Editor's note: Purdue forward Laura Meadows, a 6-foot-3 fifth-year senior who transferred from Kentucky in 2000, will share a diary with ESPN.com throughout the season.

Dec. 19, 2001

Greetings from the hills of West Virginia. Coach Curry has granted Christmas leave to my teammates and me. So after a rainy six-hour drive, I am sitting in my house having already eaten two chocolate chip cookies (my mom's specialty!). Our tree is decorated beautifully and the embarrassing but cute pictures of my brother and me with various Santas have overtaken the family room. It's nice to be home.

	Meadows

Before leaving all memories of Purdue basketball behind, however, I should mention a few things. We survived finals with no serious disasters. Also, we managed to convert our two games last week into victories, though both UC Santa Barbara and DePaul played us extremely tough.

Finally, on Sunday I witnessed the ease with which a group of 20-year-olds can revert to their former 10-year-old selves. We ate at ESPN Zone in Chicago, and were allowed to invade the game room for about an hour before dinner. About five seconds after Kelly Komara and I had our game cards in hand, we were skipping up the stairs and onto the motorcycle game.

All of us rushed from one racing game to the next with huge Kool-Aid smiles on our faces. If someone had been singing "You Are My Sunshine," I would have been sure I was still in the third grade. I really can't understand why we don't allow ourselves to be that silly more often. We'd probably be happier.

Which is why I am so excited that my brother will be here tomorrow. The holidays would not be right if I couldn't sweetly wake up John on Christmas morning by slyly sneaking into his room and gracefully leaping into the air and crashing into his sleeping body. If I didn't put enormous effort into thinking of something original to get the boy every year, I doubt he would endure being woken up so early year after year. He thinks I'll outgrow my kid-like excitement, but I know the truth -- never!

My mom is no different. As soon as my tennis shoe touched down on the welcome mat, my mom had my hand leading me through the house so I could admire the decorations and the tree. Everything looks perfect. It finally feels like Christmas.

I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday and has the opportunity to spend it with those they love. Talk to y'all after the holidays!

For more on Laura Meadows and the Boilermakers, visit Purdue's official athletic site.