Slightly Early Christmas

Alex and I decided to exchange presents today. Even though I'm not flying out until Sunday, we had originally thought I'd be driving down on Saturday. So we were both already really focused on exchanging TODAY and no amount of logic would persuade us.

Fortunately, we both got off of work early, so as soon as I got to his house we threw ourselves at the presents like little kids. For the record, I got him:

Season 1 of "The Office"
Video Card (for his computer - I can provide no other details than that, because I have no idea what it means or anything.)
Motherboard (see note above)
Gaming Keyboard (which I'm typing on right now and is QUITE spiffy.)

He got me:
Starbucks Gift Card
Caribou Coffee Gift Card
Fleece blanket (w/ cute Reindeer holding said blanket)
DVD player
Picture Frame
iPod Case
and the pièce de résistance:
a Coach purse.

On paper, it looks like he beat me in the gift department, but that computer stuff is very amazing (from what I hear) and I thought he was going to burst from excitement when he opened those three. Plus, I surprised him with it, and we all know the element of surprise is necessary for any good gift giving.

But anyways, the point is that my purse is amazing and awesome and fantastic and wonderful and perfect. We had gone to the Coach Outlet a few weeks ago and I had spent a good 5 minutes talking about the wonders of this purse and then left it sadly behind. And Alex, being the good boyfriend that he is, snuck back and purchased it for me. Sneaky, sneaky boy. I'm pretty pumped considering this is the most snooty and hip item I have ever owned. Actually, it might be the ONLY snooty and hip item I have ever owned. And call me shallow, but I'm fantastically excited about it.

I'll update after we get pictures downloaded.

Update: Andrew took pictures for me while I was posting. Here's the best one. Note the "flair" he gave the purse by not straightening the strap.

Yippee!!!

Holiday Travelin'

I just booked my flight to see my parents for the holidays! Woo! And even better? It's a one way ticket. Why? Because Alex will be driving down to meet me and we'll drive back together. Hooray! I'm very excited because he'll get to meet my fantastically awesome grandmother and eat her fantastically awesome food. And also get to take a tour of what I consider my hometown. I'll show him where I went to high school and where I went to church and where I had my nervous breakdown circa 1993. Hooray!

Girls Rule

So I bought Gwen's new album. Notice that I called her "Gwen," like she's my friend. As if she and I went to high school together and hung out at lunch and giggled about boys in homeroom. Which we didn't. But I bet we would have if we had gone to high school together and I wasn't so deathly afraid of her and her coolness to speak.

Anyway, the album's kinda weird.

There. I said it.

I put up with a lot of strange stuff from Gwen because she's Gwen Freakin' Stefani, but girlfriend has got some seriously weird taste. There's this one song called "Yummy" and there is no other word to describe it besides "weird." Sometimes I think she just gets bored and so she throws together anything and everything and calls it music. I like to think that she and Pharrell sit in the studio and eat bon bons and sample tracks until something strikes their fancy and then they both yell, "That's it!"

And yet I enjoy it. I'm hooked. That's all on there is to it. So good on ya, Gwennie.

In other news, I'm in love with Angelina Jolie. I can't help it. I really, really, really am. I want her to adopt me. Soon.

The 5K, a race of epic proportions

First off, Blogger can bite me. I tried to post this earlier and nothing doing. It couldn't connect and blah de dah. Shut up Blogger and let me post!

Ahem, so, yeah, the 5K. It took place at 9 am, which is, oh, about 3 hours earlier than I usually wake up on Saturdays. Alex and I showed up around 8:30 and met with our friends who were also running. All of these friends were girls. Alex was not pleased to be the only guy running, but whatcha gonna do? He vowed to beat us all in a blaze of manly, testosterone filled glory. Well, as manly as one can be with jingle bells tied to your shoes.

Since it was 9 a.m. in December, it was really cold outside. And I do mean REALLY cold. I was wearing two pairs of pants to go with my gloves, headband, and stylish gray and black fleece. It wasn't enough, though, so I was actually ready to start running before 9 in order to warm up. As a result, when the race began, I took off pretty quickly and shocked myself by how fast I was running. And then I discovered that the very first part of the race was on a hill. Boo! I hate hills. I can't run them because I am fat and out of shape and from Louisiana. I managed to keep up with one of my friends and she and I went back and forth passing each other on the first mile.

And then we hit the second mile.

Which we walked. Somewhat leisurely. We probably shouldn't have, but she's dating Alex's brother and so we always have a lot to talk about. Solidarity and all that, you know? (Seriously, you get the two of us together and we're like, "Blah, blah, blah, Bauers, blah, blah, diarrhea of the mouth, blah, blah, blah.") So while we talked and walked, Alex caught up to us and then passed us. Which was, of course, unacceptable, so we both started running and I passed him again. Ha!

She and I didn't finish at the same time because she kept running the rest of the way, while I walked with Alex and talked about how out of shape we are. But once we hit the home stretch, I decided to run again and left Alex behind, making it my personal goal to beat this old lady who was running ahead of me. Which I did. Take that 60-year-old lady!

Once we had all crossed the finish line, we went inside and ate bananas and Panera bagels and tried to woo the announcer lady into giving us door prizes. Yay!

So by the time it was all said and done, I only beat Alex by a little over a minute. Maybe two? But I know I could have done better had I not decided to have a couple of heart to hearts along the way. Plus, I finished AND I didn't die or puke. What more could a girl ask for? And I actually really enjoyed myself. There's something about running with other people in a big pack, that I found really enjoyable. So I'm planning on doing it again. When? I'm not sure. But it'll happen again. I want to pin a number to my stomach and run like a fool. Yippee!

Tired

We did it! Alex and I both completed our very first 5Ks this weekend. And guess what?

I beat him!

Yes, you read that right. I am the better runner in this relationship. More details to come after our big day of eating at Cracker Barrell and then shopping till we drop at the Outlet Malls!

This n That

1. I just cried at the end of Ice Princess. That's embarrassing.

2. Anybody else watch the Billboard Music Awards tonight? Just me? Oh. Well. Anyway....do you ever think that Gwen Stefani gets away with stuff just because she's Gwen Stefani? Not that I hate her new song, but it's out there, just a touch. And this is coming from one of the biggest fans of The Sound of Music EVER. But I gave it a chance because it's Gwen. Would I tolerate the same nonsense from, say, Fergie? Doubtful.

3. I ran, sort of, yesterday in the 29 degree weather. I thought my lungs were going to explode multiple times. I hate hills, y'all. Hate them. I now realize why Louisiana is the best state in the union. There are no hills to kill you there. Anyway, the 5K is Saturday. I will not finish in under 30 minutes. I'm putting that out there right now. That sound you hear is Alex's dreams of having athletic children slowly dying.

4. I've got almost all of my Christmas cards out the door. That's a Cora record. Isn't it cute when I pretend to be an adult?

5. I don't have a "5," but I felt it'd make a good, round list.

Christmas Time Is Here

The tree! Isn't she beautiful? My very first attempt. You like?







This is the $4.88 tree skirt that saved Alex's and I relationship. Thank you Wal-Mart for something simple, cheap, and red.

My second favorite ornament. I got it at Cracker Barrel, the second happiest place on earth. He's so cute and wooden and button nose-y.

My absolute favorite ornament because he is a fat snowman. And the only thing better than a fat snowman is a fat cat. But since Cracker Barrel was fresh out of fat cats, the snowman had to do. But I love him. He's cuter in real life, but what you gonna do, internet? Come visit me, you say? Okay!

I'm happy to report that Dayton has magically escaped the horrors of the wacked out weather apocalypse of the last day or so. Apparently the temperature dropped 20 degrees around noon, but I was safe inside my office hell and had no idea. So now it's windy and cold and I'm ready to whine about living up north. But since it's freezing in Louisiana, I won't. I will, however, complain that Parsnip has the worst gas known to man right now and she is kinda ruining my Christmas moment tonight. I actually caught White Christmas at the very beginning on TCM. Which is amazing and perfect because I've been wanting to watch it for days now. But since I'm lounging on Alex's new (to him) couch and procrastinating on Christmas cards, I didn't have my DVD copy with me. But now I have Bing and Rosemary and Danny and Vera right here on Alex's too huge TV for me to enjoy while I blog and read about Lindsay Lohan's sad, sad life. Nothing says Christmas like a 20-year-old starlet in AA.