Ballin | Fr 1/6

I had to choke out an excuse as to why I didn't progress much on the automation utility for stand-up, which was hard and embarrassing. Afterwards, despite my best intentions, I managed to get some solid naps in and eat well at least. It's not nearly as productive as I used to be but I'll take it.

After work I drove through hell during rush hour to make it to the Costco near Albert to carpool with him and everyone else to Grapevine for open gym. The drive was fun and chatty, but we were surprised to find the volleyball club is inside of a mall. The courts were nice hardwood, but we eventually got annoyed with how the court lines are inconsistent in color (some were even beige).

Our first game in the "sort of competitive" court was against some kids who seemed like high schoolers and were clearly new to the game. After that game we faced a scary team who had tricky passes and serves, with players able to do different skills. From then we were confused how good our team was, but we had some much closer games and passed around since then.

We stayed to play for a while and got some good games in, especially near the end when some people left and we could constantly play. I had some terrible passes and serves, but I also managed to adjust well to some difficult sets, so I would call it a good day. Afterwards Andie wanted to go to Yama in Carrollton, which sounded like a great time.

We got the same sushi rolls as last time (double pleasure, 3 if a kind, salmon volcano) but Albert tried the omurice which was tasty. It was a lot of food for $30, but this time we barely had to wait either. Afterwards we wanted something sweet but it was past 11 PM so we left defeated only to see an IHOP next door. Determined to have something sweet, we came for French toast and milkshakes.

The whole night involved a lot of fun chatting, but on the way back home Emily asked if I usually have energy at night, which made me realize that I was much more talkative than anyone else. This surprised me, and I saw interesting sides of everyone during the night too: quiet intimidated, tired and impatient, chatty, annoyed. It all made me realize that people's mood can change how they look by a lot.

Andie seems to be more comfortable with me after spending more time together outside of volleyball. During the night we played 4's with her and her friend Theresa, but it seemed like Theresa wasn't entertained when I got a hit or block and happened to look her way, often avoiding eye contact and looking annoyed. Otherwise she was friendly so maybe she's used to guys being impressed with themselves or expecting her to be, but it's just a guess. I guess I can't blame them if they're on-edge about a guy they just met.

Now it's way too late for me to sleep, but I'll be hanging out at the mall again and hopefully taking some nice model pictures tomorrow.