Meanwhile, in beuatiful Florida...

Someone here complained about it being chilly last night. I was confused.

More and more people are showing up for the convention as we speak, and we are waiting for the rest of the NY contingent to make there way here to wonderful Crystal River. The morning was spent in competiton, with JCI NY having a competitor in Masters Speak-up, Speak-up, Write-up, and the Portfolio/interview section whose name escapes me right now. Thankfully I can come back and edit this later. My own prepared speech went well, not as good as I had hoped but then again, what does. This afternoon, we have our debate, which should be a good time, and also callbacks for Masters Speak-up consisting of a 3-5 minute impromptu speech.

Overall it's gorgeous down here. After morning comps, a group of us piled into a car to run to the liquor/food stores and search for lunch. Some bottles and sandwiches later, we drove past the hotel in search of a beach, for which the driver, Mike from Johnson City, saw a sign. After a while of driving by what can easily be described as "not-beach", a u-turn was made. The highlight of the drive, however, was the random singing involved in the car. The five of us attempted a rendition of Total Eclipse of the Heart, nailed Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen, and proved we didn't quite know all the Disney songs we thought we did.

Limos, songs in cars, speeches, and good conversation... so far so good with this Year-End National Convention.