Adventures on the Highway

It's funny that a few blogs ago, I was commenting on how amazing this year was going to be. And so far, 26 days now of being 27, there have been quite a few incidents. I wanted to share the latest one.

Impulsively, a friend and I decided to drive to Birmingham to help another friend out last Thursday night. We left around 11 p.m. Our friend had a gig down there and kind of got stranded and needed to be back for work the next morning. I felt awake and good, so did my other friend. So we hit the road. Like Jack Kerouac. Except not as cool. Or dirty.

2 hours into the drive I got pulled over. Of course. My friend was shaking because she was nervous. I've been pulled over so many times now that police men don't really scare me as much as they make me mad. Well I decided to be honest. He asked me how fast I was going. I said 85, and it was because we were going to help a friend out in BHam. He told me I failed to yield. I was kind of just laughing to myself as he walked away. Unbelievable. Of course this would happen. When he came back to my car (because for some reason police take 30 minutes to write up a report) he asked me why my license was suspended. That is when the tears turned on. He told me he was "doing me a favor" by not towing my car, and not citing that I was speeding. And then he asked my friend if she was a maid, because some maid travelled back and forth from Tennessee to Alabama. I was sobbing.

When we finally got to the Ham, our other friend had been drinking. And he refused to come home with us. He laid down underneath a tree, and, after begging him to get in the car for 45 minutes or so, we left. We got home at 7:30. I fell asleep at 9 a.m.

What have I learned? NEVER travel through Alabama.

The Break In

It is 6:37 a.m. right now. I am usually not awake at this hour. Ever. It is beautiful outside and the temperature is 65 degrees. I woke up to a little knock knock knock on the door. Immediately I knew that someone had vandalized something, and it was most likely my car. Why else would a neighbor be knocking on my door at such a ludicrous hour?

Well I threw on some clothes and walked outside. The window was smashed in and my GPS, recently glued on with Gorilla Glue, strongest glue known to man that withstands heat, cold, and weight (but not the hands of a robber) had been ripped off of my dashboard. I looked in the back of the car, where my brand new keyboard still sat in it's case, at least 9 times the value of the GPS, and rolled my eyes. My parents also gave me a new GPS for Christmas (apparently mom and dad know how directionally disabled I am) and it was in my glove compartment. In my mind I just thought IDIOTS. Sad desperate idiots (not my parents, the robber).

There's this line in a song by Rosie Thomas where she's talking about her friends. And she says "they don't hold things, they don't hold hands, they guard their hearts the best they can." One of her friends that she is referring to is a well-known artist who owns no instruments, I guess he just borrows everything.

So. That is my Monday morning this week. Heckuva start.

27. why this will be the best year yet

1. 9 times 3 equals 27. I am obsessed with the number 9 and i really like the number 3. my whole OCD life has revolved around the number 9, which sounds completely irrational to you but to me, this is an AMAZING thing.

2. i feel really sexy. not dirty sexy, this is a better definition: really comfortable in my own skin. i am laughing SO much these days.

3. i'm (maybe) going to go organic (sadly, my first meal as a 27 year old was a quarter pounder with cheese, large fries and a medium coke from micky d's. i've also eaten obscenely large quantities of ice cream in the past four nights, and most of my meals have been completely processed... so we'll see.)

4. i have started to make a goal list: one of them is to make a CD. by golly, this is the year (do i say this every year?)

5. i am going to start making my clothes, stop washing my hair as much, and try to emulate the good people of the world like Mother Teresa and Rich Mullins (driven not by my own guilt but by the love of Jesus, which I'm understanding more, believing in more, and not feeling trite talking about it. this is happening by reading the Bible (transforming my mind) and this great book named "The Cross Centered Life.")

6. i could care less if i have a boyfriend. and i think i've forgiven both myself for not getting married and Lifeway for hurting my feelings.

7. i'm going to start shaving my legs more

8. i'm going to travel to the northwest.

9. i just don't have fear like i used to. i went skiing the other day for the first time in like 4 years, and I GOT UP ON THE FIRST TRY!!!!! i'm just livin.