Last night

Last night was not a good night. It got started early with my dad and I running over to Grand Forks to get some more self leveling concrete for our current project of slowly filling in our entire basement until everything appears to be level...we may have to take the floor boards off the second level to get the tile in the basement. After checking several stores we decided that maybe next time we would consider calling before we run over there as they were out of what we needed...again.

When we arrived back in Red Lake Falls we picked up my nephew and niece to help them with their homework, which I found out was a map of the trail of tears...I should have taken it as a sign but I was just too damn proud. We finished up the map and then sent the kids home for the night so that I could mentally prepare (nap) for the city league game I was to play in that night. The night before I had too many thoughts of the previous weekends delightful banana daiquiri's and other events and was unable to sleep, maybe that was another sign of the night to follow?!

I awoke to find that the Timberwolves game had started and they were not looking good at all. K-Bun was serving the second game of his suspension and it appeared as though the rest of the team had joined him. I knew I had to get ready to head to Grand Forks but I was too busy staring at the train wreck in front of me. Jesse showed up around halftime at which point I figured I better get motivated and get away from this negative energy as I was beginning to sense that something was amiss...

The trip to Grand Forks was pretty uneventful but as we were getting closer our game time was also drawing nearer and nearer. We knew that we played at the closest gym possible so it wasn't a big deal, we should make it on time...but than the Timberwolves showed up again, or at least the train that they had attempted to wreck!

The arms slowly dropped down as we began to see our chances of making it to the game in time drop with them. Two conductors were in one train and as they slowly crept across the road I found myself telling Jesse that one time a train stopped in the middle of the road for quite a while when I was here...then it happened, I might as well have been the announcer that says, "He's been perfect from the line all season!" The train stopped and one of the conductors climbed slowly from train, walked as slow as he could to the control box to switch the track and then slowly back to the train. The pair then rode the train slowly back into the yard and repeated the process in order to finally get the arms raised, a mere 15 minutes later, but we were on the road again!

Every red light later we arrived at the gym to find our team already at play. It didn't take long before Jesse and I were able to get into the action sans warm-up. Within 30 seconds on the court I was fouled on a shot (because even though I wasn't warm, shooting's kind of my thing) and sent to the free throw line. The ball kind of felt like a brick in my hand and the two shots that followed affirmed my thoughts. The rest of the game didn't get too much better, I led the team in turnovers and was the only one on the team not to score, not due to lack of effort but more so talent. One of the opposing players did say I was good at boxing out though, but I kind of feel like he thought I could use a pick me up...which I totally didn't...Besides, I'm sure I'm good at boxing out...right?!

The highlight of the game was the fact that our birthday boy, Mike, went for 30 points, 30 rebounds, 22 assists, and 13 steals. I was keeping the stats so you know they're right too. Mike's biggest accomplishment of the night though was easily the fact that he finally caught me in age. For the past nine months I've been complaining about this and that and telling Mike to "wait until he got to be my age." We decided to go celebrate at the Blue Moose afterwards and as we arrived, literally as we walked through the door, Austin Rivers drained a three point shot as time expired for Duke to beat North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Not three seconds later a text message arrived from a Mr. Amberson, who happens to be a Duke fan, stating, "So good at sports." At first I thought he had seen our game but as I am a UNC fan I knew exactly what he meant...he's now dead to me.

After taking a verbal beat down for a while about the loss and my lack of productivity in our game we decided it was time to take the journey back to Red Lake Falls. It was nearing midnight at this time which meant that it would than be Jesse's 32nd birthday (old). As we were talking on the return trip, be it from being so old or maybe I'm just as terrible at conversation as I am at sports, Jesse fell asleep mid-conversation. It was the perfect end to a perfect night.