Fighting the Winter Blues

Sorry that I haven't posted here lately! We have been insanely busy, and I have been sick for the past few weeks. I was just diagnosed with bronchitis on Friday, and now I have three medications to take and am starting to feel better (witness: I am actually not coughing right now!). I've never had bronchitis before, so this is new. I also never had walking pneumonia before, which I had back in May/June. What a year of "firsts"! The doctor said that he has seen many of these types of illnesses this year, and I know that they've been much more common than usual among my acquaintances. I'm thankful to be feeling better, and am looking forward to being healthy for the Christmas season.

This past week the temperatures have been down in the 20s. We had a little bit of snow on Thursday, so we didn't make the all-time record for the latest first snow of the year, which was December 4. Missed it by one day! Darn. Actually, it snowed more in Texas and Virginia (2 states in which I used to live) than it did here this week, so I guess I should be thankful. :) We decorated our tree on Thursday night, and most of the Christmas shopping is done, so now we can sit back a little and enjoy the season. [Note: I tried to put a picture of our Christmas tree in this post, but blogger keeps rotating it in all sorts of directions - grrr!]

I am a summer person. Whenever winter comes, with its cold temperatures, constantly overcast skies, and 7 hours of daylight, I subconsciously feel depressed. I lack energy and enthusiasm for doing anything. In fact, last winter, I would come home from work, but on sweats, and lounge on the couch or bed with a book or movie. That is how I spent many of my evenings. When warm weather came and the snow stopped - in May - it was as though a new person was born within me; a person full of energy, excited about life, and enjoying exercising and hanging out with friends.

Though I can't control the weather, this year I am making a conscious effort to enjoy winter. I don't know how successful I will be, but here are a few of the things I'm doing to try to focus on the joys of the winter season:

• I started judging gymnastics partially as a way to get myself out of the house on some of these dark winter evenings. Gymnastics is a winter sport, and December and January will see me getting out of the house a couple nights a week to judge at some local high schools and clubs. Not only is this getting me out of the house, but I'm meeting new people, enjoying working with the gymnasts, and getting paid! 
• This year, I am trying to do more in honor of the Christmas season, though we have been busy. Steve & I really enjoyed decorating our tree on Thursday night, and we've been listening to Christmas music, as usual. New this year: we are planning to bake some Christmas cookies and take them around to a few of our friends in the days leading up to Christmas. Not only will we have fun making the cookies together, but we'll be able to visit friends and pay them "the compliments of the season". :) I am also going to be hand-making a few Christmas decorations this year, starting with a runner and some couch pillows using a cute fabric I found called Santa Toile (see picture at right). 
• Another thing that I am trying to do is enjoy the cold weather (gasp!). If the wind is not too bad, I've been bundling up and getting outside for walks and runs. I've also been trying to use my wardrobe in new ways to come up with more creative outfits. Rather than getting stuck in the old pattern of winter sweaters and pants, I've been trying to do more with layering tights, skirts, short sleeved shirts, suit jackets, and sweaters. I've even worn a few of my summer tank tops with suit jackets. Just trying to mix up the winter clothing routine and find fun new ways to wear the same clothes in a different season!
• Yet another way that I'm fighting the winter blues is by trying to enjoy the traditional pleasures of winter. I'm trying to actively schedule wintry activities, such as movie nights and eating typical winter foods such as soups and breads. On our few free evenings, we've watched some movies we haven't seen before, and have a few more lined up. Also, when my gymnastics season ends, I will be joining a reading group that is reading and discussing C.S. Lewis' space trilogy. Reading is my favorite hobby, and I enjoy science fiction, so I'm excited!

I know that some of these things are pretty basic, but the fact is that since I always hated winter, I never tried to embrace it in any way before. I'm trying really hard to see it for the necessary role that it plays in the annual cycle of the earth, to be thankful for the shelter that we have, and to enjoy the characteristics and activities of the season. If any of you love winter and want to share some insight, I'd be more than grateful to receive it! :)

A Dose of Gratitude

I’m glad that we have the wonderful tradition of Thanksgiving here in America. Truly, it’s been many years since I’ve actually thought about the story of the Pilgrims and Native Americans who sat down together to give thanks to God for helping them to reap a harvest in a new land after so many hardships. Thinking about how God sustained them through extremely difficult times prompted me to think about the ways in which God has sustained us throughout this past year. It’s a little verbose, so bear with me. Here are the things I’m most thankful for this year:

1. My health. I have had some minor, but consistent, health problems for quite a few years – IBS, low blood pressure, and ovarian cysts, to name the main things that have been causing me trouble. January was a particularly rough month for me, which prompted me to re-visit many of the specialists I have seen in the past. With their help, I was able to find effective medical treatments for these problems. Combine the medications with the fact that I have been able to exercise regularly for the first time in years, and I feel better than I’ve felt in about 10 years! I’ve been doing hormone therapy for the cysts for about 9 months now, and it’s working wonderfully. I know that many women have problems tolerating hormone therapy, but I think it was just what my body needed, and am so thankful for that.

2. A good course of study for Steve. For years, I and some other people have mentioned off-hand that Steve should pursue accounting because he has always loved working with money and numbers. He loved being a mortgage broker, but obviously that career went down the tubes in the past year or so, and he needed to find another option. He majored in music, so he didn’t have much specific career training. Lo and behold, the community college at the end of our street has a CPA program for students who already have a Bachelors degree in any field! Even better, it’s cheap - $116 a credit hour! He has one year left in the program and we can pay as he goes. Best of all, he’s actually enjoying his classes, partly because he knows that what he is learning will help him get a steady job in the end! He’s gotten almost all “A’s” so far and is understanding the material. I’m also thankful for my job, which allows him to go to school while I work, and for the fact that both his school and my work are literally minutes away so that we can maximize our time together.

3. My gymnastics judging. For years, I have wanted to pursue judging women’s gymnastics. A former gymnast myself, I have been interested in getting back into the sport in some way. This year, the doors were really opened for me and I felt that it was by God’s will. I wrote our state judging director back in August, inquiring about becoming a judge, and she wrote back right away that there was a free judging clinic coming up in Bloomington, where my aunt lives. I was able to attend a 2-day clinic for free, meet judges, pass my first test, and stay at my aunt’s house, all for free! From there on it’s just been a smooth journey of passing tests and getting scheduled to judge. I have just started my judging career and am loving it. It’s yet another way that God is providing a little extra money during these times, and it’s something that I can do for years to come!

4. The chance to reunite with friends this year. Steve and I both had college reunions this year – his 10th and my 5th. It was great to be able to see some old college friends! Additionally, a few weeks ago I traveled to Tennessee for a few days, where I got together with some more college friends. It has been a great month of reuniting!

Those are the main things that I am thankful for this year, though there are many others. How about you?

I will give thanks to the LORD because of his righteousness and will sing praise to the name of the LORD Most High. (Psalm 7:17)

Oh, and don't forget to be excited for...

My favorite actor as the Mad Hatter in Alice in Wonderland!

But for now...still sick, and missing another night of socializing because of it. As a consolation prize, Steve and I are getting Olive Garden take-out and watching the new Star Trek tonight...right after I study for my practice judging tomorrow. Off I go...

Elementary, my dear Watson

Today I came down with a cold. I'm not terribly sick, but combine that with the fact that it's almost dark outside before 4 pm due to a day of storms and it's downright depressing. Also, I was looking forward to having dinner with my friends Becky and Ana, which is now probably not going to happen both because I'm tired and because Ana is a baby.

So I was trying to console myself by watching one of my favorite movies, The Holiday, when seeing Jude Law on screen reminded me that I'm really excited to see th upcoming Sherlock Holmes film, in which he co-stars as Dr. Watson. It's released on Christmas Day, and I hope to see it the day after, which is a big deal for us because we've only gone to 2 films this entire year: Star Trek (two thumbs way, WAY up!) and Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (huge, but not entirely unforeseen, disappointment).

I have been a big fan of Sherlock Holmes since I was a child. My interest was first piqued by seeing Jeremy Brett - in my opinion, the finest Holmes there has ever been - portray the great detective in the BBC series during the 1980s and 90s. Those episodes were broadcast on PBS' Mystery! series, which I very much looked forward to watching. We even taped some some of the episodes with our VCR. I now own them all on DVD; I showed them to Steve, and he has become a big fan as well. The Holmes of Jeremy Brett is the eagle-eyed, eccentric, justifiably arrogant detective of razor-sharp brain and slicing tongue. What an amazing character!

If you enjoy Sherlock Holmes, mysteries in general, or even just good acting, check out the BBC's Sherlock Holmes series starring Jeremy Brett. Here's a little snapshot to whet your appetite:


I am excited to see the new film that's coming out, though it looks quite a bit different from the original story according the previews. Of course, previews can sometimes be entirely different from the actual movie, or they can be the entire movie. Haven't you ever watched a movie and thought, they put all of the good moments in the previews? That's when you know that even the producers think the movie stinks; they realize that they only have a few good spots in the movie and they have to use them in the trailer so that people will come see it. Tangent, sorry.

Anyway, I am excited to see the movie and hope that it will be good! Here's the movie trailer, for those interested:

Judges Cup

Just hanging out at home this morning, having taken the morning off to recover from Judges Cup this weekend and prepare for some promotional DVD filming for work this afternoon.

Judges Cup was my first meet to work since I became a women's gymnastics judge, and it was so much fun! I worked 6 sessions this weekend (each session is about 2.5 hours long), in the following order: level 5 beam, level 5 floor, level 5 beam, level 4 beam, level 6 floor, level 6 vault. On Saturday, I was there for 13 hours and yesterday for 12 hours. The meet was held at University of Illinois-Chicago, so it was about a 40-minute drive for me.

The first couple of times that I sat down at the judges table, I was a little nervous, but as I saw the same routines over and over (4, 5 & 6 are compulsory levels, which means that the girls all do the same routines), my confidence in my knowledge grew and I was able to calmly note all of the mistakes and errors of each gymnast. Judging uses a "negative" system, which means that we focus on the bad things rather than the good. At the bottom of each gymnast's critique sheet, I tried to make it positive by noting what she should work on and something she did well.

One of the major things that I learned from this weekend is that I cannot judge with contacts in. I wore my contacts on Saturday, and after about 7 hours of staring at routines without blinking in a chalk-filled room, my eyes were dry and really achy; they still ached the following morning. Yesterday, I wore glasses and had no problems. Good to know!

It was nice to see some of the other [very] experienced judges that I had met before, and to meet some new ones. Between each session, we had a short time in the hospitality room where we could eat meals and enjoy the chocolate fountain. :) I took the opportunity to ask the ladies that have been judging for 30+ years as many questions as I could think up. Most of them are very helpful and encouraging!

After this weekend, I feel pretty confident in my judging abilities for USA Gymnastics meets. My next one is a level 4 meet on December 4. However, I am really nervous about my IHSA (high school) judging. IHSA judging requires one to know different rules, routine composition requirements, and penalties, none of which I am familiar with. I have been studying them regularly over the course of the fall, and am going to study the IHSA rule book twice a day, every day until my first IHSA meet on December 2. I just have two IHSA meets in December, on the 2nd and 7th. If I can get through those, I'll have about a month to refine my techniques and keep practicing! Between now and then, I am also going to go sit with some experienced IHSA judges and "practice judge" while they judge for real so that I'll have someone to compare scores with. I'm kind of wishing that I had waited to do IHSA until next year, but I know I'll be glad of the money. It's just a challenge I have to face!

It was wonderful to be back in the gm again!

I enjoyed sleeping in today, and exercising this morning, but now it's time to go shower and work on my "script" for this afternoon's filming. Condo association meeting tonight...no time to spare! :)

Wow!

Sorry, dear readers, for my lengthy absence from the pages - ahem, screens - of this blog! I had a fabulous time in Tennessee last weekend, which I will share about soon, but I will be spending all day tomorrow and Sunday working at the Judges Cup gymnastics meet in Chicago, so I'm seriously lacking time right now. I just wanted to share something really cool that just came out. This:

Oh my goodness.

I think these little guys will be finding new homes on my bookcases soon. What a great idea! Thanks, Penguin!

Hittin' the books...

Poor Steve has spent this entire weekend studying. He is taking four classes this semester toward his CPA, and naturally, all four of them have to have tests at the same time. It happened last month, and it's happening again this month. He had a test in each of his two Thursday classes, and as soon as those were over, he began studying for the two tests that he will have in his Monday classes tomorrow. Not to mention that he has a paper due tomorrow - which he got up at 6 am to write before church - and had to take his weekly online quiz for tomorrow night's class tonight.

Though he has been studying for days on end, poor thing, tomorrow is going to be another day filled with studying and stress. It has been rather crazy around here lately. I have been busily trying to complete all the errands, including grocery shopping for the first time in a month (Sept. 30 was my last trip to Super Target; I hate shopping!) and finishing up most of the Christmas shopping, which I always try to do in October because, did I mention that I hate shopping?

I have been starting to get my meet assignments for gymnastics judging, so I'm adding dates to the calendar. My high school meets will all be in December and January, and I have a few USAG (private club) meets sprinkled in there, but most of those will be February through April. I'm reviewing my rule books a little each day to get prepared. My first USAG meet will be November 14 & 15!

This week, I will be visiting my dear friend and college roommate in Tennessee, where I will also be meeting up with some other good friends from college. I'm looking forward to the trip, but I'm leaving on Wednesday and am busy tomorrow and Tuesday nights, so I don't know when I'll pack! I'm looking forward to the short vacation, though.

Well, that's what's been keeping us busy lately. Wish Steve "good luck" tomorrow!