Sometimes you just have to laugh about it!

Hello Q2 of 2022, it's been about a week or two since I last wrote, and a lot has been going on!  For starters, the Jayhawks brought home another NCAA Championship, I tried Amazon Flex driving for the first time and said goodbye to not 1 but 2 cysts on my face that sprouted about 6 months ago.  Per my dermatologist; nothing to be concerned about, cysts sometimes happen when your body goes through a traumatic experience.  Oh yeah, I went through one of those last year, I am good now but damn, spring of 2021, I might have been mistaken for Nick Nolte's mugshot.  Yikes!

Something I have also been doing is listening to podcasts.  I have been trying to find a podcast that talks about addiction and recovery, which there are a ton, but I didn't necessarily want a "preachy" podcast or a super serious podcast.  Nothing wrong with any of these options, I just personally prefer a more comedic delivery.  Different strokes for different folks am I right?  And most comedians have a lot of pain and suffering.  That's what makes them great, they aren't afraid to share their stories, lots of people go through what they talk about, but not a lot of people say it.  My favorite podcasts right now are Theo Von's This Past Weekend and Dopey.  I have always loved Theo, he is hilarious, has the best LA Bayou accent and can rock a mean mullet.  He is also rockin' that sober lifestyle right now and is still funny as F*CK!  I recently found Dopey via Spotify looking for recovery stories.  Dopey is made by a guy named Dave and his partner Chris, sadly Chris relapsed and passed away of an overdose but Dave is still making the show.  He has so many guests from Nikki 6 to his boss at the famous Katz Deli in NY to Danny Trejo.  We all have a few things in common; whether you're a listener or a guest, addiction and crazy stories seem to always align. 

Those podcasts have been my daily dose of therapy.  I always knew alcohol wasn't great for me, but I didn't think it would ever kill me.  Only herion can do that right?!  Wrong!  Did you know while "detoxing" from a substance there are only 2 that can actually kill you if you do not detox in a medical setting.  Benzo's and you guessed it, alcohol.  I mean not everyone that detox's alone will die, just like everyone that drinks won't turn into an alcoholic.  But when you're drinking alone or in the Casey's bathroom on a road trip because your then BF isn't okay with morning vacation shots well....it might be time to switch to coffee or ya know...a doughnut.  I remember the first time I got AM drunk, it was pretty fun, not gonna lie.  I was at Butler on a Saturday morning, waking up at my friend John's house.  He and his buddies always had a lot of the parties because they lived off campus.  My bestie and main PIC, Ginger, and I had went together the previous evening but she had to head to her Applebee's lunch shift, which left two of us, our friend Ryan and I.  We proceeded to take shots of burbon we had found leftover from the party, after Ryan and I decide to call Applebee's (where I was also employed) and tried to get Ginger out of work because obviously she needed to come day drink with us!  If you were wondering, this did not work. Ryan and I then move to plan B, we needed breakfast.  After all, it was probably 10am and our bodies were seriously craving some eggs and bacon.  Ginger's shift hadn't even started yet, not sure how we thought we'd get her out of work other than telling a terrible lie like, a close family member had died.  Bad karma, not doing it.  So it was Double D's for the win minus a Ginger.  BTW for some reason I do remember the waitress being super sweet and nice, no way she didn't know we were toasty, like get the peanut butter toasty!  

I loved morning drinking activities like float trips, I loved day drinking.  I loved the social aspect of all of it.  I am not sure how long I have been allergic to alcohol.  That's what I call it now, because I cannot ever drink it again, and that's okay.  My body can't handle it.  I will continue to think of those memories and laugh because that's all you can do, and they are funny, most are harmless, and I had a BLAST.  I moved to Manhattan in 2006ish for about 6 months, lived with 3 dude-friends, went to Aggieville, a lot, worked at Famous Dave's and managed to once lose my car.  Yes, my whole car, MIA.  Frantically calling my mother at work, who's also my insurance agent at the time, so I NEED to call her because of course I didn't lose my car, someone stole it!  She probably said something to the tune of, Ashley Lynn, are you serious?!  Ugh, call the police and file a report.  Okay!  I call the police, file a report and they call me a few hours later.  Ma'am, yes, we have found your car, it's a block over from where you thought it was.  Uhhhhh, woops, maybe I should have looked better.  Or better yet, why doesn't someone have an app that helps you find your car?!  Wow, that's actually a really good idea, I am going to look into that!

It's Saturday, it is going to be BEAUTIFUL.  My cousin and her BF are having a little gathering later and I am so looking forward to it!  There will be lots of drinking, I am sure, because it's a celebration, and there is nothing wrong with having a good time.  But take my advice, if you're losing your car, your pants, or your dignity, maybe switch to a Shirley Temple. :)  

Instead of a song today I have shared one of my favorite Theo stories.  In a nutshell it's the last time he did cocaine, he is now sober but it is a funny ass story about the dumb shit we sometimes do when we're f*cked up.  So laugh about it, he's alive and well, with a great story!