A few upcoming changes

Just a quick note to mention that in the coming weeks there will be a couple of extra things I will add to my blog. There will be interviews, opinions on different articles I may read in magazines, and just in general more diverse subject matter. Maybe there will be a trial period at the beginning just to see how it all works out but whatever the case you should be excited! I think. Don't worry though, you'll still get plenty of in depth, heartfelt, engaging thoughts from yours truly so keep your eyes peeled and also don't be surprised if you get asked for an interview! 

That Great time of Year

            One of if not the best time of the year is here....Christmas! I must say I am excited just to be able to be with family and friends and also to be able to go back home for a couple of weeks. I think one of the reasons I love Christmas is because ever since I was a kid I've always had Great Christmas memories. Although it's a bit different now since all siblings are spread out all over the place as well as my cousins but most of us will still reconnect at Christmas. It's so different now that everyone has their own lives and some are married and so on. Unfortunately, it will never be the same but that doesn't mean that it can't still be great.

           One thing that I'm not looking forward to is the flight back to the states! It sucks!! First of all I'm flying out of Brussels which is not that bad other then it's about two and a half hours away. By flying out of Brussels I get to eliminate one layover but I think in the end it really doesn't matter because it is a long flight regardless. So my flight leaves on the 22nd of Dec at 12 or something. So I have to leave Lux around 6:30-am or 7 just to get to the airport on time because around this time of the year the airport is CRAZY!! The line for check-in is wrapped around the corner and you stand in line for like 2 hours or something crazy like that. When I finally get on the plane I'm on there for like 8 hours only to get to Philadelphia and have a layover for like 5 hours! Then finally I head to Birmingham only to get in around 10pm! Long day to say the least but I guess I have no other alternative. The good thing is I get to do it all over again coming back! Fun fun fun! Well enough of the pity party for me I'm just happy to be able to go home. Some people would love to be in my situation but can't go home for one reason or another.

             I've got a long list of things to take home from Lux and to pick up when I get home. I have to be really organized when I take stuff home because I've allowed stuff to accumulate from last year and at the end of the year there is no way I will be able to get everything back home in two bags and a carry on. I will have to take several pair of shoes home, some jackets, some shirts, and some other things and still will have trouble getting things back in May or June when I go home. I need to switch out clothes too because after being here for 4 months now there are some clothes I have that I never wear so Im going to change those out for something I can make better use of.  Most importantly I have to find some new basketball shoes! My shoes tear up so quickly so I'm going to have to get at least two pair. We will see how that works out.

            Not only is it Christmas time but it's also the time of year where we all get those New Year's Resolution list together. Some people think that these list are silly and they can be unless you truly plan on fulfilling everything on those list's. I've personally never made a list and am kind of eager to make one. I would like to see if I could stick to what I write and follow through on what I say I'm going to do. It can be a real discipline type thing and I feel that it can only help you. I'm slowly actually very slowly learning that having objectives written down and planned out helps you to better achieve your goals. I know that just through my everyday doings. For example, going to the weight room without a clear objective usually ends up in me thinking, "What a waste of time!" I just wonder about from machine to machine, not focusing on any certain muscle group and hoping that I can feel some sort of burn as opposed to going in their with a plan and a workout written out. Why it has taken me so long to realize this is a mystery to me but thats not really important. I think I've always known that having lists and schedules can help me out but something in my head tells me to just wing it and time after time I end up disappointed. Weird huh? Well wish me luck and maybe after the new year I will post my objectives on here. Maybe........

Thanksgiving in Lux and in France

Wow this last week was pretty good if I don’t say so myself. One of my favorite times of the year, Thanksgiving, and It was much better then last years. Although last years Thanksgiving ended up working out just fine it still wasn't quite the traditional meal. Last year I was still getting to know people and didn’t have a whole lot of friends but this year things are a little different. All the American basketball players decided to get together and have our own dinner. I didn’t do any cooking although I offered to. The girls insisted on doing everything so I wasn’t about to argue with them. We were supposed to all meet at 11pm Thanksgiving night because as you may well know, Thanksgiving is not a holiday here so many, if not all of us either had games or practice so that was the only time we could all get together. Turns out that we would not start eating until 1am! I was so hungry that day because I didn't eat anything all day in anticipation for the big meal I was to eat that night. Luckily, the food did not disappoint. The girls did a really good job and we had so much food! As much as I don't like having that feeling of being too full, this is one of those times where I had to make an exception. I felt terrible afterwards! My plate was piled so high because as you were putting food on your plate you didn't realize that there were many other things that you had not even gotten around to yet. Nevertheless, it was fun to hang out with all the Americans and to celebrate like we do back home.

I had another Thanksgiving on Saturday with a family from church in their Chateau in France. They too, are an American family and were kind enough to invite me and some other of my American friends from church to their house. This place was really unique, especially with me coming from the states. Their Chateau was so OLD! It was built in 1572, and they did some renovation to it and it is really nice. They’ve very much kept the old look and feel of the place but made it very comfortable. I’ve never been a place that looked and felt so old before and that was still inhabited. I took a few pictures but as usual the pictures don’t really do justice to it all. They had a trampoline there and I have not jumped on one of those since I was young. With my friends Micah and Elizabeth there we were challenging each other to do tricks, sort of like HORSE. Micah ended up winning but I was still happy because the second I stepped on the trampoline, memories from back in the day instantly arose. After that we shot guns at a target in the backyard. That technically was my first time firing a gun and not to brag or anything, but I was 100% accurate on the day! We had to look through a scope on the gun and shoot a small target about 50 yards away. I was surprised I never missed. Maybe I should be a sniper or something who knows? Anyhow, after shooting practice we headed in to warm up a little and get ready to eat. Dinner there was very nice and relaxed and everything was good. We had a really good time and after that we headed back to Lux for Coming to America night at the Irwin's! My friend Elizabeth had never seen the movie and we felt that it was about time she experienced the goodness. She enjoyed it and after that we moved on to Taboo, one of my favorite games although it can be frustrating when you lose. We turned it in for the night after that. I spent the night over the Irwin's since I knew I was going to church in the morning and it wouldn't make much sense for me to go all the way home just to come back in the morning.

           Sunday, after church we all went to the International Bazaar in Lux City. It is a once a year event where representatives from around 40 different countries set up booths and sell popular foods and merchandise from their country. There was an American booth there but I was a little disappointed in the food they were representing. We had hot dogs, chili, popcorn, and nachos. Well, I didn't eat there anyway so it doesn't matter. I ate some Lebanese food, Dutch dessert cookies, and some sushi from Japan. It was all so good! I didn't realize I like sushi that much but it was really good. The Lebanese food was my favorite though. I wish I could have tried everything but my wallet was not agreeing. Later that day I had a big game against Musel Pikes in which we won. We really needed that win and it was a tough game. Now that we are done with the first half of the season we start over and play each team one more time before playoffs start in late February. I’m hoping that we can step up as a team and play much better so that we can guarantee a spot in the playoffs. 

               I’ve finally made the purchase that I’ve probably been contemplating for years now. I bought a Macbook Pro and I’m very happy with my decision. I’m already somewhat of a computer geek so I can think back to years and years ago when I’ve been up late nights trying to repair something that has magically messed itself up on my windows machine. Granted, I can’t really tell how great my Mac experience is until I’ve had some time to see how it runs but just reading posts on the internet and the many people who have switched from a PC to a Mac it seems as if I will never go back to windows. Things do seem to be much more intuitive on the Mac and just overall better looking. Also the chance of getting a virus on my computer is slim to none as compared to a PC where you have to have antivirus software, spyware software, and not to mention the constant updates that you have to download for windows to ensure that you don’t have any security flaws on your computer are overwhelming. I’ve got so many stories to tell of my experiences with windows that aren't necessarily good. I can honestly say that I’ve had to reinstall windows on my computer at least 10 to 15 times in the past and that is not good and is not fun. There are so many other things that bother me about windows which I’m hoping Mac OS X I don't have to deal with. So far everything has been very easy other then just getting to know the Mac operating system which I expected. The feel, look, and intuitiveness is enough for me to stay with the Mac not to mention I can still run windows XP on this machine should I have to for some unknown reason so that is another plus.  I could go on and on about this computer but at the risk of sounding more like a computer nerd I’m going to let it go. That’s something many of you readers out there may not know is that I am a Computer geek at heart and have been since I was kid. The one who is taking the computer apart, upgrading it, hacking it, repairing it and all that good stuff. I think I’ve made this post long enough. Type to you guys later!!

My not so productive day.....

Ohhhhhhhh what a lazy day!! This Monday has got to be one of the laziest days I've had in quite some time! We got the day off from practice because of our "near" thirty point win on Sunday. We finally played like a team and played really well to finally break our losing streak. Needless to say, I was able to smile after the game and enjoy myself. I was somewhat satisfied with my performance too so that made things better. One of my teammates gave me some valuable advice which I hope to continue to use and that was to let the game come to me and not try and force things. When I try and force things is when things tend to not go my way. Ill put that theory to the test and get back to you on the results. One game is not enough to judge that.

The Americans had game night over my place which turned out to be pretty fun. I think my competitive side kicked in too much at certain times but I don't really care because that's just the way I am. There were a few arguments here and there and as usual people could not understand my side of the story but that's OK. I hate losing, no matter what we are playing. If we are playing flip the coin, however you play that, I still don't want to lose! There is something about me that wants to be the best at whatever I do.

Back to my lazy day though......I woke up today with every intention on going to the weight room and maybe doing a couple of other things. Well, I didn't even leave the house today! I got no idea what it felt like outside! I know it sounds bad and I do feel guilty which is why tomorrow I have to make up for it at shoot around and in the weight room. I had a bit of a headache and fell asleep later on in the day. I had planned on going to wing night but just didn't feel like making that drive so stayed at home. I did make some cookies though and I must say they were really tasty! Even more of a reason I have to hit the weight room tomorrow! I can't sit at home all day and do nothing but eat cookies and surf the net and still be able to look at myself in the mirror so I have to have redemption tomorrow.

These weeks are starting to pass by really fast lately. I'm not sure why but I guess it's not the worst thing in the world. I can think back to last year and remember at this very same time I was so home sick and ready to visit home for Christmas. This year I think that I've really gotten comfortable and have no desire to go home other then to see my family. I think with the friends that I've accrued while I've been here it's really made things much more fun and enjoyable. I've also learned that when I go home that the world doesn't stop just because I'm back home and that people still have their busy lives. I may hang with certain people a couple of times but soon enough they've got to get back to work or whatever it is that they do. In other words, being over here for my second year I really don't have a circle of friends that I run with back home and my siblings and close family cousins all are scattered in different states. That's more of a problem during the summer considering during Christmas break many of them are back home for the holidays and are off work so it's a little different. Speaking of holidays, Thanksgiving is coming up!! I haven't been able to experience Thanksgiving like the old days in a while since when I was In college I was pretty much always gone for a tournament during Thanksgiving and was not able to celebrate with all my family. I still won't be able to this year but I guess I have my friends to celebrate with here. I have like 3 or 4 different Thanksgiving dinners this year so it might be a little rough for me with all that food! All the Americans are getting together to do our own dinner then a family from church has invited me to their chateau in France Thanksgiving weekend and then my close friends who many are Americans are having another Thanksgiving dinner a week afterwards! Guess I will have to do a lot of cardio those two weeks or I might gain a good 10 pounds! Whatever the case it's good to have options and have friends to celebrate with. Last year I was still new and had not met many Americans so Thanksgiving was not all that great. The American Bball players got together at my house which was cool but it was kind of a last minute thing.

Well it's time for me to get to bed now. Not really sure why I write all my posts late at night but maybe that's when my creative juices are flowing who knows. At any rate I'm trying to update my little blog more often so you readers out there, when I don't post for a little over a week don't lose faith in me! I'm working on things and am trying to update more often. Until next time folks...........................MK

Do I belong here?

Well here I am, 3 losses in a row and as usual I'm pretty down on myself. Our last game was against Sparta, the team who won it all last year, and we ended up losing by six. Playing professional basketball is a dream come true but trust me it's not all glam and glitz. In the Grand Scheme of things of life, my problems are miniscule, but in my reality they are a big deal.

I am naturally hard on myself in whatever I do. I guess that can be a good thing but at the same time it can be a bad thing. When I don't perform well or not as well as I would have liked I can almost go into a depression period. Out of all the awards I recieved playing basketball over the years, the honors and the respect I've earned, many times I still feel inadequate. I ask myself, "Should I even still be playing?" At those times, I just want to be alone and don't want the company of anyone. Whenever my team loses a game, whether I played well or not, I always feel like I could have done more to change the outcome. It's a bad mentality to have but somehow, somewhere I picked it up.

I miss the good old days when I played with my brother in highschool and college and I would get in these moods where I felt like I could not perform well and he would always tell me, " They can't stop you!! Keep going hard!" Or he would just say something to anger me a bit because once I got a little angrier, I got more powerful. I've never really been much of a self-motivator when it comes to things of that nature which is definitely not good. It always takes someone to push my buttons to get me going. Even when I didn't have my brother there, I had close teammates who knew me well and would take the place of my brother. I guess it's a good thing that maybe I have to depend more on myself to motivate me because in the future there is only going to be me. I know what I can do and I know I can do it but there is so much more that is involved in performing well. I've always said it and I will continue to say it whether people agree with me or not. I've never considered myself to be all that talented in basketball but more of a hard-working guy who has a die hard competitve nature and hates to lose at anything. With those qualities and some sort of athletic ability I've been able to be successful in basketball. I honestly believe that If I had played football or any other sport I would have been just as good but I could be wrong. I guess it's time to end this pity party of mine and get back to playing the way I used to......with heart and with passion. The only problem with that is my body takes a serious toll but in the end I guess a few aches and pain will be better then the pain of defeat and disgrace. Until next time.....................MK

Basektball, Traveling, and thoughts

So it's been some time since my last post so here I am back again. There has been quite a lot going on since my last post, nothing too significant but for the most part just keeping busy. The season is rolling along nicely and at the present time we are 3-0. Although I haven't been really satisfied with our team performance nor with my performance I guess I can't argue with wins. It's a long season and there is much improvement to be had but the reality stands that just as easily as we could get better, we can very well go the opposite way. It's really frustrating at times playing with some of the guys on my team because it just seems that some guys never learn! It always baffles me as to how someone could make the same mistake over and over and over! Driving the lane then jumping in the air to make a pass. Trying to throw a pass through 3 people. Throwing terrible passes overall! I guess it wouldn't be so bad if you knew that some of them were learning from their mistakes! More than likely I will have to deal with it but continue to try and help.

On to other things....I'm in the process of trying to plan some trips and do a little traveling. I don't have much time to make trips for days at a time but I do maybe once a week have time for maybe day trips somewhere. Last night on Wednesday I went to a punk rock/Heavy metal concert with some of my friends from here. That's not necessarily my cup of tea but I'm always up for new experiences. I went last year as well so I knew what to expect. The concert was held in Trier, Germany which is the oldest city in Germany and is about 45 minutes from Luxembourg. I'm always amazed at how much energy some of those guys have when the bands are playing and how it seems like they lose their minds!! I saw it all from the mosh pits, head banging, pushing, stage dives, and all the other stuff you would expect to see at a concert like that. My friend Micah was in his element there and he was able to unleash all his energy that builds up while he works in the office all day. Other trips that are being planned are a day trip next Wednesday to Bruges, Belgium. We will probably leave early in the morning, catch a train which will be about 3 and a half hours, then spend the day touring and head back that night. I was supposed to be going to Heidelberg, Germany with my friend Carole and maybe some others that could make it but she decided there were more important things to do. I'm kidding, she has family business to take care of and I understand. Lucky for me my trip is still in the works with a couple of my other friends. So I'm trying to make the best of my time here in Europe and see things while I'm here. Europe has so much history here so it's always cool to think about the places you've been and the things that happened in the past.

Some other things that have been on my mind lately are just the way people look at life differently. Although it may sound cliché, some people really do look at the glass as half empty while others look at it as half full. It's usually pretty easy to tell them apart just by observing their general attitudes. Some people find a way to see the bad in everything that happens even if things really aren't that bad. I've always tried to look at life from the perspective of the less fortunate. That doesn't mean that there's never a time to get sad or disappointed. When I think of what God has blessed me with and how my life really is good, there is really nothing to be angry about. I have a great family that loves me, I play basketball for a living, I'm fully healthy and have for the most part I can do what I want. When I complain about having to run or workout or other things of that nature I always think about the people who are handicapped or for whatever other reason can not do what I can and I suck it up and try to enjoy it. Some people would do anything to be able to do simple things that we take for granted everyday. I thank God constantly for bestowing his blessings upon me. I wish more people could take that stance on life because I truly believe it would make this world just a little bit better. Well that's all for now from the times and thoughts of MK. Until next time.................

Democrat, Republican, or other? That is the Question

I figured it was about that time to write a post on politics since that's all the buzz or at least that's what it seems like lately. I must admit that not until recently have I been so intrigued by politics and how everything in the USA works. Honestly, I've been somewhat clueless and really didn't care much about what went on. Not until I came to play basketball in Europe did I begin to take interest in it all. I guess what really grabbed my attention was certain things that were different here that I didn't understand and also my teammates would ask me certain questions about the U.S. that I couldn't answer and that's what led me on my journey. I remember my teammate asked me about health care in the U.S. and how he couldn't believe that it was free. I asked him, "You guys don't have to pay to go to the hospital" and he said that they had Universal Health Care. From that point on I was like, why don't we have that in the states?? Shortly after i began to search for answers and realized that NOTHING is free!! There is a little thing in which no one likes or at least I don't think people like them and here in Europe its prevalent. That little thing is called TAXES!! I begin to learn more about Socialist economies and Capitalist economies and Communist and so on and the differences between them. I used to wonder why things were SO expensive here compared to back home. A small apartment or at least what we would call a small apartment back in the states might consist of 3 bedrooms, a bathroom, kitchen, and maybe a couple of other things and those things would be for sale for €500,000!! Also it is so hard to get land here to build a house and the whole process can take years. Enough about that.

It really is a shame that we have to be divided by parties in the United States and other parts of the world. Whats even more of a shame is the fact that people choose certain parties for all the wrong reasons! First off I'd like to thank my father for always challenging me to think and not just go with what everyone else is doing but to stop, and ask questions. Why are things this way? Why is the U.S. structured the way it is? Why has the U.S. been the most successful, most powerful, most sought after to country to live in ever? Why do people risk their lives, their families lives, and everything else in order to pursue a life in the U.S.? I admit that politics can be very confusing at times especially when you are just starting to try and understand everything. Many people get all their information form certain sources on TV such as CNN, Fox News and so on. The problem with that is most of these TV stations have agendas as well. They may only put things on the TV that they agree with or try and sway peoples opinions by not sharing the whole story. Many people fall into the trap of believing everything they hear on TV and not researching things on their own. Like my father told me once, "Ignorance is our Countries greatest threat." People not knowing. There are so many people out there now who know nothing about either of the presidential candidates but will vote for one or the other because of race. Ill vote for him because hes black or Ill vote for him because hes white. Also some people whose parents are Democrat or Republican will vote for what their parents vote for because they are stuck in their ways instead of stepping back and making a decision for themselves. There are some people who no matter what you say or do, even if you prove them wrong time after time after time, will vote for a certain party or individual. Without telling what Party I am for because frankly its not important right now, I will mention the many times I've heard my Father debate with opposing parties about why they are what they are. Time after time they would be proven wrong or were clueless as to why they vote the way they do. My Dad says that hes waiting for the day that one person he debates with can hold their position but to this day it has not happened. These are people I've always thought of as smart people and they end up sounding how do I say hmmmmm........Ignorant! If you don't know by now I am a black male and I don't know how many times I've been approached and asked the question are you Democrat or Republican and then they stop in the middle of their question and assume democrat!! Maybe I am democrat and maybe I'm not but to assume I am affiliated with a certain party because of my race is preposterous! The purpose of this post is not to sway your opinion to be for a certain party but to ask questions and truly search for answers. No party is perfect and and all will make mistakes. Whether there is a democrat in office or a republican, don't think that because things are going great or because things are going terrible, its all that parties doing. I hope this post has caused you to think and ASK QUESTIONS!!

Quick update

So its been quite some time since my last entry but things have been somewhat busy I guess you can say. The weekend of 9/12-14th was a fun weekend. We had a tournament at our gym that weekend and played 3 games. Although we lost all three I was satified with our performance for the most part. I left straight from my game on Saturday to go to Mexican night!! We held it over my friends Micah and Jessica's place and had a lot of people over to just hang out. We had taco's, margaritas, and other mexican specialty's so we all had a really good time. I love mexican food and whenever I get a chance to get some I'm all over it. Last week was pretty good and I am continuing to try and stay on task and do what I need to do on and off the court. I've been hitting the weight room and trying to get a little cardio in as well. I HATE cardio but I know its needed so I do it anyway. I'vd really gotta set myself up a plan and go with it while Im in there because right now Im just winging it which is not good. I am trying to put together the perfect workout for me because I know what exercises feel good to me and which ones feel like they are doing nothing for me. Now I've just got to put all those together and do it. Gotta go now but Ill update shortly....

From Good to bad in one Weekend

Let's see where do I start?? This weekend was a pretty long weekend that had some good and bad parts involved but all in all I'm just glad it's over. Starting on Friday my teammate Tim Giver and his wife Katie had their wedding here in Luxembourg. The main part of the wedding was just for close family so we weren't invited to that part but the reception was afterwards at 5:45. The reception was held at this beautiful castle called Bourglinster. Here in Luxembourg they have a lot of castles that date back to the 1200's and before so its really cool to be able to go inside of these historic places and experience somewhat what they experienced back then. This particular castle is only used for special events. They drove up in this fancy older sporty looking car and then the fun began.(Pictured above) Once we walked in we were greeted by the waiters with glasses of champagne and fancy little snacks. Everyone was gathered in one area and we just mingled with each other and sipped on champagne. That lasted for about two and a half hours or so and then the dinner portion of the night began. The crowd was once again cut down to a select few since everyone wasn't invited to dinner but luckily I was included in that group. I was at the wedding with my friend Elizabeth since neither of us wanted to go by ourselves and she too was invited to dinner. Dinner was extra fancy but unlike many fancy dinners the food was still really good. We had a 6 course dinner yes you read correctly six course. It took us about 3 or 4 hours to finish everything which was pretty long but that's the way things are done here. We had a fancy dessert that was really good and that I'd never had before so that was a good experience.(Pictured) As the night went on the DJ was playing some really dull music so not to many people were getting out on the dance floor. After a while I'm not sure if someone said something to him but the music got better and sure enough I had to get out there and show my stuff!! That was the most fun part of the night when everyone started getting out there on the floor and just letting it all out. The first part can always be a little tough for me because I am always subconsciously thinking people are looking at me and laughing because there is this big black guy out dancing but after I get in the mood I could care less. Thankfully my fears were put to rest when I began to get compliments on my dancing. Who knew?? I love dancing and wish I could dance like the people I see on TV but I'm not to sure that will ever happen. I like to think that I have pretty good rhythm and good coordination which is really all you need to look good on the dance floor even if you are making stuff up as you go. After hours of dancing I'm sweating like an animal and must take a break. Around 3am things began to wrap up and I had to get home because we were leaving for a basketball tournament in Graveline, France the next day. We left at 12pm and it took us around 4 1/2 hours to get there. We traveled on a mini bus which was all we needed because we were missing about 4 0r 5 of our guys because they were not able to make it. I knew this weekend would be pretty tough because we were playing teams that are in higher leagues than us and we were missing 3 out of 5 of our starting 5 and were playing with a lot of young guys on my team. Nevertheless, we still went out and played our best for all 3 games even though we lost them all. We didn't get beat nearly as bad as some of my teammates thought we were going to and in the end I think it was good experience for some of the guys who don't normally get much playing time. It also allowed me to put more confidence in my teammates as I had to rely on them a little more since I didn't have the normal go to guys I usually have. On Saturday night I literally got 1 hour of sleep because I could not sleep on these small beds they had us in and the next day I felt it. My body was in pain the whole day and I had to play through that pain for two games but after the last game I was just excited to be able to head home and be able to sleep on the way back. Well my plans were put to rest because on the way back everything was going as planned but the whole weekend it had been raining really bad. On the highway a car hydroplaned in front of us, slammed into the median, and we had no choice but to hit him. The whole bus was sleep at the time but as the brakes were slammed on everyone woke up and many were able to catch the end of the accident. Thankfully no one was seriously injured but it took forever for the whole thing to get cleared up. The police took like an hour to get there than we had to go somewhere off the highway to try and figure whose fault it was which they never revealed. Then we find out that our bus is no longer drivable and we have to find a way to get everyone home. My coach drove separate than us and so did another representative from our team so we somehow squeezed everyone in those cars except for two people who had to wait until a wrecker arrived from Luxembourg which was 2 and a half hours away. Needless to say that night sucked. Finally we arrived back in Lux 5 hours after the planned time, still with no sleep, and body aching to no end. I slumped over in bed and slept until I could sleep no more. Good thing coach canceled Monday practice so we could try and recoup a little bit. Well that was my weekend, the good and the bad, but a new week has begun and who knows whats going on this week. We should have some pretty good weather this week so maybe Ill try and take advantage of that we will see. Well that is all for now but stayed tuned for more coming soooooooon....................

Busy Busy Busy

Sorry its been sometime since my last entry but nevertheless here it is. So whats been happening since my last post?? Honestly, nothing super exciting has happened but it was a pretty good week anyway. Last week began my journey of trying to eat somewhat healthy and not just eating frozen pizzas, mettwurst's, bratwurst's, and the other unhealthy things. Don't get me wrong now those things are still in my refridgerator they just aren't used as frequently thats all. I went to the grocery store and racked up on salad making materials and other healthy foods to stock the fridge and realized its going to take a little more work to prepare my food than normal. I'm used to turning the oven on, throwing a pizza in, waiting for 15 minutes and boom its time to eat! Now to prepare a salad I have to cut the tomatoes, carrott's, peppers, eggs, and so on up and I even have to make the salad dressing! It's normal over here to make your own salad dressing rather than buying it in a bottle. They don't sell to many bottled dressings first of all and you would be better off making your own anyway. Its also heathier. I had some old ranch in my fridge from the states that had been there since last year and I just decided to throw away because they turned my fridge off while I was gone so I wasn't sure that stuff was still good. Also, it doesn't make much sense to me to make a healthy salad and top it off with unhealthy ranch dressing although it does taste good. Well we will see how long this health binge lasts!

Basketball is going well and my team had a scrimmage game in Belgium this past weekend. I know I'm supposed to always think the best but I admit that I went into the game thinking we were going to lose badly since the Belgium league is normally pretty strong. We played a second division team from Belgium and to my astonishment my team played really well! The other team was bigger than we were and had some pretty deadly shooters but in the end we held our own if not better. We ended up finishing the game with a tie. The opposing team was down by 3 points with 4 seconds to go and they hit a three to tie it up at the end of regulation. Unfortunately I'd fouled out about a minute and a half before and could only watch from the sideline. The other team decided they didn't feel like playing an overtime and we ended it there since it was only a practice game anyway. This weekend we have a tournament in France where we will be playing some first league teams and France's league is one of the tops in Europe so it will be extremely hard for us to compete with them not to mention we will be missing three of our startes for the tournament. It will be good exercise maybe to good and definitely a challenge for us but its all in preparation for our season which starts the beginning of October .

Once I returned from Belgium later that night I went to hang out with one of my friends in a spot downtown. That was pretty fun and we stayed out pretty late and I didn't end up getting to sleep until around 5am. I didn't go home since I knew I was going to church the next morning and me driving all the way home just to come back to church right down the street didn't make since to me so I slept on the couch at my friends house. Four and a half hours later my busy day began again. I woke up went straight to church which lasted until about 11:40 or so and had to leave directly after that because my teammate invited me over for lunch at 12:00. I was a little late in arriving but everyone was just sitting around talking and relaxing outside since Sunday was such a beautiful day In Luxembourg. When you have days like that you have to take advantage of them because here in Lux it rains all the time and the weather is always fidgety. We ate outside in the backyard and had a good time and later we decided we would play a little beach volleyball at a court about 15 minutes away. We all got suited up and made our way to the court and what did we see??? Somebody was already there and we couldn't get on until they finished! Well after waiting for 5 minutes we just decided to try and challenge them against us so that we wouldn't have to wait any longer and that worked. At first it was really laid back and the teams were mixed with boys and girls. So one time my teammate set me up and I went and spiked it pretty hard against the other team and the girls started saying stuff like geez we are ladies!! I think they were joking but at the same time I felt kinda bad so I back off a little bit with my spiking and my hard serves. My whole team started to back down and soon after we started losing and the other team seemed like they started playing more serious. Well if anyone knows me they know I hate losing so we had to turn it on again and no holds barred. We too had a girl on our team so they couldn't make any excuses. After a while both teams were playing hard and it was a lot of fun and in the end we won. We talked to them after afterwards and introduced ourselves and just chit chatted for a while before I realized I had to leave once again for the next part of my day....Poker. I jumped in the car and headed to the other side of town to join a poker game which had already started and I was late to but had them just post my blinds until I made it. I got there in time enough where no major damage had been done. I was playing pretty good until I went all in one time with Ace King and a guy called me with a pair of sixes. I wasn't to nervous until one of the guys that was playing folded and showed me he had one of the aces that I needed. Well without having to say anymore I lost and I left there going home finally around 9:30 that night. Ahhhh finally able to relax and take it easy for a while only to realize I dont have any clothes and have to wash. I don't know I guess thats part of life.

Right now Im headed to practice and have to cut this entry short but Ill try and keep you guys updated on anything thats happening. Sorry no deep thoughts for this entry but maybe next time who knows?? Well until then................

One week in and back to Normal

It didn't take much time for me to get readjusted to life in Luxembourg. I started practice the next day and since this is the preseason, there wasn't much basketball being played. I admit that maybe I played a little to much golf this summer and didn't work out as much as I should have but who knew the next few days would make me so sore! My coach had us doing all kinds of body weight only exercises such as arm rotations, leg lifts, push ups, ab workouts and so on. You wouldn't think that kind of stuff would matter much but trust me it does. The running part sucked as usual but I realize that it's necessary and if I want to be able to get up and down the court without sucking wind the whole time I'd better get serious. So for the most part that was my week....Shooting practice during the earlier part of the day and workouts and running later on in the day. I also had to run errands at different places such as the grocery store which by the way I HATE! As if going to the grocery store is not already bad enough I have to go to a grocery store where everything is in a different language! My old routine was just grab some frozen pizzas, milk, cereal, and maybe some ground beef for tacos or something and try and get out of there but Im making more of an effort this year to add some healthiness to my diet! I've gotten inspiration from different sources recently and tomorrow I'm headed to the grocery store to pick up salad making ingredients and other healthy things so wish me luck.

This weekend was the start of Luxembourg's famous annual fair called Schueberfouer(Im sure most can't pronounce it but thats fine). It lasts for about 3 weeks and is the equivalent of fair's back in the states just to give you an idea. The difference is for once I get to sample different kinds of foods that aren't really around in the states. A group of my friends decided to go on saturday night whom you see pictured here with maybe a couple of people missing but also two new people added to the mix. Jameth and Josie are new and just moved here to Lux recently. They are married and go the same church as we all do.(White jacket and brown shirt in the picture). Very cool people and its good to add some new faces to the crew. Well anyway back to the fair, its always cool just to walk around and hang out since I really dont ride to many of the rides because of a recent discovery that most fair rides make me pretty sick. I'm happy just meandering around. Since this is the first week that the fair is here I will probably go back in the next week or two for one last round.

Lets see what else have I been doing?..... O yea I almost forgot to mention that I've been playing some volleyball recently with my friends as well and that gets pretty competitive. EJ(the one next to me) works at school and has the keys to get in the gym so we pretty much have access whenever we want which is good. We played for a couple of hours on Saturday and Sunday after church. Normally we play the guys against the girls but sometimes the teams don't stack up right because one girl might have to leave to do something or one guy can't make it that day so we mix and mingle. For this year so far I will have to say that the games have been even unlike last year where the girls probably won. No big deal no one remembers that anyway.

It's official....I know I've told many people that I was planning on getting a dog this year because I've wanted one for years now but my dreams have been shot down. I did all this research and such learning how to train dogs and the best methods and even what kind of dog would suit me best only to find out the Landlord doesn't allow pets here!! I should have asked first but I guess I wasn't thinking. He said he's had some bad experiences with owners in the past where the dog has messed the place up pretty bad. I just figure the right time has not come but one day it will!! For now I will just have to play with my friend Caroles Cat and just be happy with that although Im not the biggest cat fan in the world but this cat is nice so its ok.

So whats been on my mind lately?? Well this one word has been thrown around at me a number of times this summer in one way or another and I really think that God is telling me something. What really nailed it home for me was when my friend Rob was talking to me and and said he'd been praying for me and he doesn't really know if it means anything to me but there is this one word that keeps coming up in his head when praying for me. So he told me what it was and to my astonishment this word rang so many bells in my head and really related to me that I knew it had to be God. A friend of mine explained to me once that she felt that I wasn't experiencing the highs and lows of life because I was always in my comfort zone. She said you are always happy but you are not to happy and you are never angry or sad. By no means are these bad things necessarily but her pointing that out to me helped me to realize somethings about myself. In the end it makes much more sense to me once this word is applied to my life. I don't take many of them and for the most am content where I am. I guess what I'm saying is I want more then contentness and am willing to TRY and take the necessary steps to achieve that. So what is that word???? RISKS!!

Out with the old in with the new...

Well the time has come where I leave B'ham and head back to Luxembourg. It seemed like my summer went by so fast which I guess it did but at least I enjoyed it. When I first got back around May 25th, 2008 I knew I had some things planned for the summer but really thought that most of the time I would be trying think of things to do. Turns out that the summer did start kind of slow but then things started piling up on top of each other and the next thing you know I've got no time for anything. I worked basketball team camp at Montevallo for a weekend and worked a soccer camp called ODP for two weeks. That was pretty much all the working I did this summer. My brother Caleb has gotten me playing golf now days and just like anyone else that plays you easily get hooked. Especially with the competitive nature I have its hard for me to not play even when I KNOW the people I'm playing with are ten times better than me I still think I have a chance to win. Every now and then I squeak out a win against an opponent I probably should not have beaten but that only ignites the competitive nature in me even more. I mostly played with my old teammate and good friend Grant Urbanski this summer. We started out not to far from each other skill wise but it seems as if he has gotten much better than me quick. For some reason though I still think its all luck and that the next time we play he'll be back to his old self and Ill once again have a chance to win.

I also did a lot of traveling this summer which I had planned on doing. I wish I could have had someone to travel with as that would have made my trips even better than they already were but I understand that not everyone has the free time I have and can't just up and go on a road trip. I made trips to Nashville Tennessee, Indianapolis Indiana, Atlanta Georgia, Cleveland Ohio, and Orlando Florida. In Nashville I went to my good friend James Poindexters wedding whom I still cant believe is married. Indianapolis I visited the Schilling family and Cassie Applegate, a friend from college. The Schilling family is the family I stayed with last summer while I was training for bball. They are great people and I plan to visit them often in the future if possible. In Atlanta I was visiting my little sister who just got a teaching job there and is starting a new phase of her life. In Cleveland I met up with two of my American friends from Luxembourg and we all went to Cedar point, which is one of the best theme parks in the world for roller coasters and had a great time. Lastly, I visited my big brother Brewa and my sister-in-law Ana Maria and their two kids Joshua and Adrina. Even though everyones schedules were a little hectic because I didnt give them much time to prepare for me I still had a good time hanging with them and really being able to see my brother since I haven't been able to see him for about a year and a half before that because of our schedules.

The key word this year for my stay in Luxembourg is Discipline. Write that down and meditate on it...Ok now that thats done what do I mean by it?? Well over the past year I've learned some things and also had time to think about some things. One thing I realized is that I have many many hours of freedom over here. Normally, the most I will do in a day wont take up more than 4 or 5 hours and thats on my long days. Ill have indivudual practice at 11:45am for an hour, workout for about an hour maybe hour and a half 3 days a week, and later that night have practice for two hours. Somedays Ill have practice off and then won't feel like doing anything and Ill let the days waste away doing Lord knows what. This year I want to have the discipline to say Im going to do something and to do it. I want to increase my knowledge in various subjects, learn spanish, stick to a strict workout regimen, practice hard in bball, and gain a strong understanding of Scripture in the Bible. With all of these things to do there should not be much time for me to lolligag around and do nothing. My good friend Dayton Miller tells me this verse often, "How long will lie down o sluggard? When will you arise from your sleep?(Proverbs 6:9) Another good one is Go to the ant O sluggard, Observe her ways and be wise.(Proverbs 6:6) This tells me I need to stop being lazy and do something!! The last thing I want to do is to look back on this time and say If I just would have spent a little time doing this I would be so much better off. Or anything similar to that. So Ill end today's note on that. Until next time......

MK