Come to Win

We've had a busy week!  Last Saturday, we spent the day with Billy's family in Chestertown, Maryland at Billy's Uncle Gary's brother's house (did you get that?).  Jacelyn and Allen were house and dog sitting, and since the house is right on the Chester river, Gary's brother encouraged them to invite the family down for a mini-vacation.  He even arranged for a friend of his to deliver fresh crabs caught in the Chester river that morning!  I didn't have any, but everyone else said the crabs were delicious.  We all had a great time checking out the shops in Chestertown's small down downtown, hanging out at the pool, eating, and relaxing in the giant yard.  This was the first time Billy and I have seen Cash and Lily in a few months, and both of them are getting so big!  Cash turns three in October, and he took a break from the slide and diving board long enough to let me know that wants me to hurry up and have the baby that's in my belly.  Lily turns one next month, so she doesn't know it yet, but she is anxiously awaiting the arrival of her new partner in crime.  She is such an affectionate and happy baby that she makes it easy to look forward to having a little girl of our own soon!  It was so nice to feel like we "got away" for the day while still being able to sleep in our own bed that evening!

Regular readers of the blog will remember that for the past several years, I've spent the first week of August at the Legg Mason Tennis Classic at Rock Creek Park in DC.  It is my favorite week of the year, but even my non-pregnant body has a hard time spending seven straight days sitting on a bleacher in extreme heat, so I knew we'd need to scale back our attendance this year.  Rather than buying tickets for the whole week, we decided to go on Thursday for the third round and Friday for the quarterfinal matches.  This turned out to be a good year to attend fewer matches because Andy Roddick and Mardy Fish both had to withdraw due to injuries and there were quite a few rain delays.

My friend Anne-Marie has come with me for the past two years, and Billy and I were glad to have her and her husband Jon join us for Thursday evening's session.  It was fun to have another couple to chat with during the matches, and since Jon played tennis in college, it was interesting for me to hear a player's perspective on the matches.  We got to see Stepanek defeat Niemenen and Verdasco defeat Davydenko on the Grandstand court, which I love, because you get to see the action right up close.  We also caught most of Monfils' win over Tursunov, but that was a less competitive match.

with Billy and Anne-Marie at the tournament in 2009

On Friday, Billy and I got to see all four quarterfinal matches on the stadium court, and since I didn't think I could sit out in the blazing sun for twelve hours, we sprung for the undercover seats.  This kept me comfortable enough to last through the whole session, which was great, because the matches I wanted to see most were the first and last.  It also meant we were closer to the action than we normally are on the stadium court, so that also made the upgrade exciting, too.

I like Fernando Verdasco, so I was hoping he would beat Stepanek, but he didn't play his best.  Then we watched Donald Young of the USA reach his first ATP semi-final by defeating Marcos Baghdatis.  I am not a Donald Young fan because I've been disappointed in his attitude and behavior in years past, but he did play well and deserved to win the match.  The third match was between two big servers, John Isner and Viktor Troicki, and that is not my favorite style of play to watch.  I was pleasantly surprised, however, that there were more baseline rallies than I was expecting, and I was happy to see Isner advance.  The final match between Gael Monfils and Janko Tipsarevic is the one I was really looking forward to, and though Monfils won in straight sets, the match did not disappoint.  Tipsarevic is a determined grinder, and Monfils is an unbelievable athlete, so it was fun to watch them continue to return balls that would have been clean winners against other opponents.  In the end, Tipsarevic was just outmatched.

Next year we'll have the baby, and most of the top players are going to be playing in the Olympics during the Legg Mason tournament, so I don't know how likely we are to attend many of the matches in person.  But since taking in the matches with Billy is something I look forward to all year, I am so glad my body, stamina, and the weather cooperated with our plans for this year. 

Vickie has returned from her most recent travels and had a break in her busy work schedule, so last night Billy and I met her at her apartment before the three of us got dinner in Canton square.  It was fun to catch up with her, fill her in on what we've been up to, and talk to her about Wednesday's first childbirth class with the doula (more on that later!).  She also stopped by the house on her way home from church today to pick up her mail and visit Oscar, so she caught me in the middle of my weekend baby project.  The vinyl wall decal I ordered to bring the purple and green color scheme together arrived earlier in the week, so I spent the day applying that to the wall.  I am really happy with how it turned out, and I like that it gives the room some personality and makes it feel more like a baby's room without being permanent.  It's a little hard to tell, but the tree is dark green and the leaves are two different shades of purple.

We have a busy couple of weeks ahead, as well.  We continue our childbirth classes every Wednesday night, and next weekend is the Crab Feast Billy's family attends every year.  The following weekend Aunt Carrie is coming to visit us and Billy's family is throwing us a baby shower, so we are excited about both of those events!  I've decided that I'm going to stop working the following week, so I'll be busy at the office between now and then trying to get as much done as possible before I leave.  That should give me about six weeks at home to take care of final preparations (and hopefully get some reading accomplished!) before the baby's due date.  It's hard to believe she's going to be here so soon!

(Come to Win is Venus Williams's compilation of essays written by former athletes and others about the ways they believe participating in sports helped them in their professional lives.  I haven't read it yet, but I'd like to, because I certainly believe that my life has been shaped by the time I've spent playing and watching sports.)