Runner's Misery

I just completed my very first run with others.

Somebody hold me.

I went with two girls, one of whom has run a half marathon before. Yes, a half-marathon. You read correctly. But it's okay because I've run a half-MILE before. :insert my eye roll here:

Y'all, it was AWFUL. At one point, I could barely make out their tiny, still-running shapes as a I huffed and puffed and panted and moaned and cursed and walked up the long, long, long hill. I am NOT in shape. NOT. IN. SHAPE. We did a little over 3 miles (which is good because I was planning on signing up for the Jingle Bell Run next weekend and it's a 5K. Of torture, apparently.) and I thought that maybe, just maybe, I was going to die out there on the snobby Oakwood streets, surrounded by gorgeous houses aglow with Christmas lights.

And those high school P.E. flashbacks? They were in full force. Particularly when they had finished the second long, hard hill and had stopped running, stood around, and then decided to WALK BACK TO MEET ME. Oy. They might as well have run back and then circled me as I trudged forward. If I were them, I would have reached out, patted my head, and said, "Bless your heart." Seriously.

Let's move on, shall we?

How about a random picture of me in Ohio State gear? Ok? Ok!
The cap is Alex's brother's. But I thought I looked cute in it, so I totally stole it for part of the night. Yes, I still do that.

Also, the tree is completed. However, I want to dedicate a whole post to Christmas stuff and don't want to taint it with that icky "trying to get healthy" stuff, so here's a little preview. This is, shockingly, Alex's favorite ornament on "our" tree:
Dear Arkansas, please FedEx a Hogs ornament to Ohio, posthaste. I need some balance, y'all.

Tragedy

I went to college with this girl. It's so senseless and tragic. She and I weren't friends, just acquaintances. She was pretty and popular and I was neither of those things, so our social circles never really connected. But we had Advanced Grammar together and I sat behind her and envied her tan. She always smiled at me and was so kind to Lana when she'd get frustrated with Dr. Wink's "lottery." And now she's gone. Killed by the man who loved her. I can't hardly believe it.

All day today, I've been weirded out by this. She was basically a stranger to me. Her husband went to school with us too, but I never met him. So it's not like I actually know these people. And still...I find this so disturbing that I can't stop thinking about it. So if you're the praying kind, do say a prayer for Ashley Pittman Scott's family. They need it right now.

Holiday Hustle

Whew! Alex and I have survived Thanksgiving together. We are both in tact, in one piece, and pleased to be back in Dayton with the most pressing decision being what tree skirt should we buy? Although I have learned that tree skirts could totally ruin a relationship if you try hard enough.

Anyway, back to the Turkey holiday. Alex and I both took off of work early on Wednesday and drove down to Blytheville for some good old Cora family fun. This was the first meeting of the parents and the boyfriend, so I was a little nervous about the three most important people in my life colliding around a lot of food and Wal-Mart trips. Fortunately, my mom was TOTALLY freaking out and had the worried thing covered for the both of us, so my stress was limited to whether or not my dad would say something embarrassing (Which he would, come Saturday morning. Not sure why I bothered worrying about that one. Sometimes you just have to accept these things. Like taxes. And death. They're inevitable.) and if my mom had bought enough food that Alex liked. (Which she did, because my mom? Is awesome.)

So we got to my grandparents' old house that my family still hasn't sold (Anybody wanna buy a house in Arkansas? Anybody? Anybody?) and we did the initial meet and greet and everything was going swimmingly those first five minutes until my dad fell off the porch and hit his head on the brick wall. And laid there. For what felt like an eternity, but was probably only about 30 seconds or so. Alex and I dropped our bags and ran over to him and I kept yelling, "Daddy! Daddy? Are you okay???" And I was like, "What if my dad just died right here right after meeting Alex? Is that a sign or something?" Turns out my dad was okay, save a nasty scratch on his wrist, which spurred the first of four (4!) Wal-Mart trips of our visit. A visit that lasted less than 72 hours, mind you.

Thursday was typical Thanksgiving fun with my family. As you'll recall from last year, my cousins hate me. This has not changed. So Alex and I didn't even bother sitting in the little kid room this year. We went straight to the grumpy old man room and listened to enlightened conversation about the Navy vs. the Marines, politics, and football. At least I felt young.

One cousin who does NOT hate me is my 3-year-old second cousin who is about as well behaved as a wild monkey. That child has more energy than Alex and I put together and he loved, and I mean, LOVED Parsnip. Loved her so much that he wanted to choke the life out of her. Multiple times. So we spent a vast majority of the day herding Parsnip away from the small child who will walk up to your plate, pick up your roll, take a bite, and then put it back on your plate. NICE.

My mom and I closed out the day by dragging Alex to see Deja Vu at the Malco Trio in Blytheville. I was not a fan of the movie, but it was nice to not go to Wal-Mart for a change. After all, we had already gone twice that day.

Friday, my dad stayed home sick and watched Parsnip while my mom and I forced Alex to go shopping. We hit Kohl's again this year and I picked up some cute sweaters for Christmas. We also swung by Old Navy and I took advantage of their $10 fleece sell. We also ate at Barnhill's, also known as "the happiest place on earth." That was one of my Grandma and Grandpa's favorite restaurants and we are happily carrying on the Barnhill's tradition and spreading the love to the world, one Ohioan at a time.

Saturday night, we played Trouble and my dad schooled us all the first game. I also got into a rut of not being able to "pop" a six, which you have to do in order to move any of your pieces. So I spent the last half of the first game and the first half of the second game not doing anything other than popping the popomatic bubble and glaring at Alex for totally jinxing me. Jerk. Fortunatley, my mom was still on my side and took him out whenever she could. Blood is still thicker than water, perfect boyfriend! Take that!

Aaaaand that was it. We left early Saturday and came home to go to Alex's littlest brother's high school football game (He's in the band! They won the game! State finals here they come!) and then collapsed from exhaustion.

My parents, of course, loved Alex and he charmed them as only a red headed Catholic can. My dad commented, more than once, that he wished he was feeling better so he could properly joke around with him. I'm actually glad he wasn't feeling better, otherwise he might have said more things like, "My daughter is Hitler and she just wants to conquer a man." I KID YOU NOT. He said that. Out loud. To my boyfriend he had met less than 72 hours ago. And not only that, he chose to share this little nugget of "wisdom" while I was in the shower, so I couldn't even defend myself! Thank god my mom loves me and stepped up to the plate in my defense.

So it's over. Thanksgiving 2006 completed and in the books. I'm now gearing up for Christmas and will finish Alex's tree as soon as this here post is completed. Then I can take lots of pictures and inundate the internet with them. Yeehaw.

Jersey Love

Alex and I have (somewhat) matching jerseys to wear Saturday for the big game. (If you really care, I am this guy while Alex is this guy. I'm better because I'm the quarterback. I always know what the quarterback is doing, which is one reason why I suspect Alex got me that particular jersey.)

Anyways, I'm talking all this OSU stuff like we're going to the game, which we're not. Although we could have gone, had we been willing to drop 2 grand for four tickets in the student section. Since we're not made of money, we'll be hosting a party (and by "we," I mean "Alex") in which a lot of pig will be eaten and a lot of TV's will be showing the game. I'm looking forward to taking disgustingly cute pictures of ourselves in our matching red jerseys and then threatening to send them out as Christmas cards.

I'm actually more excited about tomorrow, Friday, becuase it's a big day for Alex and me. That's right folks, tomorrow marks 6 months of dating bliss. While this may not seem like a long time to all of you normal people out there, it's a hugely long time for your girl Cora. (Did I really just use "your girl Cora?" Am I stuck in the 70's or something?) I've never been the girl that the boys like, so I always had trouble getting dates. And then once I got them, I liked to run them off. It's a fun game to play, really. Try it sometime.

But Alex? Alex is a keeper and I'm planning on forcing him to stay with me as long as he'll have me. So in honor of our love for the ages, (hee) we're going out tomorrow night just the two of us. We're beginning the evening at the same restaurant we first dined at together, lo these 6 months ago. And instead of Starbucks, I'm planning on sneaking in a side trip to Caribou Coffee. Then we're going to see Casino Royale. Because I am very excited to see that movie for no good reason other than Daniel Craig is mighty fine and I want to see some hot spy action. Fortunately for me, I'll have the finest man in the house sitting right next to me, holding my hand, and probably dreaming of Buckeye football throughout the entire movie.


And I couldn't be happier.

Grrrr

I just wrote a short, albeit crappy, post and then my browser freaked out and I lost it. Don't you hate it when that happens? Why? Why???

Tidbits

That is Alex's house and a rather unflattering picture at that. Sorry Gina. Sorry Alex.

Today I went to the gym and eased my aching muscles with a leisurely run on the elliptical. Tomorrow is the big day in which I premiere my running prowess and I am (not) excited about it!

I thought this article about a man losing his Star Wars virginity was hilarious.

I have a lot I could say about work, but I can't write about it and it's really stunting my ability to post at this second. Because work is what is on my mind, but work is what I cannot write about. Stupid internet blogging rules!

This weekend is the big Ohio State vs. Michigan game and the good people of Ohio are already getting pumped up for this. I might actually watch the game this year. In my jersey, of course.

Mmmmm...Timbits.

My First Run

I feel like I should bronze these shoes and put them on a plaque. I purchased them for $19.14 yesterday at the Adidas outlet and today they took me on my first run.

Confession time: I secretly want to be a runner. I envy those who run marathons. And it irks me when I see somewhat normal people like Oprah and P. Diddy run them. Because then I feel like I should be able to run too. But the problem is that I'm a big, fat chicken.

I am very, very, very out of shape and very, very, very not athletically inclined. I can't run or throw or kick or catch. I am, however, very good at falling down. So in that sense, running a marathon is kind of out of the question. But that doesn't mean that I can't run some. Right? I'll never know unless I try. Right?

Enter Alex's best gal pal who is getting married this May. She wants to run because it'll help her stay trim for the wedding and she, too, wants to train for a race. Yesterday at the outlet mall, we bought matching gray Adidas shoes. And today, she sends me an e-mail and proclaiming that we will no longer talk about running, we will actually run. She told me to choose either Wednesday or Thursday and we were going to jog for at least 1 mile.

I then proceeded to have a mini breakdown at work. Because I was going to have to run? With a person? Who could see me? For real? I began to flash back to my P.E. days in which I would cry, yes CRY, because I got so stressed out from sucking so bad at sports. One time, the coach made me hit 30 tennis balls before he realized I couldn't actually serve the ball into the opposite side of the court. I'm not exaggerating either. I hit 30 tennis balls incorrectly before he gave up on me.

So I decided to go on a practice run today to see how bad it was going to be. I've never really tried to go running outside before and since I've been going to the gym since February, I thought I could handle it. I found out that Alex's brother's house is a half mile away from his house, so that seemed like a perfect practice run.

And I did great! Way better than I thought I'd do. At the gym, I can usually only run for maybe 3 minutes on the treadmill before I decide I'm done and wonder if an ellipical will hurry up and be free. But I managed to go longer than 3 minutes when I didn't have a clock in front of me and I was actually GOING somewhere. I also went way farther than Alex's brother's house (I know, I know, I'll find a name for him eventually.) And I didn't fall! Or pass out! Or hit any small children! And the new shoes help tremendously. I've never had actual running shoes before and the support was unreal. I'm even more excited now to try out the blue and white ones with shocks that I scored at the Nike outlet.

So there you have it, internet. My very first run as a big girl! I'll keep you posted on how Wednesday's very first tandem run goes.

I'm Not Dead

No, I'm not dead. But I'm busy. And lazy. Sometimes at the same time, which can be problematic.

I didn't officially dress up for Halloween because Alex and I went to the Ohio State game the same weekend everyone else was celebrating. I did, however, wear an Ohio State jersey. So I think that counts as dressing up. And look! It sorta makes me look 12!

The game was fun, though cold. Very, very cold. I spent most of it huddled next to Alex and muttering, "It doesn't get this cold in Arkansas." He did buy me hot chocolate to ease my pain and gave me his super special warm gloves to put over my face when I was afraid my nose was going to fall off. He is the best for a reason, my friends.

Tonight, we baked a giant cookie because we are lazy and didn't want to take out the cookie shapes. We are also greedy pigs and didn't want to lose any chocolate-y chip goodness. So we made a giant square cookie and have eaten most of it. Had I thought about it, I would have taken a picture of my glorious orange and white icing stripes that I lovingly placed on the cookie. But I didn't because I'm lazy. Have I mentioned that recently?

I'm officially looking into Christmas decorations for Alex's house. We went to Target tonight and I overwhelmed him with my girly decorating desires. He was thinking maybe a tree and the Hallmark ornaments his grandma has been giving him since he was 2? I was thinking a tree and lots of matching ornaments and a wreath and stockings and a tree skirt and a theme for inside the house and lights OUTSIDE the house.

Compromises, they will be forthcoming.