So as I mentioned yesterday, I wasn’t a complete and total waste of space the past couple weeks… just a tiny one. I managed to keep myself busy with a few things that aren’t altogether that entertaining, but which I am going to pretend you really want to read about. And I continue…

 

- Trying (aka consuming half a bottle of) sweet tea vodka. With a little lemonade, a southern girl who normally hates vodka has found a tiny piece of heaven. I highly suggest giving it a try. I also highly suggest consuming half a bottle of something that your brother has purchased. There is something about drinking for free that makes you feel not so much an over-indulger. If that’s even a word. Firefly is the name. And if you begin seeing them at any point while drinking, put the bottle down. You’ve had enough. 

- Beginning the long overdue process of fixing Callie the Cannondale. My mountain bike has been a sad state of affairs for the past 2.5 years of its life. Utterly ridiculous. Let’s just say 6 months in New Orleans killed it, the next 12 months there it had no hope and no trails to ride on in LA anyway, and the last year its apathetic owner has done nothing to rectify the situation. Alas… I am moving forward with a new chain, 2 new tubes and a (broken) tire lever in hand. Baby steps, people. 

- Visiting my grandmother and cousins in Maryland via hitching a ride with my best friend and her family on their way to Maine. 10 hours in a car with 2 college friends, their aunt, my 3-yr old Goddaughter, a yellow lab that is in love with me (seriously), and a partridge in a pear tree… this is what memories are made of, right? Once I arrived at the Mason-Dixon line, I was affronted with too many northern accents and not enough southern gentlemen… and I wasn’t even that far north! Thankfully Grandmother’s TLC and exceptional cooking boosted my morale (and quite possibly my girth… yikes).

- Gorging myself on college football, and any associated chips and dip that happen to be lurking within 10 feet of the tv screen. Tis the season, and I am getting my fill of bowl games and bowls of snacks. That sounded a lot more clever in my head. Oh well. I will miss you dearly NCAA football. I will not miss you, Mussberger and your stupid, blind love of Southern Cal. Stupid Pac-10 (with apologies to all my friends in the Great Northwest).

- (And on that note…) Thinking way too much about whether Moreno and Matty S will stay at UGA for another year or cut bait and enter the draft. If blog subliminal messages are worth anything… DON’T GO. ATHENS NEEDS YOU. And I just can’t bring myself to yell “Go Cox” in public (for the next-in-line QB) despite how true it may be. 

- Passing a car emissions test, killing a car battery, changing my car’s oil, and replacing aforementioned car battery. I’d say Stella the Civic has had her fair share of attention this holiday season. 

- Collecting a gallon of mucus inside my sinuses. Which when typed out, sounds pretty gross. Oops. But it’s true. I do what I do every time I am getting sick… I play tough and refuse to believe my body is being overrun with germs. I try and channel homeostasis while stuffing myself with vitamin C, echinacea and green tea… all to no avail. So after about 3 days of denial shenanigans, I came to the realization that I am actually sick. So my good friends Kleenex and Sudafed have been faithful companions for the past couple days and I am beginning to feel a bit better. And not a day too soon…

- Because certainly most importantly… I’ve been counting down to the mark of my 27th year! My birthday is in 5 days, which I realize is barely sufficient notice. But it is sufficient nonetheless… so consider yourself warned. Lauren birthdaypalooza will officially begin circa… now. Quite convenient that I began writing again just in time to talk about my birthday, hm? Coincidence? Hell no.

 

That about covers everything for now. I hate New Year’s resolutions, so I won’t resolve to stay on top of this blog more… I’ll just… quasi-promise to not be such a slacker. Cheers to you and yours!