A Long Two Days. . .

Where do I start? Probably from the beginning of yesterday. Tuesday morning I woke up nice and early at 8 AM to get a follow-up x-ray done for the whole pneumothorax deal. I wasn't really in the mood to be sitting around in a waiting room but it was necessary to get this x-ray. Surprisingly about ten minutes after I arrived at the place I was back in the x-ray room. The technician took the chest x-ray which didn't come out the first time for some reason. After the second try the films came out clear. I think between all of the x-rays I had taken yesterday, before Christmas, just before Christmas break and in the Summer I've finally had my fair share of radiation. Hopefully I won't have to get another x-ray for a long time.

When I was done at the imaging center I returned home for a brief period of time and then headed downtown to get a haircut. Before I headed downtown I stopped for gas at Sam's Club. I was amazed at what I saw at the pumps. Not only do the pumps have a large digital screen on them now, they even have a digital catalog you can browse through while pumping gas. At the barber shop I caught up on what has been happening with my barber. He(being a Gator fan), of course had to tell me what a mistake it was to go to Florida State. He also told me that Florida State was going to lose the Orange Bowl. Besides that we had some laughs and I'll probably see him again around Spring Break. Back at home I took some time to practice clarinet and then I started the task of painting my room. Painting for me always starts out as a fun thing and then when I'm reaching the end I start dreading the whole process. Two hours later I was finally done with one half of my room. Thankfully I had a football game to look forward to.

My parents and I had dinner and then I picked up my friend to come over and watch the game. After the first touchdown scored by Penn State I was very pleased with FSU's defense. Just like the ACC Championship the defense made quick work at shutting down the offense. I give credit to Joe Paterno for sneaking in that touchdown right before halftime. But, did anyone see Reid run back that punt for a touchdown?! That made me real happy. The triple overtime was about as nerve-wrecking as it can get. I've never seen a game like the one last night before. There were so many missed field goals and extra points. I also have to give credit to Penn State's freshman kicker who made the game-winning field goal. I don't know if I would have the confidence to go out onto the field again after missing two field goals. I really admire the Florida State players who protected Sismachia(spelling?) after he missed the potential game-winning field goal. After Sismachia missed the last field goal the camera men felt the need to shove cameras right in his face. It was really neat to see some of FSU's offensive players gather around him to shield him from the camera view. All-in-all I was very pleased with the game. I don't think a fan could have asked for a better game. Also, congrats to Florida for being the only state team to win a bowl game(maybe next year UF will play Miami also, ;) ;) ).

This morning I had the pleasure of waking up early again to travel up to Kissimmee. My high school friend Nick went up with me. The purpose of the trip was to try out a set of bagpipes my aunt used to play. On the way up Nick and I had some good laughs. We also discovered that the horn on a Cadillac sounds very similar to a chord played by an instrument like the organ. He decided to call it the "happy horn" and whenever we passed by someone nice I would honk. For example, when this old couple waved at us we gave them the happy horn, lol. When we made it to Disney we stopped at the Virgin Megastore. We both picked out some jazz CD's that we really liked and I also got some music DVD's and a classical CD. Later in the afternoon we went to my Aunt's house to check out the bagpipes. For a set that is as old as I am, they were in pretty good shape. I wasn't sure if I wanted to fix this set up or buy new pipes so I'm trying out her set for awhile.

For dinner my aunt, Nick, and I went to Chipoles Mexican Grill. I'd never been there before but my aunt said it was really good. I found it to be very similar to Pancheros in Tally. After eating, Nick's uncle, who lives in Orlando picked him up. Then, I had the long drive home to look forward to. Instead of taking the interstate, I took the back roads down the middle of the state. What was long and tiresome at first became really pleasant later. After about an hour on the road I finally reached a long stretch that is nothing but orange groves and big open fields. I think it was one of the most relaxing drives I've ever taken. The part I really enjoyed was seeing thousands of stars in the sky. Spending most of my time in Naples or Tallahassee, I rarely see it. On my way back I listened to an album by Steven Curtis Chapman. Because there was little to no traffic I could actually enjoy a CD while driving. I never noticed it before but Chapman's songs use amazing string melodies and incredible guitar licks. The album finally came to the last song called, "Be Still and Know." The lyrics really spoke to me as I've been in a busy part of life.

Be still and know that He is God
Be still and know that He is holy
Be still, O restless soul of mine
Bow before the Prince of peace
Let the noise and clamor cease
Be still

Be still and know that He is God
Be still and know that He is faithful
Consider all that he has done
Stand in awe and be amazed
And know that He will never change
Be still

Be still and know that he is God
Be still and know he is our Father
Come rest your head upon his breast
Listen to the rhythm of his unfailing heart of love
Beating for His little ones
Calling each of us to come
Be still, be speechless

Tommorrow I see the pulmonologist one more time before heading back to school. Hopefully he'll give me a good report on my lung and I'll be all set to go back to school.

God Bless