journal

Wednesday, February 7, 2001
Hi Everyone,

How are you? I'm doing really well. I've been so busy that I haven't had time to write, but now I'm very glad that I do.

As you all know, I just did Nationals, and I skated really well. I'll give you the day by day analysis. Well, actually, I'll start about a week before Nationals. On New Year's Eve I performed in a show, and somehow I injured my left hip flexor. I just ignored it for a little while, but then it totally started hampering my jumps and skating. I went to the doctor and he diagnosed it as tendonitis in my ACL and gave me a prescription for physical therapy at our local clinic. That really wasn't helping, so I went back to him and had two cortisone injections in my groin area and my hip. They hurt so bad, but after having them I was able to get back on the ice and start training again. I had about a week left before I went to Boston. The practices went well.

I left for Boston on Monday. The flight was awful, and I arrived at the hotel in Boston at about 10:30 PM. The hotel was really nice by the way. So right away I went up to bed because I had a really early practice the next morning. That first practice went really well for still being injured and being in the big rink. After that early practice (7:45), I went back to the hotel and hung out with some of my friends that I hadn't seen in a while, Jordana Blesa and Tim Goebel. It was so much fun. We went to a really nice mall attached to the hotel. I had another practice that afternoon which went really well considering I did a long run-through, and then I was done for the day.

On Wednesday morning I had a freeskating practice, but my nose started to bleed midway through it so I had to get off. So I left my short program run-through for that evening, and I did it clean. After that I went shopping and got a really cool Dolce and Gabbana sweater from Neiman Marcus.

The next day was the short program. I got up for a practice in the morning which went well, and then I had the rest of the afternoon off until my competition. When I got back to the hotel, I saw my best friend Kelly Bailey standing in the lobby. She and her mom had flown in to surprise me. I was so excited. We went to lunch, and then I took a nap. Then it was time to shine. I got to the rink really early like always, and I warmed up, stretched, and watched all the TV cameras following Tim, Mike, and Todd until it was time for me to put my skates on. I got on my warm up, and I was so nervous that I fell for one of the first times all week. But the rest went well. I skated first in the last warm up, or 10th. I went out and landed my triple lutz/triple toe and triple flip, but I popped my triple axel into a BIG single. You can imagine how mad I was. But I didn't let it affect the rest of my program, and I made it through well. My marks for presentation were really good, and after my short I was in second place with all second place ordinals and even one first place ordinal. I was so happy. I went backstage and got some ice for my hip, and then I went up into the stands to watch. I kept seeing my name near the top of the list, and I was like, "How am I going to make the last group with a single axel?" When the final results came up, I was sixth somehow, and I had made the final group. It was exciting, scary, and overwhelming. That night I went to the Tom Collins party and got introduced to a bunch of people. It was so much fun. At the same time, my mother and coach were downstairs meeting agents and producers, one of whom was the producer for *NSYNC. I was so excited when I heard that, and he even liked my look. So we'll see what happens with that.

The next day was simply practices. I skated pretty well on them, and I even started to land my triple lutz/triple toe/triple loop and triple axel/triple toe/triple loop again. I couldn't do the triple loop by itself, so my coach and I decided to take it out of my long program. That night I went to watch the senior ladies. I sat with my friends Kelly Bailey and Adam Kaplan. It was so much fun. I had a great time. Michelle Kwan was amazing. The next morning I had a semi-early warm up. I was on the ice with the top 5 male skaters in the country. It was so overwhelming at first, but then I realized that I belong with them, so I felt more comfortable. My coach even said she felt funny sitting with all the top coaches in the country.

That afternoon was the long program. I knew that I was going to be on LIVE national television. It was kind of intimidating, but I wasn't that nervous amazingly, once I was at the rink that is. I got on my warm up, and everything felt really good, even my triple/triple/triple. I knew that I had all the ability in my body to skate well. I went out 4th, and I was really nervous. I opened my program with all of my difficult jumps, and then I knew I didn't have much left because I had to take my triple loop out. So I just sailed through the rest of my program. At the end, I was so happy because I knew I had skated really well, and at that point I didn't even care about my marks. But I got off and sat down and said hello to everyone I'd ever met in my life, and then my marks came up, and they were really good. I was so happy. That night was the party, and I had a great time. Then the following morning we had team pictures for Junior Worlds, and I said all my good byes and came home to Delaware.

Overall, I think it was an awesome Nationals, and I am so happy that I skated well, had fun, and learned a lot all at the same time. I was also very proud of my friends who all skated well: Kendra Goodwin and Chris Obzansky in junior dance, Ronnie Biancosino and Marcie Hinzmann in junior pairs, Stephanie Roth and Alicia Cavanaugh in senior ladies, Tiffany and Philip in senior pairs, Jonathon and Laura in senior pairs, Matt Lind and Kelsey Drewel, the two novice national singles champs, and Tim Goebel in senior men. They all did awesome. Nationals was a great experience!

I leave for Junior Worlds in Sofia, Bulgaria in 9 skating days. I think that I'll do really well as long as I stay injury free. I currently have a spasm in my quadratis leborum in my back, but it's getting better, and I should be in top shape for the competition. Delaware has a representative in every discipline at Junior Worlds. It's gonna be fun.

I have so much else going on. I have a bunch of shows and interviews and things coming up. And I finally get to go on vacation on April 13th to Aruba with my best friend Kendra Goodwin. I can't wait. I actually get to take a week of break.

I'm also looking for new music. I'd love to hear your comments. For a new show program I'm thinking, "Nobody Wants To Be Lonely" by Ricky Martin, "La Vie en Rose" by Louis Armstrong, or "Unforgettable" by Nat King Cole. For my competitive numbers I'm thinking tango for my long and Schindler's List or something of that nature for my short. These are just preliminary ideas, but let me know what you think!

Other than that, things are pretty much normal. I've gotten some great comments about my skating and I've developed a lot of new fans since Nationals and I'm so excited! Life couldn't be any better right now. I'll catch everyone later! Love ya! Muwah, ciao!

-J