Well that didn't work out like I'd hoped.

All aboard the USS SEC Championship Failboat! Alabama brought its A-game and Florida forgot to show up. Fail.

This post could very easily take a turn for the petty, but I will do my best to prevent that.

As I sat on Jason's parents' couch in their great room, watching the fourth quarter of the SEC Championship game tick away, surrounded by Alabama Christmas memorabilia (Congratulations, they found a way to make me hate Christmas. Awesome) and a very large Daniel Moore print of Alabama winning the 1992 national championship, a really scary thought crept up and slapped me in the face:

Oh my goodness. They really could get 13*

In the interest of preserving family harmony, however, I added a little more rum to my pineapple juice and decided to grin and bear it.

To tell you the truth, this one hurt more than the Iron Bowl. At the end of the Iron Bowl, I was so focused on how proud I was of our team and how much of a fight they put up, I didn't really have a chance to feel that "kicked in the gut" feeling. I feel it now.

Is that petty? Probably. Can I really help it? No. My feelings about Alabama parallel Jason's mom's feelings about Auburn. If Tuscaloosa disappeared into a sink hole, if Bryant-Denny imploded, if Nick Saban quit tomorrow and took the Notre Dame job, if Alabama suddenly and unexpectedly received the death penalty from the NCAA for heinous violations they didn't have a name for yet, I wouldn't shed a tear. Sure, after a while, it wouldn't be any fun not to have them around, but for that first few years, it would be magical. Part of me feels guilty about that, but the other part of me hates being treated like a little brother and being called "The Barn," like agriculture doesn't feed their crimson-clad bodies. I hope they choke on their steaks.

I need a distraction from the rum hangover and the sick feeling in the pit of my stomach that that game left. I hated to see Tebow cry, but he was a class act during his post-game interview. Tebow said the Alabama program and its fans were classy when he could have easily talked about himself. And what do the Alabama fans do? They relentlessly taunt him for crying and make a liar out of him by being the exact opposite of classy. Congratulations, you turds. For as much work as the players and coaches put into Alabama's program, their fans--the vocal ones at least--have no concept of humility. Hard work and humility go hand in hand. A few horrible people make the entire fanbase look bad. 

But even as much as I hate Alabama--and I do hate them, I hate the arrogance and the bragging and Rammer Jammer--I love Auburn more than I could ever hate Alabama. And that's what I have to focus on tonight. In all likelihood, we are going to receive an excellent bowl bid and compared to the dizzying downward spiral of last season, at least we have hope. Gene's system seems to be working, and that's all we can really ask for at this point.

So I'm doing my best to put UA out of my mind, at least for now. The national championship game is a month away, and Christmas and our bowl game will fall between now and then. That should be plenty of distraction from what will inevitably twist my stomach in knots. But you know what, even if they do win it, the sun will come up the next morning, and it will be brilliant shades of orange and blue in all of God's glory**

Other than the obvious football differences, I really enjoyed spending the evening with Jason's parents. Lauren's parents were also over there and it was nice to have everyone together, even if Lauren was a loser and skipped out. I got to show off my new shoes (which I am convinced angered the football gods because they're the perfect shade of crimson) and we're all going to the mall tomorrow afternoon for a little shopping. When you take football out of the equation, I love love love Jason's parents.

Tonight is my last night of work for my work week. Two nights off and no city council meeting Tuesday. What could be better? Well, every night off would be better, but I have to be able to afford to feed my shoe habit.

Speaking of which, did I tell you? Oh, that's right. I've been a sketchy blogger lately. I got the boots. I paid way too much for them, but they're perfect and gorgeous and will be amazing for this winter. Happy girl :)

Overall, I'd give this day a D. The food over at the McCain's salvaged the passing grade (by high school standards at least), but everything else was a complete waste. Luckily, if the good Lord is willing, we will get to try it all over again tomorrow. No football, though, so much less opportunity for disappointment. I'll take shoe shopping over watching Alabama win an SEC Championship any day.

*Or, you know, 5. Either way.
**I just probably won't see that sunrise, or the next several. I'll be in bed. Wallowing. Hook 'em Horns.