April: A Month of Clarity

And...sure enough, just like last month, I have been so occupied that I haven't taken a moment to blog. Gosh I really am bad at keeping on top of this. Life has only gotten more chaotic and more exciting as April has progressed.

I have finally figured out where I'll be living over the summer and into the Fall when I head back to university. I am absolutely taken with the apartment I found and can't wait to move in in just over a month. It's less than a block from where I currently work and right downtown in Kingston.

I also have a new significant other in my life :P Through a weird series of events we ended up seeing each other. I'm completely smitten and has only given me something else to look forward to and enjoy in life. He's a keeper and I am one very lucky girl. I shan't go into too many details as I don't want to bore you with my love life haha.

Now I'm on the job hunt for something full time for the months of July and August. All my plans for the summer I thought were finalized, but I have realized that things are rarely ever set in stone and I've been learning to deal with letting things go. Letting events unfold has never been something I've been good at. I like planning, organizing and to a certain degree controlling things that happen in life. But as I have recently learned, things happen for a reason.

Had I not started working for the Y, broken up with my ex, and moved back to Kingston...I would have never met my new squeeze. Acknowledging that I don't have control over alot of things is pretty overwhelming but this month has really opened my eyes to just letting things happen. In a way it's less stressful too..not even trying to steer and just letting go of the wheel. It's scary but exciting at the same time.

I've been altering my long term to-do list as the months progress, now I have it narrowed down to 5 things I'd like to accomplish by the end of the summer.

1) Learning Spanish I really need to start making more time for this...less TV and more language learning is in order!!
 

2) Write fan mail to a tennis player I have had even more desire to do this as in all likelihood I will be headed to the Roger's Cup this summer at York University. (Did I also mention the new boy in my life is a tennis player?? :P)
 

3) Check out Racquet Science (tennis/ badminton store) I visited the store a couple of weeks ago after a doctor's appointment. A tennis/ badminton/squash players dream! The tiny store was covered wall-to-wall in racquets, bags, tennis apparel and strings. I wound up buying some red grip tape to match my red badminton racquet and ended up getting an enormous tennis ball magnet for my fridge as well. Apparently the store is owned by some guy from Edmonton, but he had pictures of himself at the French Open a few years ago, and I was instantly envious.

4)Work on my Renoir 1000 piece puzzle Similar to #1, I really need to start poking along with this...I may start this afternoon.

5)  Start blogging en Français Comme beaucoup des choses dans la vie, il n'y a pas assez de temps pour faire tous ce que je veux. Malheureusement mon écriture en français a besoin plusieurs heures de pratique . J'ai appris il y a une semaine que mon chum a essayé d'apprendre la langue française pendant qu'il était à l'université en Pologne. Les leçons de français pour lui peut-être?

Wimbledon

Wimbledon, starring Kirsten Dunst and Paul Bettany came out in 2004, right before I really started following tennis. This rom-com tells the story of budding tennis star Lizzie and the should-be-retired former star of the male circuit Peter. An expected encounter between the two gives Peter new hope that he may stand a chance at the title this year. Sparks fly, much to the dismay of Lizzie’s father as she is neglecting her practice. The usual communication problems occur, as with any romantic comedy flick, and Peter finds himself in the finals. He confesses his love for her during an interview, Lizzie returns says all is forgiven; Peter wins his title, proposes to her which (of course) she accepts. They have two children (a boy and a girl of course) and watch them play tennis at their new home. It’s all a little fairy taleish for me. In fact, there are very few tennis couples on the ATP or WTA circuit, and none of them have met like that.

I’ve been an avid follower of tennis since I was 16, the same year that my high school decided to hold tryouts for the school tennis team. I’ve played badminton since I was about 9, and I figured the two were pretty similar (the lines on the court, serving cross-court, etc). The racquet is substantially heavier than my 30 gram badminton racquet. A tennis ball actually comes into contact with the court before you hit it as well, unlike a badminton birdie. I made the school team, and went on to place 4^th at Regionals.

Roger Federer was number one in the world at that time and even those people, who are not huge fans, cannot help but admire certain qualities of his. He is a great athlete. Anyone who is able to stay in the top ten in the world in their sport is in remarkable shape. Federer is now 30 years old, and is still 4^th in the world. He has great sportsmanship and has won the Laureaus sportsman of the year award over Tiger Woods and other great athletes multiple times. Born in Switzerland, Federer is fluent in English, French and High German. As a person who loves languages, I find this admirable. He has won every Grand Slam (Wimbledon, French Open, US Open and the Australian Open) at least once. As if there wasn’t enough to admire, he is also a family man now, marrying his long-time girlfriend Mirka Vavrinec and having twin girls. Federer was my favourite player for nearly a year until I stumbled across the likes of Rafael Nadal. Their rivalry has been one of the best on the ATP circuit, and although they meet in the finals often, they are good friends.

I have been smitten with the Spanish tennis star for over 6 years. Anyone who knows anything about me can attest to this. One look in my bedroom and I suppose it’s pretty obvious: every wall is adorned with posters, pictures of him and one wall even has the Spanish flag. I have his Vamos Rafa ball cap, a “Got Nadal?” t-shirt, and a copy of his biography which I have read cover-to-cover. I suppose initially I liked him because of his looks, but over the years his talent is undisputable. He has won the French Open six times in the last seven years (earning him the nickname “King of Clay”), won the gold medal at the 2008 Olympics and completed his career grand slam in 2010 by winning the US Open at the age of 24. Currently ranked 2^nd in the world after Serbian Novak Djokovic, Rafa is without a doubt my favourite athlete. There’s really nothing that’s not to like: he’s humble, he’s talented, he’s Spanish (and has the most gorgeous accent in interviews) and he’s a philanthropist. I actually got to see him play live at the Roger’s Cup in Toronto in August 2010, a small stop on the ATP circuit. I wound up getting tickets to one of the semi-finals and luck was on my side apparently. Though he wound up getting beaten by Andy Murray, the entire game was so surreal. I WAS IN THE SAME BUILDING AS RAFAEL NADAL! I took dozens of pictures as you can imagine; probably the best day of that entire year.

Back to couples on the tennis circuits…as I mentioned before, it doesn’t really happen. Most couples are from different walks of life, and if they do happen to meet through tennis, one of them has usually already retired. A relationship of two active players is not likely to work, as both circuits have their own schedules and destinations for tournaments. Roger Federer’s wife Mirka was a tennis player too – they met at the 2000 Sydney Olympics but she soon retired due to injury. Andre Agassi and Steffi Graf are another tennis couple – meeting after they won their respective titles at the 1999 French Open, but Graf retired a few months later and she continued to support him in his career. For those of you who have not done so yet, I encourage you to read Open by Andre Agassi. I really didn’t know much about Agassi, as he took his retirement in 2007, just as I was really getting into the sport. Even if you don’t follow tennis as closely as I do, it is an engaging, at times disturbing and eye-opening account of the life of one of the greatest tennis players in the Open Era.