Merry Christmas

Hope you and your family have a Merry Christmas!

Miss Universe

Photo credit: AFP

Miss Universe took place last Wednesday at the Planet Hollywood casino in Las Vegas. I was able to watch the first half of the pageant live. I had to stop watching it half way through because my DVR started to record a program on the main TV. If I wanted to keep watching Miss Universe, I would have had to go down into the basement. Sitting in a cold basement wasn't appealing. So I decided that I would watch the rest of it the morning off the DVR.

Besides rooting for Miss USA, Olivia Culpo, to win. I was also cheering for Miss South Africa, Melinda Bam, to win. Both ladies, Culpo and Bam made the Top 16. After the swimsuit competition, Culpo and Bam were named to the Top 10. In the evening gown competition, Culpo went on to the Top 5, while Bam did not.

headblitz.com

In the Top 5 with Culpo was Miss Philippines: Janine Tugonon, Miss Venezuela: Irene Sofia Esser, Miss Australia: Renae Ayris and Miss Brazil; Gabriela Markus.

The final question was the only thing left that stood in the way of finding out who would win the title. Culpo's final question was whether if she had ever done something she regretted. Her answer was, "I'd like to start off by saying that every experience no matter what it is, good or bad, you'll learn from it. That's just life. But something I've done I've regretted is probably picking on my siblings growing up, because you appreciate them so much more as you grow older."

After the judges scores were talled, the 4th runner-up was Miss Brazil: Gabriela Markus; 3rd runner-up was Miss Australia: Renae Ayris; 2nd runner-up was Miss Venezuela: Irene Esser. The final two ladies were Philippines and USA. Miss Universe 2012 went to Miss USA: Olivia Culpo with 1st runner-up Miss Philippines: Janie Tugonon.

missuniverse.com

Culpo was the first American to win the Miss Universe title since Brook Lee in 1997. Culpo begins her year of traveling the world working for her charitable alliances of HIV/AIDS awareness. With Culpo winning the Miss Universe title, the Miss USA title went to 1st runner-up Miss Maryland: Nana Meriwether.

Tradition

Another yearly tradition will be happening tomorrow. Ever since my husband and I bought our house back in 2002, we hosted a Christmas dinner for my family. Leading up to this point, we have always picked up dinner from Subway. My husband and I didn't host dinner one year because he was working. Instead of just going home after Christmas mass, most of us ended up at a restaurant in town. We stayed almost until closing time.

My husband works again on Christmas Eve and Christmas. Instead of skipping the family dinner, we are holding it a few days earlier. It will take place after Mass tomorrow evening. The only person that will be missing is my oldest brother. He has to work.

This year, my husband and I will be serving ham, au gratin potatoes, green beans, salad and biscuits. We asked a few of my sisters to bring dessert: pumpkin pie, dutch apple pie, ice cream and cake.

I can't wait. It will be nice to see everyone again. The only time all of us get together is for a holiday. It should be a great night with family and food.

Oakwood Cemetery I - Adrian, MI

Gulf Gasoline - Adrian, MI

Horses II - Sand Creek, MI

Books read in 2012

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, J.K. Rowling 
Winter Season: A Dancer's Journal, Toni Bentley 
Chasing the Runner's High, Ray Charbonneau 
The Perfect Mile, Neal Bascomb 
Cleopatra, Stacy Schiff 
The Carrie Diaries, Candace Bushnell 
Summer in the City, Candace Bushnell 
Forgotten, Cat Patrick 
Deja Dead, Kathy Reichs 
Pretty Little Liars, Sara Shepard 
Flawless, Sara Shepard 
Perfect, Sara Shepard 
Unbelievable, Sara Shepard 
Wicked, Sara Shepard 
Killer, Sara Shepard  
Heartless, Sara Shepard

Wanted, Sara Shepard

Twisted, Sara Shepard

Ruthless, Sara Shepard

Fairy Tale Interrupted, Rosemarie Terenzio

The Help, Kathryn Stockett

Pronto, Elmore Leonard

Riding the Rap, Elmore Leonard

Raylan, Elmore Leonard

The Coffin Quilt, Ann Rinaldi

A Life Without Limits, Chrissie Wellington

Tinker, Tailor, Solider, Spy, John Le Carre
Eat and Run, Scott Jurek

Clearing Hurdles, Dan O'Brien

The Sugarless Plum, Zippora Karz

Girl in Motion: A Novel, Miriam Wenger-Landis

Breaking Pointe, Miriam Wenger-Landis

The Cranes Dance, Meg Howrey

The Eighty-Dollar Champion, Elizabeth Letts

Renegade Champion: The Unlikely Rise of Fitzrada, Richard R. Rust

That Woman: The Life of Wallis Simpson, Duchess of Windsor, Anne Sebba

The President's Club: Inside the World's Most Exclusive Fraternity, Nancy Gibbs

Mrs. Kennedy and Me: An Intimate Memoir, Clint Hill

Killing Lincoln: The Shocking Assassination that Changed America Forever, Martin Dugard and Bill O'Reilly

Once Upon a Secret: My Affair with President John F. Kennedy and Its Aftermath, Mimi Alford

Mary's Mosaic: The CIA Conspiracy to Murder John F. Kennedy, Mary Pinchot Meyer and Their Vision for World Peace, Peter Janney

Finding My Distance, Julia Wendell
FDR's Funeral Train: A Betrayed Widow, a Soviet Spy and a Presidency in the Balance, Robert Klara 
Caveat Emptor: The Secret Life of an American Art forger, Ken Perenyi
Kate: Kate Middleton: Princess in Waiting, Claudia Joseph
After Camelot, J. Randy Taraborrelli

Seven Days in the Art World, Sarah Thornton

Currently Reading: To Marry an English Lord, Gail MacColl and Carol McD. Wallace

The Lights Before Christmas - Toledo, Ohio

It is tradition. My husband and I have visited the Toledo Zoo's Lights Before Christmas since 1996. I think we have only missed one or two years since then, but it is one of my favorite Christmas activities.

We traveled to Toledo Wednesday night to see The Lights Before Christmas. It wasn't too cold or crowded. I really loved the blue and purple lights this year. Besides seeing the lights, some of the zoo animals were still out. We saw eagles, a polar bear, otters, wolves, tigers, penguins, snow leopards, elephants and many birds.

Ghost Trestle graffiti - Adrian, MI

A Logo Story

Oiselle (a team which I am a member) put a video out on the web Tuesday evening. It is called Clipped: A Logo Story.  It is a three minute video about how Oiselle had to keep changing their elite track and field racing singlet because of logo restrictions to make it compliant with the USATF and USOC.

This is Oiselle's story about their singlet for the U.S. Track and Field Olympic Trails from the past summer.

December

I said to my husband Sunday that I was sad to have my four day weekend come to a close. He said that I only work three more days, then I get another four off.

Yes. It is true. For the entire month of December, I have every Thursday and Friday off. I also have Christmas Eve, Christmas, New Year's Eve and New Year's off. I have these days off because they are holidays and I needed to use all of my vacation and sick days before the end of the year. If I didn't use them, I would lose them. Before Thanksgiving, I had 11 vacations days to use and 2.5 sick days.

This is the second year that I have used most of my vacation days in December. I don't plan it that way. It just happens. I photograph sports at a newspaper and the seasons are long. It is difficult to leave during the season. I take some time off during the summer and usually in September around my wedding anniversary.

What I love about the many days off in December is that I can take a break from the weekly grind of sports. I watch sports on TV practically everyday. But that is not the same as working at a game. So much more is involved in photographing a game.

I will be enjoying the rest of my time off. By the time December is over, I will be ready and looking forward to photograph games again.

Horses I - Sand Creek, MI

Books read in 2012

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, J.K. Rowling 
Winter Season: A Dancer's Journal, Toni Bentley 
Chasing the Runner's High, Ray Charbonneau 
The Perfect Mile, Neal Bascomb 
Cleopatra, Stacy Schiff 
The Carrie Diaries, Candace Bushnell 
Summer in the City, Candace Bushnell 
Forgotten, Cat Patrick 
Deja Dead, Kathy Reichs 
Pretty Little Liars, Sara Shepard 
Flawless, Sara Shepard 
Perfect, Sara Shepard 
Unbelievable, Sara Shepard 
Wicked, Sara Shepard 
Killer, Sara Shepard  
Heartless, Sara Shepard

Wanted, Sara Shepard

Twisted, Sara Shepard

Ruthless, Sara Shepard

Fairy Tale Interrupted, Rosemarie Terenzio

The Help, Kathryn Stockett

Pronto, Elmore Leonard

Riding the Rap, Elmore Leonard

Raylan, Elmore Leonard

The Coffin Quilt, Ann Rinaldi

A Life Without Limits, Chrissie Wellington

Tinker, Tailor, Solider, Spy, John Le Carre
Eat and Run, Scott Jurek

Clearing Hurdles, Dan O'Brien

The Sugarless Plum, Zippora Karz

Girl in Motion: A Novel, Miriam Wenger-Landis

Breaking Pointe, Miriam Wenger-Landis

The Cranes Dance, Meg Howrey

The Eighty-Dollar Champion, Elizabeth Letts

Renegade Champion: The Unlikely Rise of Fitzrada, Richard R. Rust

That Woman: The Life of Wallis Simpson, Duchess of Windsor, Anne Sebba

The President's Club: Inside the World's Most Exclusive Fraternity, Nancy Gibbs

Mrs. Kennedy and Me: An Intimate Memoir, Clint Hill

Killing Lincoln: The Shocking Assassination that Changed America Forever, Martin Dugard and Bill O'Reilly

Once Upon a Secret: My Affair with President John F. Kennedy and Its Aftermath, Mimi Alford

Mary's Mosaic: The CIA Conspiracy to Murder John F. Kennedy, Mary Pinchot Meyer and Their Vision for World Peace, Peter Janney

Finding My Distance, Julia Wendell
FDR's Funeral Train: A Betrayed Widow, a Soviet Spy and a Presidency in the Balance, Robert Klara 
Caveat Emptor: The Secret Life of an American Art forger, Ken Perenyi
Kate: Kate Middleton: Princess in Waiting, Claudia Joseph
After Camelot, J. Randy Taraborrelli

Currently Reading: Seven Days in the Art World, Sarah Thornton

Hickstead

Bruno De Lorenzo/Getty Images

I watched the 2011 CN International Grand Prix equestrian show jumping event at Spruce Meadows last week. The announcers were talking about Canada's Eric Lamaze. They were saying that Lamaze has a new partner this year. They didn't go into detail why Lamaze was riding a new horse. I figured that his former horse Hickstead was retired.

I watched an show jumping event from 2010 and Eric Lamaze was riding Hickstead. After watching the event, I Googled Hickstead to find out what happened to the horse. I saw that Lamaze and Hickstead were gold and silver medalists in the 2008 Beijing Olympics in show jumping on his Wikipedia page. After a description of what breed, how tall and what color he was, it went on to his career. It mentioned his wins and then it ended so suddenly. On November 11, 2011, Hickstead collapsed after jumping a round in Verona, Italy and died. Hickstead died from an aortic rupture.

I found a video from the day he died. I watched him jump his round and he was flawless. Hickstead collapsed after the round and was shaking on the ground. I only saw that for a second and stopped the video. I wasn't too familiar with Hickstead, but I couldn't bear to watch a horse die.

I have never owned a horse, but I know people that have. They become family, just like regular pets. It must have been extremely painful for Lamaze to go from jumping with Hickstead to losing him forever.

Rest in Peace Hickstead (1996-2011).

Random things

Jamie Sabau/Getty Images

My husband and I finally got a couple of huge items out of our house.

One of my sisters will be having her first child in a few of weeks. I asked my sister if they wanted a dresser since they needed a one for the baby's room. My husband and I have had a dresser sitting in our house unused since 2002. When my husband and I moved into our house in 2002, we bought a new bedroom set. We moved the unused dresser into our home office and it had been sitting there until this September. In September my husband moved into the foyer with intentions of selling or donating it.

Kirsty Wigglesworth/Associated Press

When I asked my sister if they wanted it, she was lukewarm about it. I think her and her husband wanted to buy furniture that matched. So I told her to just let me know if they wanted it or not. If they didn't, we were going to get rid of it. About a week later my sister called me. She said that they wanted the dresser. I think the furniture that they were looking at was a bit expensive and who would turn down a free dresser? My husband and I loaded it up and drove it to my sister's house. One huge item was now out of the house.

The other big item was our old treadmill. My husband and I bought a new treadmill earlier this year. Since we've had the new treadmill, our old treadmill has been stored in our dining room. The old treadmill needed new parts, so my husband I carried the very heavy treadmill upstairs from the basement. The parts came. My husband fixed it and then it sat in the dining room for months. My husband put the treadmill for sale on multiple websites and we didn't have any takers.

My husband and I will be hosting a family Christmas dinner in a couple of weeks and we needed to get rid of the treadmill. He listed the treadmill again online. This time around, someone was interested in it. My husband received a call and the interested party came over to look at it. The potential buyer said he would have to think about it. He called back the next day and said he would buy it. The day he was to pick it up, he called to say that he that needed to back out because of an unexpected car repair. The guy said if we still had it in a month, that he would buy it. But he would understand if we sold it to someone else.

The day after the first buyer backed out, someone else was interested in buying the treadmill. The new buyer wanted to see photos of the treadmill. My husband took some and emailed them to the new guy. He called a day later to say that he wanted it. Later in the day, the first buyer called back and said that the car repair wasn't as much as he thought it would be. He said he was still interested. My husband called the new buyer and explained the situation and called back the first buyer. The first buyer came over later that night and bought the treadmill. My husband, the buyer and his son carried the 250 pound treadmill to his vehicle. I loved running on that treadmill. I hope the buyer will enjoy it as much as I did.

In other exciting news, it was announced Sunday that Michigan will be playing South Carolina on New Year's Day in the Outback Bowl. Michigan finished the season 8-4 and South Carolina was 10-2.

Michigan lost to Alabama, Notre Dame, Nebraska and Ohio State this season. South Carolina lost to LSU and Florida. I hope it will be a good game and the Michigan will get the win.

A big announcement was made Monday that Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, is pregnant. It was   announced after Catherine became ill and had to go to a London hospital for treatment. Catherine has been diagnosed with hyperemesis gravidarum, which is a severe form of morning sickness.

Whether the baby is a boy or girl, it will be third in line to become monarch behind Prince William and his father Prince Charles. The succession rules were changed last year to allow the firstborn royal child, boy or girl, to ascend to the throne.

A nice surprise

I ran my last race of the year on November 10th, Fall Into Fitness 5K. I finished in 25:54.

I stayed for the awards ceremony. The race director said that they were going to hand out prizes to the overall men's and women's winners and the top two individuals in each age group. The RD started reading out results for the ladies first. When I heard I wasn't one of the top two women in the 30-34 age group, I left.

I checked for the results online the next day and they weren't listed yet. I checked for the next two weeks and nothing was listed. I figured that the results weren't going to be listed online this year. A co-worker asked me last week if I ran the Fall Into Fitness race. I said I did. He said that the results were sent in. I looked at the handout and found out that I was third in my age group. Besides placing third in my age group, I was the sixth overall woman out of 89.

I didn't know I placed that high among the ladies. I can't believe how far I come in just a couple of years. I went from running in the back, finishing almost last or last to finishing near the top. It is a great feeling knowing that my dedication to running has paid off.

Trio