La vie en France

Bonjour everybody, lol! I am sitting in Mcdonalds typing my first blog from Le Havre, France! You might be wondering why Mcdonalds? Well, the internet in my apartment is not going to be activated until later this week so I am taking advantage of the free WiFi. This is one of the many small inconveniences that the first days in a different country poses for me! Fortunately, I am no stranger to these circumstances and I know that everything will be up and running smoothly by the end of the week! These past few days have been quite eventful, so what do you say we dive into another episode of the life of J.J. Miller!
Well we have been here for a full week now and everything is in order. I mean our apartment is nice, our car runs(lol), and the team has been working pretty good! Leaving the states was actually the most strenuous of events for Monica and I. When we got to our gate at the airport we were informed that maintenance was being done to our plane and that it was going to be a delay. Again I am no stranger to this so it was not a big deal. But before i knew it a 15 minute delay turned into a 1 hour 45 minute stand still. There was no way that we were going to make our connection flight out of Philly so we would have to spend another night in Raleigh! This is cool right? Wrong? You see our dog (Prince) was on a another airline and his flight had taken off with no problem which meant that he was going to be in Paris a whole day before us! That sucks because I am the only one that can pick him up!!! So now I am on my way back home with no luggage because they could not get it off the plane, no way to stop my dog from departing to Paris, and no confirmed flight into Charles De Gualle (paris)!! Fortunately, my agent and director of client services are only a phone call away! Craig Mckenzie and Pamela Coclasure of Higher Vision Sports were on the job to make sure that everything would be taken care of so that neither me or Monica would have to worry about anything! Big Shouts to HVM Sports!!! They made the necessary phone calls, faxed the necessary paperwork, and aloud me to tie up all the loose ends to assure that everything would be ok for travel the next day!
So later that night we got to kick it with my sister and brother, John and Raquel, we had a good time and got a good nights rest!
The next day we caught our flights with no problem and were finally on our way to Paris. We had to connect through Frankfurt Germany because of the delay and this was a pain! When we arrived in Germany we had to wait to get our boarding passes and this pushed us to the edge for making our flight from there to Paris! So basically we had to sprint through security and high tail it to the gate to make our flight! I have to say Monica was moving pretty good. She may still have a little athleticism in her, lol! We made it!! From there it was smooth sailing. We picked up Prince and headed to Le Havre.
Now to the basketball, lol. We arrived in Le Havre in the afternoon on Monday! I was immediately taking to the team doctor, therapist, and trainer for medical tests! The fact that I arrived a day late was working against me already. I had to take these test and pass them in order to play in an exhibition game that was scheduled for tuesday!!!! That's right... arrive on Monday.... play on Tuesday! It worked out though. I passed the test and was able to play the next day. I was really out of it though, lol. I had no legs and I was sleepy to say the least! I also did not know the plays so I was really out of sync with the rest of the team. We ended up losing to a team that we will probably beat in the future if we were to meet them again. Fortunately, the week has gotten better and better as it has progressed! I have learned the plays and I am getting back to my normal form! We played last night and got a good win on the road against a strong team from Belgium. Even though it is the beginning of the season and these games really don't count every win is good for team morale! We have a talented team and with some work I think we can have a good squad!
So that has been this week in a nutshell. I am going to upload some pictures of the events and things that i have typed about real soon. You guys have to see the car that they gave me. It is by far the worst car that I have had in my career, lol!! But it does run and it is reliable right now. I am not too picky when it comes to those types of things in Europe!
Before i go, I want to take a quick paragraph to Thank God for who he is in my life and what he has brought me through, and where he is taking me even now! I want to thank all the people that have been here for me in my time of difficulty! Family, friends, associates, etc... You know who you are and I want you to know that I am truly grateful to all of you!
So as i come to the end of this post and get ready to study some french, I just want you to know that I am pulling for everyone to have a great week!! As always EXCEED EXPECTATIONS!!