Actually, I forgot that it was Hallmark’s second biggest holiday until someone randomly wished me a Happy Valentine’s Day in the elevator. My second thought was, “Oh no! I forgot to mail McGuyver Dad’s birthday card!”

Sorry Dad. You should have one arriving later this week.

No, I’m not a bad daughter. Dad is the hardest person that I know to shop for. He only likes practical gifts like socks or new blades for his table saw. It just feels wrong to wrap a package of socks and pay postage to mail them.

This year, I though ahead. Maven Mom and I went in together and bought Dad some LSU National Championship gear. He would have never bought it for himself, but it’s something that we knew he would love.

Now the Vols need to just win the 2008 National Championship, so I have something to get him next year.

Purple will never be as pretty as my beloved UT orange, but Geaux Tigers! Tonight I’m thrilled that the university where I first called home won the 2008 National Championship! If it were UT, the parties would be starting right now. Since it’s LSU, fans have been partying since yesterday morning. If I close my eyes, I can almost imagine that I’m drinking a Hurricane at Pat O’Briens.

Ironically, one of the reasons the parents encouraged me to go to UT were that the Vols played better football. We got that one wrong. Thank goodness I didn’t choose my college based on school colors or football.

When will the rest of the country learn that you can’t touch the awesomeness of SEC football? It’s not really football in other conferences.

Now we enter the bleak period of the year with no college football. Sadness until next August. Basketball is just a weak distraction.

Congrats to Maven Mom, McGuvyer Dad and the rest of the LSU contingent in GFTS family. The Vols will return one day.

Tonight is the greatest night of the year for football–the SEC Championship. No one plays football like the SEC.

It was a rough road, and there will probably be a lot of Georgia fans crying over their beer tonight, but bwahahaha!

I just pray that it won’t be a repeat of 2002 when LSU kicked our butts over the SEC title. That was a painful night. I was at a party watching it with friends while my voicemail filled up with messages from the LSU fans in my family. Lots of love that night.

In honor of my LSU heritage and parentals from the South:

GEAUX VOLS!!!!!!

One of the highlights of being home this weekend was watching the UT game with McGuyver Dad just like we did when I lived in-state. What a game! After sitting through four overtime periods, I’m fairly certain that God is a Vol fan. ATL here we come!

Now the difficult family rivalry emerges. GFTS is the black sheep of the family who opted to attend UT over LSU. This is the ONLY time that Maven Mom takes a passing interest in football, and McGuyver Dad is faced with the difficult decision of which team to support. But as Maven Mom put it today, “The only thing UT got from your father and I was tuition money.”

I wish we could go to the game in Atlanta. I’d even sit in the LSU section. The atmosphere would be more entertaining there. Drunk Cajuns are always funny, and the food would be good. They would probably even have jambalaya.

GEAUX VOLS!!!

Had Beka not put up a Facebook message about my trip home next week, I would have forgotten that I’m flying out of here on Tuesday.

Despite the hopes of some liberals, I haven’t fallen off the face of the planet. Work has just be supremely busy. I mean busy in an incredibly serious manner, and not my usual melodramatic exaggerations. I’m sure all my co-workers who read this blog now (thanks to Facebook or the WaPo Express), would back me up. A few days went by when I actually forgot that I had a blog.

It’s all good though. When I enjoy it, I don’t mind being a workaholic.

I’m pretty psyched to get home. It’s been about 4 months since I saw the family and Chattabuddies. Coco, the dog from the South has forgotten my existence, and I’m looking forward to a brief respite from the Beltway. The thought of shopping at Wal-mart makes me happy!

This weekend, I must have felt college nostalgia. Saturday, I wore an a Volunteer orange polo shirt with a Tennessee zip-up hoodie. Since I never get to pull out the Vol wear, I paired it with my Power T scarf, gloves and purse. (The Crocs stayed home.) Of course I ended up running into my friend Sarah from college. She’s now in an SIS grad program at American, and laughed at my Vol fever. It did look like I was leaving Neyland Stadium sans alcoholic beverage.

Sunday, John stopped by from a visit on his way home from New York. It was great to catch up with him and hang out. We ended up taking the Monument March of Death late Sunday night. My two favorite times to see DC are at night and when it snows. The WWII monument is breathtaking at night. The lighting and fountains are amazing. It’s my favorite monument.

All the college friends are so spread out now that I don’t get to see everyone very often. John, come back and visit, and Nathan–I’m expecting a visit sometime soon. Philadelphia isn’t that far from here.

Tonight, I received a fall care package from Maven Mom with special pumpkin spice soap. I wish that we could send smells over the web. This smells better than a pumpkin spice frappachino. When is she going to start selling this stuff? If I walked into Lush, this bar of soap would have cost at least $10. Maven Mom soap is the best in the world. Who else has a mother who makes organic, homemade soap?

Can you tell that I haven’t read the news or checked my email lately? All I have tonight are updates from GFTS world. At least I’m alive and checking in with the blogosphere. My next post may not be until Chattanooga…

UPDATE 11:20 p.m. Jindal WINS!!! Absolutely love this graphic at RedState.

The bad news is that LSU is down by 7 at the beginning of the 3rd.

Also love how NOLA.com has the game score above the election results. Football is life.

The polls are now closed in Louisiana, and all eyes are on Bobby Jindal.

Is it possible for someone with common sense to be elected in that state? We can only pray.

The Times-Picayune captures a problem of running an election in the South:

One concern among Republicans is the Louisiana State University football game against Auburn at Tiger Stadium, with a kickoff at 8 p.m. The Republican National Committee has been sponsoring ads to encourage Tiger fans to get to the polls before starting their tailgate and game-day activities.

Are here federal laws against drinking in line at the polls? If so, Republican Tigers are in trouble. LSU/Auburn is a big game. All those forwards about consulting a football schedule before choosing a date for your wedding are true in the SEC.

If Jindal wins, is it a victory for conservatives or a sign that Louisianians want someone with leadership abilities? It will be decades before the state gets over Katrina. Normally, you would think that the person offering leadership during the disaster would be a shoo-in, but New Orleans re-elected Nagin to the Chocolate City. He was one of the few officials out doing something rather than ringing their hands (Blanco), crying (Aaron Broussard) or blaming FEMA (everyone else). He’s dedicated to the Pelican State. Louisianans should appreciate that.

Redstate give me hope. 633,000 doors were knocked by homeschoolers. Why aren’t we reaching out to homeschoolers more often?

BTW, given the Vols poor performance tonight, my orange is quietly being replaced by purple and gold for the remainder of the season. Geaux Tigers!

Sometimes, it’s hard to be a Vol in GFTS world. Much of my family went to LSU, including the parentals from the South, my boss is a Gator fan, another co-worker is a Georgia fan, my godson is being raised as a Bama fan, and there are entirely too many Florida alums in the DC metro area.

Usually, I just keep quiet, sing Rocky Top to myself, wave an imaginary shaker and pray to Peyton Manning, the patron saint of Tennessee, that we’ll remember that defense is important in football.

Vol Abroad, on the other hand, was gutsy and made a bet with a Dawg fan. As a rule, Dawg fans are rather cocky and rarely turn down bets. While I’m shocked that the Vol Abroad would have risked permanent damage to her adorable son by forcing him to wear red and black, the loser was gracious.

This makes my plans to buy a white bulldog and name him Smokey seem rather kind. I also want a fur-friendly Power T sticker to put on the Coco, the dog from the South. I’m afraid that I’ll go home over Thanksgiving and see him dressed in purple and gold.

GO VOLS!

Have I mentioned how thankful I am that the Vols aren’t playing LSU this year?

Warning: It’s the time of year when my blog is overtaken by a rapid, orange-wearing football fanatic who starts randomly singing Rocky Top and declaring that all teams outside the SEC are wimpy mockeries of the hallowed game of football.

For those of us counting down until UT kicks off the 2007 season against California on Saturday, here’s a fun Tennessee football blog that’s aptly named. They capture the spirit of this year’s opener:

This year’s game is being billed as a revenge game from last year’s walloping, a 35-18 embarrassment for the Golden Bears. They entered the game as favorites and as national title contenders. They left disappointed, realizing that the teams in the PAC-10 really aren’t so elite and that an SEC team coming off a mediocre year is miles ahead of a PAC-10 team with loads of promise.

Now, from the eyes of your typical UC fan, Tennessee is full of imbred, pig raising, meth using, sister having sex with, tobacco chewing retards (see the ESPN commercial a few years back). But that’s alright, at least we’re not gay.

Yes, this ESPN commerical. I was a student when it came out. I vaguely remember the student body being outraged. Didn’t ESPN get in trouble for it? Does anyone remember that chapter of Lee Corso’s crusade against the Vols? Only one of the many reasons why UT hates ESPN.

Really busy with work and class this week. Until I get some time to update, enjoy this neat UT commerical that runs during football games. Stylistically, it’s really cool, and the use of orange really unifies the concept. I’m amazed that the university was able to develop a cool ad with such a horrible logo.

 [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mMCAy0LRGtQ]

Also note the “Sleuth” part as a top-notch forensic research center. Can we say “Body Farm?”

Tonight I somehow got sucked into the black hole of time management known as YouTube and found UT videos of football games (Why?). I ran across this one at the Phi Sig house and had to laugh.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gq-6vtl08Ag]

 1. In the three years since I graduated, I forgot how fratastic all UT guys are.

2. That ain’t just kool-aid in the plastic cups. If a game is at noon, students start pre-gaming at 7:30 a.m.

3. Advice to all UT guys: NEVER wear orange pants! Just don’t do it. Sure, you think you look cool with a white oxford and a UT tie, but it looks bad. Very, very bad. I know that Greeks are supposed to dress up for the game, but wear khakis and an orange polo or a white oxford with the orange tie. Burn the orange pants today, please.