odds and friends

The title is supposed to be a play off of “odds and ends” but I don’t know if it will come off that way in anyone’s head but my own. Punny titles. Always a risk. Anyway. . . .

Friends are fun. So it is fun to blog about them and the things they do sometimes. Hopefully they don’t mind.

Recently, I got a wonderful birthday present from my good friend Barkley that included, among other items, these wonderful products:
Now, if you look at the picture really closely, you may be thinking to yourself, your friend got you ANTI-AGING cream?!?! For your BIRTHDAY?!?!?!?!

But you see, Barkley and I are just that type of friend. She has kept me gloriously up to date and in fashion and all things girly for over seven years now. She is solely responsible for my love of makeup, my increasing sense of fashion, and my realization that I really do need some sort of face cleansing regimen. Oh yeah – and Ali’s obsession with the Sephora catalog would be completely nonexistent were it not for Barkley’s influence on me. Every girl needs a friend like Barkley!

So it is only natural that after reading my sad, sad post about my quickly aging skin and hate for greasy lotions, she tucked that note away and found the perfect item to fit my needs. It’s called skin SERUM. And – I can’t believe I’m saying this – I actually LIKE the feel of it.

Seriously.

It’s creamy, but in a comforting way. Not in the least bit greasy. And dries fast, in a nice, cool, breezy ungreasy way. I like the rhyme of that. Breezy ungreasy.

Only the closest of friends can give you anti-aging cream and it be a really, really great gift!!!

Oh yeah, and even though Chris is my BEST friend, there is an exclusion that husbands CANNOT give anti-aging cream as a gift and it be a really good thing. Sorry, dear. Hope I didn’t just make you return my Christmas present.

Second, my friend Nicole, whom I happen to work with, told me that she had a surprise for me that had to do with my blog, but that I probably wouldn’t like her afterward.

She had been hinting around at finding out answers to my burning questions in my Jesus in a Box post, so I was quite worried that she had found out, but had also happened to tell owner of said box where my blog was or something. But hey, all answers have their price.

Anyway, Ali and I stopped by work for a quick minute on Monday, and she ran out to her car to get a tiny gift bag. I opened it, and found this Christmas ornament:
I searched my mind as quickly as I could to put two and two together, but I couldn’t do it. I said, confused, “A BEAVER???”.

She said (a bit disappointed at my obvious thickheadedness), no!! It’s Satan the Squirrel!! To hang on your Christmas tree!!”

AAAAhhhh!! That makes so much sense!! I was thrilled to have a decorative reminder to that hellish period of our life.

for the record, right after that, someone else walked by and said “A BEAVER????”
I mean look at him – he’s eating a STICK. Beavers eat sticks. Squirrels eat nuts and walls and celings.
But hey, he’s adorable, and I will definitely label him and put him on the tree.

Although Ali may always have trouble differentiating beavers and squirrels, thanks to this ornament.

And finally, my friend Deidre (who joined us with Kendall and Brad Saturday at the Iron Bowl) tagged me in this post. It’s quite fun – you are supposed to post the fourth picture from the fourth album of pictures on your computer.

Initially, how my albums were sorted, the fourth picture in the fourth album was an absolutely grotesquely unflattering picture of me holding Ali right after giving birth. I looked as swollen as a. . .as a. . . . well, as a nine months and two days pregnant woman who was just pumped full of fluids for thirteen hours worth of labor. So that one isn’t getting posted, sorry.

So naturally, I re-sorted the album and came up with a much better option:
Sweet Ali within five minutes of birth and still in the C-Section O.R., as evidenced by the man in scrubs behind her.

Then, for fun, I resorted my albums a couple of different ways for bonus pictures:
Ali, me and Papa at a game earlier this year:
And Ali and Pop in “the country” (Pop and Gramamma’s house) in February. I can’t believe how much she’s grown just since February!Being that one of my quirks is not being able to tag people or make them participate in dishtowel chain letters, I will not be tagging anyone to do the above exercise. But if you’d like to, feel free and leave a comment here that you did so that I can go see!