We shared several appetizers and Jade was gracious enough to try the calamari. She told us she ate snails once (at the insistence of Coach Walz); but she said the ‘staple’ food of Kentucky was her Grandma’s food.

Once the UM season starts, Jade is going to be a practice player for Coach Frese. She has two more classes to finish and will graduate in December. She then plans to pursue a contract to play basketball overseas.

A few weeks after the Mystics season ends, Crystal will leave the US to play basketball in (cold) Lithuania. No more shopping for jeans…she’ll be looking for big, warm, furry hats and boots.

Over dinner, we chatted and chuckled. Crystal told us about an incident at her Mystics practice last week. It seems that someone at practice smelled very foul.  At first they thought it was the Coach’s breath, so they gave her a piece of gum. That did not work. The odor was still there…strong as ever. Turns out, when Crystal Robinson reached into her sweater pocket, there was a very dead mouse in there. I don’t think anyone will leave pocketed clothing in the locker room overnight again. And, for sure, if you have ever smelled a dead mouse, it’s good to know that the Coach’s breath was not the source of the odor!

So after great food, great conversation, and great company, we all left the restaurant ‘fat and happy’. I’m sure I don’t have to tell you that Jade and Crystal are two of the finest young women you could ever know, and dinner with them on Labor Day, 2008, is a very fond memory.