Weekend Review {7/23}

FRIDAY

I had planned to go to school to take my Calc quiz at 0930, but downtown was flooded and traffic was fucked up and I was worried about getting from school to the airport so I emailed my instructor and asked to take the quiz on Monday morning instead.  She finally responded at 7:30PM... (I had emailed her at 8am) so 12 hours later....  /facepalm.

I also had a work call at 0800 for my "transitioning off" project, during which I texted my former PM to clarify that I was fired for miscommunication, after participants on the call kept apologizing for not making the requests for work cleara.  Yep, glad I was the problem.  Fucker.

Since I wasn't going to school, I packed after finishing the laundry and headed to Teh German's work early so he could drop me off at the airport.  I got to my gate and found a spot to plop with my breakfast and laptop.  Rather than doing homework, I decided to blog.  Honestly, I was super wound up from the stress of the night before and morning and I needed some Megan time so that's what I did.

My flight was delayed because of weather, which meant that I could have went to class, but oh well.  I did eventually make it to Chicago where Teh Running Bestie was waiting on me.  We were texting and agreed to meet at the baggage claim since my bag had gotten checked at the gate.  We couldn't find each other so we agreed to meet at the train area.  We still couldn't find each other.. at which point we realized that Teh Running Bestie was at Midway and I was at O'Hare.  FMMMLLL.

I had her birthday present out and ready to give to her too...
I was disappointed to have to pack it back away.

Rather than deal with the trains and having to navigate the city with my luggage, I called for a Lyft.  Brian my Lyft driver was awesome, which was good since we spent an hour and 30 minutes together trying to get to downtown.  Our ride even included stopping at the train tracks for THREE trains to pass, one of went all the way forward and then back ALL THE WAY back.  I cannot make this shit up people.  This is why I hate trains.

Fucking trains.

Finally, I made it to the hotel and Teh Kiawah Running Friend (who I'm going to start calling Matilda) and Teh Running Bestie jumped in the car with us and Brian took us to the Expo so we could pick up our bibs.

After the Expo, we headed back to the room to drop off my luggage and then went back out to pick up pizza at Lou Malrati's for dinner.  We brought the pizza back to the room since the wait for a table was almost an hour and a half.  After changing into stretchy pants, we devoured our pizza and soon after it was sleepy time.

SATURDAY

A 0630 alarm was set for race day.  Teh Running Bestie and I signed up for the 5k on Saturday and the 10k on Sunday so we would qualify for the Remix Challenge to get the extra medal, #priorities.  We made it to the start line in record time since our hotel was close by the park where the race started.  Due to being Gimps, we had already decided to walk both races.  It was predicted to rain, but we were fortunate that the rain mostly held off until we crossed the finish line.  We made stops at the medical tent for ice (not for me, fret not) and then the merchandise tent.  Matilda had found us along the course a few times and then right before the finish line.  She stayed back cheering the people at the end of the race.

When we all met back up, we finally agreed to walk back to the hotel in the rain.  We took quick showers and then headed downstairs for the breakfast buffet, which was ON POINT.  After breakfast, we headed back upstairs to post-run/brunch naps.

When we finally woke up by 2, we agreed to go be tourists.  We made a pit stop at Kilwin's to grab ice cream, went into Walgreen's for some water/supplies, then went into Millennium Park to see the different art pieces and The Bean.  After, we walked to the Navy Pier, where we sat and enjoyed the break in the clouds for a bit.  Eventually, we decided to head back towards the hotel and find dinner.  I found a place called Remington close to our hotel that did just the trick.

After we were all stuffed to the gills, we practically rolled back to the hotel.  We lounged around for a little bit, I FaceTimed with Teh German, I started this post, and we watched the Navy Pier fireworks from our bed and then it was bedtime.

SUNDAY

We were up at 0530 for our 10k race. 

Snow plows to block the road make me LOL.
Great use of the trucks in the off-season, if you ask me.

Waiting to start.

Start line!

I ran into a little snafu before we started when I realized that my bib said corral 17 instead of corral <5, which Teh Running Bestie and I had both just assumed.  Oops.  While we were waiting to start after we got into the groups, I just kept my bib covered over the corral number in case someone was going to call me out.  17 was the last corral and I just could not with that.  AND I realized it right as we were about to start and I wasn't going to fight my way to the back corrals after having just fought my way to corral 5.  Nope.  #ALittleBitSorry

There were some great views along the way.  I also learned that my super awesome Google phone takes garbage panoramic photos.  /facepalm.

It rained on and off throughout the entire race.  It took us a little under 2 hours to walk a 10k.  Honestly, I feel like walking was harder than running because Teh Running Bestie and I were both just wanting to take off.  In fact, we ran through the start chute, despite my grumblings at Teh Running Bestie that she shouldn't be.

After we got our medals and some ice for Teh Running Bestie's ankle, we picked up our Remix medal (the bonus medal for running 2 events in the same weekend) and then headed to pick up coffee for me.  After acquiring caffeine, we headed back to the course so we could wait on Teh Kiawah Running Friend and cheer her on.  Unfortunately, it started raining BUCKETS and we were wet and cold and we opted to go back to the hotel instead of waiting the 30-45 minutes for her to come by. 

After showers, Teh Kiawah Running Friend made it back to the hotel.  We stretched and chatted and then, sadly, Teh Running Bestie and I had to depart to head to the airport.  We took a Lyft instead of walking through the rain with our luggage to get to the train, despite Teh Running Bestie's desire to ride the L.  Hopefully, her 10k medal of the L made up for it?

After getting to the airport, we made it through security (I didn't have to take my shoes off and I went through non-TSA-precheck security and I was confused, but not complaining), grabbed something for lunch, then headed to my gate to wait for my flight since I departed first.  Teh Running Bestie turned on her hotspot for me to try and get some homework accomplished, but due to my Java ineptitude, it didn't really happen.

Sadly, the time came for me to board and we had to part ways.  While I waited on the plane to take off, I did some Java research.  After we took off, I tried to read the Java stuff that I had opened, but it was putting me to sleep, so I took a nap instead... Which is my airplane specialty.

Teh German picked me up from the airport and we agreed to do Mexican for dinner.  After dinner, we headed home for me to spend the rest of the night beating my head against the Java wall.  Teh German ended up going to bed well before me.

And just like that, the weekend was over.

______________________________________________

I had a super fun fantastic weekend with my Running Homies.  But I won't lie to you.. if the trip hadn't already been planned and paid for, I wouldn't have went.  I had fun while I was there, but I was just putting off the stress of everything I had going on, which didn't cause me to relax more.  Additionally, there was a black cloud over me all weekend.  It was exhausting.  Not just to me, but for everyone.  I hate when that happens because I know that when I'm annoying myself, I'm also annoying everyone around me.

Thankfully, the mood finally broke Monday evening and Teh German was quite surprised when I got home on Monday evening in a rather chipper, upbeat mood.  I still had studying to accomplish on Monday, but I wasn't as frustrated as I'd been on Sunday, which always helps. 

Teh Running Bestie pushed me to hire a tutor for Calc 2, so I've finally done it.  Today I spent ~2.5 hours with a tutor, which has mostly taught me that I know what I'm doing, but I'm fucking up the simple things.  I have a test today, so hopefully the money was well spent.  If not, I'll probably keep spending the money anyways, since there is only one more week left of the summer semester and I really need/want to pass this class.  My current grade is a 73.  It's cutting it close.

As for my CS class.  I've figured out that if I fail it, my schedule, NOR my GPA will be effected, so I'm not overly concerned.  I probably should be, but I needed to prioritize and I can retake the CS class in the spring at the Citadel and it will only be a MWF class, vs if I have to retake Calc 2, that is a 5 day a week class and that's just obnoxious.

If you're still hanging on with me through this rough patch, you're the best.  I have expectations of myself to get back on my blogging schedule as soon as this summer hell semester ends.  I have Honeymoon recaps to write and whatever else I normally do when I'm not in my own personal hell.

Work is work.  Because I spend 95% of my time teleworking, I've been making sure to check in frequently.  I did have the satisfaction of replying to an email from someone on my "transferred" project with my former PM cc-ed that I was no longer involved with the project and maybe the PM could direct him to someone who could tech write his document.  /shrug. 

The only negative thing that has happened is that I discovered something I thought was complete, was NOT.. 2 weeks later.  That doesn't bode well, but I corrected the error and now I'm hoping for the best.  It was an unintentional mistake and it happened after the whole disaster went down, but I know that I'm under a microscope, so we'll see how this plays out.

In all of this, Teh German has been a rock-star.  He ensures that we eat and he does things without me without making me feel like I'm missing out and he checks with me before potentially inviting people over when I could be doing school work.  He's pretty much the best husband ever, which I tell him frequently. 

Oh and finally, the dogs have been extra awesome too.  They both have known that I've needed love but also needed space.  They lay with me in the office while I'm slaving away on my homework in the evenings and studying in the mornings before I leave for school.  They always ensure that I am properly greeted when I arrive home and butt scratches can be administered until I have to eat dinner and go do homework.  Meri has been super snuggly with me in the mornings and Pax has given me his greyhound hugs (he leans on me) frequently.  I love when they know how much I need them.  For that, I give them bully sticks dicks every night and reorder the treats that we are almost out of. 

Gentle Readers, THE END IS NEAR.  Stick with me through this last hell week!!!

Weekend Review {11/13}

FRIDAY

Thankfully, Friday afternoon classes were cancelled, which I am happy to thank Steve Bannon for (at least there is one thing redeeming about that shit show).  School was school and then after classes were over, I headed downtown to acquire some autographs from Young Adult authors.

I took this photo for Teh German.
It asks what you would like to do on a first date and ride motorcycles was listed.
JUST like what Teh German and I did.  Awww.

I waited for almost 2 hours in line to meet Victoria Aveyard, author of Red Queen.  She was super nice and she complimented my "That's what I do, read books and know things" shirt.  #win

After, I headed to Lauren Oliver's line.  Fortunately, I only had to wait for about 45 minutes total on her.  She was super fun, although she thought that I was with the lady in front of me who worked at a zoo, which led her to write "I LOVE ANIMALS" when she inscribed my book.  Mkay.

Lauren Oliver headed to her signing table selfie, lol

While waiting in line, we cheered on this bride and of course I took an awkward selfie while she was getting fitted.
#CreeperMcGee #noapologies

Top: Victoria Aveyard
Bottom: Lauren Oliver

YALL Fest things.
The bottom left picture is Cassandra Clare being recognized and she actually stopped to take a few pictures before getting in her car.

AUTOGRAPHED COPIES!
PS.  I haven't read the Lauren Oliver book(s) yet...

I didn't end up getting home until around 5.  We had planned to stay home since Teh German was being a party pooper, but he had a change of heart and agreed to go out.  Teh PT Wife had suggested we go to a brewery since they had a cigar thing going on.  It was cool, but it was chilly out.  Then it came up that there was a smoking lounge downtown that offered hookah at which point I suggested we go try that out.  I was driving since I don't drink beer and that allowed everyone else to enjoy beverages, so everyone else was down with that.

We hung out for a few hours, mostly waiting on Callie's Hot Little Biscuit to open at 10 so we could get a late night snack.  #worthit

We headed home after our snacks were consumed.  Then it was bedtime.

SATURDAY

While I had been downtown on Friday, Teh German had went to Summerville after work to pick up our race packets for the Sweet Tea 10k we were running on Saturday morning.  Unfortunately, Saturday morning came super early.  Nonetheless, we got up and got ready to head out and run/walk the 10k.

I couldn't figure out why there was such a huge military theme to the race this year and it finally ...dawned... (around dawn) on me that it was Veteran's Day.  #WorstVeteranEver

Shortly after mile 5, I noticed a little library box and HAD to stop and check out the selection.  I ended up carrying A Thousand Splendid Suns with me for the remaining .75 miles of the race.  It garnered plenty of comments, to include a few who said it was a really good book and I had to agree. 

Medals acquired, we headed home.  We had tickets to see Jason Segel at 1, but we laid down for a nap around 1030 and I woke up for some reason around 1220, but rolled right over and went back to sleep.  We ended up sleeping until around 2 and finally got out of the bed around 2:30.  It was worth it.  We piddled around the house for a bit until it was time for Teh AF Maintainers surprise retirement party at Wild Wing Cafe.

Teh AF Maintainer was definitely surprised, so good job to Teh Dental Hygienist!  After the party, we headed back home.  Teh German said he was tired and was going to bed at 8:30, but Teh PT Wife and I went to the neighborhood ladies night.  We ended up playing Cards Against Humanity, and in a rare occurrence, I WON!  BOOM.

Eventually, we headed home and it was bedtime.

SUNDAY

Sunday was accomplishment day.  I had studying I needed to accomplish since I had a math test on Monday.  I didn't accomplish much of that, but I did do all my other homework and studied some.

When we got out of bed, Teh German agreed to walk the dogs with me and we met Roux's Humom for a walk.  I really wanted to ensure that the dogs didn't harass me while I was trying to be productive. 

Can I just say how much I love the fact that USPS delivers on the weekends?  Luuurrrvveeeee.  Sunday, another box of registry things arrived.  Teh German had been asking when the new Hue Bridge would arrive and it arrived that day!  He was like a kid at Christmas with the new Bridge.  There were so many things in the box and all he cared about was the Bridge. 

The box also contained new bath sheets (aka really fucking big towels), motion sensors for the closet, motion sensor covers (which annoys me that the switch doesn't come with a freaking face plate, ugh), 2 new Hue lightstrips since they were on sale, the new Hue Bridge, and a Hue motion sensor. 

Teh German installed the new Bridge first and he was pumped to be able to tell Siri to turn the lights on/off.  I won't lie.  It's pretty awesome.  He wasn't pumped about the Hue motion detector.  It took a little bit of tweaking, but I eventually got it to work as it should and I fucking love that beeyoch.  I don't care what Teh German thinks.  I haven't been able to get my phone to turn the lights on/off with a voice command, but I also didn't take the time to troubleshoot setting up. 

The moon must be in Mercury or something because I haven't been able to get my technology to work correctly for about a week now and communication is going poorly. 

Teh German installed the motion sensors in the closets and worked on the Bobber bike while I accomplished school things.  When he had to go out to Lowe's for something, I also had him stop by the grocery store so I could make kale/sausage/lentil/sweet potato soup for dinner.

I took a school break to fix dinner.  After dinner, I focused my math cramming and was overwhelmed at how the wedding made me forget all the things.  Things that I know I had been able to do before the wedding, I now had ZERO recollection of how to do.  I eventually gave up out of frustration.  At which point, it was bedtime.

MONDAY

Monday was school and my math test went over as expected.  I didn't know some things, I recognized a few of the questions from my review.  After school, I headed to Sam's to pick up a few things.  I had finally purchased a Sam's membership on Sunday during a school break.  I had my membership card printed out, pick up my items, got gas, and then headed home to unload everything.  Right away, I agreed to a dog walk with Roux's Humom because I knew the dogs would be crazy.  Teh German ended up arriving home in time to walk with us.

When we got home, Teh German brought in the last of the packages from Amazon.  Barry, my new Shark vacuum arrived and it's Barry like berry and he brings me much joy.  I have this mindset that appliances are appliances.  But I bought my original Shark, Goldie, back in 2012 and while I love it, Barry is such an upgrade!  He makes vacuuming the thick pile rugs/carpet easier than Goldie ever did. 

The real reason I upgraded is because 1- Barry has lights.  This doesn't seem like a big deal, but Goldie didn't have lights and that's shitty because even vacuums from the 90s had lights.  2- One of the container clips on Goldie wasn't staying properly latched all the time.  After 5 years of abuse (because I know how I roll), I wasn't really surprised I needed a new vacuum.

The new smart thermostats also arrived and Teh German set about installing them after some work on the Bobber and dinner.  This didn't work out well and I'm pretty sure a fuse was blown since last night, neither of the thermostats would display anything (new or old).  I get to make a troubleshooting call today to see what the next steps are.  I'm going to call Honeywell and if they can't help, I'll call the HVAC people to see what the policy is on upgrading the thermostats with our warranty situation.  I'm hoping the solution is as simple as replacing the fuse.  We'll see.

Nonetheless, it put Teh German in a super shitty mood and despite all my efforts to cheer him up, it wasn't happening and I went to bed pissed off.

______________________________________________

Overall a great weekend/start of the week.  I'm certainly ready for Friday. 

Wednesday, I have a test in German and chemistry.  Friday, I'm planning on skipping chem and heading north to visit with Teh Running Bestie!!!  She had surgery on her ankle on Monday, so if you'd send her some healing vibes, that'd be great.

I'm skipping the SYUB linkup again this month.  I blame wedding, but I've mostly accomplished nothing significant on the reading front.  It is what it is.  I'm hoping that Thanksgiving week will bring some welcome reading time, in between playing Nurse to Teh Running Bestie and work needs. 

Teh German will be joining me in MD the day before Thanksgiving, while Pax and Meri will be spending Thanksgiving with Teh AF Maintainer and Teh Dental Hygienist.  Teh German and I will be headed back to SC the weekend of the 26th.

Here to this week going quickly!
PS.  Shit Teh German Said is coming this week.  Yer welcome.

Confessions {4/19}

-When I think of the fact that it takes me ~7.5 minutes to print out one envelope and consider how many hours I spent designing the damn things, I question my mental stability and wonder WHY I thought it was a good idea to do anything myself.  Then I remember that it would have cost me ~$.50 per envelope to have the addresses printed AND we would have had to finalize the guest list in March when we had the invites printed.  #FiguredItOut

-After that one time of Teh German telling me he was tired of working on wedding stuffs (ya know, when he had been sitting in the same room with me playing games on his phone while I actually did the work and every now and then I asked him for his opinion on something), this situation was kind of a slap in the face...

We went to the Andrew McMahon In The Wilderness/Atlas Genius/Night Riots concert downtown on Monday night.  That morning we were trying to figure out dinner plans.  Teh German asked if there was anywhere I wanted to go and I told him I wasn't sure, but I could research some places.  

Let me explain what "researching some places" actually means...  It means going onto the Yelp site and putting in a destination address and sorting through the mabillionty restaurants available in that area (because downtown Charleston) and filtering through them to find what is actually in the vicinity and somewhere that isn't $$$$ that isn't going to take forever that has something recognizable on the menu that could be tasty.  I find my top contenders and go to their website to view the menu.  I generally try to find 1-5 different options, depending on who I'm eating with.  Does Teh German see any of this?  No.

A bit later, I message him with 3 different dinner options, BBQ, burgers, or Greek with links to each menu.  He selects the greek place.  I say, "Done."  He says, "Easy peasy."

I didn't say anything, I just let it go, but the struggle was real.  I knew that he was probably talking about making the decision, not the entire process behind it and I was reading too much into it.  But I honestly don't know the proper way of going about saying, "I feel extremely underappreciated for the things I do," without coming off like a cunt.  

I think maybe my epic to-do list is burning me out (yet again) and maybe we just need to sit down and have a conversation about how sometimes, living with him is like living with a child where I have to make all the decisions for someone who constantly huffs and puffs at me for being slightly inconvenienced or if he doesn't get his way.  I sometimes imagine just NOT doing all the things I do, but the prospect of the household spinning out of control is something I cannot stomach.  The real problem is that I can't really delegate any of my tasks other than the cleaning and I know that would go over like a lead balloon.

I try to go out of my way to acknowledge his contributions (dishes, yard work) and thank him andTeh German DOES do things around the house, yet there are just times that I feel like everything I do (which my super flexible job enables me to do) goes mostly unappreciated.  I also realize that he can't read my mind, which is why we need to have this conversation, but I can't help myself from thinking how nice it would be if people just offered to help.  #EndRant
PS.  I think living with Teh Running Bestie spoiled me.


-I slayed my to-do list on Monday.  I sat in a spare office and made calls for hours to take care of business.  Things I accomplished:

• Sign up for fall races (Isle of Palms Connector 10k, James Island Connector 10k, Kiawah Island 1/2).
• Purchase stamps (I bought 2 books each of the blue and colored heart stamps, a random stamp will go on a random envelope, done).
• Called Ortho about moving forward with hip appts (his assistant called me back and I have a pre-op appointment scheduled for May 16th - queue my heart palpitations).
• Contacted Dan Ryan about our 1 year "fix it" list.
• Scheduled Phil's sonogram.
• Scheduled a dental for Phil for May 22, the day we're driving from MD to SC.  Just a half day pit stop.  
• Scheduled Meri and Phil's yearly wellness visit - a few weeks early since I hadn't spoken with the Ortho at that point.
• Emailed CSU about my missing NC State transfer credits (I almost loled when the admissions person "explained" that my NCSU transcript hadn't been received when they did the assessment.  Funny, since the NCSU transcript arrived 3/1 and the other transcripts arrived 3/13-17th, but mmkay).
• Walked Teh German through sharing his calendar with me (so I know when he plans things and forgets to share them with me, which isn't often).
• Ordered new checks with my eventual new last name and updated address (since the address on them now is from 4 moves ago...).
• Made dinner reservations for Monday evening since we were going downtown for the Andrew McMahon in the Wilderness/Atlas Genius/Night Riots concert.

-Things I have made progress on since posting my to-do list on Friday:

• I started addressing envelopes.
• I started editing Asheville photos.
• I created a team for the pre-wedding 10k, so hopefully others will join us.

-The concert was fantastic and Andrew McMahon crowd surfed on an inflatable duck..  I kept the concert going on Tuesday in my earbuds with my Monday Night Concert playlist on Spotify.  #notsorry

-The way people in our office load the dishwasher drives me absolutely insane.  Seriously.  Every time I go to put something in the dishwasher, I end up rearranging it to better fit MORE dishes.  IT'S NOT THAT HARD PEOPLE!

-We're running a 10k the weekend before the weekend and we've already planned to do "Runaway Bride" and "Runaway Groom" shirts.  Fortunately, we'll be "running away" together.  I'm kinda hoping more of our guests that are in town at that time will join us since they also have a 5k at the same time (they just get bused back to the 10k finish line).

-When I went home early yesterday to let Phil out to avoid an accident in his crate, I sat down at the computer to finish up my work day and also managed to get some envelopes printed out.  #killinit

-I really like it when Papa G complements my using German (which I try to do when I'm sending short, simple messages in WhatsApp, please don't be impressed by me), and he signs his messages to me (not to Teh German AND I), "Love Dad"

-I find it amusing when people on the "Reclaimed Bride" sites on FB say, "Only used once!"  Also, why would you ever try to sell something with your hashtag on it?  That just seems like a bad idea.  #Learn2socialmedia

-I potentially made a bad life choice this morning.  When I went into the kitchen to get hot water for my tea, I noticed that someone had brought food in to share with instructions that said to put the sausage roll on the homemade bread, add mustard, and enjoy.  All the ingredients were there, so I figured why not.  It was as I brought the concoction to my face that I noticed little green spots on the bread.  Uhhh, kthxnope.  But instead of thoroughly thinking it through, I went ahead and ate the sausage.  If the bread had mold on it, how old was the sausage that I just ate.  If I'm dead later (or unable to leave the bathroom), we know why.  #possiblepoorlifechoice

-DDDUUUUDDDDDEEEEEE... So.  A few weeks ago, I bought a couple's massage from Groupon.  Now, sometimes I'm skeptical over Groupon massages because some places are always offering a Groupon deal to bring in customers maybe because they are shady or not that good.. but whatevs.  I'm all about saving dollas, so I was like, at least it is a massage.  Last night, after Teh German had thoroughly fouled my mood, he pretended like everything was ok and we headed to our massage.  I was so tight from stress that I was twitching.  Then this little Asian lady got her hands on me and I melted and OMG IT WAS SO GOOD.  I told Teh German that I wanted to put her in my pocket and carry her around with me forever.  When I flipped over, she commented that she liked to hear groans and moans because it was positive feedback that she was doing a good job.  Well, I am happy to acquiesce.  I asked her what she was doing November 1st.  Of course, she didn't get it, but I'm seriously thinking about just planning a massage the morning of the wedding with her because she's perfect and I'm willing to drive the 30 minutes it takes to get there for forever if she's workin' out my knots.  I'm so sore today, as expected since she did some serious deep tissue work, but I can tell a difference and I didn't wake up with my shoulders at my ears this morning!  If you're local, the place is called Massage Serenity Spa.

^^Me preparing to make my visits regular.

-I can feel my pain killers kick in because my brain gets a little fuzzy/loopy and I feel like I have mild vertigo.  I assume this "high" feeling is why people get addicted to pain killers.

-PS.  It might be PMS week.  Thus the appearance of Teh Drama Llama Megan and Teh Drama Llama German.  I always forget that for as much as I feed off Teh German's state of being/mind, he also has some pretty severe PMMS (premenstrual MAN syndrome).  Anyone else's SO get PMS from YOUR cycle?  Please say I'm not the only one who has to deal with this.