Long Time No See

 First things first - I need to apologize for not posting in a while. The month of December is a whirlwind for me; between the holidays and my birthday and vacations, it's a crazy month. Curling slows down a little bit too.

We are now back into the 2nd draw. My schedule has freed up a little bit and I am now playing on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays. In a few weeks my schedule gets more complicated and I have to drop playing on Tuesdays and Thursdays (so sad - more on that later.) But for now, I'm enjoying myself.

 Mondays I play with the Husband and some friends. Mondays are a night that new and inexperienced players can come to and get used to the game. Because of that, Mondays are a little lighter and not as competitive.

 Tuesday is with the team that I've become a Perma-sub for. We won the B division in the first draw, and that means we are now playing in the A division. And so far it's been rough. The A division is pretty good, and they don't let up on their opponents. We have played some really good tough games and won a few and lost a few. Last nights game was a real heart breaker. We were down 3 to 0 after two ends, and managed to claw our way back and steal some points to tie it up at 4-4 after the 7. In the 8th end my skip managed a once in a lifetime shot on his last stone, to draw around numerous guards into the button and nudge one of their stones out of the button - BUT! The nudge wasn't enough. A measurment was taken, and I don't remember the exact numbers, but theirs was sitting at something like .30 and ours was at .50. That was how close they both were to the button and how close they were to each other. Such a heartbreaker! But I didn't walk away feeling that bad, since it was such a good game to play. My team all played really well, and we forced the other team to play their best game. Personally I had an awesome game. I feel more comfortable with fast ice (something that used to rattle me) and am really comfortable with draws now. I was pretty good at finding my line fast and was narrow on only one or two. But even my narrow ones still ended up in a good areas. One thing I did not do at all last night was any hits. I'm a little iffy on hits, so I was hoping for some more chances to try it out.

Homework or Strategy Session??

 Now about my schedule - Recently I've planned a career change and that means going back to school. Starting at the end of January I am taking some classes part time and that means no more Tuesday or Thursday curling for the rest of the year. You have no idea how much this is killing me. I know that school and careers should be the most important thing in a persons life - but me, right now, it's not. I love curling. And I love curling on Tuesday and Thursday nights!! Tuesday nights are extremely competitive and I've watched and learned a little from some of the best players at our club. Thursdays nights are fun to play and there is a certain amount of nostalgia and setimentality I have towards my Thursday night team. So...just gotta roll with it I guess.

 The husband and I are planning some trips to out of town Bonspiels for the rest of the season, hopefully I get enough of my curling fix from those. Right now I am trying to put together a team to go to the St. Catharines Open in March. The husband is going up with some guys and I figured I would try to put together my own team. So far, I'm not having any luck, but I've got a few people thinking about it. St. Catharines is a cool town to visit, and I'm hoping to make a weekend of it. We'll see.