Deuce

There is no question that it will rain at least once a day here in Singapore. It could be really early in the morning (just as Jose is walking to the bus) or late at night and waking little Diego.
But it is only a quick downpour that we come to expect daily and Singaporeans go on with their island living. We see people play volleyball on the beach, riding bikes, or swimming. Everyone seems to be really healthy and fit. So Jose and I decided we would take advantage of the year-round summer weather and learn to play tennis.

Last night was our first lesson here in our building (sounds really posh but every building in Singapore has at least one court) and it didn't go TOO bad! We thought this activity would be a cool way of spicing things up without it always including a drink or two. Every Tuesday will now be tennis/date night.

After the first 15 minutes I thought maybe we should stick to dinner and drinks. I didn't start off that great and felt so clumsy. Those of you who know me know why I stuck to Cross Country in high school...only individual sports for me thank you. Tennis is a lot harder than it looks!! But after our first drill, Jose was talking like he was Pete Sampras. He kept interrupting the coach and telling me what he thought I should do! Of course I was so annoyed but didn't want to say anything in front of the coach...yet. I knew Jose would continue and finally I told him to stop. I yelled, "We have a coach Jose, let him do his job!" So I didn't hear from Jose again. Everytime we had an individual drill as a one-one-one with the coach, Jose would go off and really not pay any attention to me. Once I started to get the hang of things, I turned to see if Jose was watching my improvement but he wasn' t looking. He was off hitting the ball against the wall. Clearly, I was annoyed again. I wanted to show him that I was having fun but it was too late because I embarrassed him and made him feel bad when all he wanted to do was help. We talked as we picked up the balls.

Not only did the coach show us how to properly hold the racket and how to tap the ball but he also had a few words at the end of the lesson that I believe is good for tennis beginners and relationships:
"Be gentle and patient."
"If you deliver it well, she will return it."
"Ladies like it when you start off slow and the rhythm will be natural."
"Play easy and don't be to hard on each other."
and my favorite...
"Keep practicing...the more you do something, the better it gets."

Even if we suck at tennis I know we don't suck at our relationship. And I'm not going to give up on either. As a plus for both of us, Jose promised I could get a cute tennis skirt AFTER we learn to play a real game.
Wink,
Betty