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.

Jan. 7, 2002

Dear Diary,

I am staring at a syllabus lying on my desk and am wrestling with this vague memory of being in some sort of classroom this morning. I think Christmas break might have ended. Such is life.

	Meadows

I began the break with lofty goals on how to fill up the space between semesters. However, in keeping within the confines of my personality, I mainly watched a lot of movies, read some, and hung out with my teammates.

I saw "Legends of the Fall" for the first time, and about half the team went to see "Lord of the Rings." If you haven't seen this movie, I suggest leaving this web site right now (no offense, ESPN.com) and rushing to a theatre. Hopefully your good luck will prevail and they will play the "Spiderman" trailer. Can you conceive of a cooler superhero than him? Neither can I. It's out May 3, 2002, in case you are interested.

We also played a lot of basketball. Wisconsin, Michigan, Northwestern and Iowa kept all of us very busy. As coach Curry always says, "There was some good, some bad, some happy, and some sad." I think we all know what we need to work on, and so our adventure continues in practice as we start getting ready for the Gophers of Minnesota.

There are two things that happened during our trip to Iowa City that need to be shared. First of all, Erika bought a hacky sack. We are absolutely terrible. However, we assume with diligent practice in airports and hotels across Big Ten country that our skills will be honed and we will accomplish our goal of kicking the thing more than ten times without it dropping pathetically to the ground. If any of the members of the hacky sack squad are reading this, I promise to exert whatever effort is necessary to improve my left foot. I just cannot endure Kelly (a former high school soccer star) and her exasperated looks when I awkwardly attempt to save the blue hacky sack from sailing into the head of one of our beloved teammates. Sorry again, Crystal.

The next important advance is entirely a personal one. I AM NO LONGER AFRAID TO FLY. If you had ever sat beside me during even an ounce of turbulence and been subjected to my incessant questioning of our safety, you would be as ecstatically relieved as I am. The very nice mechanic on our last flight explained to me how air manages to support a huge chunk of steel. He drew two diagrams and gave me an amazing experiment to try at home with a spoon and running water and -- miraculously -- I am no longer afraid. Yea!

I will ramble again soon. Until then, I hope everyone has a really nice week. Bye.

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