I give up NOTHING.

To celebrate the culmination of Mardi Gras yesterday, Amanda and I went out for drinks with a couple friends. On the way there we began discussing lent. Now I'm not religious at all, and while Amanda is Catholic, she doesn't really practice. Point being, neither of us is actually going to give up anything for lent. We just like to talk about things as if we are going to do them. (This may actually explain how a lot of our nights end up the way they do...) Also, to say this post won't end up being totally blasphemous would be misleading you into a false sense of religious security. So, you've been warned.

          AMANDA: So tomorrow is the start of lent. I wonder what I would give up if I was going to do it...
          ME: I think I would give up Diet Coke.
          AMANDA: oooOOOooo, good one.
          ME:  Yeah, Diet Coke is like my crack.
          AMANDA: I think....that I would probably give up, like...Facebook...

  ***Hysterical laughing about what a ridiculous thing that was to say. Who could ever give up Facebook? I mean, really.***

          ME: C'mon. Be serious. What would you really give up?
          AMANDA: Drinking?
          ME: Like...non-alcoholic beverages?
          AMANDA: Um, noooo......

On multiple occasions Amanda and I will say, "Man, we really need a detox week. Let's not drink until day X, Y, or Z",. and then 48 hours later we have a cocktail in hand and are coming up with devious schemes of entertainment. Since we are both generally thinking the same thing, you can imagine it doesn't take much power of suggestion from one of us for both of us to end up at a bar. To be fair, we don't even have a real chance of going any decent length of time without a drink, as we are literally surrounded by booze.

Across the street is this:

Look at all my neon and deals. You need me.

And directly next to our house is this:

  My scorpion bowls eat your soul.

We never had a chance.

Bad Decision: Buying the house at the very edge of the quaint suburban neighborhood...within 20 steps of two sources of adult beverages.

Better Bad Decision: Giving in to the strongest mai tai of your life at least once a week.

We may not make it 7 days in a row without a cocktail. We may not even make it 3. But we aren't your sitting-at-the-bar-with-head-in-hands-crying-over-life-drunks. We aren't the alcoholics trying to drink to forget or pretend that we are happy. We are the ones drinking because we just like the way a good cocktail tastes. We are the ones laughing hysterically in the corner about nothing and having a better time on a Tuesday than most people have on a Friday. And you just can't argue with that.

Life Lesson: It's not "being bad at saying no." It's "being good at saying yes." Get it straight.

-LSLP, Ash.

PS-

                      It's my day, bitches.

Yeah, that just happened.

_____________________
EDIT:(3/9/11) 11:00am --I would just like to point out that although Ash is quite a character on her own, the "Wednesday" sign was MY idea. Actually, the conversation over Lent while celebrating Mardi Gras last night was as such...

          ASH: "Hey! It's MY day tomorrow! Hah!"
          ME: "Ash, you know what you should do tomorrow for Ash Wednesda-----hahahahahahahahehehehahahaha" 
     **tries to contain laughter all by while simultaneously making sure I don't choke, aspirate, or send my margarita through my nose**
          ASH: Wow, Amanda, you uh....you crack yourself up, huh??
     **still trying to contain laughter while taking turns slapping the table and my knee in hysterics**
           REST OF THE TABLE: **giggling uncomfortably and waiting in silence**
          ME: you should....*giggle* take some ashes and instead of a cross put ASH on your forehead!!!! Hahha!!"
          ME: "Wait! No! Get a teeshirt and write WEDNESDAY on it and wear it to work!!"
          ASH: "Um where am I going to find a teeshirt to write on and wear to work? Besides that probably goes against dress code."
           ME: "FINE! Write Wednesday on a piece of paper, tape it to your chest, and you better send me a pic tomorrow!"
           ASH: "Done! Ahahahh"
      **both continue to cackle hysterically while contemplating our next drink of the evening**

...just trying to keep our readers well-informed.

LSLP, Amanda xo