Hey fans! I’m spending this off season (if that's what you want to call it) in Istanbul, Turkey. I am playing for one of the biggest clubs in the country, Besiktas. I played in Turkey 5 years ago, so their culture is not really new to me. In-fact, I’ve remembered some useful Turkish words like yes, no, good morning, please, thank you, and all of the numbers up to 19 (I can't remember 20 for the life of me).

A typical day for me usually begins around 7:30 am! My 3 year old daughter Ryann is here with me and she's enrolled in preschool. She attends the British International School of Istanbul. Her school day doesn't start until 9 am, but my morning practice starts at 8:30 am, so I either take her to school early, or have our nanny drop me off at practice and then she'll take Ryann to school. By the way, I’m not super-mom or anything...I had to find a nanny when I arrived here (which was no easy task). Her name is Ebru, she speaks great English, and is not just a nanny, she's a translator, concierge, and everything else, and I don't know what I would do without her!

My morning practice usually consists of shooting around, lifting weights, and some sort of conditioning. I normally get out of practice around 10 am, that’s when the "me" time begins. While Ryann's at school, most days I come back home and fix myself a real breakfast (pancakes or bacon and eggs), watch a little TV, check my emails and then take a nap. I usually get up around 1pm, eat lunch and run errands. When I get back home I try to clean up and do laundry until it's time for me to pick Ryann up from school at 3:30pm. I always try to pick her up when I’m in town because she's always so excited when I walk into her classroom! She runs up to me and hugs my legs and screams "mommy!” It makes my day.

Next I’m off to my second practice of the day. Sometimes I take Ryann with me because she loves it! Her favorite part is the team huddles. At the beginning and end of each practice she attends, Ryann jumps in the huddle with all of my teammates and me. She also stretches with me during the warm-ups and cool down...it's really cute. However, most days I’ll take her home after school where she hangs out with Ebru. My evening practice usually runs between 4:30-6pm. It’s not too long and focuses more on playing basketball. Once practice is done I head home around 7, where Ryann has already eaten her dinner, had a bath, and is in her pajamas. So I’ll have my dinner and we talk and play games and have mommy/daughter time until she goes to sleep around 9pm. Once she's asleep, I use that time to make my phone calls to United States, download music and watch my favorite TV shows. Then I’m off to bed around 11:00 pm!

Like I said...what off season?

Stacey

Stacey is currently playing for the Besiktas team in Istanbul, Turkey and you can view her team’s web site at www.bjk.com. Joining her on the Besiktas team is fellow WNBA athletes Sheri Sam and Vanessa Hayden.

Follow Stacey and her team in Euro Cup play at the following link: www.fibaeurope.com.