Home again ^_^

Progress report: 1 week, 3 days (I think) until my black belt test. v_v

Anyway...today I shall quickly fill you in on today's happenings, before moving on to the more pressing pieces of information, that is to say, my trip to Florida.

So today I went to the beach. It was really nice there; the sand was nice and warm, the water was...warm enough...and whatnot. I went boogie boarding instead of surfing today. I'll probably opt to surf more often than not now, though, despite the fact that I've been boogie boarding since I was about eight. The reason? Well...my boogie board has become a bit small. xD

Anyway...then I went home. I had only about ten or fifteen minutes to change into my karate uniform, because I needed to pick up a friend on the way to karate. I took four of the six classes offered today. The other two were spent eating dinner (salad and breadsticks, yum! xD), studying the written test questions I'll need to answer in *gulp* just over a week, and reading Beyond the Reflection's Edge by Bryan Davis.

(Side note...I still need to order From the Mouth of Elijah. It's on my to-do list for tomorrow. xD)

So now I am home, 180something pages into my book, so sore I can hardly walk. Yeah. xD

Anyway...I'm sure y'all want to hear about my several escapes from death. Death by lightning, no less. So here goes xD

For once we didn't really have many delays on the flights. That happens to us a lot...we get stuck at an airport for a while while they clean the plane, or wait for it to get there, or fix it, or something. v_v But this time we probably only had a half-hour delay where we were waiting for the plane. (The other delay was when we were already on the plane, and they were trying to sort something out with the caterers providing the food for the flight. Sitting in a plane seat when you're not going anywhere isn't very fun. Especially when your iPod is threatening to keel over and die at any moment. v_v)

So anyway...once we were in the air on the second leg of our flight, I caught sight of a beautiful, MASSIVE thunderstorm outside the window. It wasn't too far from the plane, lightning was flashing every few seconds...it was incredible! ^_^ I'm counting this as brush with death by lightning #1, considering we were flying in a metal plane, and we had to descend through some clouds to get to the airport, and whatnot. xD It wasn't as close of a brush with death as the other two times, as you will see!

So anyway...we start driving to the hotel. It's really late at night at this point...about 2am Florida time. And I decide to text my dear friend Jamie. And of course the first thing she says when I say "Greetings from Florida!" is along the lines of this:

"WHY AREN'T YOU IN BED?!"

(Not a direct quote. I don't have the iPad with me, so I can't check for the exact one. xD)

So I explained that we were driving to the hotel, and she says something like...

"Texting while driving? >=("

Thank you, Jamie, for providing me with a humorous outlook on driving through heavy rains in Florida in the middle of the night! xD

Anyway...

So we get to the hotel, check in, go to bed, et cetera. The next day we spent working on ye olde undisclosed projects (email me for more details if you'd like xD)...and the next day was the same...and the next...and the next.

Well, I wasn't working, more like watching and talking to the people we were working with. xD But it was fun!!!

So anyway...our first official day off is Saturday. So we decide to go to Sarasota and do some shopping and go to the beach.

Well, we do our shopping. And as we do, a thunderstorm starts up.

We're really hoping to go to the beach, though, so we all get into the car and drive there. (I was navigating...naturally, as I have very little skill with map reading, I managed to make a couple mistakes. Fortunately, we were using the iPad GPS, so I could follow the little "You are here!" thing. xD)

Finally, we get to the beach. It's supposed to be the most beautiful beach in the U.S. Apparently a tropical storm might've wiped out some of the beautiful, white cake batter powder like stuff that was once there. Because it's not particularly pretty, there's a lot of seaweed, and whatnot. xD

Anyway...we're hoping the thunderstorm doesn't come back, so we can enjoy the beach, maybe dip our feet in the water, et cetera.

That's when I notice my sister and my mom's hair standing on end.

Then the hair on my arms starts standing on end.

Every book and article I've ever read on the subject states that at this point, the wisest thing to do is to make sure you are as low to the ground as possible. LIGHTNING IS COMING.

But we disregard the advice a little bit, and hightail it back to the car. xD

There you have it, folks. Brush with death by lightning #2! xD

So the next day, we were going to have the day mostly off. But early Saturday we got a phone call. Apparently something went wrong with part of ye olde undisclosed projects, and we had to go back and work again. (Well, once again I wasn't working. But I went with my family. xD)

So, as others are working...a large thunderstorm rolls in.

The thunder gets louder...and louder...and louder.

At this point, I am really enjoying the weather. So I say, "I'm going outside to watch." And I do.

About two minutes later, there's a huge flash of lightning, almost precisely at the same time as an enormous boom of thunder. The lightning might just have struck the building we were in. The PA system went out. xD

My mom pokes her head outside and tells me to come in. I do, exclaiming "THAT WAS AWESOME!!!!"

It was awesome. And loud. And awesome.

That was brush with death by lightning #3, everybody. xD

Anyway, the rest of the work went well. And over the course of the vacation, we managed to do some touristy things like shopping and going to the beach. (The water is so warm in Florida. It's awesome. ^_^)

And we fly back, with no problems aside from the aforementioned catering thing.

And now, I'm sitting here at my desk at home, exhausted from karate and my trip to the beach and the trip and everything. xD

Oh, and one more thing before I sign off: My class ring came!!!! =D I'll post a picture as soon as I get a decent one. xD It has my name, the year of my graduation, all the usual stuff. And it has those decoration carving things on the sides. I picked one that represents my academic side, and another that technically means journalism, but to me means the KotoompaA. xD It has a feather pen, a scroll, and a computer. ^_^

And the stone...is beautiful. It's a tourmaline, probably made in a factory or just a stone made to look like a tourmaline, but to me it counts. DioM fans, you may know that rubellites are a type of tourmaline. xD

So I basically have a rubellite ring, only the stone is greenish/multicolored in some lights rather than red. xD

Anyway...*yawn*...I'm quite tired now. I must adjourn and head off to the land of dreams. Before I keel over from exhaustion.

I'll blog again soon. ^_^

And I look forward to reading y'all's next blog posts!!! =D

That is all. u_u