(Brian Reagan fans? I hope you enjoyed that post title up there.)

We’ve been in the south for – oh – enough days for me to live an entire December week without wearing a jacket. And that, my friends, is my kind of a homecoming.

My accent is nearly back. Well, to me it is. People down here still seem to think it’s gone. But they don’t even know, Napoleon.

(Napoleon Dynamite fans? Yes?)

Sorry for the random comedy references – but my mind is a bit of mush. Since there’s no house to paint, we have passed the time by sitting in coffee shops, playing Rock Band on the Wii (and, no, you don’t have to peel the drum sticks outta my hands – thankyouverymuch), flipping cable channels (the epitome of boredom), hanging out with family and friends, wandering red-eyed through Target, and- um – eating an inordinate amount of food.

Inordinate, I tell ya.

When you stick the aforementioned activities into a span of about 7 days, your mind becomes mush.

Speaking of mush, I seem to have gotten away from my entire purpose for writing this post: MERGE. I’m trying to merge the new-me with the old-me. They are both in there somewhere. And they are fighting for dominance. I, of course, prefer a compromise. A merge, if you will.

What the heck do I mean by all this?

Well, there are things like the “songwriting” or the “Sunday-afternoon lazy coffee-shop date with Drew” stuff that I’ve gotta keep. There’s also the “globally-minded-Mandy” that is struggling for life now. After church this morning, I told (warning: shameless-name-drop) the Director of MAP, Int’l that I needed help keeping this part of me going. I think he and his family and organization are going to help.

There’s also “the t-shirt & jeans Mandy” that is coming back with a southern-belle-bonafide vengeance. I kinda like her, but I’d rather put on my city-slick knee-high leather boots when I get dressed for church – and/or other social activities.

About that southern accent? Wait for a video post.

OH! And what about the Mandy that sat in a quaint New England pub with a glass of wine (Cringe. Hi Mom.) while watching Big Papi spit in his hands? yeah… I don’t think I can let her out in public anymore.

Merge. Merge. Merge… Which parts do you think I’ll keep? And which should I throw away?

Dualistically,

mandy