Monday Monday

It's Monday. The weekend came and went in the blink of an eye. It's Monday.
I'm at work so this feels naughty. But I really have nothing else to do, except sit at my desk and be available. Be available and ready for whoever may come through the door or whoever may call on the phone. But until then I must blog, or I will fall asleep.


Today I'm going to tell you some things I've observed while living in Florida.
Being a California girl through and through, living here in Florida this past year has been quite an adventure.

• Here in Florida it is completely flat. No mountains, not even really big hills. I know that most people are aware of the fact that it's flat here, but you don't realize just how weird it is until you are living here. Especially coming from a mountainous place like California.

• Here in Florida it is not the law for motorcyclists to wear helmets. I regularly see guys cruisin' down the highways on their bikes, hair flowing free in the wind, boy is it freaky! I don't understand why it isn't a law in every state for people riding motorcycles to wear helmets. But what I don't understand even more, is why people don't WANT to wear one. I mean seriously?! Is it worth the risk??

• Here in Florida you can ride around in the bed of a pick-up truck. Up until this past weekend I had only ever seen people in the backs of trucks on regular roads. This weekend however, I saw people riding in a truck bed on the highway. Ridiculous I say.

• Here in Florida if it is below 70 degrees the natives freak out. So this winter has been a bit chaotic being that they have been having record lows with temperatures getting down to the mid to low thirties at some points. I think it is the only place where a girl from San Diego can look tough when it comes to winter weather.

• Here in Florida I have only seen two doves the whole year and two months I've lived here.

• Here in Florida, Tampa is the lightning capital of the US. The summer of 2009 was quite an experience for me. On the news they keep track of how many strikes of lightning happen within periods of time during particularly big storms. I remember one day there was over 1,200 lightning strikes in our county within an hour. Crazy.

• Here in Florida the students have to take the FCATS several different times throughout their school careers. It's three days of testing and they don't get the results until December. And if they don't pass the test, THEY FAIL their grade! How absurd is that? What about the kids who just don't test well but have amazing grades? A lady who works in my office was telling me that last year a few high school students who had great grade point averages and who had scholarships waiting for them failed the FCATS and got held back! All I have to say is I'm glad my kids won't be going to school in Florida. The school system here I've heard on numerous occasions is just plain ole' shitty.

• Here in Florida there is a place called Ocala. It is the horse capital of the US. Apparently they breed 'em good.

The truth is there are many more observations and facts I've gathered since living here but I can't recall them all at once. So as they come into my mind I intend to put them on this blog. It is an interesting place to say the least. And it has been a fun adventure so far, I am intrigued to see what this coming year will show me.