Can a Keyboard Shortcut be Set to Connect to VPN? I now this may sound quite lazy, but I connect to a VPN several times a day (since the laptop gets disconnected from time to time).

I am aware of the "Show VPN Status in the Menubar" option, but is there a way I can make it a keyboard shortcut?
You could create an AppleScript which would run a shell script to racoonctl - the specific commands will depend upon your VPN connection.  Then use Script Utility to enable the global Script Menu, then add a new keyboard shortcut in System Preferences > Keyboard > Keyboard Shortcuts, and assign it to the script (or use a launcher utility such as Quicksilver).