Cat's Corner

June 9, 2008

Hello there!

I have been a busy little bee lately. It's hard to remember where I left off last time. At the moment, we are on the road … in Topeka, Kansas to be exact. We bused here from Oklahoma City this afternoon. It was nice to be in one city for a week. I can't put into words how comforting it is to feel like you're somewhat home in a hotel instead of spending every two nights in a new place.

Let me catch you up to speed a bit since the last time I wrote …

The DePaul Blue Demons season ended in the NCAA Regional Finals. They put up a good fight against cross-town rival Northwestern, but we fell one run short of advancing. While it's disappointing, it doesn't put a damper on our season whatsoever. Across the board we put up some good numbers, and have some very talented returnees to lead our squad next season. I am honestly excited for the fall! It will be great to be coaching full time and I'll actually be around to contribute more! I do have to say "Congrats!" to our junior third baseman, Amber Patton, who earned second-team NCAA All America honors after an incredible season!

I have officially said goodbye to Chicago for the summer, though. We are on our tour for most of June and July, and the few days we are off I plan on spending them in Texas with my family and friends, some of whom I haven't seen since I graduated and moved away last May. I love Chicago, but I need some time to recoup before we head over to Beijing. Plus I can work out with my dad and make sure everything is sharp before heading overseas.

Team USA is still trucking away. We have a three-week stint together now, which takes us across the Midwest and to parts of Texas. We are starting to have longer trips in order to get us adjusted to spending this much time together. We will be in China for about the same amount of time (a little more than three weeks), so we are learning to adapt.

We trained in OKC for a few days prior to playing in Fort Worth, Texas. We had conditioning testing as a team and I am proud to say I showed improvement in all of our tests! I actually did way better than I thought I would. After a few days of testing, lifting and practices, we loaded up a bus to drive down to Fort Worth for a game. We also bused back that same night. Talk about a day trip!

This bus trip to Fort Worth was one of the first ones where not everyone fell asleep right away. I think we all enjoyed that first morning we were able to sleep in since reconvening on June 1. Our turkey sandwich lunches awaited on the bus, so there was no mad rush to find food before leaving, which helped make the morning a lot more relaxing. I had a nice breakfast by myself at a pancake house near our hotel. Not only is it cheaper than the buffet at the hotel, but I think it's better. There's nothing like some fresh biscuits and gravy!

On the bus, I watched a few episodes of the second season of Grey's Anatomy. Unfortunately, I think I scratched the DVD at some point because it keeps freezing on me. At a pit stop, Kelly (Kretschman) got one of those felt pictures to color, so I took the paper version of it and went to town. Yes, I am 25 and still enjoy coloring with crayons and markers! My picture of Winnie the Pooh and friends is turning out quite nicely.

The game in Fort Worth brought back a lot of memories for me. Eight years ago I played on the Katy Cruisers against the 2000 Olympic team on that very same field we played that night. There was an extra little meaning behind this game, since technically this is where I got my start. I don't know that the USA program would have included me as soon as they did had I not had the experience of playing against them. You never know what can come out of an experience like that.

I remember being in the dugout and just riding on the excitement of being on the same field with the best in the world. Sure you want to be the team that upsets them, but in reality you're just hoping you get the chance to do something great, even if it's one strike or just touching a ball. Seeing it from our dugout now, we're just trying to put together the best game ever played. Its funny how two dugouts on the same field can have completely different mindsets.

Friday night we played Team NPF, which was made up of some of the great players in the National Pro Fastpitch league. A few of the girls have been in the USA program, while others are rookies who had great college seasons, so they represented the league well. I don't want to go into details, but I am less than thrilled with my performance that night. Fortunately, I have the best offense behind me and they picked me up and led our team to a win.

Saturday we played Canada in our breast cancer awareness game. We wore pink uniforms, and many of us had our sponsor companies make pink equipment. Under Armour even put together some cute black and pink shoes for me! USA Softball will be auctioning off our uniforms and cleats in order to help raise even more money for the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Fund, so be on the lookout for that coming up.

Sunday was another international test against China and we came out very prepared. After facing some adversity in the first two games, we knew the kind of intensity we needed to play with. Overall, it might not have been the best softball we played, but it was a good test, and it showed us some things that need work.

We play in Topeka tomorrow and then it's off to St. Louis! We are definitely going to rack up a lot of miles on this bus, but at least we have plenty of leisure material! I have four books from which to choose, along with my Grey's Anatomy DVDs and some other movies!

I'll report after the week is over… hope you're enjoying summer time!