Too quick!

That's how I feel this year is flying by...way too quick! It's already the end of February and it feels like it was just Christmas. Apparently I'm not the only one feeling that way though; I saw a pickup truck on Tuesday that still had its big red Christmas bow on the front of it. I thought to myself, "Really?!?" That guy was either really late taking down his truck's decorations...or he's just REALLY early. Either way though: no bueno.

Things have been going along well though. After yesterday, another batch of students made it through the bar exam - now the waiting game begins - and in a few short weeks we'll already be gearing up to prep the new batch of Spring graduates for the July bar. Yikes! With larger and larger classes graduating the workload continues to increase. We're hoping to hire 2 new people in our department in the near future to help with the workload and I have my fingers crossed. We definitely need the extra sets of hands!

Tonight I think I'm going to head out to Caribbee Key to see my brother's friend (I don't know him well enough yet to call him my friend), Alexander Seier, play for a little while. He's actually quite the talented musician - and a really nice guy to boot - so I'm looking forward to that. He has some of his own original work available on iTunes so if you get a chance to check him out, please do!

Have a great weekend!

Appreciated

Sometimes people feel as though they're working their tails off and not getting the recognition or appreciation they deserve.  Luckily I have a great boss...lately things have been crazy busy, hectic, somewhat stressful, etc. but on several occasions, even amidst all the chaos, my boss has taken the time to thank me for all my help and tell me I'm doing a great job.  And that appreciation from her is definitely appreciated by me.  It gives me the motivation to keep pushing through the tough stuff because I know it's not going unnoticed.

Still, it was time for a little change around here so last night I decided to change up my hair color again.  I've been a "mostly fake" blonde for a while now - so long that it's tough for me to really remember what my natural color is (something in the "mousy" light brown family).  So I've done a 180 and I'm a brunette again (with a touch of blonde highlights).  I've gotta say...I'm loving it!

Okay, time to get on the road to work. Have a great day, all!

Entertain me, please!

So Jacksonville is typically not a mecca for great entertainment opportunities, but this weekend was a welcome change of pace.  On Friday evening, I had a chance to see Dane Cook live at the Veteran's Memorial Arena.  I've enjoyed his comedy for years, but this is the first time I was able to see him perform in person.  While I'd heard a number of his bits before, I still thought it was a good time and I'm glad I had the chance to go.  Plus, I randomly ran into a guy I haven't seen in years there so chance encounters like that in a massive crowd are always fun.

Last night, I was back at the Arena (2 nights there in a row = rather unprecedented) to see John Mayer (and the tail end of the opening act, Michael Franti).  What a blast!  I'd heard mixed reviews on his live shows, but I really enjoyed it.  And while I hadn't heard a lot of his latest album, the show he put on was enough for me to "complete my album" on iTunes today...so I suppose he achieved his goal for at least one person in the audience.

One thing that I did find frustrating though happened after the Dane Cook show when I was exiting the venue with my brother and sister-in-law.  It was understandably crowded and we were like cattle being herded through the doors to our outdoor freedom.  Unfortunately, a number of smokers decided that it was a good idea to light up in the middle of said massive crowd before getting out of the main throng of people.  I don't know, I just find that incredibly rude.  The last thing I, as a non-smoker, want is to have some inconsiderate @sshole lighting up and blowing his smoke in my face because he couldn't wait a moment or two longer to get away from the crowd.  I wish I could say this was an isolated incident (Ha! Play on words since that's the title of Dane Cook's tour), but unfortunately I was unwillingly accosted by the smoke of not less than 3 different people while we tried to get past the crowd.

Other than that though, it was a great weekend - rounded out by some father-daughter bonding over an early dinner this afternoon.  I haven't had a chance to hang out with just my dad in a while and it was a lot of fun.  I find that I've remained quite the "daddy's girl!"  :)

Rubber chickens have rubber necks...

...but you know what else has rubber necks? Or at least rubberneckers?  Yep, that would be JTB on a morning when there is even the slightest of fender benders.  My morning commute was doubled today because of the fact that everyone felt compelled to slow to a near stop (and sometimes an actual stop) just because a few cars had failed to use proper highway safety and were in an accident.  Said accident did not appear to be major and there were no cars blocking any of the lanes of traffic.  This didn't stop everyone from crawling past and gawking at absolutely nothing of interest.

Pet peeves about driving in general:

1.  People that slow to gawk at accidents that are nothing more than a fender bender (obviously)- you're killing my commute!

2.  People that have not learned how to use a weaving lane - keep moving, people, and we'll all get where we need to go.

3.  People that text while they're driving - you're endangering the life of yourself, your passengers, and everyone else on the road...and let's face it...you're really not THAT important that it can't wait!

Okay, that's it for now. Here's to hoping tomorrow's commute is a normal one!