So long, Lubbock.

We backed the mini van into the spot and then opened the hatch and sat on the back bumper for Harry Potter.

I got back from Lubbock yesterday. A day early, but no complaints here; I am very happy to be back in Austin. I do have to be honest, though: Lubbock wasn’t nearly as bad as I feared. But that’s probably because we cut a day off the trip and were so busy visiting different friends and family that we didn’t really have any downtime. We did, however, go see Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part II at this really cute drive-in theater on the outskirts of Lubbock, and that was a lot of fun.

The trip wasn’t a complete waste, though. I did learn a few things:

• It’s much easier to run in Lubbock. Unlike Austin, at 9 or 10 in the morning it’s still under 100 degrees in Lubbock. And Lubbock is as flat as a sixth grade girl so no huge mountains to run up like I have here.
• My direct family is definitely the black sheep of the whole family. Maybe it’s because my parents left Lubbock for the crazy hippy city, Austin, and raised their three kids with their crazy hippy teachings. Or maybe it’s because when my parents got married, instead of my mom taking my dad’s last name, Akeroyd, they both changed their last names to Aker. But whatever the reason, when all the Akeroyd siblings are together, we definitely look like the weird family.

This is seriously my dad's friend's backyard.

• Not all of Lubbock is flat. While that goes against every stereotypical Lubbock joke, there is a huge canyon on the outskirts of Lubbock. And one of my dad’s college buddies owns a chunk of it. It’s probably the most beautiful part of Lubbock.
• There is a delish Greek restaurant in Lubbock called Lite Delite. It’s so good, I’d almost be willing to compare it to Austin’s Kebabalicious. Almost. I’ve been visiting Lubbock every few years for my entire life, and I don’t know why it’s taken me so long to find this place.
• Having no Internet sucks worse than having slow Internet. OK, I pretty much knew that before, but it really gets engrained into your brain when you actually experience it.
• The longer I’m around my Lubbock family, the more my Texas accent comes out.
• Spending three days in Lubbock is better than spending four.

But the most important thing that came from my Lubbock trip is that I am now two days away from moving into my sweet new pad! I cannot wait.

My New Hobby That I Kinda Hate

I always hated dodgeball anyways. Photo by Travis Wiens.

I’m not athletic. I never have been.

In grade school I was always one of the last kids to get picked for dodgeball, right before the kids with the broken limbs.

In fourth grade, we spent a month in P.E. learning to play volleyball, and surprise, surprise, I was terrible at it. I was so bad in fact, that I asked my dad to help my practice so I wouldn’t continue embarrassing myself. After spending a few hours in the yard trying to learn how to serve the ball and not hit it backwards, my dad sighed and  said, “Well, volleyball season will be over soon.”

In middle school, I would beg my P.E. coach to let me organize the equipment closet instead of playing basketball or tennis or whatever we were playing that particular day.

Yes, I did drill team in high school and I was even a lieutenant my senior year, but I sorta don’t considered that to be athletic work. It did take stamina, but it mainly required flexibility and the ability to do this and this.

That’s why, after saying all that, it’s kind of crazy that I’ve started running this summer. I’m not fast, or able to fun very far, and honestly I kinda hate running.
But I decided I will not be a lazy cow this summer, so for the past week I’ve been getting early everyday and running a mile through my neighborhood. However, I do use the word ‘everyday’ loosely here because on the days that I went to bed at 6 a.m. and woke up at 8:30 a.m. or ended up crashing at a friend’s apartment, I did not have the dedication to get up and run.

Also, my new roommate’s (yeah, I’m going to call them that, thanks to Grandma’s Boy) neighborhood is so hilly, it’s like running on a roller coaster track, which is good I guess in the long run but absolutely killer right now. So, just like this blog, hopefully I can keep it up over the summer because I am not interested in becoming a lazy cow.