Benito was off at Soldier Field for his company�s Xmas party. At 8:22 I got a call saying that the party wasn�t as boring as he�d expected. �It�s a bit fancy, but come if you can...�

Eight minutes later I was in a black dress, heels, pearls, and a touch of makeup, hailing a cab to the stadium.

The party ended up being decent, and I met a handful of people I had heard about but hadn�t actually met.

We hitched a ride to an after-party at a friend�s house, but we left the group when they were heading to another part of town at 1:20. Knowing that cab rides would cost more than any beer we could consume in the 40 minutes we�d have before most everything closed, we walked back to my place to sleep off our buzzes.

The next day we ran a handful of errands and ended up back at his place to set up his new computer and clean up the wires in his office. Blah blah blah. The regular weekend stuff. (However, I did manage to sneak up behind him when he was bent over, messing with something under the desk. That was a highlight of the afternoon.)

That evening we met up with two friends for Ocean�s 12. Thumbs down. Don�t bother with it. It really was a we�re-famous-and-we�re-making-a-movie-you�ll-see-no-matter-what. It was nothing like the pizzazz scheme of the previous movie. The only thing I really got out of it was that I�m going to cut my hair like Catherine Zeta Jones� the next time I donate my hair to Locks of Love.

While searching for parking, we had plenty of time to discuss the confusing parts of the movie. Mind you, I had my eyes closed for a good one-quarter of the movie because of the shaky on-foot cinematography. I know that was the desired effect, but it left me dizzy and asking Benito to tell me when it was over so I could reopen my eyes. It ends up that we couldn�t decide why it ended the way it did.

(NOT A SPOILER: If you saw the movie, please tell the guestbook why you thought she met who she met at the end and why he did what he did early in the movie. We couldn�t agree on that.)

The four of us had a most-fantastic tapas dinner. Sangria, gnocchi, bread and peppered oil, spinach-stuffed mushrooms, and all sorts of other stuff. Oh, it was sooo good.

At his place we watched the Tivo-ed episode of Lost. Holy crap, y�all. If you aren�t watching this show, look it up and watch it next week. They�re showing the first few episodes so people who caught on late to the show�s greatness can catch up. After our mouths hung agape for a while, we flipped through Tivo some more.

He had an HBO show of interviews with military families where they read the last letters they received from their soldier before he or she died.

If you come across this show, I recommend only watching the first few stories. It�s heart-wrenchingly horrible. I�m pretty sure I soaked though one of Benito�s couch�s pillows.

It really put the danger that these people are in into perspective. It�s dangerous for me to go running at midnight, alone in Grant Park. It�s dangerous for me to cross the street when there�s oncoming traffic. It�s dangerous to play with knives.

But the difference is that I can control all of these elements. Don�t go running in the dark. Cross in the crosswalks when I have the sign. Don�t play with knives.

In their cases, it�s dangerous pretty much all of the time, no matter what they do.

I slept poorly and had semi-bad dreams, but I woke up tangled in arms. And really, there�s no better way to wake up.

Instead of watching the noon football game, Benito and I watched Love Actually. Besides the unnecessary fat jokes, I enjoyed the movie.

Then we headed to my place to watch the Packers game and put together my bedroom furniture.

If you ever have the bright idea to order inexpensive yet nice-looking furniture from target.com, let me warn you: You NEED to be an expert in Ikea parts. If I hadn�t already set up two wine racks, a TV stand, a desk, and two bookshelves in the somewhat recent past, I�d have been outta luck with the dresser assembly.

After more than a half of the football game, we had the five-drawer dresser put together. During the third quarter, I put together one nightstand. The last quarter was spent cleaning up the mess. I have a headboard and one more nightstand to go.

Here�s my opinion on target.com furniture if you ever thought of saving money and going that route: It looks nice enough, but it�s one step above using Tupperware as furniture. T-ware furniture would probably be sturdier, but it wouldn�t come in a nice dark chocolate shade. So to make things simple, don�t go with the target.com furniture if you want high-quality stuff, but do consider it for short-term use.

I have a 3/1 ARM (a mortgage with a good rate for three years before the bank jacks it up), so I�ll be moving in about that long. I want an adult-looking place, but I don�t need the $1800 furniture I was originally looking at since moving it would be a bitch. In this case, I�ll just put an ad in Craig�s List for someone to come pick it up, or I�ll sell it to the next tenant for a couple hundred bucks to save everyone the hassle of moving anything.

So while watching the Packers game, there was this commercial where this woman is talking about how picky she is with men and how she doesn�t want to compromise her standards. She then says that it�s the same reason she chose to purchase a Saturn.

I turned to Benito and said, �Baby, you�re like a Lexus.�

We got a good chuckle, but then I corrected my thoughts and said that he was like a top-of-the-line Toyota.

�Oh thanks...�

Now let�s keep in mind that the Avalon is the same as a Lexus, but it uses Toyota parts.

I like that we drink beer and eat Taco Bell instead of champagne and caviar. That we have no issues with filling a cart at Wal-Mart. That we shop Old Navy. That having a good time is being together and not just what we do.

I�ll take the Toyota any day. So long as there are still electric seats, windows, and locks, intermittent wipers, and a rear defroster, I like my plush, dependable car that doesn�t cost an arm and a leg to maintain.

In other news, Benito�s been convinced by his coworkers that World of Warcraft should be his next timewaster. He bought the game and set it up on his new computer this weekend. He spent last night slaying ostriches (then traded their beaks for potions), cougars (who were attacking him), wolves (who were also pissed off), and trolls (then traded their hearts for armor). His next mission is the find a water well and un-poison it so he gets a shiny belt.

Seriously, my boyfriend is too pretty for this amount of nerdiness... [sigh]

But in good news, his dorking out made it to where he didn�t work out last night. We�ve both been sloths this month, and he�s beating me by one workout. It�s time to get serious about this and kick his cute, troll-slaying ass.

When putting lotion on my legs this weekend, I noticed how much more definition I have in them than before. I haven�t noticed any difference in my arms, but it�s still encouraging that after one month I can see a difference at least in my legs. Benito said a couple weeks ago that he could see a difference too, so apparently there�s something going on.

Dammit, I just need to keep this up...�