brain go bang ashy go ow

I hit my head on the bottom of the counter while picking up a Sprite cap.  Ow.

So!  Florida was fun.  We stayed in New Smyrna Beach for a week in a rented condo right on the beach.  I got to wake up every morning and see the sun rising over the ocean.  (I'm a reluctant morning person.)  Mostly we just spent our days being beach bums and tanning (and burning in some cases), as well as running out and jumping the waves.  (NSB is also the Shark Capital of the World, apparently.)  We chilled out at the condo pool a little while when we got sick of the salt water, or we needed to lounge around on one of the deck chairs to fry our backs.  We also got to go up to the top of a working lighthouse (203 steps, baby), as well as climbing a bunch of rocks on a different beach.  Saw dolphins in the distance at some point.  Ate steak and ribs a lot; the only Floridian culture in which I participated was having a bite of alligator, as well as lobster.  For the record, I'll never eat lobster again -- it tasted like fishy chicken, which isn't bad, but the idea of eating an alligator (perhaps because it's a predator) creeps me out.  As for souvenirs, I got a necklace with a coin that looks like one of the "nine pieces of eight" from Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End and a shark tooth, a couple t-shirts, and a lovely, fluffy stuffed sea turtle affectionately nicknamed Turtle Butt.

Now that the totally epic vacation is over, I have just finished making an entire spreadsheet of different prices for textbooks for the school year, comparing the prices from the Truman State bookstore, Patty's Bookstore (a local shop for textbooks in Kirksville), and Amazon.  Looks like the locations from which we buy the books will be pretty varied.  But at least I'm learning how to use Microsoft Excel, finally!  If I were to get each book from the cheapest place, it seems like the total will still be around $410.  EEEEEEK.  It's mainly Intro to Philosophy's fault, since it has the most books.  Also Russian's fault, since it's got a huge software/DVD/CD junk.

In more school-ish news, it's likely that I'll be a double major in French and Creative Writing.  But, of course, that's dependent on whether or not I can be accepted for the CW major next semester.  Since I really don't want to do a double major and a double minor, the minor in Russian Studies will be dropped.  I really want to do Russian, though, so I'll probably just take the six language classes and not do the required history, literature, etc. classes that the minor requires.  I'll keep the French Translation minor since it only requires two extra classes from the French major.  WOO!  I seriously can't wait.

Also, I've gotten an override for the French Immersion Weekend that takes place in October, I believe.  That'll bring my total credit hours for the semester to eighteen, which is the maximum.  Whoooa, dude.  But I'm EXCITED!  The more French in my life, the better. 

C’est fou comment ma vie a changé pendant deux ans à cause d’un chanteur et sa musique.  Et puis la musique d’autres chanteurs.  La musique francophone m’a donné une vie.  Avant que je découvre la langue française, il n’y avait rien que j’aimais vraiment.  Maintenant, il y a beaucoup de choses.  Ahhhh, j’adoooore le français.