A Gang of Dub’s

It’s Monday here, rainy and cold. Jen is busy doing push-ups and sit ups and band work. Exciting. We just finished watching a movie, Bank Job , with Jason Statham, it was pretty good. Worth the rent.

Jen and I’ s teams both earned our first wins of the year on Saturday! Jen’s team won by seven, they were tied at half but proved to be the better team in the second half. Their defense continued to be stellar, allowing under 25 goals for the second time this year. Jen had a few opportunities to score early in the game but couldn’t capitalize. She played good defense and was thrilled to finally get a win. ESV Weil was down two at the half but also managed to put together a very good second half and ended up winning by five or six, I can’t remember. I played most of the first half and a small stretch in the second. I also was not able to put one by the keeper but that is of no matter, because we finally got a win.

Learning a new sport is very frustrating. Jen and I are both near the top in our leagues when it comes to athleticism, strength, and size. That being said, we are only average players at best in our leagues. It is so unbelievably frustrating to not know the right move/decision to make automatically. We both played basketball for so long under good coaches that the sport came to us very easily. Playing the game was second nature for us, we were able to concentrate on other aspects of the game than pivoting or dribbling or back cutting when being overplayed. Those actions came naturally to us. Now, all that is gone, we have to learn a completely new sport all over again. I have to concentrate on my steps and dribbling and I have to constantly think about what the next move is and half the time I am wrong. This experience has been amazing so far and I truly believe there is no better way to learn the game but it’s not all fun and games. Getting looked at like the slow kid all the time sucks and is something new for both Jen and I. Enough of that.

Following the game, I participated in an after game celebration at a local dive called the Sit In with my teammates. The only reason I mention this is because it lead to my first experience with The Boot! Yes, it exists and it is real and it is big. And yes, if you don’t turn it at the proper moment, it will bubble and it will make you spill. The Boot is meant to be tackled as a team and not individually and it is meant to be held with one hand and one hand only. The Boot is a good time and gave me an experience I will never forget. I hope to run into The Boot again.

Sunday brought about a few more key wins. The Patriots escaped when a man paid millions to catch a ball, didn’t and the Broncos beat up on the Cowgirls. The most important thing about these wins was that we were able to watch them both. And we all know the Pats don’t ever lose two in a row, this is important because they play each other next week. Go Broncos!!! Going to the bar in Basel and watching the NFL has become a weekly highlight for us, however the buses and trains don’t run that late so last night we had to walk home. 10+ kilos (6+ miles) is a long way to walk, especially after midnight. Honestly, we gave up halfway home and caught a taxi the rest of the way. We also happened to catch the fastest Taxi on the road last night, I will admit to being a little frightened as the little old lady was pushing 80 in a 30 going up the winding road we live off of. But we made it home safe and will undoubtedly go back again next Sunday.

We still have no jobs but it seems like more and more opportunities are popping up. Just one has to work out for us so we are praying it happens soon. It looks like I may have to bartend but at this time we will take any jobs that will pay the bills and allow us to stay in the country.

So it’s now Tuesday night, Internet problems and more pressing matters have kept me from finishing this bad boy. Best part of the week was teaching Jen to ride the Vespa. She is a quick learner and was able to figure out how to turn and shift the Vespa in short time. Now she can run errands just as easily as I can and she can take the Vespa to her job on Fridays. We did find out that the Vespa will do over 60 kph’s and can go faster than 30 up the hill, must be nice weighing 160. We had homemade sloppy joes for dinner with corn on the cob and it was amazing. I would venture to say the sloppy joes were even better than a Manwich Sandwich. Unbelievable? Believe it. We also had class tonight and I really feel like it's going well. It's nice to have somebody help us put together all we have attempted to teach ourselves the last few months. I'm pretty excited about conquering the language cuz when we do, we will able to talk about you right in front of you without you knowing, exciting huh?

Prayers for my father would be appreciated, he just got his second knee replaced in the last 4 months. Pops, happy you got through the second knee replacement in one piece. Pray your recovery continues to go well and I pray it goes quickly.

Happy belated Birthday to Uncle Bill Haubrich. Happy Birthday tomorrow to Miss Bridget Haubrich, hope you enjoy your gift, sorry we didn't get you anything else, we'll make sure your Christmas present is extra special.

That's all for now. Love and miss you all, buh bye.