KK Day!

Amazing how I go from zero ideas for blogs to three in the span of a few days - all of which there wasn't time in the schedule to execute said ideas.  A while back, I realized that in the blog I wrote introducing Alex, I didn't go into detail about our terrible first encounter, and in a later entry, I said I'd make a point of getting around to sharing the details someday.  Today is the day, folks!

Waaay back on December 10, 2010 (can't believe that was 3 years ago!), my friend Kara convinced me to meet up with she and her then-boyfriend (Christopher), and his friend (Alex) for a casual outing at Krispy Kreme.  With the daunting task of packing to leave Raleigh for a month at home in Louisiana over the Christmas holidays looming over me, I discussed the pros and cons with my friend Lendy earlier in the day.  She encouraged me to go along, so I agreed, but I assured her that I would have nothing exciting to repot.  Little did I know...

Alex was in town for the weekend covering a basketball game for the university he worked at in South Carolina.  He and Christopher became good friends while working at a university in rural North Carolina a few years earlier.  Because the two boys rarely crossed paths since then, they wanted to hang out with one another while both in Raleigh for the weekend.  Cue the sweet girlfriend (Kara) who wanted to spend time with her long-distance boyfriend (Christopher) without the awkwardness of a third wheel (Alex).  Basically, Kara wanted me to come along in hopes of balancing things out, and maybe even setting the two of us up.

The three of them picked me up at my apartment in Alex's car, and off we went!  When I hopped in the back seat, I realized Kara was in the back, and Christopher was up front with Alex.  I guess the seat assignments made sense given the dynamics of our group, but this should have given me a clue from the very beginning that it was going to be a strange night to say the least.  In the short 15 minute car ride, the boys didn't give Kara or I the time of day at all.  They conversed with each other, leaving us out of everything.  Thank goodness we were up for commiserating over the last few days of finals and getting ready for the holidays. ;-)

At Krispy Kreme, it was still as awkward as ever.  We all shared a box of donuts, and pretended to be engrossed in watching the hot line prepare gooey circles of deliciousness...but no one was immune to realizing the discomfort in the group.  Even sitting at a table together trying to be silly, the tension could be cut with a knife.  Thanks to Kara, we do have a few photos from these moments to look back on the experience.  Scroll down for a good laugh (and to continue the story - duh). 

Silly?  Nope, just weird.

My heart skips a beat at how cute Alex was, even then.
(But what the heck was in his mouth??)

Christopher, on the other hand...lol.

Long overdue for a haircut...check out those split ends!

Promise I'm not high, or drunk...too bad (jk).

The night was still early when we left KK, so the group decided to venture to the downtown area in hopes of finding pretty Christmas lights to enjoy.  As we were walking down the street (not seeing very many lights, I might add), Kara and Christopher kind of split off to a different sidewalk, leaving Alex and I alone to make conversation.  Trying desperately to say something interesting, I commented about a "fancy limo" passing on the street, to which Alex replied, "limos are expensive."  What a dead-end statement to make!  I thought to myself, "Well, so much for trying."

On our way back to the car, Alex said something about hoping his car was still there when we returned.  I, trying to spur conversation, replied by saying, "Well, if not, you can always by a new one," which he took offensively, as if I thought his car was a piece of junk or something of little value.  Yet another failed attempt at pleasant conversation, it seemed.

I don't remember much else from that evening, though presumably we all piled back into Alex's car and one by one he dropped us back off at our respective locations for the night. Needless to say, the outing was a real bust on so many accounts.  However, for some reason, I found the experience worthy (or laughable) enough to share with my mother when she picked me up at the airport the very next day...who knew three years later we'd be 19 days away from celebrating our 1st wedding anniversary.

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Every year since, we have honored December 10th as the day we first met.  It has been officially dubbed as "KK Day," and we try to celebrate with donuts (when in an area with access to Krispy Kreme) and reminisce on memories of that awful night.  I look forward to sharing KK Day with our kids, having donuts, telling our story, and talking about how mommy and daddy briefly hated each other.  It's exciting to think about how KK Day will be a real holiday in the Edwards home for many years to come!

-Lauren