Monday, March 30, 2020

Weekend Review {3/30}

I'm gonna be honest, all the days spent in front of my computer are blurring into each other.  To the point that Saturday, after spending my day in front of the computer doing homework things, when I went to bed, I thought I had forgotten to log my time for work that day and I had to remind myself it was Saturday, not a work day... because I had actually done a few work things on Saturday...  Work times blur into not work times and it's just such a surreal world I'm living in now.

FRIDAY

Work things. School things. Dog pics. 


During the day my German Runner friend messaged me and asked if I was interested in doing a virtual COVID-19 run for a medal with he and his running partner.  Of course I said, OF COURSE!  So, he ordered it for me and when mail it to me when it comes.  #RunningGang goes international!


In addition, I enabled my domestic #RunningGang to agree to do a virtual run all "together" to earn a virtual run medal.  I'm not sorry for the way I am, mmkkay?

Eventually, Teh German came home and we agreed to go pick up Sesame for dinner and take it to my office to eat since they are down the street.  Sadly, Sesame has completely closed, which was the true motivation for going there for dinner.  After dinner, we did a long loop back home to get in some riding time since it was nice out.  All.the.bugs.  I should have held a funeral service for the bugs that went SPLAT on my visor... but I didn't.  Instead, I sprayed it with windex and cleaned that bad boy off for next time.


Then, I went upstairs and took a bath and Teh German had some screen time. 


Eventually, it was bedtime.


SATURDAY

Saturday was homework day.  I spent over 6 hours in front of the computer doing computer science/databases stuff and I didn't hate it.  I'm actually pretty sure I finished my final project soooo that was also not a disappointment.  I wanted to get some German hw done, but there was just so much of it that I couldn't even force myself to start it (after speaking with a classmate, she was in the same boat). 

In the evening, we did some social distance socializing with Teh PT Husband/Wife.  We were going to order dinner at Wild Wing Cafe, but the online system wasn't working and they didn't answer the phone.. so then I repeated the same process at Texas Roadhouse and finally Teh PT Wife was like, fuck this, I'm driving to Zaxby's and I tagged along.  When we got there, we were able to pull in off the street and stop, because the drive thru line was that long.  See photo for evidence.


We put in an online order sitting in the drive thru line and picked it up at the window.  That was nice.

After dinner, it was back porch time for a while until we all got tired, then it was bedtime.


SUNDAY

Sunday at 0800, the Runner Gang had agreed to run our virtual run.  Teh PT Wife and I ran together and she endured almost 7 miles because I was tracking a new course for myself.


After the run, I took the dogs on a 1 mile loop.  When I got home, Teh German was Skyping with his mom, but I headed upstairs for a shower.  After he finished up his call, I made breakfast and then we set about doing our tasks.  Me: laundry, etc crap, then to the computer for homework.  IDK what Teh German did.


Teh German ended up going out on a ride while I attempted to do German homework, but instead spent 2 hours texting with various people and then forced myself to do German homework because there was just so much of it I had to accomplish something

Teh German came home and we had dinner and then after being unsuccessful at getting my German video to play on his phone (for casting to the TV so we could suffer through it together), it was decided that I needed a break from all the work and school things and we could watch something together that wasn't related to any of my problems.

So we started watching Tiger King and we're 2 or 3 episodes in and I don't get the hype. 

Eventually, it was bedtime.

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This week is more school and work.  This is the worst Corona-cation EVER.  These weirdos have went about their normal operations (ignoring me) now that they realize I'm here all the time.


I'm over all school things.  To the point that I'm curious if I do no more homework for the entire semester and just do tests/quizzes/finals, how badly will it tank my grades and will I still graduate with some type of honors? 


If I allotted myself one day for each final I have to take (3 days, which is extremely generous since I could probably knock them all out in a day), then I could be done with school by May 30th.  The only kink in that plan is that PITA Professor is very inflexible and I imagine him doing some shit like "holding" our exam on the day it was scheduled for (May 4th), even though no one is on a fucking time table and needs classrooms anymore.  Siiiiigh.

Maybe I'm impatient because my routine is so off and the month of March has lasted approximately 4958928402 days.  Either way, I'm ready for the out like a lion, in like a lamb.


Friday, March 27, 2020

Five on Friday #230

EINS - Random Shit


Part of me was like, meh, you don't really want to make the time to blog.
Part of me was like, yes, yes you do want to make time to blog.

As always, I'm happy I finally wrote the blogs about Denver and last weekend.  Obviously, it was a high level review, but the photos are posted and the fam can see it... and it is done.

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Chiro recommended 3 Dean Koontz books so I used my Audible credit to purchase Watchers.  Fingers crossed.

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I've been doing minimal reading since everything in my life went online.  No driving means no audiobook time.  Running would mean audiobook time, but I haven't even done that.  This is where I am in life.

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My professors are recording their lectures for our, now, online classes and watching these videos are less enjoyable that trying to scoop out my eyeballs with rusty spoons.

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I went to the grocery store this week and the cashier asked for my phone number (for rewards). She couldn't seem to understand me, so I spoke slower and looked directly at her since she was turning to face me when I spoke. Even then, she asked again and I started to get a little frustrated but subsequently noticed she had a speech impediment. So then I held up the numbers one by one on my fingers.

She was so excited that I did that! She asked me how I knew sign language and I explained that I didn't actually know it but I was trying to be helpful since I could tell she was having an issue understanding. She said it was nice because people don't realize she's partially deaf and get frustrated with her.

When I was all packed up and had paid, she signed (and said) thank you, have a nice day, and I was able to sign back thank you.

There are so many times that I don't allow other people grace or have the patience to observe what is happening and get frustrated. Right now, so many people are anxious about the situation we're all in and have even shorter tempers. By taking half a second to assess the situation, I was able to make this cashier's day and I didn't even mean to. It's that simple.

#BeBetter

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Before non-essential services were closed down, my hair dresser got me because she's awesome.  I figure this is my way of supporting local since she's not going to be working.


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This weekend includes using the new laser level to rehang all the shit on our walls and plenty of homework.  Thoughts and prayers needed during this time of Teh German and I working together on a project and also for me to get through homework when it is physically painful for me to do...

42 days till "graduation".
I guess I should just change that countdown to the last day of class since I have 3 exams and 2 of them are on the same day.  I do wonder how that will work now.  Whatever, we'll handle that disaster when the time comes.




ZWEI - Money Shit

-Groceries
-Hairs did
-Moosage
-New laser level and stud finder for Teh German
-Last Burpees and Brews class until all this stay-at-home stuff is over.
-A fun surprise for someone I know who reads this.


DREI - From My Phone Shit



Don't worry, all is well in Whoville with Cindy Lou Who....


TACOS, it's what's for dinner.

Based on the 2 day headache, I fucking knew it without being told, kthx.
#BarometerHead

Neighborhood Watch is always watching.

....when she's not patrolling her back yard perimeter.

Long nose, long legs, and looooooooong ear shadows.


VIER - From the Internet Shit

Even here, you are free to look forward to the future.
MHN

How liberating it is to know:
You are not defined by the times you fell.
MHN

The rocks did not keep the river from pushing through.
-MHN








FÜNF - Things that made me happy this week


  1. Being home with the beasts.  I'm generally a nicer person when Meri makes me crazy with her petting demands.
  2. Having everything we need.
  3. Having a job that can be done remotely and we are not seeing a work stoppage.
  4. Having work to do, even if it is overwhelming because of school starting back up and finding a new normal.
  5. Crazy cleaning the house after the painters finished.  It fucking sucked, but no one cleans my space as good as I do, soooo it brought me great joy and satisfaction and feelings of accomplishment.
  6. Spotify's ability to play on other devices, to include "Everywhere", which in this house means ALL the Alexas... which makes for a pretty cool surround sound effect AND I never miss parts of songs because I get up to go pee or get water or etc.
  7. My new red glasses.  It's the simple things.
  8. Teh German dealing with/making dinner without complaint.
  9. Teh German grinding the coffee beans.
  10. Paint on the walls.




Happy Friday, Gentle Readers.

Tuesday, March 24, 2020

Corona-Cation Week 1... Part 2: Back Home

Continuing on....

We came home from Denver late Tuesday night and Wednesday we rolled back into the "new normal"..

Wednesday

It was technically Spring Break for school, so no school things meant teleworking only.  I did run some errands since I hadn't been home in a week.. Walmart to pick up my new fancy glasses (this is the official reveal) and get groceries.  I also went by Sam's and picked up a few items.  THEN, I was going to go and pick up the dogs, but as I put the place into my GPS for directions, I noticed they are closed from 12-2 for "naptime"... Siiiiigh.. So back home I went.


I ended up not being able to pick up the beasts until after 4 due to work calls, but they were NOT excited to see me.  They only cared about one thing: CUSHIONED SURFACES.




This was actually ok because both dogs were kinda stinky and needed a bath and I didn't have time.

When Teh German came home, we ate dinner, then set about the process of removing everything from the walls and moving all the furniture to the center of the rooms.

I wasn't sure where to store our delicates/fragile items.. AND THENNNN..
I remembered that there is extra space in the pantry for activities.

Matilda suggested taking before and after photos, so I did that after everything was moved around.  It only took 2ish hours to move stuff around, so we still had time to watch some TV before bed.


Thursday

The painters came on Thursday.  They descended on the house in a productivity storm and I loved every second.  Especially the part where I pulled the dog beds into the office and the beasts finally settled and slept all the day long.



Lunchtime shift rotation.

My Tarheel 10 Miler + 4 Miler race was cancelled, and in an asshole move, the race organizer refused to refund money.  They were like, here's your credit to sign up for a different race that we're putting on.  RUDE.  Sooo fine.  Since I didn't sign up for the Challenge until way late, it was a lot more money than it would have been when registration opened... Soooo I signed up for the 2021 Tarheel Challenge AND the Myrtle Beach Half Marathon in March 2021 so that way I can get the Bless Your Heart medal since I'm already signed up for the 2021 Charleston Half Marathon.

When Teh German came home, dinner was made and then we spent the remainder of the evening practicing "social distancing" while our couches were almost touching, lol.  We watched Vikings and I got Meri snuggles.




Friday

Friday morning the painters came again.  I headed to the Chiro for a quick adjustment since I had a half marathon in Savannah on Saturday.  When I got home, I checked my email and the Savannah race had been cancelled.  I was crushed.  It did make my weekend less stressful, but I had been looking forward to the race.  I was able to get a full refund on my AirBnB, thankfully.  I went ahead and signed up for the virtual race, so I'll have to find a 13 mile trek somewhere to "earn" my medal.  I did put the 2021 race on my calendar, because everyone says the course is gorgeous, so it might be worth a cheap signup when they opened 2021 registration.

Through all of the things (painters, race debacle, a millionty emails from PITA Professor about classes being online, etc), I teleworked and managed the beasts.  Since the office was painted on Friday, I spent my day at the kitchen island.  The sacrifice was worth it, because by the end of the day Friday, all the painting was complete.

These are the before/after photos.

The office.

Downstairs bathroom

Dining room

Living Room

Loft

Laundry Room

Guest Teh Bestie's Room

Common Bathroom

"First Child" Room

Master Bedroom

Master Bathroom and Toilet Closet

I will say that the photos are not the true colors that you can see with your own eyes.  I'm not sure why my camera alters the colors so drastically, but the blues in the bathroom are more teal than blue and the green in the laundry/toilet closet is a little less bright than it seems.  Also, the true color of the bedrooms can be seen in the master bedroom photo, in the bottom right. 

For dinner, Doordash delivered Sushi 101 and we went over to Teh PT House for some socializing group social distancing.


Saturday

Saturday morning, we had a slow start.  I got up and fed the beasts then went back to bed until my alarm went off to go to my workout class.  I did my last Burpees and Brews for a while, since classes have officially been cancelled now..  It was a miserable 83°F out and I was confident I was going to die of heat stroke during the AMRAP.  I survived, but barely.

When I got home, I made my coffee and had lunch with Teh German and then I didn't let laziness get me down.. I set about the task of cleaning the entire house




You see.. what they don't tell you about painting is that they sand the walls, which then gets dry wall dust every.fucking.where.ever.  Even on shit that was covered by plastic.  Everything had dry wall dust on it.  I wiped down the kitchen counters at least 3 times and I was still wiping off dust with my hand, at which point I said fuck it.

For every room, I vacuumed/mopped/both the floor where the furniture normally is, then I moved the furniture back, dusted what needed to be dusted, and then cleaned the regularly exposed floors.  I did this for every room.  I started before 1pm and when I sat down at the island for dinner after 7pm, I sagged in relief.  After dinner, I forced myself to vacuum the stairs, which was the only task that hadn't been complete before sitting down for dinner.

Teh German did assist me with randomly directed tasks and with fixing our bed and putting fresh sheets on.  Afterwards, Teh German decided to go on a ride and I decided I was fucking done with everything and rinsed out the tub and took a bath.


Much to both of our surprise, I was still awake when Teh German came home around 11, but we were both asleep shortly after.


Sunday

Snuggle Sunday > Sunday Funday.


Because of how much I fucking slayed accomplished on Saturday, Sunday was LAZY DAY.  Teh German got up with the dogs and came back to bed for more sleeping in.  When we finally got up around 9:30, we had a slow start and made breakfast.  After breakfast I made the weekly menu and tried to accomplish some online grocery shopping (unsuccessfully, thanks for asking) and ordered a few things on Amazon (dog food, laser level for rehanging all these photos), and then it was couch time for the rest of the day.

My succulents are flowering.
Only in SC.
 

The rest of the day was not an exaggeration.  The only time we got up was to use the bathroom and to make/eat dinner.  We binged on Vikings all the day long.

Monday

Monday was back to the real routine.  School is back in session, although all classes are online for the rest of the semester, and teleworking continues.  When/if things go back to normal and I'm going back into the office, the dogs are gonna be pissssssed.



Endured my first Zoom meeting. 

Databases class Zoom meeting.

Side note: I had never heard of Zoom until all of this and they would have totally been a solid investment prior to CV.

At lunchtime, I headed over to Teh PT House to let someone in for them.  When that task was done, I checked the mail on my way back to the house.. FUN THINGS ARRIVED!!

My postponed/virtual 7k medal.

Unfortunately, my medal racks are not yet rehung on the wall, so it's delayed gratification to get to put it on the rack.  Hopefully by the time my diploma arrives, my frame will be back on the wall waiting for it, lol.  #Goals.

I spent the rest of the afternoon doing work things.  My afternoon Burpees and Beer workout was cancelled, which was fine.  I was really only going to support the leader's small business, not for the beer.  I imagine she was worried about being fined for organizing a gathering, so I just responded, okie dokie, see you when we pick back up!

Teh German came home and we walked the beasts with Teh PT Wife, then Teh German made dinner while I finished up work.  After dinner, Teh German did fish tank things while I wrote up this post.  When all that was done, we watched our last 2 episodes of Vikings 😭😭😭😭😭 and then did bedtime chores and went to bed.


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And now, Gentle Readers, you are all caught up on my life.

Hermit-Megan is pumped to be teleworking and online schooling. 
Social-Megan is less pumped to be teleworking and online schooling.

That said, Megan Megan will be more affected by all of this once Teh German is home from work/teleworking as well.  I have an established teleworking routine.  Teh German is not a part of that.  This will change.  I am not looking forward to that.  Ok, maybe it won't actually be that bad and I'm just pre-overreacting. 

Annnddd the best thing to come of this Corona-Cation is that I've planned go visit Teh Bestie in April.  Being remote means being remote wherever and that can include with Teh Bestie.  We're still hammering out the details, butttttt I've been ready since last week.  Before CV, we had the Rock n Roll DC race on the 28th, but that has been cancelled and plane tickets have been refunded, so I needed an alternative date for Bestie time... and Corona-Cation has made that possible.  Teh German is invited if he's also remote by that point, but I don't actually think he'd mind being home able to ride anytime he wants.