Sunday, October 23, 2011

OCTOBER 21st RESULTS

WE DID IT!  Our First 2 court win against very tough opponents, with all our supporters there to cheer us on.  (There was even reserved seating for our VIP guests!) Way to go girls!

Court three started off very strong on Wednesday, when the fabulous team of Anne Sophie and Nayla were chosen to play on Friday.   But something happened on the road to Friday that put a glitch in our plans.  Anne Sophie injured herself while practicing on enemy territory.  Her first game in level 2 would have to wait!  But our spare Di, was chomping at the bit to get a game under her belt and she capitalized on the opportunity.  She was on fire and her and Nayla smashed and sliced their way to a 3 set victory.

Court two had the dynamic duo of Ana and Allana back together again, to knock the socks off some very challenging opponents.  They were both excited and ready to go out and show their power and strength as a team.  They did just that, coming back from being down in the first set to never letting the opponents back in the door.  They won handily in 2 sets.

Now for court 1.  I'm tempted to not write anything about court 1 because I didn't do anything on court 1 that's worth writing about.  Poor Conception was playing by herself the whole match and so it was inevitable that we wouldn't win.  After a lousy week of tennis on my part, my forehand weapon decided to pack it in on Friday and take the day off.  From that moment on, I was in my head trying to convince it to wait until the weekend but it was already lying poolside with Heather, enjoying some adult beverages.  I must say that I have never been so in my own head during a match.  I've seen it happen to Sharapova, where the only person she's playing against is herself.  That was me on Friday.  I was completely by myself, talking to myself, trying to psyche myself up for each and every shot but to no avail.  Even this paragraph is all about me so as you can see, I'm still not over it!

What I learned is that I have to have a plan B.  If something's not working, try something else.  Such a simple statement yet very difficult to put into play when you're not thinking clearly and critically.  If I was out of my head and acting like a partner to Conception, I could have suggested to switch sides in the second set.  That may have relieved some of the pressure I was putting on myself to perform at the level of play that I'm used to playing at.

But after completely defeating myself on the court (half of me won, I guess!),  I decided to celebrate our 2 court victory with the girls.  There's nothing like swimming around in someone else's joy to take your mind off of drowning in your own misery.  So Conception and I had a great time dancing our loss away and celebrating a great win with our teammates.

On to the next!!

Saturday, October 15, 2011

Gala 2011


Bryan & Debbie
Another FUNdraising event has come and gone and it was a huge success, once again!

The 3rd Annual Orthodontists' Gala benefitting the Montreal Children's and Ste. Justine hospitals raised an incredible $145,000.00.  Thanks to the generous support of many friends & colleagues who enjoyed food, wine, dancing and schmoozing at the always beautiful Crown Plaza.  Judging from the blisters on my beautifully pedicured feet, the dance floor was rocking into the wee hours of the morning.

What a fun way to raise money for 2 incredible hospitals that most parents have visited at least once.

The room was filled to capacity but I would love to have more tables of party people to enjoy this wonderful evening with, next year.  Among the celebrities were.....
Pierre & Bonnie


Ron & Viv

Barry & Carolyn

Lisa & Wade

The beautiful venue

The ladies!

The Gents!

George & Moi

The dance

The girls & the weatherman
Congratulations Dr. George on an awesome event!

October 14th Results

Well it seems we are creating a pattern of winning one out of 3 courts each week.  However we did switch from a court 3 win to a court 2 win this week.

Allana and Suzanne had their hands full with the retrievers on court one.  Their match had some incredible ups and downs as I heard the cheers from the stands and a few "COME ON's" from Allana.  But these ladies used the sauna they call a tennis court to their advantage.  They had Allana chasing lob after lob until she was blue in the face and the crowd was sweating just watching her.  Not only did our girls lose the match, they lost a few pounds in the process.

Court 3 was pretty quiet on and off the court.  I'm not sure what happened but I assume that Heather and Pat probably were experiencing some sort of heat stroke that left them wondering what happened as well.

Conception and I had our hands full with the always tricky Maggie on court 2.  She started the match by telling me that she knew my parents.  (Oooh, she's good!)  I wasn't falling for the "almost related" tactic and I told her we would discuss our history after the match.  How are you supposed to kick the butt of someone who claims to have gone to camp with your mother? So I pulled my partner away and told her no more chit chat until the end of the match.  Conception and I battled every point until our baileys and chocolate outfits were literally melting off our bodies.  My skirt was so short by the end of the match that it looked like I was wearing a fringed belt with hot pants!  We kept our focus as best as we could in the 100 degree temperatures and we sweated our way to a 6-2, 7-5 two set win.

Our usual winning table was waiting for us in Chez Cora and we enjoyed a wonderful lunch with coconut and chocolate shots for all.  We are just warming up to the future 2 and more court wins when we will be breaking out the music and wine!  We are just pacing ourselves for the upcoming celebrations.

Congrats to all for battling the unseasonably warm temperatures and thank you again to our wonderful cheering section, who show up week after week.  Your support and enthusiasm are always appreciated.

See you all next week!

Friday, October 7, 2011

October 7th Results

Well Ladies,

We did it again!  Lost on 1, lost on 2 and a big win on 3.  Congratulations to the dynamic duo of Suzanne and Pat who battled to win in 2 sets, 6-4, 7-5.

Heather and Ana came incredibly close, going into a third set tie break, losing 6-8.  No one understood why they stopped at 8 but it was explained to us that if the third set tie break starts after 11:45, it only goes to 7.  That's not what the book says but Ana received an addendum from the powers that be and apparently that's how it works.  Good thing she knew because I would have played until 10.

Allana and I were up 3-0 in the first and were feeling pretty good about the game until they rallied to bring the score to 4-4.  A few unforced errors on our part and the opponents took the set 6-4.  Then a strange thing happened during the break.  We immediately felt kind of bummed because we knew there wasn't going to be a third set, even if we won.  It's strange how that super stupid tie breaker affects you after the first set.  I probably subconsciously channelled my follower who whispered "avoid the SSTB...lose the 2nd set" and that's what we did, 2-6.

So if I can find the positives from my match today, I'll say that Ana has a really nice car....and that's about it!  (Can you tell I'm depressed!)