Greetings from South Florida!

Good morning from the highly air-conditioned lobby of my hotel. It is not, mind you, anywhere near the level of air conditioning in my room, which I had to set at its warmest setting in order to take off my coat.

The weather here is amazing--highs in the upper 80s, sunny. It is sunscreen central for me, but that's OK, because after all the winter meets in drafty aquatic centers, it will be great not to worry about keeping my muscles warm and loose.

I had my swim yesterday at the Coral Springs Aquatic Center, which is gorgeous. I was able to swim in the competition pool, to get used to the walls, which are (at the end without the touchpad) a tad slippery, so I'm glad to get the practice there. It has been a long time since I have swum outdoors, and while I was swimming backstroke I had to be careful not to get distracted by the birds flying around or the dragonfly perched on the wire supporting the backstroke flags. There were a number of people around, but there not so many that I did not get the swim I wanted. I did see Dara Torres with her new (very new!) baby. Let's just say that Dara 2 weeks after giving birth looks better than I ever have.

I'm also loving the radio stations around here. So far I have found 2 fabulous Spanish-language stations playing mambo, Spanish versions of hit songs ("Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da" is great in Spanish, by the way), and Latin hip hop. Awesome. Also a great West Indian station. So I almost hate to get out of the car to go into the pool.

I've done my grocery shopping (the hotel even has a fridge--excellent), although I forgot to get any little baggies to carry my pbj sandwiches in. I'll rectify that today.

Today are the serious distance freestyle events--the 1000 and 1650. I'm heading over to the pool now, to watch some swimming and get in my last pre-competition practice. Here's to no slipping on the walls!