If anyone is out there actually reading my articles, you might remember last weeks, which was about my time as a competitive figure skater. I said that I had nothing to show for it, and I was immediately called out by my mother and reminded that figure skating was not a waste of my time.

Mother, this is for you.

I was instantly informed that there were many things to show for my experience as a figure skater. For proof, please see the closet full of bright and sparkly costumes in my basement. You could ask my mother, and she would tell you that I knew all of the words to Grease because that was the first routine we ever did.

If you asked my mother, then she would tell you that I got a lot out of it. I got really good posture, and I got bus rides. I got bus rides to Connecticut and experiences that I should appreciate. I got the train to Hershey, Pennsylvania and I got the spirit boxes, and I got 'good luck' notes shoved under hotel room doors the nights before competitions.

I traded pins with girls from different skates because that was what figure skaters did. Each club had a pin and we all tried to trade them to get the most different ones that we wanted and we knew which clubs had good pins and which ones had great pins. I have three scarfs filled with pins that I got from girls that I don't remember sitting on a shelf in my basement.

I know how to figure skate, and even though it doesn't seem like it has done anything for me, trust me when I say that it's one of the best things that I have ever done.

My mother called me out again, and she was right.

I used to be a competitive figure skater, and believe me, I got a lot out of it.