Slurpeeeeeeeeeeees

We got Slurpees!


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Made it!

The view from our hotel!


We are in Downtown Disney and loving it :)


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We on the road, yo

On the road. Too busy laughing to write much.

Ghetto rigged the GPS :)




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Almost Tampa-bound!

Getting ready to leave for Tampa (or really Orlando, I guess) and I'm trying out this nifty new BlogPress app for my phone. I think it'll make live-blogging from the trip pretty awesome.
I guess I should be packing and cleaning. Almost time to leave! So excited!


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Location:India Rd,Opelika,United States

Yay!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas Eve!

Oh wow.

I've become a blog slacker again. It's amazing how little blogging I actually get done when I'm not at work doing nothing for 8 hours at a time.


And it's not going to get any better right now. I'm just here to apologize and promise to do better later. I'm hoping to do some blogging from Tampa. I just need someone to jailbreak my phone first :)


Merry Christmas, everyone!

Holy humidity, Batman!

I ran again this morning. It wasn't quite as bad as yesterday, but the humidity was killer again. And my dog wanted no part in slowing down. But I went, and that's the important part. This makes 4 out of the last 5 days and twice in a row again. I'm not going to jinx it yet and say that I'm back, but if I keep it up, maybe I'll at least be able to stick with it for a while.

As I write this, I am scarfing down a bowl of Special K, my first meal of the day. Bananas in the bottom, of course. I don't think I'm going to do a full-out crazy diet like I did this past spring (though the results were undeniable), but I do need to eat better. Working this awful schedule has thrown off my eating schedule, too, so I've gotten in the habit of grabbing whatever I can when I can. Unfortunately, that ends up being fast food a lot of nights. Time to nip that one in the bud.

Benjamin and I saw "Invictus" yesterday afternoon. That marked the third time I've gone to the movie theater with every intention of seeing "The Blind Side" and watched something else. But "Invictus" was a wonderful movie. It runs 2:15 with 25 minutes worth of previews at our theater on top of that, but if you have an afternoon to spend, I definitely recommend it.

I have a whole host of errands to run today, but I'm taking my time eating my breakfast. I need to get on the ball. Christmas shopping absolutely has to be finished today so I can put everything else toward the Tampa trip. Even though it's going to be a butt-ton of fun, all of that fun is going to cost money. So hopefully after today, I can save for amusement parks (because that's what's going to eat us alive).

I guess I should go dry my hair and get ready for a day of running around. I need to make a written list so I don't forget to do anything. This should be my last day of work before the big break, and Jason gets home Saturday, so I'm just excited all around. I can't wait to spend Christmas with him :)

You may not appreciate this as much as I do

But Jason's wonderful mother bought me these shoes for Christmas:

They make me happy.

With the little black dress and black tights? Yes. 

That's all for now. Just thought I'd share. They're currently under the McCain Christmas tree, just waiting for me. Hurry up, December 25!

Oh, and I went running this morning. Almost passed out. Probably should have eaten something first. But it got done, and that's all that matters. Now I'm off to get ready for lunch with Benjamin and hopefully knock out these Tampa plans.  

While I have your attention

See if you can spot the real donut in our Christmas tree at work:

Blame George and Panda for that one. 

Also, Jessica and I were wandering around Books-A-Million looking for a place to sit down (apparently my new gorgeous boots weren't, in fact, made for walking), and guess which section we happened to settle in front of...

Yeah, F our lives. 

And one more thing. I wore orange argyle socks under my boots tonight. 

 

 They were ballin'. Just thought I'd share.

I don't need any more books.

I have so many books.


Not only do I have a ridiculous number of books, but I have a ridiculous number of books that I haven't even read yet. I collect books like I collect shoes: I see them, I fall in love with them, and I have to have them.


Some of my books remind me of my childhood. Some of them cheer me up. Some of them help me get out that good cry. Some of them just look pretty on my shelf. And some of them captivate me.


Unfortunately, the majority of them just sit there, untouched, while I ADD some other book that catches my attention.


So I've decided that I don't need any more books. I actually decided this a while back but I went to Books-A-Million tonight with Jessica after dinner to walk around and ended up purchasing two books at full price that I absolutely did not need.

Seeing "Julie and Julia" made me fall in love with Julia Child all over again. I had to have these books.

So since I indulged after my initial pledge, I'll make an official one, in writing.


I absolutely will not buy any more books until my night stand has been cleared because all of the books piled on top of it have been read, including tonight's purchases.

This is going to be hard to stick to. I see political books, particularly anything about Reagan, and I automatically pick them up. I see romance novels, particularly anything historical, and I automatically pick them up. I see mysteries, particularly anything by Kathy Reichs, and I automatically pick them up. I see used books, particularly ones with notes in the margins, and I pick them up.

There's something comforting about old books.

Knowing that you're reading the same words that someone else has read, embarking on the same adventure, ending up at the same destination, is somewhat magical. I always wonder, especially when I don't have the benefit of the previous reader's margin notes, if I'm imagining the story in the same way that they did.

Right now my literary elephant in the room is Atlas Shrugged.

Yeah, it's a beast.

I've been trying to sit down and finish this book for months now. I'm not even close to finished. I love the story, and I know what happens, but I need to experience finishing the book. My copy isn't old, but it's beginning to look that way fast. I carried it with me everywhere I went for months. I've written plenty of notes in the margins for my benefit later or for the benefit of the next reader of my worn copy. They're not brilliant observations or anything, just modern parallels or ideas I found interesting. I always like to know what a previous reader found interesting.

So until I finish this beast and several other beasts on my night stand, I'm cutting my book habit off. It's probably best that I stay out of bookstores around the holidays. Too many sales and too much temptation.

I'll stick to shoes until this book thing shakes out.

Stuck inside today

Looks like I won't be running this morning.

I can soldier on through the cold, but the rain is a bit too much. Didn't I buy a treadmill for just such occasions? Oh yeah, it didn't fit in the new room arrangement. Strategic planning error.

The Tampa roadtrip planning process has hit a few speedbumps. An integral part of our group, Mr. Ballew, can only get off of work for 2 days, throwing a wrench into the plans. Another issue is that we're trying to coordinate two separate groups. Benjamin owes his allegiance to both groups, and it's starting to get difficult to plan around it. I might possibly owe my allegiance to both groups as well, but that totally wasn't my fault. Anyway, long story short, both groups want to stay at different hotels and are staying for vastly different lengths of time. We want to go down to Tampa on the 31st (possibly driving through the night on the 30th after Ben gets off work) and stay until the 3rd, when George and Eric have to head up to Mobile for the GMAC Bowl. We are planning to go to Disney for New Year's and visit Busch Gardens and lots of other fun stuff while we're down there because we don't get to go there everyday. The other group wants to leave on the 31st and come back on the 1st, which I reaaaaaaaalllllly don't want to do.

Oh well. We'll work it out.

Considering I slept for 12 hours yesterday, I'm surprisingly tired right now. Maybe I'll be able to get to sleep before too long and I can get up early enough to run before dinner with Jess. I know it's lame, but I'll probably end up at Daylight tonight visiting Justin because my sleep schedule is so messed up.

Looking forward to the next couple of days with nothing to do (but worry about Tampa planning). It's nice to have a few days off every now and then.

I miss Mitch Hedberg

I've seen this special a million times, and I still laugh out loud every time.


Mitch Hedberg Comedy Central Special

A-Rock | MySpace Video

We lost a funny one.

Time for bitterness about the Heisman?

Not really.

I'm happy for Mark Ingram as a person. I'm happy that he has won an award and a title that he can carry with him for the rest of his life. He obviously works hard and this is his reward.

I wish Colt McCoy could have taken it home, but Suh really made sure that wasn't going to happen. Oh well. What can you do, right?

Hook 'em Horns.

Note: I have been a Texas fan for a few years now. It started during the Vince Young years and hasn't really dropped off. I'm not just rooting for Texas because they're playing Alabama. I'm rooting for Texas because I actually like UT (Though I'd be straight up lying if I said that playing Alabama didn't help).

2 in a row!

Just a quick update:

I managed to drag my butt running in the cold and misty weather this morning and ran even more than yesterday!

Yep, imagine these in pink and that's what I run in. Way more comfortable than Shox, I promise. 

Sammy loved it again and I needed it after the Chinese I had for lunch and Taco Bell I had for dinner. I need to change my eating habits...drastically.

Oh, and I asked Bill about switching shifts. I may be off the night shift after the new year. Yay!

No shooting today, sadly. The weather won't cooperate. But maybe next week? There's a possibility neither Justin nor I will be working so we may take advantage of that extra time.

Okay, quick update over. I'll be back with something more substantive later.

Hasta.

Also...

I fell through a chair at work.

And Justin wouldn't help me up before he took a picture first.

In my defense, Bill did break the seat first. I just fell through it.

That's all.

Yeah, I changed the name of the blog

It's not like I have a million readers to confuse anyway.

And it makes me laugh.

The main title is a 30 Rock reference and the subtitle is a play on grapes and wine AND complaining, which is frequent on this blog...you know, like whining? Because of the squashing of the grapes and the complaining? Right? Anyone?

Whatever. It's funny to me.

For real, for real

I think it's time for a real blog post. Nothing football-related (as best as I can help it) and lots of opinion-y rambling about nothing, exactly as it should be.

So I went running today for the first time in a while. It's negative butt ass cold outside, but I figured today was as good a day as any to start back. I've gained back all of that weight I lost in the spring so it's time to get back in shape. I took my oldest dog, Sammy, with me. He needed a break from the mammoth puppy, Higgins. Higgins is up to just under 90 lbs and terrorizes poor Sammy. And Sammy loves to run, so I thought it would be a perfect fit.

Note to self: Running is hard.

You'd think I'd remember this after the bazillionth time I've restarted a running kick, but I am never quite prepared for how tough the first one is. I am used to being able to cruise right along, even in the cold, but today was kinda difficult. I'm hoping to go tomorrow and the day after that, so hopefully it'll get easier. And Sammy loved it. We'll see how it goes tomorrow.

Last night, the boys (George, Justin, and Eric, who is a loser and doesn't have a blog) came up to Daylight to hang out and in George and Eric's case, to study (and eventually sleep). We should have had the camera rolling the whole time,  but we did manage to capture at least one retarded thing that went on.

And that's when George invented the hole in a cup.



George thought the hole in the bottom of his cup was better than a straw. Justin sure showed him.

I need to get after it and upload some more MarcDevin videos. It just takes too long for them to actually upload. But I'm going to have to try to stay awake if we are going to go shooting this afternoon, so that's what I may be doing to keep alert.

For now, I am going to catch up on my Thursday TV that I slept through (a favorite TV shows blog will be coming, don't worry) and try to control my craving for cheap Chinese. It's only 10 am. Definitely not time for lunch yet.

Hopefully there will be more exciting news later. I've got some pictures that I've been meaning to post so here they are all at once without proper context. Isn't it more fun that way?

We went to the Auburn/Virginia basketball game to get our vouchers for the bowl tickets. It filled up a little more after this, but not much. But by some miracle, we won that game. War Eagle!

Annnnnnd Ben and I had a photo shoot.

This is just what we do.

Look, being a Mac user doesn't change the fact that you lose all of your cool points by driving a Kia minivan. Sorry, them's the rules.

The genius management at work decided to put the extra donut cutting machine right in the middle of the stock aisle. Guess where all of the stuff we need to stock the front is? That's right! Behind it! Fail.

Justin decided to squirt cream cheese icing in his mouth. Yes, he is an idiot.

And finally, courtesy of the Plainsman Parking Lot, a truer statement has never been made about Auburn's use of the Wildcat this year:

 Yeah, you know it's funny...'cause it's true.

Well, I almost made it the whole time without talking about football. But I was making fun of us, so that has to count for something, right Will? I'll try harder next time.

My Two Cents: Not just an Auburn blog

Re: the title: I'm not talented enough to have such a narrow focus.


This accidentally became an Auburn-centric blog over the last couple of weeks. It's not, really, and the content is going to have to open up a little, but the last few things I've had to write about have definitely been football-related.

I'll try to do better about that. I know there are other interesting things out there, like Auburn basketball, for instance. Except not really at all. I went to the basketball game to get my voucher for the bowl ticket and though it was a really good game right there at the end, I find it really hard to get into basketball. I'll share the pictures/stories of that one later.

In other news, um, I don't really have any. Daylight is the usual clusterf*** and I'm actually considering getting a job at the OA.

I'm getting super crunk about this Tampa roadtrip. Hopefully we can mimic the same roster as the Baton Rouge trip with a couple of cool additions. I love roadtrips.

Sorry I didn't have anything interesting to say. I just realized that with the redesign and all of the football posts lately, this thing has kind of gotten out of control. I'll try to do better.

It's official!

I will be spending New Year's in Tampa!

Got my ticket for the Outback Bowl this morning. Can't wait for the road trip, the game, and the inevitable stop at Busch Gardens!

War Eagle!


***Update***
Upon closer examination of this post and the picture at the top of it, I have realized that my ticket also doubles as a coupon for a free Bloomin' Onion. Legit.

Update! The morning after

God did it again.

After a terrible football night, He managed to show off yet again with another beautiful sunrise. I wish the camera would do it justice. The pinks and oranges were unbelievable.

It's comforting to know that even though football might not swing our way, God is still looking out for us. War Eagle.

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.

Don't let my gorgeous crimson pumps fool you

For at least tonight, my heart belongs to the Gators.

On pins and needles. That is all.

MarcDevin LeRoy works at Office Max

Have I ever mentioned how much I love Benjamin? Because I love him a lot.

In addition to our feature film project and the music video for "Obamacare frownie face," we've been working on a short series of web videos chronicling the adventures of MarcDevin LeRoy, an Office Max employee with a flair for life.

The first video can be seen in the previous entry. We are posting one per day, and here is the newest one:



Like I said, I love him.

Only for Benjamin would I embarrass myself this much...

So I may or may not have rewritten all of the horrible song "LoL :-)" to reflect the health care debate. I would only do this for Benjamin.

Again, this may not have happened, but if it did, here is the original awful song (with the amazing visuals that Ben and I about died laughing over.

And here are my lyrics, if in fact I actually wasted an hour of my life writing them:

Obamacare Frownie Face

Shawty said I swear, gon' need some health care
Obamacare, frownie face, Obamacare, frownie face
Swaty got that swine flu, insurance won't pay through
Obamacare frownie face, Obamacare, frownie face

Shawty called my phone, I was busy (I was busy)
Said she was sick and feelin dizzy
Then I felt my phone buzz, I know what the flu does
She need a doc like really

Then she sent a text that read, baby I ain't cured
Then she sent another one that said I'm uninsured
So I sent her a frownie face and said let's get you well
She said Obamacare will help me, and I began to yell

Then I said this whole affair, it'll kill our health care
Docs won't have incentives for the top notch repair
It's on its way lines and forms, I hissed
All the innovation will be lost to waiting lists

Shawty said I swear, gon' need some health care
Obamacare, frownie face, Obamacare, frownie face
Shawty got that swine flu, insurance won't pay through
Obamacare frownie face, Obamacare, frownie face

Go to senate.gov and read up
Oh wait the bill's not there cuz they nothin but corrupt
Swaty got that swine flu, insurance won't pay through
Obamacare frownie face, Obamacare, frownie face

See our problem ain't lack of any insurance regulation
It's the fact that these companies aren't in any competition
Feds come in regulate, say you stay within your state
Government-created monopolies cause all this frustration

The free market keeps a balance, keeps things real nice
Keeps companies in line who try to drive up the price
Yo insurance won't cover your condition?
The free market would find you one that would--that's called competition.

A trillion dollars to talk to a federal bureaucrat?
No thanks, Chairman O, I'll keep my income tax.
Deregulate the system and give doctors back the power
You'll see more people insured and less grief within the hour.

Shawty said I swear, gon' need some health care
Obamacare, frownie face, Obamacare, frownie face
Swaty got that swine flu, insurance won't pay through
Obamacare frownie face, Obamacare, frownie face

Go to senate.gov and read up
Oh wait the bill's not there cuz they nothin but corrupt
Swaty got that swine flu, insurance won't pay through
Obamacare frownie face, Obamacare, frownie face

Obamacare frownie face, Obamacare, frownie face
Private healthcare's fine, y'all, Obamacare frownie face
Shawty said Stupack means no insured abortions
I told her Stupack will be axed in committee contortion

What about illegals, she said it's not in there
I told her that's the point exactly, not stated, not regulated
She's all upset, accusing me of tactics just to scare

She just doesn't get it, we all have to buy it
Pelosi and O said told us,
it's either jail time or you better empty out your wallet

They'll require jobs to provide coverage for us
Or pay a fee that is less expensive and thus
We get dropped off onto the the government's plan
That was designed all along, built in before it began

Shawty said I swear, gon' need some health care
Obamacare, frownie face, Obamacare, frownie face
Swaty got that swine flu, insurance won't pay through
Obamacare frownie face, Obamacare, frownie face

Go to senate.gov and read up
Oh wait the bill's not there cuz they nothin but corrupt
Swaty got that swine flu, insurance won't pay through
Obamacare frownie face, Obamacare, frownie face

***Note*** These are rough and not really true to rhythm yet. But yeah, I've got mad skillz, yo.

Benjamin and I also spent most of the night making a series of videos about a really cool cat who works at Office Max. His name is MarcDevin LeRoy and he's pretty much amazing. Look for those videos on my YouTube channel or Facebook. Basically, Benjamin and I make a great team. I wish we had the other third of the Alliance to work with, but things happen. We're just rolling with it.