Tennis Update: My first singles since 2001
Mood:  happy
Topic: Tennis
Today I played singles for the first time in almost 5 years. I quit playing tennis in November of 2001 because of problems with my left hip and although I have taken lessons a few times since my 3rd hip replacement in April of 2002, I hadn’t made a serious return to playing until the middle of last summer. Because I turned 50 last year I was eligible to play Seniors. This meant playing only doubles and always on clay (softcourt).

Last fall and and this past winter I played on a Senior team with mixed results, which is to say I lost more than I won. I got a little frustrated because I discovered that only playing doubles seemed to leave out many of the skills I have been working on, especially ground strokes (my forehand has really improved) so about a month ago I started practicing singles with my pro.

Because I was not unable to find a space on a Softcourt League team at the Pelham Racquet Club, which is a very in-expensive place to play since I am a resident of Pelham, AL, I decided to rejoin BrookHIghland Racquet Club where I was a member from 1992-2001. So today I played some singles with one of my new teammates.

I got off to a slow start, getting behind 0-4, but all but one of those games went to deuce. Then I won a couple of games. Finally, I served a really long game at 2-5, holding off 4-5 set points. I finally won to make the score 3-5. We didn’t finish the set because my teammate wanted to go to CardioTennis™ class.

Well, I made it through an hour of CardioTennis™ too. Then we played some doubles together, pulling out a set at 7-5. I hope our fatigue was the reason we blew our 5-2 lead!

After over 3 hours of tennis in the heat and humidity of Alabama, I was beat. I haven’t been this tired since I quit playing in 2001. Obviously I have lots of work to do to build up my conditioning for singles. Even so, I was satisfied that I played as well as I could realistically expect to play after such a long lay-off. I am also hopeful that I can lose another 8-10 pounds before the Fall Softcourt Season starts in September.

My new MacBook at Work
Topic: work
The network connection at the hospital I am working at today has so many filters I can't get to my email. However, I do seem to be able to post, at least to Yahoo 360.

I just got my MacBook Monday. I like it so much I am letting my husband have my Intel MacMini. It is too hard to keep multiple computers synchronized. I have not used BootCamp on this machine to create a WindowsXP partition but Parellels seems to be working well enough to sync to my PDA and run medical educational software. I haven't tried any games since they are not likely to be satisfying in emulation.

Xbox360 First Impressions
Well I have had my new Xbox360 for about a month now, so I am overdue to record my first impressions. So far the best thing is the new interface to Xbox Live. My husband is already hooked on the Live Arcade, especially Zuma. I like Geometry Wars but it has been hard to get him off the machine long enough to play. With regards to games, the selection is improving but remains rather slim. Perfect Dark Zero is OK, but it is not Halo! Kameo is just too cute. I am also trying to play the new Ghost Recon game (GRAW) but it is a little hard for someone as inept at dodging and ducking as I am. Lara Croft seems very good especially if you are into platforming type games. It reminds me of the first Buffy the Vampire Slayer game and of Prince of Persia. However, I am still looking for a satisfying shooter. I am thinking about trying The Outfit because it looks like more fun than the realistic Call of Duty 2. Overall, I am very happy with my new XBox 360 though I am, like every one else, impatient for Halo 3!

Puppy Update
Mood:  bright
Topic: Greta's Puppy Blog
Greta is now 4 and 1/2 months old. At first we thought she was deaf, but by the time she was 2 months old, her hearing seemed normal. The vet can't explain what happened.

She is not as adventurous as when she was younger. When she went to puppy HeadStart she wouldn't play with the other puppies, but she did great with walking on a leash. We will work on this more when she bigger.

Last week she was up to 33 pounds but she doesn't look like she will be as big as Buddy, who weighs about 85 pounds. All three dogs get along great. Sometimes Shannon runs out of gas, but Buddy and Greta can play endlessly.

Since I got this puppy so Buddy would have a companion when Shannon is gone, I am very pleased with how they are getting along.

         
More Puppy Photos

Greta's first pictures have been posted
Mood:  happy
Topic: Greta's Puppy Blog

You can now see pictures of Greta. click on the thumbnails below to see bigger pictures.

           
Mostly Dogs I am still experimenting with this site, but I have added a few first photos of Greta.

This is now Greta's Puppy Blog
Mood:  celebratory
Topic: Greta's Puppy Blog
Yesterday we bought a new Golden Retriever puppy who we have named Greta. Actually this is our second Greta. The first (Ginger's Golden Greta) died young. Then last year Greta's Heir Jordan died at age 11. So this puppy is going to be Jordan's Heir Greta.

Our puppy is only 6 weeks old but she already had a definite personality. She is very curious, adventurous, and not startled by loud noises. So far Buddy, our four-year-old male Golden hasn't really accepted her. (He has a jealous streak!) but when she gets big enough to play, I know he will be glad she is around. In fact, the main reason we got a 3rd dog is that Shannon, our German Shepherd is 11 now and we don't know how much longer she will be able to keep up with Buddy.

Is Blogging Really the future?
Mood:  a-ok
Today I realized that I have not updated my homepage (gingercampbell.com) in over a year. I have decided to start a completed overall. Since its been so long since I used GoLIve! I am learning Dreamweaver.

I learned about the Lycos website from a magazine on website design so I thought I would experiment with blogging in this free format.