Wednesday, August 30, 2017

Wednesday Dump {8/30}

-When ID Face Friend posted on FB asking what she should put on their baby registry..  I told her that my babies enjoyed a good bully stick, leftovers from my plate, and their metal bowls.  #ImHilarious

-As a freshman, I'm in several classes with the same people.  That's not usually a problem, except that one kid is in my German and my Computer Science (CS) class.  He likes to do Duolingo throughout German class until he gets called out by the professor, then he usually falls asleep, but since he napped in German class, he likes to teach the CS class.  I want to punch this little motherfucker in the face.  I'm not sure if it's a power trip from having veteran status or if this kid is just a twat.  I'm going with the 2nd thing. 

-It took me 2 days to discover that my backpack isn't big enough for all my shit.  Fan-fucking-tastic.  Not that I really want to carry all my crap all day, but with only 10 minutes between classes, I don't have time to fetch shit from Yurtle in between classes... so I will tote it around with me all the day long... IF I can find a large enough backpack.  I'm not ready to succumb to the rolling bag yet, but if I do, I'm just going to use a small suitcase that I already have.  #efficiency

-So I got a lot of mixed feedback about my Hello Fresh comments.  The most articulated thing about Hello Fresh was that the recipes are something cooks wouldn't otherwise use unless they were handed to them.  This was also one of my biggest pros for a meal delivery service.  Then I signed into Hello Fresh (you can create an account for freeizzle) to make sure that I had definitely cancelled and wasn't going to get charged a surprise $70 (the worst), when I noticed that the menus are always available.. FOR FREE.  So if you love Hello Fresh for the recipes, just sign on for the recipes and buy your own ingredients.  Trust me.  Buying a family pack of chicken breasts, wrapping them individually, and freezing them is way more cost effective than subscribing to Hello Fresh.  Also, all those fresh herbs?  They have them at your grocery store.  But if you really want to be environmentally conscious/cost effective, grow your own herbs.  It's super simple.  Even I can do it.

-Teh Mom and her friend spent the night last night as they make their way to FL for their cruise.  It was fun.  They'll be back on Saturday for Round 2.  #hostestwiththemostest

YOU GUYSSS!!!! DOLE WHIP AT SWEET FROG!!!!
GET THERE!

I still hold that these notebooks did not have holes for binders when I was a using these in high school.
Despite what my friends on FB might say.

Having 4 different bbq sauces (5 if you include the Sweet Baby Ray's in the fridge) is NOT a poor life choice.

Got my first parking citation.
Still debating on if I'm going to fight it or not since there was no clear sign near those spaces.

You can't plant flowers if you haven't botany.

My fuzzy little guard dog.  /swoon.

Pink sky in the morning, Sailor's warning.
Pink sky at night, Sailor's delight.

 With a sunrise like that, this day can't be bad.  I'm certain I just jinxed myself.
BUT I wore long sleeves today (because the high is 80°F) and my sleeves have thumb holes (like the best shirts do) and I am UNSTOPPABLE!!!

Tuesday, August 29, 2017

Weekend Review {8/28}

FRIDAY

Brevity is the name of the game today..

I sent Teh German this picture during class to tell him that thanks to his family I knew how to properly pronounce most of the names.

After class, I headed to work.

I made my own Mezzo Mix (orange Fanta + Coke) at work.
It's not exactly like the German drink, but it'll do, America, it'll do.

My boss "owed" me banana pudding and he came through.
He even delivered it to my desk after he scared the bejesus out of me.

Traffic was garbage (surprise, since it was raining) and I met Teh German at dance lessons in West Ashley.  We had dinner at the same pizza place as the weekend before since it was delicious AND we both tried something different (which is not our usual behavior pattern).

Teh German: Deluxe personal pan
Teh Megan: pepperoni and mushroom calzone

A fun peek into the majority of the shit I carry around in my backpack.
I'd like to put all this on the scale, buttttt I'm going to live in denial instead.


Rather than go home after dinner, we went back to the studio for a line dancing class.  Teh German got extremely frustrated and headed home early.  I stayed for a while and the dance instructor tried to explain to me that learning to dance was a lifetime benefit, which I've heard her say before.  I did very good at filtering and not saying, "I'm not sure if you noticed that the person that is my dance partner got frustrated and left early.. but that one is mine.  Not sure if dancing is in our future."



SATURDAY

I was feeling motivated on Saturday and decided to do a run.  My FIRST run since my surgery.


I took my time and it was "feels like" 91°F outside, so I wasn't going for a record.  I did a consistent walk/run so that way my hip didn't take a FULL beating my first time out.  I don't think my first run was supposed to be 4 miles, maybe like 1-2, buttttt I'm still me and my 1/2 marathon training plan is ticking by, day after day, so I felt like I needed to make up for miles that I haven't been doing.

Charleston summer seems to be coming to an end, so I'm hoping that normal people summer will start and I can actually be outside and run without dying (aka coming home and chugging no less than 100+ oz of water and dealing with a headache for the rest of the afternoon).

Since I burned calories, I had no fucks given about shoving one of these tasty morsels down my throat after the Baker Neighbor delivered them.
PS.  These are the smores cupcakes that I very anxiously awaited!

Teh Dental Hygienist and Teh AF Maintainer were hosting the Mayweather/McGregor fight and we planned to go over to watch, so I made crockpot wieners to share with everyone.  I, of course, made too much, but #YOLO.

I spent most of the afternoon resting in bed/napping trying to nurse away the dehydration headache before we headed over to watch the fight.  Since I live with a German, we were there shortly after 7, since that's what time the invitation said everything started.  People slowly started arriving after 8. 

I never have any interest in watching fights, but I go because Teh German enjoys it and I like the good company of my Neighbor Besties.  We ended up getting home after 0100, but that was fine.


SUNDAY

Sunday morning, we hit up Holy City Brewing for brunch with Teh AF Maintainer since he needed to escape the baby shower activities at his house.

A bowl of delicious.

When we got home, I buckled in for some serious homework.  4 hours later, I had done as much as I could do.  That 4 hours included a crying session, emailing my math professor to set up an appointment to meet to discuss if I should be in the class or not, ignoring phone calls from Teh Dad, Teh Mom, and Teh BFF, as well as all social media.

If you can tell me what any of this means, let's be besties.

This is what my table looked like after my homework session.  The dining room table has become my desk.  Not that I don't have an office or anything, but this gives me ALL THE SPACE!


I didn't have a dinner plan, but Teh German agreed that leftovers were fine.  PERFECT.


We did practice our dance Sunday night after having a discussion about Teh German's frustration about dancing and why I enjoyed it so much.  I think it will come together in the end, but practice is definitely needed more regularly that just when we meet with the dance instructor.  I think I've got Teh German to commit to that, so I'm looking forward to the first dance being awesome.

I also talked to Teh BFF for a bit while I walked the dogs.  Then Teh German made nut balls while I chopped up a watermelon and we chatted with Teh Dad.  Afterwards, we watched a few episodes of Parks and Rec and called it a night.

______________________________________________

I have a feeling that my weekends are going to look like this for the foreseeable future.  I know that my math class is going to be a burden and I will need to commit hours of my life to it to pass.  At this point, my goal is to PASS.  Ideally, with an A, but minimally with a C.  After the discussion with my instructor, who pointed out that this class was a requirement for a computer science class that is a requirement for most of my higher level computer science classes (Math --> CS class --> majority of CS classes) AND it isn't offered in the spring, we agreed that I will just stick with it and pray hard.

I keep telling Teh German that I miss him, even though we're both home, we're definitely not hanging out together.  He has been entertaining himself with garage projects and his Apple TV games.

I've come to accept the fact that my blogging schedule is about to get jacked.  If I don't have this post scheduled on Sunday night, it will not happen on Monday, thus the product of being at school all day long and then maybe PT and/or work.  But let's be honest.. if all my weekends look like this, it's not so interesting I need to blog about it, so maybe you are saved!

I definitely get a lot of Wednesday Dump fodder, so that's a positive.
Happy almost September, Gentle Readers!!!



Friday, August 25, 2017

5 Word Biography/5 on Friday

Many, many moons ago, Brittany posted her 5 word biography and I was like, "Cool!  I'm stealing that!" and then eons passed and I never created the post.. #MeganStyle

In actuality, this post was sitting in my inbox waiting on me (since early December).  Nope, not even a drafted blog post, sitting in my inbox.  That's how off my game I have been.

Now that school has started, I have a feeling my blogging time is going to TANK.  The reality is, I need to prioritize and I'm not certain I can commit as much time to my blog as I have in the past.  Obviously, you make time to do things you want to do, but when a mabillionty hours of school gets added to the mix, the only time I can make to do things is my sleeping hours and Lawd knows I need all of those I can get.  At this point, I'm not sure if my blogging will even be affected, but time will tell.  Mostly, I just wanted to warn my devoted Gentle Readers if my schedule becomes erratic.  Case in point, my "weekend" review was posted on Wednesday this week...

But anyways... I couldn't decide on just ONE 5 word biography, so I came up with 5 and then realized that I didn't even notice the most common 5 word phrase I've lived since 2011, so there is a bonus!


That's NOT what she said.

That's not what she meant.

You didn't know her then.

Danced and cried; that's life.

Where is my lint ball?!



and of course....
my unintentional favorite...

"can I decide another day?" 








________________________________________

Switching gears.. I just want to give Teh German a shout out for being the #BestFianceEver.

This week he's really stepped up to take care of the responsibilities I've (tried) to let go, due to work and school.  He's helped with dinner (by cooking AND reminding me to load up the crockpot before we leave in the morning), he bought me flowers on my first day of school, he placed dinner on the table within minutes of arriving home, he ran errands with me, he agreed to celebratory sweets from Sweet Frog (and it happened to be no-weigh Wednesday #win), and he even walked the dogs with me after 8:30.  When it was necessary, Teh German let me spend the entire evening after I got home doing homework without a complaint that I wasn't giving him any attention or making me feel like I was missing out anything (as in, he didn't ask if I wanted to watch Parks and Rec).

He is flexible with my school and work schedule has picked up my slack without hesitation.  I joked that it's like we've switched lives.  I used to have a lot of spare time without him since he works longer hours than me (his hourly pay vs my salary) and when I got home on Wednesday night, he rambled off a list of things he had accomplished while I wasn't home.



I'm one lucky lady and I couldn't have asked for a better man to be my person.
69 more days until I get to update his hashtag and call him the h-word.

________________________________________

Happy Friday, Gentle Readers!
May your weekend feel long and next week feel short.
It will be my first full week of school, so I'll report back to you on how that goes...


Wednesday, August 23, 2017

Weekend Review {8/23}

When we left off Friday, the adventures were just beginning...
We had no AC, but we had a marriage license.. so ya know, balance.
Despite what you might have been thinking, my life didn't end after the eclipse, thus causing my absence, but life did overwhelm me, in part because of the eclipse.. so ya know, it's taking the blame either way.. On to the weekend!


FRIDAY

Friday was a roller coaster.  I went to work in the morning.  It was fine getting ready for work since we had the window unit AC, but the rest of the house was toasty.  Roux's Humom brought Pax and Meri to her house for a heat reprieve.

I left work at 1230 so I could go pick up my dress in West Ashley, then deliver it to the tailor for my fitting.  I remembered my shoes!  I did not remember my sash!  At this point in my life, shit like this seems to be the norm.  I was able to get my fitting done, I wasn't overly happy, but it could have just been me expecting magic and there was no magic.

Also, I might be weird in that I don't like shit hitting my feet when I walk.  I don't want dresses to be ankle length, but toe length is too long.  Look people, I don't have the natural grace for walking so when my toes catch on shit, I fall on my face.  I've accepted it.  Now let's stop hemming things so that they fall ON my feet.  I could probably have my dress taken in a little bit on the sides, but I'm not sure I want to do that at this point.  My biggest disappointment was that I was told there was probably something I could do for boob support and the tailor didn't seem to have that same opinion other than getting a bra extender and well.. that's not really what I want to do because bras are annoying I can only imagine that adding a bra to this dress is going to be a pain in the ass.

Also, before suggesting those cup things, just think of that viral video with the woman with JJJ boobs or whatever size they were trying on that adhesive bra and that's exactly what it would be like with me too.  Those things don't work unless your boobs are a B cup or smaller.  Period.  I used to be optimistic, but I've come to accept the rough life of the big-titted.

After my fitting, I headed home to commiserate with the dogs.  The AC company called to tell me I was fucked and that I'd be paying to fix the HVAC.  Grand.  They were willing to offer me a deal on the labor.  Instead of $999 (can we just call $1000, a $1000?) they would only charge me $799 (ughhh) or I could buy a warranty plan for them that would cover labor for the next 9 years.  Only 9 because the parts warranty is through the HVAC company and we're already a year in but they cover parts for 10 years.. not labor though.  So really, I'm paying $1250 for an insurance policy that if anything HVAC related breaks, the AC company fixes it for free.

Since they couldn't get to me until Tuesday.. they offered to come over and add more freon to the system and let it leak out.  This is something I refused to pay for on Thursday night, when I was told that the part may be in stock and they might be able to come out on Friday to fix it, IF the part was in stock.  You can imagine my rage on Friday afternoon when I found out that the part HAD BEEN in stock but no one called to set up an appointment with me.  #RAGE

Fortunately, the leak isn't so bad, so it stayed cold through when they arrived on Tuesday.  While I waited on Teh German to get home and/or the AC guy to arrive, I opened up the Christmas haul I had sitting on the table: 2 vanity cabinets, 1 over toilet cabinet, 3 pairs of shoes, all the collars, a new entry mat for the front door (which will be put down in October), my German book, 2 key chains, halloween costumes for Teh German, Teh PT Kid, Max, and Teh PT Husband... and probably something else I'm forgetting.  Actually, one of my boxes was delivered to the wrong house and they dropped it off and it contained 3 pairs of sandals, one of which is going back. 




Right before Teh German came home, the AC guy arrived to add more freon.  It took about 30 minutes to refill.  When the AC guy finally left, it was almost time for Teh German and I to head to West Ashley for dance lessons.  Traffic ended up being so fucked up that we weren't able to get dinner before hand, so Teh German was having to curb his hangar by the end.

We had agreed to go to the pizza place that was by the dance studio for dinner.  IT WAS A SOLID LIFE CHOICE.  I think we may have found a new favorite pizza place and it's pretty hard to beat out D'Al's.. except that this place isn't downtown, so that definitely helped.

Famulari’s Pizzeria

After pizza, we hit up Total Wine, where we saw our neighbor and his daughter, filled some growlers, then headed home for smoking time with Teh Neighbors.


This is what happens when I try to get selfies with Meri.
No loyalty, Dog.


Eventually, it was sleepy time and we called it a night and headed home.


SATURDAY

Saturday, I was mostly unmotivated.  Teh German went over to Teh PT House to help Teh PT Husband with some truck project they have been talking about for (what feels like) ages.  With Teh German out of the house, I built the bathroom cabinets.. all 3 of them.. and I only fucked up one!  It wasn't really my fault, it was made of particle board and already had a hole and then I realized I shouldn't have put the screw in already and took it out and then it wouldn't stay in very well and ughhhhh.. Nonetheless, I got them all built and all Teh German had to do was hang them.

After I finished with the cabinets, Teh PT Wife, Teh PT Kid, and I hit up the pool for some SPF tanning.  There were some turdhats there who were being obnoxious, but we all survived. 


Before we left the pool, Teh PT Wife and I agreed that we should go to Texas Roadhouse for dinner.  When we headed home, we got the dudes on board with the plan.  Teh German ended up unsuccessfully napping since Pax and Meri wanted to play in the loft where he was relaxing.  I probably rested my eyes for about 10 minutes before it was time to get up and finish getting ready.

At Texas Roadhouse, I showed off all my intricate knowledge from when I worked there.  Teh PT Kid and I fought over a basket of rolls.  The food was delicious as always.  When we got back home, there was a crisis because a dog had pulled the coconut oil baster off the counter and there were plastic bits of baster all over the loft and the rubber part was no where to be found (spoiler alert: the rubber part was later found by Teh German after I had looked and not found it).  Please note that Pax is out counter jumper/surfer and after too many DVD incidents, he is now muzzled with a poop guard so he can't eat everything in our house as he pleases and my princess, Meri, doesn't jump up on the counters.

After getting everything as cleaned up as possible, we headed over to Teh PT House for hanging out.  While the dudes were out smoking, Teh PT Wife and I puzzled.  It had been a while, so it was much fun.  The dudes came in and we were about to leave when Marcy thought that Meri was a tasty morsel.  We were able to get Marcy off Meri without much damage.  Meri had a spot on her neck and I got bit because I'm an idiot (or a tiger mom, you choose).  After the blood (mine) was cleaned up and super glue had been put in my wound, we headed home.  Meri was fine, I was fine.. we were all just amped up on adrenaline.

When we got home, it was bedtime chores, some reading (for me)/social media time (for Teh German) so we could wind down, then it was sleepy time.


SUNDAY

Sunday was a slow start.  Teh German and I had leftovers for breakfast and then we got motivated.  Teh German hung the cabinets.  Instead of being an audience (which always makes the German noises worse), I vacuumed the upstairs and then hung out in the loft (so I could hear Teh German if he yelled for help) snuggling with Meri.  She was mostly normal, but she was extra snuggly, but I couldn't tell if it was the baster eating or the Marcy incident.  I was happy to comply with snuggles, nonetheless.


While I waited for Teh German to need my help, our baker delivered another version of peanut butter chocolate cupcakes for us to sample.  YAY!


Eventually, Teh German needed my help for hanging things and I held up the cabinets so he could screw them in. 


With the cabinets task accomplished, Teh German headed outside to mow the grass and edge.  I talked with Teh Mom for a little bit, then headed outside to fertilize/water my plants.  After I was done with the stinky fertilizer (fish food), I decided to reorganize the garage.  I moved a mostly empty shelf in the place of the shoe holder, which got moved to the curb, I swept out the garage.  After everything was "clean" I moved the gardening dirt/mulch/grass fertilizer/etc to the other end of my parking spot.  I don't really love it there, but I did at least clean out the corner where it had been.  Yet, I'll probably move it all back to where it was.

Since it was almost dinner time, I headed inside and started our last Hello Fresh meal, some beef thing, which didn't overly impress me (since I overcooked our steak).  After cleaning up dinner, we sat down and had a Parks and Rec marathon until it was bedtime.


MONDAY

FINALLY ECLIPSE DAY!!!!!!
More importantly, FINALLY Teh Running Bestie's arrival day!  Teh Swim Family also came with her.  They are in Myrtle for the week and wanted to watch the eclipse from Charleston since we were supposed to get totality.

For me it was a normal teleworking day.  Everyone arrived at 5 till 9 and we got all say hello and then I had to run upstairs for my daily meeting.  After my call was over and I completed and emailed a document I had been working on, I headed downstairs to socialize with my guests.  We played a few games, including a few rounds of Organ Attack.  Eventually we had lunch and snacks.  I made sure to be available for work if anything came up.

I broke away for a little bit to deliver eclipse glasses to Teh PT Family.  They were headed to the pool.  I made sure to love on Marcy and Max.  I chatted with Teh PT Wife for a little bit and listened to Teh PT Kid chatter away.  Eventually I headed back to House.


Everyone was sitting out back on the patio but the clouds had started rolling in.  Swim Mom was saying if we went a little bit to one direction we'd be able to see the eclipse.  Finally, we broke down and said, ok, let's go!  We all loaded up (in 2 vehicles) and headed towards the coast.  I knew I didn't want to go to the beaches and my coworkers in Mt. Pleasant had said they were able to see it, but a storm was rolling in.  On a whim, I just decided to go to Teh German's work to see if it was possible to see it from there.

We got super lucky and we were able to see it!  Unfortunately, right at totality the storm clouds rolled over and they were too thick to see through, but we did at least get to see some of the eclipse.  Also cool, I got to watch the eclipse with Teh German (who announced to us that he had seen an eclipse before).  Teh PT Wife and Teh PT Kid joined us so they could watch it too.




Storm clouds rolling in right at totality time.

Eclipse Chasers at totality.

After we got home, I checked to make sure I hadn't missed anything for work and then learned how to play Settlers of Catan.  I didn't win, but I did have fun.  I don't overly love the whole getting points thing, I just liked building stuffs.  Now I need to play Ticket to Ride and see which one I like better.

We placed an order for Willie Jewell's for dinner.  While we were playing Catan, Teh Running Bestie went and picked it up for us.  Dinner was served right as Second Child won.  Not long after, our guests headed back to Myrtle Beach for the rest of their vacation.

Pax was pooped after playing with Third Child throughout the day.


TUESDAY

Not that Tuesday was a weekend day, but it was kinda the bookend for a shitty week, so I'm including it.  I went to work on Tuesday morning and realized when I got there that 1- I was earlier than the person with the key, and 2- the AC guy was supposed to come between 9-11 to fix the HVAC.  Ugh.  Once I got inside, I set up for a little bit and then ended up heading home at 0835 to meet the AC guy.

When I got home, Meri was extremely lethargic.  More so than when I had left her.  A concerning amount.  I had already made a vet appointment for her in the afternoon, but I was so concerned when I got home that I bumped her appointment up to the morning.  What this meant was a HUGE wrinkle in my schedule since no one would be home for the maintenance people.  When I called Teh German he couldn't come home (we're going to work on his emergency situation response), Roux's Humom was out, and I was loosing my mind.  Before I resorted to just trusting that the HVAC guys and anyone else that was coming to the house wouldn't steal from us, I asked our neighbor if he could come over and house sit while they worked on the HVAC.  Have I mentioned lately how much I love our neighbors?  Seriously.  Our neighbors are awesome.

He was expecting the same maintenance workers, sans the HVAC guys at his house, so I turned on the security cameras so he could see when someone pulled up in front of his house.  I booked it out with Pax and Meri to the vet.  Meri had a large lump under the place where Marcy had bit her, but I assumed it was just swollen.  Turns out, it was an abscess that drained when the vet was examining her.  Pax needed a heartworm test, which was easy-peasy.  Meri also went back for some xrays to check and make sure that the baster wasn't causing an obstruction, it wasn't.  We came home with antibiotics and an anti-inflammatory for Meri.


When I was pulling into the development, the neighbor called and told me that his workers had arrived and I told him I was about to pull up to the house, so perfect timing!  The screened in pergola dude pulled up at the same time as me.  Once I got everyone situated, I joined him in the backyard to discuss what we were looking for.  All the while, the HVAC guys were replacing the coil that cost me $1250 since I'd rather just buy the warranty for 9 years in case some thing else breaks rather than pay a mabillionty dollars over the next 10 years.

Around noon, the HVAC guys left and I was finally left to my own devices.  And then, the builder stopped by.  I finally broke down and yelled at him after he told me that the painters were supposed to come on Wednesday... I explained, patiently, that school started on Wednesday and that I was no longer available on M/W/F.  He then proceeded to ask me if I wanted him to schedule them to come next Wednesday and I lost my shit.  I CANNOT.

After we cleared up a potential schedule mishap, he headed out and I got to truck through my work day.  Meri started getting whiny after a while and I finally just gave her half a tramadol so she wouldn't hurt, thanks Phil.

The rest of the day was much smoother.  Teh German came home and gave me a hug.  He also made dinner and I worked on this post.  Despite dealing with Meri's cries, she eventually decided that it was worth it to get up for dinner time and to gaze out the window.  After several episodes of Parks and Rec, it was finally bedtime.

______________________________________________

Seriously, Gentle Readers, the last 5 days have exhausted me.  Actually, the last week+ has exhuasted me, but the last 5 days really tried to take me down.  I didn't have a single meltdown despite all the curveballs I endured.

Today is my 2nd first day of college!  I'm going to try and let all the horribleness of the last 3 months (hip surgery, crutches, not being able to drive, #goatdogs, self-inflicted laptop drama, no AC, barometer headaches, sunburn, Meri and Marcy's incident) deter the fact that I am excited/nervous to start school again.  Because the reality is, I had an EPIC summer "break."

Now it's time to switch gears and prepare to lose all my free time to working and homework!!!  Woo!

I had to.
Also, the big thing in my selfie is a class ring.
Cadets are VERY proud of their school.  This was a class gift to the school.


Friday, August 18, 2017

Five on Friday #120

EINS

Teh Sister sent me a free Hello Fresh code, so I figured, why not.  It arrived on Monday with 3 meals.

Something was leaking.  I still have no idea if it was an ice pack or sweat or something else.

Ingredients for 2 different meals.

Completed meal.





I'll just be straight up.  I wasn't impressed and here's why...

1.  When I cook, I cook for, technically, 2 meals, dinner that night and enough for leftovers for lunch the following day.  Sometimes, I even cook more than that.  1 Hello Fresh "meal" is exactly enough for 2 people to eat.  I probably could have had a few bites for leftovers, but it wouldn't have been enough for lunch the next day, so I still would have needed to figure something out for lunch.
2.  Originally, when I started the chicken meal (not pictured), I only saw 1 breast of chicken in the 12oz package.  Turns out, there were actually 2 breasts in there, but I for sure thought we were going to be splitting 1 chicken breast for dinner for correct portions.  I was more impressed with the pork meal (pictured).  Portions are very precise, which is good and bad.
3.  The value of these "6" meals (which I consider 3 since I will have cooked 3 times and cooking once = 1 meal) is $70.  I can shop for MUCH cheaper than that and get more bang for my buck.
4.  I would have done a better job picking out produce.  The onions were bruised up and the sweet potatoes were TINY.  The arugula was completely wilted.  The Walmart Grocery employees do a better job of picking out my produce and they DGAF about what they give me.

Pros:
1.  All the ingredients were right there.
2.  All the directions were right there.
3.  The process was mostly simple.
4.  Only basic ingredients/tools were needed that weren't supplied (olive oil, measuring spoons) if they gave you "too much".
5.  Delivered to my door.
6.  Different recipes than I would have used if I had to plan this.
7.  Teh German probably could have followed the directions and we wouldn't have starved.
8.  Portion control is done for you.  You definitely won't be going back for seconds since there won't be anymore.
9.  This box was free.
10.  I didn't have to meal plan.  (I forgot this box was coming and meal planned for the week anyways, but that was on me.  It ended up working out though because we stayed home one night I thought we were going out and I didn't have a plan for another night.)


Final thoughts?
I would NOT subscribe to the Hello Fresh meal box.  In fact, I probably wouldn't subscribe to any meal box for $70 for 3 dinners for 2 people... or 6 total meals.  Nonetheless, we got a $70 box for free and I'm not one to look that gift horse in the mouth. 


ZWEI

I made my own laundry detergent last weekend and then the Laundry Fairy didn't even come to visit!  Well, technically she was just delayed.  AKA. I was too damn lazy to do laundry last weekend and I finally broke down on Wednesday and started it.  #DontJudgeMe


The process was actually extremely simple because I used the no cook recipe because I'm #LazyAF #notsorry.

If you're too lazy to click on the link, I will share the process with you.

Tools needed:
-Blender that you can screw onto a mason jar.  This means, not a Ninja (woe is me).  But the blender you can use costs $20 at Walmart and probably cheaper than that if you go to a thrift store.
-2 1 quart mason jars, not wide mouth to work with the blender chopper madoogie*.
-1 cup of Borax
-1 cup of Arm & Hammer Laundry Washing SODA (not the same thing as baking soda)
-1 bar of Fels Naptha Soap (5.05oz)  (there are alternatives out there, but I'm telling you what I did.)

Optional:
-To make less of a mess, a wide-mouth funnel.  My regular funnel wasn't too happy with the borax clumps.
-I also added some of the Gain Fireworks to one of the jars.  I saw somewhere to only add 1 tablespoon, buttttt I added more like 3+ tablespoons because I'm me.  It turned out just fine.
-Essential oils for smell.  

Directions:
  1. Grate/slice up the soap bar.  Put half the bar in each jar.  I actually cut the bar into sixteenths and put the cubes in the jar.  That probably wasn't the best way to do it, but it worked out ok.  This soap grates pretty easily, so it would have been easy to make smaller cubes
  2. Add 1 cup of hot water from the (CLEAN) coffee maker.
  3. Wait 1+ hours for the soap to "gel".  If you didn't grate the soap, this will obviously take longer.  Because the cubes didn't dissolve, I waited until the next day, whatevs.
  4. After the soap has gelled, cut through it with a knife to loosen it from the jar.
  5. Get your funnel and use it for the adding of the powders.
  6. Add 1/2 a cup of Borax to each jar.
  7. Add 1/2 a cup of Arm & Hammer to each jar.
  8.  Add "enough" of the smell enhancer that you want.  I used the Gain Fireworks, essential oils are also an option (but you'd have to look at the link to see how much to use).
  9. Add water to the "shoulder" of the jar (the highest, widest point of the jar, there is a diagram on the link).
  10. Put on the rubber seal*.
  11. Put on the sharp chopper thing*.
  12. Put on the blender cap*
    *I seriously have no idea what these parts are called and I'm too lazy to look them up.
  13. Make sure the blender bottom is tight and put it in the blender.
  14. I just pushed a button to make sure it got smooth.  You can pulse, you can set it and leave it.  Whatevs.  When it's done, it should be the consistency of mayo and smooth (i.e. NOT grainy, if it's grainy, the powders didn't dissolve and it's still fine to use).
When I was done with all the steps, I felt like the contents were a little runny, but they thickened up after it cooled.  I also may have added too much water to mine since I added water, then beat the powder down some, then added more water.  Nonetheless, it turned out fine.


I won't lie, I was super skeptical at first.  But I already had borax in the house and the other ingredients cost me less than $10, so I was willing to try it.

A normal load of laundry includes:
  • laundry detergent (whatever I can find on sale/have a coupon for that I'm not allergic to (Purex or Tide).  Currently, I am using Purex).
  • laundry softener (whatever is on sale/I have a coupon for)
  • 1 scoop of Borax
  • 1 cup of vinegar (for Teh German's oily clothes)
  • 1/2 a cap of Gain Fireworks (because I really love the smell)
Using my creation, now I use:
  • 1-1 heaping tablespoon of laundry soap
  • 1 cup of vinegar (the oil, I cannot with the oil)
The first load I washed, I was extra skeptical about when I took it out of the washer.  I'm used to the overwhelming smell of delightful laundry scents and there was no scent.  But, it was a test, so I threw those clothes into the dryer like normal.  They came out smelling really good.  Not super strong like with all the detergents, but they still smelled good.

Megan hack:
I'm #lazyAF so rather than deal with trying to get the soap off the measuring spoon, I just throw the whole spoon in the washing machine and pull it out when I move the laundry to the dryer.

Now my problem is that I have to use up the rest of the store bought detergents!  #firstworldproblems

Overall, I WOULD recommend making your own laundry detergent.  It's easy and way cheaper than store bought products.  The friend who turned me on to the homemade soap makes a year's worth of detergent at a time!

PS.  I added more of the scent booster crystal things and microwaved the sauce and reblended.  I lurve the smell now.  I do not lurve the fact that my mixer ate the rubber seal thing...


DREI

Some things from my phone/life:

Sometimes, I let the dogs do the dishes.
Teh German always hates it.
PS.  Pax is a hog.

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We got our marriage license this week!
We wanted to make sure we did it well in advance just in case the whole foreigner thing threw us a curve ball.
It didn't even make a difference.
Wewt, we're gettin' mawwied.
PS. This feel like it happened a million years ago, let me explain.... (continue reading)

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The most valuable "appliance" in our house right now...

Our AC has been out since Wednesday early, early morning (like before our alarms went off) and when I came home at noon on Thursday (so I could suffer with the dogs) it was 87°F upstairs and 83°F downstairs.  Wednesday, Pax and Meri had a play date with Roux and Roux's Humom didn't have any issue with the dogs staying at their house for the afternoon while the AC was out.  When I picked them up, I thought our AC was fixed.  On Thursday, they just had to suffer.  I did have the fans on, so that helped.

Wednesday, a tech came out and "fixed" the AC, but it never started cooling, so in fact, he did NOT fix it.  He did fix the noise that was also a problem, so I guess that is what my $180 went towards.  When we went to bed Wednesday night, it was 83°F upstairs and 80°F downstairs.  When we woke up, it was probably 87°F in our bedroom since we shut the door (because Meri has a tendency to wake up in the middle of the night and find all the squeaky toys).

When I called the company at 9:30 on Wednesday night, I was surprised when they answered the phone.  They scheduled the same guy to come back on Thursday.  We were both surprised when he said that the outside unit was saying it was low on freon, which meant there was a leak somewhere.  Then he found the leak, without using his handy dandy leak detector because the leak was so bad.  What this really meant for me is that the coil is fucked and we need a new one.. andddd the labor to replace the coil is.... "$999."

I am actually in the process of contacting Dan Ryan, and eventually Linnux, to see about getting this situation paid for since this is NOT an issue that a 1 year old HVAC should have.  The technician blamed the entire thing on the defective blower, but I don't know how far I will get.  Even if I have to pay for it out of pocket, I'm going to get the HVAC fixed.  I CANNOT deal with no AC, especially with the dogs.





Last night, I refused to cook because it would have made downstairs the temperature of the sun, and instead we picked up a grocery order from Walmart for Teh Running Bestie, sold a baby enclosure I've been moving from house to house since 2013, went to Lowe's and bought a window unit, and went to Sushi 101 for dinner.  When we came home, Teh German slammed shit around and installed the window unit and went to smoke a cigar.  I tried to do some work, but was too resigned to be productive and opted to go upstairs and hang out with the AC unit while it cooled our room down and read.

Oh yeah, and we might not have AC until next week AND the company is NOT working on Monday since there will be too much traffic in the area because of the eclipse.  #FML

TL;DR: Home ownership is hard and expensive.  AND THIS is why we have a house savings account!  Also I find it extremely inconvenient that the AC always goes out during the hottest time of the year.


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How to know my week has been extra crappy:
Unopened packages.

These packages include 1 cabinet for the guest bathroom, 3 new pairs of heels to replace 2 pairs of heels that I've had for several years which have seen better days and 1 new color that I've been wanting for several years, 2 storage cabinets for the master bathroom, Halloween costumes, and whatever else I've ordered this week that I've forgotten about in the catastrophe that has been my week.


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I posted here earlier this week about the rules of using "/" and the photo above show my FB post and then on Wednesday at orientation, I received this shit show handout from the Chaplain which had me praying for patience and the restraint not to stand up and start yelling, "TOO SOON!  TOO FUCKING SOON!"

If you can't follow the rules of grammar, at least (for the love of all that is holy) be CONSISTENT in your fucktardary.  For me.  For Jesus.  For Buddha.  For whatever the fuck you believe in that is valuable to you.  PUULLEEAASSSEEE.


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I passed off the pergola project to Teh German.  With the AC debacle, I cannot handle it all.  There is no reason Teh German couldn't have handled this project from the beginning but since I'm usually more available, I took it on.  I really need to stop doing that.  It's his now.  We've discussed how we're going to pay for it and really, it's Teh German's thing more than mine. 

Teh German has the contractor's number and vice versa and they can work it out and this solves multiple problems:
1. Me feeling responsible for everything ever.
2. Dealing with assholes who try to give me shit for not being able to stick to our "scheduled" appointment.  (Not this week, motherfucker, I will cut you.)
3. Teh German constantly asking me for updates about the situation. 










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VIER

Some things from the Internet:



The comments on this video of a night sky long exposure made me want to slap people.

I'm usually neutral about TSwift, but #FUCKYAS to her win.  Even more #YAAASS to her testimony on the stand.  I want to high-five her so bad.  Why do people think that it's ok to touch other people without their permission?  I will never understand.


Things about Charlottesville, VA and racism and shittastic shitheads..

Yes, this is Racism
Trump shouldn't be the focus of the Charlottesville incident
Representing History (in regards to this issue, SC leaders have said that SC Confederate monuments will stand because SC is "different" and I LOLed.  I live near a city where the Sons of the Confederate are painting a Confederate flag every day on a public graffiti boat to make a point that they will not be "erased."   Ummmmkay.)

My heart hurts for this country and I am very afraid that Trump has become a scapegoat for shittastic things that happen.  More focus was put into the fact that HE didn't say anything rather than the fact that these 2 groups were violent.  It is a complicated situation no matter how you look at it.  The white supremacists had the right to gather, as did the black lives matter group.  That last link makes it sound like the white people were a mob and all I keep thinking of is the book Small Great Things by Jodi Picoult.  This is 2017.  White supremacy isn't defensible to me, no matter how hard I try to look at it from all angles.  That makes this situation easy to judge, but it isn't because laws.  I hate the world I live in when I try to defend white nationalists.  I've seen the memes about compromise and that is not what I'm suggesting.

I think it's high time to check white privilege.


FÃœNF

10 things that made me happy this week:
  1. No issues getting our marriage license.
  2. Teh German agreeing to cancel dance lessons on Wednesday because I was overwhelmed.
  3. Homemade laundry sauce.
  4. Awesome dogs who roll with the punches and don't get worked up over having maintenance people in the house.
  5. New recipes for dinner.
  6. Not shady repair dudes.
  7. Getting RSVPs.
  8. Time to read.
  9. A window AC unit
  10. Teh German telling me some things in Australia he would be interested in doing/visiting.
  11. *bonus* Passing off something from my plate to Teh German.  I need to do this more often.



Happy Friday, Gentle Readers.