Here's a short wrap-up of the Simpson Women's Christmas Chaos...

-Wake up incredibly early to travel to Ft. Lauderdale, Florida for Cruizin' Classic Tourney on Dec. 14^th.

-Defeat Muskingum and Marymount (Va.)

-Have fun in the sun!! Yes, it was mid-70s to low 80s all week...

-Wake up incredibly early (again) to come home to the Iowa tundra on Dec. 20^th.

-Take our NCAA-Required "7 day break"

-Return to Simpson for a two-a-day on Dec. 28^th

-First loss to St. Thomas on Dec. 30^th

-Return after our New Year's break, and defeat University of Dubuque on Jan. 3^rd.

Well, after a crazy busy Christmas break, it's that time again. It's like I don't even want to say it because it leaves a bad taste in my mouth. Classes. I guess it's just one of those things you have to do being a Division III student/athlete. Waking up for 8 a.m. classes 4 out of 5 days of the week cramps my style quite a bit.

After the first couple days of the semester, I realized that there are some common traits between my classes and our recent loss to St. Thomas. For one, my classes this semester might be some of the hardest I've had and being an active member of the procrastination nation, I'm going to have to remember to do the small stuff. Reading all the chapters, taking super extensive notes, asking questions, studying in advance for tests, etc. are a just a few things that can/will be done, especially if I want to receive the grades I want. I won't be able to wait for the night-before-a-test cram sessions or blow off a chapter to play Wii. (My roommate got a Wii for Christmas and oh, the temptations!!!!) I can't wait for the results of my first tests to decide what I need to do to get the grades. This small stuff has to be done now, and trust me, I'll still be sweating when I'm taking the exams.

The small stuff is what got us in trouble in our game against St. Thomas. Believe me, we busted our butts during that game, but there was one lull in the beginning of the second half that contributed to the outcome of the game. You wouldn't really think that two and a half minutes would make such a difference, but it did. We let down just enough for that little amount of time to make a difference. However, we definitely picked it back up and didn't rest until the after final horn blew. Another part of the small stuff that we failed to execute was our rebounding. We got beat on the boards and it also contributed to our loss, and yes, we're taking appropriate measures to prevent that from happening again. So when people say that you shouldn't sweat the small stuff, maybe they're right, in some aspects of life. But, when it comes to hard classes and basketball games, the "small stuff" is the difference between passing and failing, and winning and losing.