the game the line ups began to get autographs, meet the players, and generally get the public more involved in the whole event. It was pretty cool overall to see some of the best players in the world and what they can do when they put their minds to it. If you get the chance to go, it is an interesting use of a few hours. Go Globetrotters! Woot!