During the nine-hour drive back from New Orleans (plus an hour with the time change - am I the only person who didn't know that Florida lies in two different time zones?), I got a call from Dad. "Wanna go to the Jimmy Buffett concert tomorrow night?" My response was something like, "Wow, short notice, but, uh, YES!" So we went, last night - my first time in the new Jacksonville Arena - and it was really a wonderful show. All ages were present, from teenagers to senior citizens, and everyone was tailgating and drinking margaritas and blasting music and wearing wild, colorful clothes, wacky hats, and lots of beads and accessories. Once we got inside, it turned out that the concert had also provided about a hundred beach balls, of all different sizes and colors, and they were bouncing around the stands the whole time. It was colorful and exciting (actually felt more like New Orleans than New Orleans had!). And Jimmy put on a great show - he was one hundred percent 'real', no lip-synching or backup tracks for him. He just stood up there in his T-shirt and bare feet, like a beach bum that someone handed a microphone to, and sang all his hits, and it was just so cool! My favorite part was when he sang 'Fins' - there was a huge remote-controlled inflatable shark flying around the arena and everyone was making fins on top of their heads with their hands and yelling, "Fins to the left, fins to the right..." and dancing. I wouldn't call it the best concert I've ever seen - Shania Twain has to keep that honor, since I got onstage - but it was definitely memorable. I got a shirt. :)

Swimming felt so good today! Especially this morning. The O'Connell Center pool was chilled down for SECs - I'm not sure how cold it is, but it's colder than normal - and it's so much nicer to swim in! The jumping-in part sucks, yeah, and the first fifty yards or so is pretty cold, but then you feel this rush of hot blood go through you and you warm up and it feels great. I didn't want to get out this morning - it didn't feel like we'd worked at all! Granted, we only swam about 1200 then because we had to take time to go over the midterms, but still. Tonight at practice we did 3800, so the day's total is 5k. Not bad.

Why do things always seem to go in 'waves'? Either I have almost nothing to do or I don't have a free minute. My current 'stressor' is my Academic Advising form for Utrecht (a.k.a. the Green Sheet of Death). The Utrecht course catalog isn't out yet, but I have to turn in the sheet by Friday, so I have to basically invent some courses to put on the sheet for 'formal' purposes and then e-mail my advisor later on with what I really end up taking. Seems a bit useless in my case, but whatever. Anyhow, other obligations include getting information on the GRE, buying new shoes and a new bathing suit, paying rent, getting a new driver's license, visiting my grandparents, finding sources for and writing a seven-page paper, doing laundry, and who knows how many other things I'm forgetting.

But: only three days until spring break! That's good news, even though I'm not doing anything really exciting - just going home to J-ville and working a lot. (Note to self: pack uniform!) But it'll be nice to have a break (and it'll definitely be nice to make some money!). I don't think any of my high school friends' breaks sync up with mine, which is too bad. Then again, I couldn't get in touch with my friend from UCF - she appears to have changed her e-mail address and forgotten to tell me - so maybe she'll be home too. We shall see.

One last thing: I took a three hour nap this afternoon, and it was wonderful.

Anyhoo, off to finish my book and study for a midterm. Ciao!