remember when i found a new tennis court for mike and i to play? since then he’s been wanting to play regularly.  we played one night last week and afterward i suggested a couples tennis lesson as something new and fun for us to do.  mike looked into some lessons but didn’t find much.  then saturday morning he told me he had a proposition for me: “i was thinking that i’m pretty good at tennis and could give you some lessons, some pointers. what do you think?”

so saturday night about 6 o’clock we head out to the court. (when i asked mike what he wanted to do on our first free saturday night in a while he responded “tennis/frisbee?”  yes!  that’s exactly what i was thinking for a nice saturday night together.  who wants to go to a nice dinner and a movie? but, i digress). when we get to the court i ask mike if this is my first lesson.  he shrugs and says “if you want.”  i say “sure.” “ok, three things. first, follow through with your racket. the ball will go in the direction of your racket. turn your wrist to put a little top spin on the ball, you know what i mean?”  i nod and smile “mmm hmm, yep i know what you mean.” (i had no idea what he meant.) “and last thing, always come back to the center of the court.” and with those words of wisdom, we took the court.

this was not the type of lesson you see in movies where the guy leans over the girl leaning over the pool table showing her just how to hold the cue and the sexual tension builds between them. no, i stood across the net from my husband, wearing my prescription sunglasses so that i could see his face and the ball clearly from across the court, both of us hitting many a ball right into the net instead of over the net.  as i walk to chase stray balls my roomy, almost to my knees nylon gym shorts ride up between my thighs forming what looks like two curtains and i can feel my lunch in my belly. as i bend down to pick up the ball, my sunglasses slide down my oily face hitting a a newly formed pimple on the side of my nose.  yep, i’m lookin’ good all right.  and i’m definitely feeling hot.

i’m physically and mentally steaming.  it’s about 87 degrees (though mike insists it’s not warmer than 80) and it’s summer in DC so the humidity is high. i really don’t want to be here and to be honest i’m getting kind of mad at my “coach” because he’s not performing much better than me.

after about 10-15 minutes mike says “you don’t look like you’re having very much fun over there” to which i respond “i’m not having very much fun over here” and he laughed.  we both laughed.  it lessened the tension significantly and we picked up our game a little bit.  i told him i thought he wasn’t playing great and that i wanted to move around a bit more.  he thought we were warming up and practicing a bit. i said i was hot and that i think there are certain months of the year that i’ll play: march-may and september-november (when the weather is right.) honestly i think i was just in a mood.

for my next lesson, i will make sure that three things are in place: i’m in a good mood, in a cute outfit, and that the weather is just right.