Signed, Sealed, Delivered

Hello again, a lot has occurred since I last wrote. I will do my best to fill you in during the next few paragraphs. Most importantly and most exciting, Jen got her chance to work out with a second league team and killed it. The coach was very impressed with her and said there was no way he was going to let her play in the third league this year. She has since signed an agreement with TV Mainzlar that will guarantee her hard work and effort all year. Her coach is very impressed with her strength, her fitness and her defense and is very excited to mold her into a very effective scoring machine on the offensive end.

Hence, Jen has been attending two-a-days the last week and a half. Unfortunately the Self’s have had to drive her to every training, which is 45 minutes one way so we are anxiously awaiting a car. Jen should have one by tomorrow, which is very exciting. Both our teams are looking for apartments for us and things seem to be moving along a lot faster than last year.

The next most exciting update concerns Jen again: she had an interview with an English speaking school last week and they but offered her a job. She started this morning. She is an assistant teacher/aid at the school. The school is an International Montessori English school for kids from 18 months to 6 years old. Jen is working in a classroom with 3-6 year olds. She left this morning in a very good mood because she wasn’t heading to an office building to clean bathrooms or to an office building to crunch numbers. She has great experience in dealing with little kids (15 younger cousins) and enjoys it. The school day lasts from 830 to 3, includes lunch from the schools own cook, and affords her enough time to relax a bit after her work day before practice begins. Of course, this means for the moment that she is the only one brining money into our household at the moment, again, but I am completely okay with that. She makes all the decisions anyway and I’m good at folding laundry and cooking.

We have both been very busy with handball over the last few weeks. Both our seasons are getting ready to get going and our teams have been playing a lot of friendly games in preparation. SG Bruchkobel has played 5 games in the last 10 days with 3 more this week beginning on Thursday. We have won all but one game, which was against a team in the division above ours. I have had good playing time and have embarked again on the grand learning curve that I was forced to leave so abruptly last February. I am playing in the middle on defense and circle or pivot on offense.

Jen has been incredible busy the last two weeks. A week and a half ago Friday she left for Bremen, to join up with the U.S. Women’s National Select Team which was playing in a tournament in Bremen during the weekend and than continuing with training and friendly games the rest of the week. Jen was again, as in Poland, the vocal leader and captain on the team and enjoyed being able to play with Americans again and was happy with some of the improvements she saw in the younger girls. After six days with the U.S. teams she returned last Thursday, did a few loads of laundry and than immediately left again on Friday to join her team in a tournament held near Stuttgart. They played pretty well, winning three games, losing two and tying one and finishing in the upper tier of the 20 team tournament. Jen saw a good amount of playing time on defense and began to feel comfortable with her teammates and the system by the end of the weekend. It was the first time she had played with her new teammates. Her coach informed her that he feels comfortable playing her on both ends but that he wanted her to watch how the team flowed on offense before throwing her in.

All in all, things are moving. We miss home, pre-season football and the end of summer (the weather has sucked, cold, rainy, dreary). Sorry it’s not very long but it’s an update. I promise something better, shortly.

Team websites for those interested: Jen TV Mainzlar: www.tv-mainzlar.de/
Jordan SG Bruchkoebel: www.sgbruchkoebel.de/