Weekend Review {7/20}

FRIDAY

Some drama was going down at work.  Always a good time.  Due to hours, I got to leave at 1230.. make that 1245 because I got tasked with some drama mitigation at 1230 as I was literally about to turn off my computer.  It got pushed to Monday.  #sorrynotsorry #taskmeintheAM

When it gets rough, I just minimize all the windows and stare at my cute puppies.

I had some returns to make at Lowes and Walmart, so I got those done and picked up a delicious Jr. Bacon Cheeseburger from Wendy's (which is the only burger I ever get there) and a mega-ultra-huge sweet tea.  After accomplishing my errands, I headed home to hang out with the dogs and play on the online dating site.  Seriously, these profiles are hilarious to me.  Some are legit funny, some are me literally laughing at these people.  In fact, I created an entire post about it.  Gentle Readers can look forward to that later in the week (I think/hope).

The feels like temp outside kept me from walking the dogs in the evening, but I wasn't overly concerned because I pounded out 4.5 miles in the morning.  I ended up being lazy for dinner and eating leftovers.  The "breakup" diet this time is more about eating less when I eat, than not eating, so my friends can rejoice that I will not drop dead from not eating!  It's actually kinda nice not to feel so stuffed after meals.

I finished up season 5 of Downton and there were tears.  I'm not ready for it to end!  NO NO NO!!!  I stalked some strangers** and finally I went to bed around 10 since Mr. Scrooge and I were going on a ride on Saturday morning.

MUST PLAY WITH ALL THE TOYS!!!! -Meri

SATURDAY

I was completely lazy and instead of taking the dogs out on a walk, I just let them stay outside for the hour between waking up and leaving.  Meri didn't mind.

After an almost disaster where Mike died as I was driving down the interstate and wouldn't start because he was trying to run out of gas (luckily he wasn't completely empty and we were able to make it to a gas station without walking Mike down the side of I-526), we headed towards John's Island.

Our first stop was Sunrise Bistro again, which was just as delicious the 2nd time.  What Mr. Scrooge described as me "aggressively looking" at a dude's shirt to read it, I was excited to see a greyhound person sitting beside us as the bar!  My trying to read his shirt might have been a little creeptastic, but it was worth it!  We chatted for a bit and shared some photos.  He didn't even know there was a Charleston greyhound group.  Le sigh.. I wish this group didn't suck so bad.  

After breakfast, we headed to the post office so I could mail Teh WJL a present (for being awesome and helping me move).  Then we headed to Angel Oak.  It's this MASSIVE tree.  Super old.  Photo below gives you all the details.  If you're ever in the Charleston area, it's definitely worth the look.

After the tree, we agreed to go to Edisto beach.  This is significant because we were headed to Edisto beach when I crashed Mike a week after I got him.  You memberrrr...  Anyways, this was more of a big deal for Mr. Scrooge than me.  I had wanted Edisto beach to be the first place we went after I got Mike back, but Mr. Scrooge wasn't really up for it and I didn't push it.  So this was the first time we took that road since that disastrous first time.

Nothing of significance to report.  Mr. Scrooge took it quite slow for me, at times I wanted him to go faster, but I just accepted it because he was nervous and we were being safe.

We hung out on the beach for a short bit once we reached our destination.  Also, we discovered that the gas station across from the public access had a walk in beer cooler, which was SUPER nice to cool off in after sitting outside in our jeans and boots and riding so far in all our gear.  Soooo sweatyyy.

Mr. Scrooge had been slightly grouchy when we arrived at the diner, which I assumed was because of my gas mishap but... I also knew that he recently started to express interest in reading my blog and I posted on Friday about the online dating thing.  He didn't say anything about it at breakfast, but he wasn't really "friendly" either.  I just assumed he was in one of his moods and went on about my business.  Finally at the beach, he alluded to something about how I was "looking."  This was my confirmation that he HAD read my Friday post, and I explained to him that I wasn't necessarily interested in jumping straight into a relationship.  I was also looking to be entertained.  At the worst, I'm getting funny stories and possibly free meals/food.

I could tell he felt better after he finally said something.  I just wish it wouldn't have taken him so long.  The rest of the trip, he was much nicer and normal.  I guess this means he probably also read that thing about poking my boob.  #sorrynotsorry  That said, how long has he been reading?  The whole time?  I guess this could explain some of the moodiness that I had to deal with.  Then again, I felt like anything I put on Teh Blog, personal drama wise, I made a point to discuss with him first.  I feel like to be in a relationship and finding something out on your significant other's blog is a pretty shitty modus operandi.  I like to think that didn't happen.  I'm sure I'll never know if it did.

Pelicans!

I told this guy that it might be too soon for a shark on the beach in a Carolina, but I don't think he got it.

After ice cream and rehydration, we decided to head back to civilization.  I asked Mr. Scrooge to stop on one of the bridges we crossed if there weren't any no stopping signs (there weren't).  Which meant I was able to get this shot:

I got a panoramic of that scene as well, but all the photos are still unedited, sorry/you're welcome.

Once we got back to my house, Mr. Scrooge came in to say hey to the pups and cool off for a bit.  After showing him the photos I took (I seriously need to figure out this polarizing lens because I think it killed my tree images (my own fault)) he headed back to his house.  He later invited me over for dinner, but Meri ended up puking several times, so I opted to stay home and give her extra attention.

Mike got put into his new cubby.  Mr. Scrooge noticed some rust on part of the wheel, which was motivation to get Mike out of the elements.

I spent the evening playing on the internet and messaging strangers.  I probably should have cleaned, but meh.  I deserve a lazy day.  I went to bed around 8:45 because I was exhausted and I didn't take a nap all afternoon.

SUNDAY

After being guilted by a stranger for not getting in my run on Saturday (it wasn't intentional and I'll take whatever motivation I can get), I got up on Sunday morning early enough to get a run in before church.  In order not to DEmotivate myself, I didn't even check the weather before getting out of bed, which is often the ONE thing that significantly deters me from going on my runs.  It was the most effective solution to the problem that I will continue to employ in the future.  Seriously.

I did 6 miles in 1 hr and 5 minutes.  I was pleased with that time considering the humidity level was in the 90% range.  I could actually see the mist where the sun was shining through the trees in some places.  So yeah, running through a fog was pretty much the most miserable thing I did all weekend.  I got home and showered and headed to a new church I discovered on the internets.  I was pretty excited about it honestly.

Then I got there and the church was under construction and I had no idea where to park or how to get to the sanctuary...  It's really my luck.  I was not deterred.  I parked where I saw some other cars and started to walk where I'd seen someone else.  A lady and her daughter happened to be walking through at the same time as me, which was helpful.  Then she stopped to talk to some strangers and they all pretty much ignored me while I stood there while they chatted (I didn't want to interrupt them) and I started to get pissed.  I finally got to ask where the sanctuary was since the lady didn't seem to be leading the way anymore.  At which point, we continued on.  She asked if I was new and I said yes, and she introduced herself and her daughter.  The daughter ended up leading me into the sanctuary because the mom was ADD apparently.

I had heard the praise band practicing when I walked in behind the lady and I figured I was late.  I had seen 8:45 on the website and it was 8:46.  Oops.  When I walked into the sanctuary, there was ONE couple and the praise band.  I just kinda stood at the entry way stunned.  All I could think was, "There is no way there is only one couple here at this service.  No.way."  At that point, the band members were starting to look at me standing there, stupefied.  I figured that at this point, what did I have to lose?  I sat down towards the front on the left side (always and forever).  The band finished the song and they started talking to the person in the soundbooth and I realized why there was no one else there.... the service hadn't started yet.  0845 was the start time for the other church I had looked at.  /facepalm.

The couple in front of me introduced themselves, and so, so many others.  I forgot how hospitable southerners are.  Southerners meet no strangers, that's probably on a mug somewhere... probably beside a Confederate flag mug.. too soon?  my bad.  The service was awesome, although the music was a bit loud (which could have been my own fault, I'll get back to this).  The crowd wasn't all old people (which makes a difference).  The pastor that spoke didn't read from notes, although I really felt like he could have done with a little less bible lesson and a lot more "how to apply to your life" lesson since we all know the story of Joseph and the coat of many colors and his life as adults.  If not a short summary could have sufficed instead of telling the entire story in detail then a quick wrap up at the end.  I'm picky, I know.  After the service, several people came up to me and said I looked familiar, like someone else who attend there.  The lady that had escorted me in even apologized for ignoring me before because she thought I was the person that everyone else had thought I was, who would have known her way to the sanctuary.  Fully understanding what was going on made me laugh and tell the lady it was ok.

By the time the service ended, I had a full-on headache.  I had ran 6 miles and drank plenty of water, but hadn't remembered to grab a piece of bacon from the fridge before I left so I was getting a no-food headache.  As I was debating my options, I decided to message Teh SC House Finder, who I hadn't seen in a hot minute, and asked if they had eaten breakfast.  Right as I got home, she responded and asked if I wanted to go to brunch with them at Ms. Rose's, of course I said, "Yes please, when?"  Her mom had to get ready, but then it was time.  That gave me a few minutes to hammer down a piece of bacon to maybe help mitigate the headache some.

We arrived at Ms. Rose's at 11 and our food (thankfully) came out fast.  Sorry there were no pics of my biscuit and gravy with an egg on top, I NEEDED food.  It was super fun catching up with Teh SC House Finder and her family.  I forgot that they hadn't even seen my new hair do!  Teh Teacher's Assistant has the same cut, so I told her how much I loved her style too.  :)  That's how long it's been since we hung out.  So I got to update them on all the things.  I told them that soon we'd have to have a gathering at my house so they could come check out the new place and so Teh SC House Finder's Dad could hang out with Phil and Meri (he really loves Phil and thinks Meri is "very interesting" since no other dog looks like her (it's the ears)).

After brunch, I came home and took a nap to help fight the headache.  I woke up with it still lingering, but it was tolerable.  I got up and read some and messaged some strangers and ate my pineapple upside down cake that I had gotten to-go and was generally lethargic with the pups.  A storm rolled through, which would explain the lingering headache that vanished after the storm was finished.  Thanks Barometer Head, thanks.

Storm dog is weird.

Despite not getting the cleaning done that I had planned, I did do some laundry and the dishes.  Not having a dishwasher is really killer.  I would have never survived as a 50's house wife.




Overall, an extremely satisfying weekend.  I think I might have found my new church!  I haven't decided yet if I want to check out church with the 0845 contemporary service or not.  I'll figure it out soon enough.  I also set up a time and date to meet one of the strangers that I've messaged throughout the weekend.  I will proceed to text my dates/time/location to someone so that way they know I've been abducted if I don't call them by a certain time.  I'm nervous/excited about it.  This guy seems very nice and non-douchy.

Meri is still not at the top of her game.  She's been pretty lethargic all day Sunday and not playing very much, but she hasn't puked, which is progress!  She puked on both her crate blanket AND Phil's crate blanket, which meant they BOTH got washed!  She's the best at motivating me to do things, little turd monkey.





**strangers are the dudes on the dating site.  I felt like it was fitting.

Linking up with these ladies:
Ashely @ A Cute Angle
Meg @ Life of Meg
Biana @ BLovedBoston

Weekend Review {7/13}

**Warning: long post filled with lots of stories and some FB drama.  I swear it's worth the read because I accomplished SOOOO much this weekend with the new house!**

FRIDAY

When the police called me after my morning meetings "because the locksmith noticed that the AC window unit was missing when he changed the locks," I became concerned and headed home to figure out what was going on.  Sadly, the police had already left when I arrived home, but I was able to be home for the appliance maintenance person to fix the washer/dryer.  I finished off work from home for the rest of the day.  I might actually miss having all these convenient excuses to be able to work from home after they are gone.

After I finished work, I decided to start the migration of the entertainment stuffs from the dining room to the living room, which included moving the wall mounted shelf and wall mounted TV.  I was able to remove the mounted shelf and relocate it with relative ease.  There were some issues getting it off the wall because it was stuck, so several layers of wall and paint came with the mount... oops.

After a nap and some Downton Abbey, Mr. Scrooge came over to help me remove the TV in the dining room from the wall mount since the TV weighed 50 pounds and was a bit too wide for me to comfortably handle alone.  After it was off, I realized that the screws were very tightly in the wall and that it was going to take different tools (a socket set over a wrench) or that the house was super swollen.  Swollen was more than likely the case as several things in the new house have issues when the humidity is super high, which is always because Charleston.  Le sigh.

I had agreed to meet Mr. Scrooge for dinner after his softball game.  Originally he had suggested Manny's but I suggested Moe's instead because I wanted to try "my" burger (egg, bacon, cheese), which would be the real test of their scrumptiousness.  They definitely passed.  Mr. Scrooge escorted me back home (since we were riding the bikes) and I was lazy in bed for the rest of the evening and finished my first book for the one of the book challenges Inside Out & Back Again.

SATURDAY

Meri was ready to start the day at 0630, so instead of fighting her, I just got up and fed the beasts and went with it.  I considered running, but was lazy since I had taken the dogs on a walk on Friday morning.  Instead, I resumed the migration effort of 2015.

I tried to remove the tv mount screws with the wrench again and while they were still tight, they weren't as tight as they had been the day before.  I was able to get out all 6 screws with A LOT of effort and the TV mount wasn't as attached to the wall as the shelf mount had been, thank heavens.  Then I moved on to the process of stud finding and was about to start drilling holes when Teh Mom called.  I talked to her for a bit, then resumed my migration efforts.  I was able to get one hole completely drilled IN when the drill bit got stuck in the wall.  It was at this point that I realized that this project was going to test me in many many ways and I tried to tell myself that I'd be proud of all my hard work when it was over and done...  I sent Teh Dad the following image and asked, how am I supposed to get this out?

He suggested pliers and tightening the drill onto the bit tighter and neither of those options worked.  He listed to my frustration for a bit and then made the final suggestion of "screwing it in and out."  Possibly the dirtiest, non-dirty conversation I've ever had with my father.  "Screw it in a little bit, then do it reverse.  But just a little bit.  In and out, in and out."  At which point I finally had to admit, "I can't even take you seriously right now with all this screwing talk."  We had a good laugh.  Magically, his in and out trick did the work, thank JEBUS.  I was incredibly frustrated that I had already spent at least an hour removing screws from the wall to get the mount down and now I had hit another road block.  With the drill bit out of the wall, and a lesson in "hole drilling," I was able to drill 4 more holes before I overheated my drill.

I put the drill in the freezer for a quick solution since I was 1 hole away from being able to move to the next step.  Then I decided that might not be a good life choice and took it out and decided to go get a hair cut and run errands instead while the drill cooled down.

When Teh WJL was here, a lady at the market had suggested a salon near the outlets, so I went by there to see if anyone could take a walk-in, and if not, to make an appointment.  One of the ladies had a cancellation an hour later, so I told her I'd hit up Walmart while I waited and be back at 1230.

$150 later (have I mentioned moving sucks?  Ok and I bought a helmet ($20) and PB for the dogs ($13)), I headed back to the salon and got my hairs did.  I love my new short cut, but I have one area that sticks out and gets feathery and I hate it so that was the primary issue I wanted resolved.  When I sat down in the chair, the first thing I told her was that I was NOT afraid of short hair.  I like to get that out of the way first thing with a new hair stylist.  So I told her the issue and she said she would try to fix it.  We went to the wash station and I asked about a treatment since the lady who cut it last time suggested I get one (but then didn't have one..wtf) to help repair the blue damage (although now that I think about it, I'm also wondering if she wasn't just trying to suggest things for me to do to add to my bill...).  I was told it was $15 so I figured why not.  It was the Biolage treatment and I lurve the smell of Biolage always and forever.  So between the extra head massage the lady gave me and the smell, it was $15 well spent.

When the lady started cutting, she asked where the problem area was and I showed her but since my hair was wet, she couldn't see it.  She said that she was going to do some dry cutting as well, so maybe then.  Fine, whatever.  Wet cut finished, she started drying it and I offered to do it (mostly so that way it will lay like it will when I do it) and she said no.  She asked if I had a round brush, I said no.  She asked if I flat ironed it, I said only on days it was flipping out very badly.  She asked if I used a wax product, I said no.  She did all 3 of those things to my hair as she dried it (way differently than I do) and it really pissed me off.

Here's why:
I point blank told her I do NOT do/use any of those things.  WHYYYYYY would she then do them to my hair if I'm obviously not going to repeat any of these actions?  Of course my hair isn't going to lay the way it does when I find issues with it if you don't do it my way.  I don't want a "salon experience" I want a freakin' hair cut that looks GOOD when I fix it at home.  Obviously, my struggles are real.

She did fix the mess that the lady in Fayetteville had left me with.  That lady hadn't even parted my hair to cut it!  There were huge chunks that were longer than the others, it wasn't even with my chin, it was even to my ears (which just so happen to be UNeven).  Disaster. Period. Ever.  I was pleased when I walked out of the shop.  I even tipped her well.

When I got back home, I resumed the migration situation.  I tried the drill again, which seemed to have cooled down.  It would work for a second, then stop.  I tried it several times, in both directions before I finally realized that I had killed my drill.  I was not pleased.  I just wanted to get the stupid TV mounted and off my loveseat.

With a dead drill, I did what any determined crazy lady in my position would have done: skipped drilling that hole until later.  I messaged Mr. Scrooge and asked him if he would deliver my vacuum and possibly borrow a drill from a neighbor so I could drill the final hole.  I got no response from him for too long.

I decided to go ahead and see if I could mount the stupid mount with the 5 screws, then once I had acquired a drill, I'd drill the final hole and screw in the screw.  Let me paint a picture for you, Gentle Reader.... Just imagine.. a small woman, about 5'2.5.  Now she is determined to get this project done.  She had wanted help and kinda but not really asked for help from several male individuals and gotten zero response from them about assisting.  She's dealing with a 50 pound television and a wall mount that weighed 20-30 pounds (full motion mount).  She knew her limitations with the TV, but the wall mount couldn't be so difficult...

WRONG.
Full motion wall mounts are obnoxious and heavy and awkward, oh and did I mention I was doing this all.by.my.freakin.self?  No help.  Zilch.  From removal to relocation to mounting.  ALL ME.

So, I'm going to put this stupid mount on the wall.  First, I tried to see if there was a way I could remove the swivel arm from the wall piece so it would be less awkward and less heavy.  None that were obvious, so I just dealt with it.  I shouldered the burden, so to speak.  I pretty much just stretched out the mount and laid the middle piece/arm (between the wall piece and the tv piece) on my shoulder as support.  The awkward part was that I had drilled the holes slightly higher than I was able to comfortably stand and reach so I had to semi-squat and hold this awkward mount and hold a rachet and the screw and not drop anything and try to screw in this screw manually since the drill was d.e.a.d.

I was doing ok, I had managed to get one screw about a third of the way in, which felt pretty monumental, so I figured that I'd try to get in a screw on the opposite side, so I wouldn't have to bear all the weight of this monstrosity.  It was at that point, that my tender grasp on the situation started to slip.  I was "under the weight of it all" (I wish I could avoid these puns, but I can't, they are the only thing that makes any of this situation better) and I'm placing the 2nd screw in anddddd my socket falls out of the ratchet.  I'm standing on a step stool, holding a 30lb mount on my shoulder with one screw questionably put in the wall and another barely in at all and all the equipment that I need to screw this thing in is out of reach (because I have a big head and little arms (you're welcome if you get that reference)).  It was at that point, I finally broke.  I stood there holding the mount up with my hands and shoulder and looked down at the socket on the floor and SOBBED.  I mean, straight up ugly-cry.  I felt helpless and knowing that having someone else around to help me would make the entire process easier only made it worse.

After I got some tears out of the way, I stood up and twisted in the 2nd screw with my fingers as much as I could, which wasn't very much.  Then I prayed that if I let the mount go for the 3 seconds it would take me to retrieve the socket, that the mount wouldn't come crashing down on my head and kill me.. because ya know, I live alone now and no one would find me until the neighbors smelled me (ok, probably not true, but it's always the worst case scenario in these situations).  I managed to retrieve the socket and the mount didn't come crashing down (thank you God) and continued the manual screwing in of the screws with the ratchet/wrench.

If I had to imagine what slaves in Egypt felt like while building the pyramids, this might have been the closest life experience I'll ever have, sans being whipped.

I'm not even sure how long it took me to wrestle in 5 screws, but I finally managed to get them all in and as tight as possible (ps, talk about an arm workout).  Mr. Scrooge had finally replied and I told him not to worry about it because I am Megan and I will take care of my own problems.  By that I mean, I went to Lowes and bought a new drill that I'm going to return since Teh Dad said he would get a new drill for me that has ZERO issues drilling any type of hole I want.

I got home with my new drill and made the final hole in the wall and got the screw in with some drill assistance, even though I still had to manually tighten the screw all the way in place because I bought a pansy drill.  Finally, with all the screws in and the mount completely set up, I had to find someone to put the TV on the mount for me since I knew I was going to be unable to compete with the size/bulk of that sucker.  Mr. Scrooge hadn't committed to delivering my vacuum and couldn't understand what I thought was a simple request for a drill, so I, again, handled the issue on my own.  I went outside and was about to knock on the door of a neighbor when I noticed a man and a girl 2 doors down that were outside.  I was walking over and they walked into the back yard.. so I stood there awkwardly waiting on them to come back to their car since they had left the doors open.  They did after a minute or two and I introduced myself and asked if the guy would help me lift a tv onto the wall mount.

They came over to help (he helped, she watched) and when it was done he started peering down the hall and I told him to look around if he wanted since he was telling me about the things that are different between my house and his.  He was amazed at the dining room, which is apparently a complete addition to the house.

After, they left, I happened to look at myself in a mirror and that stupid feathery part of my hair was back!  I immediately got in the car and headed back to the salon to have the lady fix it.  I called her on the way and she didn't answer.  I hoped she was with a client.  When I arrived, I was told she had left just 10 minutes earlier.  The rage hit me hard.  It was only 3:30, wtf?  The ladies that were there offered zero assistance other than to tell me that my stylist usually answers texts faster than calls (I hate 2015 sometimes).  I was really hoping someone would just start snipping at my fray for me, but nope.  The most wonderful part was that my stylist is off on Sunday and Monday.. and apparently half of Saturday (which I say when the salon doesn't open until 10ish).

When I got back home, I was ragey and decided to start the next step of the living room set up... mounting the sound bar to the wall.  Seriously, nothing about this project should have really been that difficult, but it felt like I was hitting every single road block there was.  I was pleased that the sound bar had come with wall mounts that I had saved (oddly enough) so it should have been an easy installation.  But no, no it wasn't.

Side note: the best thing the internet ever taught me: put a dab of toothpaste on area near the hanging part of things you want to hang and then press the item against the wall and BOOM the toothpaste dabs will show you approximately where to put your holes.

I'm going to show you the instructions in the hopes that someone else can understand them better than me.

The wall mount included 4 pieces.  2 little brackets for the wall and 2 screws that go into the back of the sound bar.  Wall mounting hardware was not included.  Fine.  I've yet to understand step number 1 and step 3.  Because 1 says to put the screws in the bar tightly.  Then 3 shows the screws going into the brackets and the brackets going onto the wall.

I lost at least 30 minutes of my life trying to puzzle out this situation.  Additionally, the first time I mounted the brackets to the wall, one of them was upside down... then the one that I "fixed" was the wrong one.  Disaster.   Then I tried to hang the speaker on the wall and it kept dropping out of the mounts.  I couldn't figure it out.  I messaged Teh Sister who has the same speakers as me to see if they had mounted their speaker so I could get some insight.  So I went back to the instructions hoping that the Ikea-instruction god would sprinkle magic understanding dust on me so I could figure out this riddle.

It didn't happen.  Instead, I mounted the brackets on the wall (the right way, for the 3/4/5th time (I quit counting)) and loosened the screws on the back of the speaker so they would catch on the brackets instead of just falling out.  

I sat down to enjoy my handiwork and realized that all the systems needed to be tested for this endeavor to be completely successful.  So I went about plugging up all the things.  I considered just leaving the power strip dangling on the floor with all the cords, but at the last minute remembered some hooks I had handy to hang something else and re-purposed them for the power strip.  I mounted the power strip and tried to manage the cords as well as possible (aka I have almost zero fucks about cords showing because I had literally wrestled with a tv mount for several hours of my day and no one deserves that), I really didn't want the excess drooping, so I used twist ties to pull up the excess and hid it as well as possible behind the TV.

Then I sat down again to reap the benefits of my toil.  Everything worked perfectly.  The TV, the cable (with it's crappy channels), the DVD player, the Roku, the sound bar, the internet box.  Everything working was a small miracle.

I spammed everyone that knew that I was undertaking this project a finalized photo of my work because I'm shameless and I'm beyond proud of myself that I was able to do this entire thing (with the exception of taking the TV on/off the mount) ALL BY MY FREAKIN' SELF.  So proud in fact, that it wasn't even a humble brag on FB about my accomplishments.

FB Caption:
"Completely bragging:
I did this ALL BY MYSELF (with the exception of taking the TV on/off the mount). 

Strong, independent, woman.. CHECK."

And then.. FB happened.
I'm just going to show you the comments because it's easier but I seriously couldn't believe it.

Sometimes, just give a girl a freakin' pat on the back!  I try not to blatantly brag on FB.  Generally my feed is filled with conversations from the day, dog photos, other random photos (of ice cream, me watching TV with my laptop in my lap, etc) silly stuff, references to pop culture (Downton Abbey, Game of Thrones, etc).. but nothing overtly "LOOK AT ME!" and I even prefaced it with the fact that I was bragging on myself.  It really kinda killed my buzz (figurative because drinking and power tools and my clumsiness could have only made it worse.. or better, it's hard to tell) that people were so quick to point out the not perfect thing.  And I know this is first world-y, but if you're gonna diss my hard work with your criticism, at least like my damn photo for the effort I put into it.

Also, for people interested, NEVER try to mount a tv wall mount by yourself.  Just don't.  Actually, if you can HIRE someone to do it for you, do that.  Because your sanity is worth the dollas.  Take it from me.

I wanted to celebrate my accomplishments (with food because I'm a dog), but opted instead to stay in and be lazy and reap the rewards of my labor instead... by watching Downton Abbey and eating ramen for dinner.  I tried to let the criticism roll off my back, but I was just so disappointed in humanity that I went to bed a little less "buzzed" than I had been when I first posted the photo.

I went to bed and was woken up right before midnight by a clap of thunder.  I remembered I hadn't covered Mike the day before since the weather had been nice.  I put on pants and house slippers and ran outside to move Mike under the carport.  I quickly realized I had locked the front wheel so I had to run inside and get the key.  When I came back out a split second later, the rain was really coming down.  I had some issues getting Mike through the gate (because sleepy Megan isn't smart enough to be doing manual labor) and finally got him under the carport.  When I went to lean him over on the peg, Mike just kept falling... because the kickstand had gotten pushed back when I was rolling him under the cover.

I'm not sure if you've ever tried to pick up a 500 pound motorcycle from the ground in backless shoes, but having done it in the pouring rain, I wouldn't suggest it, ever.  I could smell the gasoline leaking out of Mike while he was on his side, which definitely motivated me to get him up quicker.  After lots of grunting and busting my lip on a mirror and giving myself a bruise that hurts to touch and almost slipping out of my shoes, I got Mike stood back up without hitting Yurtle (also a concern), got the kickstand down, and stood him up on his own.  I also grabbed Mike's cover and put it under the carport so it wasn't filled with water.  Then I went back inside and stripped down of my gasoline clothes and put on a new sleep shirt and prayed that I could fall back asleep despite the adrenaline rush.

Also, have I mentioned lately that being outside when it's thunder/lightning really freaks me out?  Yeah.  I was torn between "what did I do to deserve all this?" and "damn, I really am a badass."  Then I fell asleep.

SUNDAY

Mr. Scrooge and I had agreed on Saturday to go to a place called Sunrise Bistro for breakfast which is off on one of the islands near Charleston.  Besides being delicious, it was a nice ride out there on the bikes, thus the appeal.

Meri felt like I needed to be up by 0630 again and I made her wait until 7 for the pleasure of my awake company.  Since it was relatively cool (but positively humid), I took the dogs for a walk before I had to get ready.  We walked down to the river access, which I noticed last week when I drove around.  Meri was in full hunting mode, which made for a difficult walk and did nothing to help my aching shoulders (apparently holding that 30lb mount for extended periods of time was torture to my body).

When we got back, I fed the beasts and showered and they actually ran me out of the house with their begging for their kongs.  I could feel them willing me to leave so they could go to their crates sooner and have their PB kongs.  Fiend dogs.  (PS, yes I crate my dogs.  It saves me money on stuff not eaten and vet bills since Phil is a trash hound and Meri is part goat.  They don't mind their crates because their crates are associated with getting a treat/PB kong when I leave.)

Mr. Scrooge finally arrived and we headed to breakfast.  The ride out there was amazing.  It was cool enough not to be miserable with the wind and I just love riding down the streets with the trees on either side with the spanish moss hanging from them.  It's like being in a movie!  I had the Texas Stacker, which was cheesy sunny eggs, bacon and grits over cheese toast a cheesy biscuit (I subbed the biscuit after the waiter's suggestion).

After breakfast, we headed to the battery downtown to hang out for a bit.  We saw fishies jumping out of the water and a dolphin (my inner 8 year old Lisa Frank loving girl squealed at the dolphin each time I saw it).  We took the long way home, heading towards the beach, then back up towards civilization.  Mr. Scrooge and I had a communication snafu, but it ended up working out because we ended up at TCBY for ice cream frozen yogurt.  We parted ways from there.

I went home and took a nap since I was exhausted and my body was starting to hurt from my exertions on Saturday.  When I woke up, Mr. Scrooge had texted me to invite me over for burgers.  I wasn't really feeling it, but he makes such delicious food.  I think he also wanted to see the pups and I asked him if the burgers would be cheese stuffed and he said yes and it meant that I could bring my vacuum home (which I really need despite all these hardwood floors), so I agreed to go.  The dogs were thrilled to be going on a ride.  We had burgers and watched 2 episodes of X-Files, then I went back home.. completely forgetting the vacuum, ARRGHHH!!  I did get some selfies with the puppies though.  I just love them!

My first act of business was to take something for my sore body pieces then relax.  I ended up watching several episodes of Downton and writing this blog, in that order because I can't seem to watch Downton and do anything else... or multitask in any way when the TV is on.

I finally am finishing this post past my bedtime, which means no reading for me!  Hopefully I'll have the motivation in the morning to get up and run!  I REALLY need to start half marathon training.  Fer serious.  The race is in 69 days!  That's TWO months from now almost.  It's no coincidence that you haven't seen Sweaty Sunday posts for the last 2 weeks.  I've been doing ZERO workouts because moving and being unfamiliar with an area is stressful an excuse.

But can I get a hell yeah for an awesome and productive weekend where I was SUPER FREAKIN' WOMAN in real life.  /patselfonback




Linking up with these ladies:
Ashely @ A Cute Angle
Meg @ Life of Meg
Biana @ BLovedBoston

Weekend Review {2/23}

FRIDAY

The best thing about flex hours is my ability to tack an extra 30 minutes on M/T/W/H and get off early on Friday.  This is awesome for 2 reasons.  1, it meant that I got to go to the gym early and beat the crowd.  2, I was able to schedule a vet appointment for Friday afternoon AND still go to the gym before.

I managed both dogs with the magical aids of Phil's rubber booties and Meri's (new) gentle leader.  I will still never take both dogs on a trip to the pet store by myself, but this wasn't too bad.  I was slightly irritated at how long I stood there waiting for them to give me paperwork/get the new patient stuff sorted out since I was standing at a counter with dog leashes wrapped around my legs as Meri was going under Phil to smell all the things and investigate all the noises, rather than just having me sit down with the paperwork.  Whatevs.  They finally got us into a room after standing around for about 10 minutes, which was way easier.  They still didn't really give me time to fill out the forms, but at least they weren't late seeing us.  The bill was only $220 for both dogs, which was way less than I had anticipated.  Meri got her 3 year rabies and both got their Distemper.  Since the Lyme vaccine doesn't cover all varieties of ticks, I opted not to have that and I also didn't get the Lepto vaccine for them since there's very little possibility of them getting that (knock on wood).  We don't board so we didn't need kennel cough either.  I was pleased that the vet didn't really push the other vaccines on me, which totally happened at my MD vet.  Both dogs were ruled as healthy, happy, at a good weight, dogs.

THOSE EARSSSSS.. /swoon.

I explained to the vet that I had become concerned with them being too skinny recently and while I attributed it to the cold and increased walks with Mr. Scrooge, I had also become slightly paranoid after hearing everyone and their brother tell me that my dogs are too skinny.  Per the vet, my dogs are at a good weight.  Then again, I'm not really certain on that since I told him that Phil raced at 76 and that's currently what he weighs and it is considered good practice to add about 5 lbs to that for a "healthy" greyhound, but the vet seemed unaware of all this.  With Meri I have a hard time telling if she's too skinny since she's so fluffy.  She feels like skin and bones, but she gets 1/2 the amount of food that Phil gets and she's 30lbs to his (soon to be) 80.

<3 boy="" br="" my="">

Overall, I was concerned since my vet doesn't seem particularly greyhound savvy since they are a "special" breed (in certain ways) and the techs didn't try to win my dogs over with treats, which is what I always expect on a first visit.  I want my dogs to like you and I don't want them fighting a vet visit, so I expect the techs and vet to make it a positive experience.  They weren't even gonna give either dog treats after their shots until I mentioned it.

After we got home, I wasn't really in the mood for leftovers, so Mr. Scrooge agreed to sushi for dinner.  We have never went to our sushi place that early on a Friday night and it was terrible.  Not the service or the food, but all of our "neighbors."  We were sitting in a booth beside the wall and on the other 3 sides there were small children.  This wasn't really so much a bother until one set of parents was letting their toddler watch some stupid baby show on their cell phone and we could all hear the stupid voice.  Beside us was a 6 top with 3 teenagers, 1 mom, and 1 grandmother.  My judging was on high because when I saw the server bring each of them a "yum yum sauce" and then later bring 4 more cups of sauce to the table, so 7 total cups of this unhealthy (abet delicious) sauce, my eyes almost bulged out of my face.  2 of the teenagers and the mom weren't skinny by any means, but after seeing 7 sauces on the table, I kinda understood why.

Then, after the family behind me left, the Bros came and took their place.  Which was only obnoxious because the booths at the sushi place are shit, so anytime someone moves on one side, everyone can feel it, and one of these guys kept falling back and I was ready to slay them all.  I only passive-aggressively heaved my back against the booth once so maybe they would understand to sit-the-fuck-still, but it didn't work and Mr. Scrooge said I shouldn't confront the Bros, despite how badly I wanted to.  The people behind Mr. Scrooge were planning a wedding and there was a kid who kept creepily looking over Mr. Scrooge's shoulder and it was freakin' me out.

We finished our meal and headed home to watch Game of Thrones and eventually head to bed.

SATURDAY

I hadn't planned on going out on Saturday, but then I realized that Teh Dad and Teh Stepmom are coming next weekend, which meant that I wouldn't be able to go out and run my errands next weekend and that is the last weekend before Mr. Scrooge's rhinoseptoplasty, so I had to get my stuff done.  Mostly this was MORE (ugh) grocery shopping and running by the jewelers to get links taken out of my new adult watch and batteries replaced in the watches that Teh MD Adult Roomie gave me.

Mr. Scrooge went out on a ride and we were meeting at 1 for a food truck gathering downtown.  It was fun, but not at the same time.  The lines were incredibly long and it took us 45 minutes to order a pizzazilla (a pizza quesadilla essentially, with no pizza sauce, yay!) since they were out of pizza slices.  Then we got in line for the greek truck, but realized after standing in line for 15 minutes that we weren't in the mood to stand in line any longer, so we headed out.  Mr. Scrooge for more riding and me to run my errands.

After getting the errands done, I came home and unloaded the groceries and fed the dogs and put on Lilo and Stitch since I had said I was going to do a Disney movie marathon.  I hadn't seen it in a while and I needed a happy ending.  We also watched the 2nd Stitch movie, which wasn't as good, as expected, but I hadn't seen it before, so now that box is checked.

Kudos to Disney for those hidden adult jokes..

After leftovers for dinner (which was part of the reason we went out for dinner on Friday, I was over eating leftovers), Mr. Scrooge went and took his nightly bath (seriously though, more baths than anyone I've ever met in my entire life and he will stay in there for 1-2.5 hours, it's crazy) while I got the dog food ready and prepared for bed and eventually got in bed to read.

Since he had been in the bath for over 2 hours, I decided I was tired and put a pillow over my head and tried to go to sleep.  Eventually, Mr. Scrooge got out and informed me (after I grunted at him that I was still awake) that he wasn't tired so he was going to watch some TV.  I fell asleep until Mr. Scrooge came to bed at 1230.  At which point, I could NOT go back to sleep.  I was super irritated.  I tossed and turned trying to get back to sleep until 0230 when I finally got up to take something to help me sleep.  Within a few minutes of getting back in the bed, the bedroom lights up like it's Christmas and I realize that it's my phone going off.  At first I thought it was my alarm going off, which would have been strange, but then I realized it was a call from Teh Humanitarian.

I answer the phone at 3am for very few people, but she would be one of them.  When we got off the phone 45 minutes later, I went to bed and crashed.

SUNDAY

2 hours later, the dogs woke me up because they were ready for breakfast.  Instead of pretending to play dead (which is the most effective trick ever), Mr. Scrooge made as much noise as humanly possible when he rolled over after the dogs had settled, which only roused them all over again.  At which point, I gave up and got out of the bed to feed them, since he had been on weekend dog duty on Saturday morning.

After feeding them, we all went back to bed.  Mr. Scrooge got up at some point and I slept until almost 11, when I told myself that if I didn't get up, I would never get to sleep at bedtime.  When I came out of the bedroom, Mr. Scrooge was making breakfast.  It was supposed to be breakfast in bed, but I ruined it by getting out of bed too soon.  Oops.  Instead, we ate on the couch.

After breakfast, Mr. Scrooge went out on a ride and I sat at home fighting (and losing) the battle the take a nap since my head was hurting.  I did manage to write this post and talk to Teh Dad and edit some photos for Teh MD Teenage Roomie, so I mean, I did accomplish something.

Eventually, I finally did the laundry and put the pot roast in the slow cooker for dinner.  Then I went and took a nap and Meri snuggled with me and it was awesome.  After I woke up, I went and took photos of the broken fence for our new property manager (who I'm hopefully going to love more than our prior relator), did more laundry, and watched some Downton Abbey.

Knowing Mr. Scrooge would eventually come home, I started some risotto to go with the pot roast.  I was pleased to see that it was gluten free, mostly on principle but also because I'm loosely trying not to over do it on the gluten (says the girl who had pizza-quesadilla for lunch on Saturday).  I felt like the pot roast was wayyyy chewier than it should have been, but flavor wise, it was spot on.  It was probably the whole mushroom I added about an hour before we ate it.

After watching an episode of Game of Thrones, per Mr. Scrooge's request since he "hadn't been home all day".... and eating dinner, I tried to get set up for the cyber book club meeting.  Of course at 15 till 8 I was having internet issues.  I managed to finally get everything setup and couldn't figure out why I wasn't getting a call.  I still have no idea.

I was pretty disappointed I didn't get to join in since I had purposely read Where'd You Go, Bernadette for this.  I signed up again on the website, thinking maybe I did something wrong, but I still had the original confirmation email from when I signed up last month.  More than a little bit crushed, I shut down the computer and tried to stop caring.  I had been anxious/nervous about my first cyber anything with strangers, but then it didn't work out.  PS, I wasn't a huge fan of the book, but I've been waiting until now to discuss it with other people.

Over everything, I gave up on the internet, checked that the clothes in the dryer weren't still sopping wet (since our washing machine seems to be clogged and not draining properly, ugh) and went to bed to fight the headache that hadn't went away all day long.





Linking up with these ladies:
Weekend Recap w/ Bella and the City | Weekending w/ B Loved Boston

Humpday Confessions #7

I miss short weeks.  This 5 day work week is for the birds.  Ok, truth is, I didn't have to work yesterday because I had an endoscopy, but I don't consider that a beneficial trade-off.

(link)

Confessions:

-I find it obnoxious that working out makes me less worried and less stressed and happier than anything else, even drinking.  Drinking is so much easier... and doesn't often require a shower (unless you're clumsy.. like me).

-The Ex-Fiance' could sing all the words to One Week by Barenaked Ladies.  I remain jealous of that ability to this day.

bahahah this is ridiculously funny to me.
(source)

-I read somewhere recently that using conditioner THEN shampooing makes your hair more bouncy cause you don't have product weighing it down.  I'm not sure if that's actually true, but I love ALL.THE.BUBBLES! when I use shampoo 2nd.

-Teh Sister has a memory of a steel trap and she's able to remember all these things from when she was SUPER little, like when she was 2 years old, and I'm pretty sure my first memory is from when I'm like 6 or something.  Which leads to my confession, and it's even related to the shampoo confession.  I used to tell Teh Sister that the conditioner was the shampoo and vice versa.  I thought I was "getting her."  Apparently, I was helping her out.  The joke is always on me.  She probably remembers me telling her that the bottle with the creamy stuff was shampoo and the runny stuff was the conditioner.  Steel trap.  I don't even get it.  Teh Mom only caught her once and she just thought she was taking a long time in the bath tub so she kinda got in trouble for taking too long (at least as much trouble as the favorite kid gets into).  HA!  Small victories, people, small victories.

-The McDonald's driveway on base is on the same street as the gym.  I judge the shit out of all the people who pull into McDonald's rather than go straight for the gym.  Especially people who get in the really long line at the drive-thru knowing that its going to take about 30 minutes to get through rather than just go inside.  I'm a judging judger.

(source)

-I usually arrive at the gym around 12:30ish.  I went to the gym at 11:30 one day last week and it's a completely different crowd.  I was in the weight room a little after noon and OMG all the freakin' people.  I'd rather hang out with the old people crowd a little after 1.  No one obviously stares me down, everyone wipes down their machine, every.single.time (TYVM!), there is no rush if I'm on a machine they want to use since there are lots of other free machines, and I don't feel like I don't meet the standards of the other gym goers...  Old people at the gym rock (and make me feel better about myself).

-Dear lady at the gym with your hair cascading down your back in the tank top and size negative 1 yoga pants, zero beads of sweat anywhere on your body, and perfect makeup in the weight room.  GET THE EFF OUT.  No, just get out.  I'm not staring at you, I'm glaring at you.  This isn't jealousy, it's hatred.  You're probably the lady who goes on runs along the side of the street and doesn't put your long hair back in a ponytail.  WHO DOES THAT?

(source)

-I finally started catching up on Downton Abbey (SPOILER ALERT) this past week and I watched the episode where Anna was raped/attacked.  Even when I've been fine for a long while, sometimes, it's still too soon.  It just sneaks up me and I question everything about that night and I always have to remind myself, I was asleep/potentially blacked out drunk (or at least drunk) and shock determined my reaction.  I didn't ask for it, I didn't approve it, and I was too confused to fight it at first.  Essentially, I have to tell myself, "YOU are not at fault."

This was my "asking for it" outfit.
I didn't smile like that for a long time after that night.

-I hate when it's me, not you/them.  As in, for the entire day people have been really annoying and the dogs have been obnoxious and little things that normally don't bother me are infuriating.. and it's me.  #PMSisreal

-I found these in my gif searches and I had to share them here because Loki Tom Hiddleston is my man crush.

Why can't I be here, sans that eye shadow?
(source)

(source)

-I think I'm getting the hang of this gif thing down.  #WINNING #Ilovegifs  Except that I spend more time finding gifs than I do writing the post.  #firstworldproblems

This is me about everyone else's gifs:

(source)

-I had an endoscopy done yesterday and I took a selfie when I came to.  I have no shame, Gentle Readers, no shame AT ALL.  Also, to the RN who prepped me, you should get better at your job.  You seemed to have minimal responsibilities.  You bring patients in from the waiting room, ask them questions that they've already answered (and some they haven't), you take their blood pressure and weight, and prep them for their procedure, to include starting an IV.  These don't seem like such hefty responsibilities to me, but I'm going to assess that most of the patients haven't eaten in at least 12 hours, which could result in some hangar (which we know I often suffer from).  So really my advice would be: smile more, pretend like your job isn't herding cattle (which is how I definitely felt), if you're going to "numb" the area where you are planning on inserting an IV, numb THAT area, not somewhere else, because that's definitely what you did to me.  When I say, "OUCH!  That hurts, I definitely felt that."  You should exhibit at least a meager amount of sympathy since you are the one poking me with sharp objects.  When I saw this nurse before and after my procedure she looked at me like I was ruining her day.  I dare them to send me a survey asking my opinion about the services.  PS.  I can't even wait for the huge ass bruise to pop up on the back of my hand.

I even tried to smile around the bite guard.

Personality Quizzes #2

Onto the "real" characters...

Who would be your 90s boyfriend?

Well.. ok then.

Which Avengers character would you be?

Yes, I wear a crazy flying suit!

Which Downton Abbey character would you be?

Great, I'd fare well in prison with occasional visits....

Which Game of Thrones character would you be?

Really?  Of all the characters?  Boo.

Racing through April...

April has proven to be quite a busy month so far.  May is looking equally busy.  YAY for activities!

Weekend before last started off with a Passion Party.  Everyone got a dirty name... and most of us (myself included) got drunk.   There was a Call Me Maybe sing-along session on the way home.  I'm sure the passengers in the car will NEVER forget it.

I went to my very first Passion Party.. also known as a gathering of women to buy sex toys.
The only thing I came home with was drunkness and my free gift.

Saturday held a meet and greet at Petco, which I didn't take pics of because I accidentally left my camera at home! :(  I was lazy for the rest of the evening because I had watch the next day. 

Sunday, I went to church and came home and watched the final episode of Downton Abbey season 3 and WTF!?!  I'm crushed and I want to talk to someone about it to express my outrage but no one seems to be caught up and I don't wanna give away spoilers.

Watch was so uneventful that I didn't even bother to make a "Thoughts of a Dutiful Watchstander" post.

This is what I do on watch....
Paint my spare keys with fingernail polish so that way when I give them to people they know they are to my house.

This past week was pretty busy as well since I knew I was going out of town this weekend, I got in my friendz time with my peeps last week.

I hung out with Teh Jewish Greyhound Family and Teh (former) Neighbors.

Mochi is apparently delicious.
I really just couldn't get past the "skin" that I was eating.

You don't properly love your dogs if you aren't willing to pick their noses.

We had dinner at Teh Jewish Greyhound Family's house one night, then the next night we went to Texas Roadhouse (TRH) to support the Habitat for Humanity charity night with Teh Humanitarian and Teh Coast Guardian and Teh Cousin.  There were some snafus at TRH, which is always disappointing to me since the food is usually so delicious (if you order the steak).

We all enjoyed socializing.

First flip flops of '13!
One of the very few things I miss about Bahrain/GTMO is wearing flip flops year round.

Cherry blossoms!

S.MD sunset

This past week with Teh Dogs in my house was very..... challenging.  Rudy turned out to be an extreme counter surfer. 

Day 1:  The bread (I've quit taking pics of this since I'm used to it)
Day 2:  Sweet potatoes
Day 3:  Mr. Goodbar
Day 4:  Snacks container (7+ honey buns, crackers, graham crackers)

Rudy and Phil decided to help me make dinner by peeling the sweet potato for me.....

This spot is the remains of where Rudy helped me diet..
He ate (at least) SEVEN honey buns, 4 packs of crackers, and 1 sleeve of graham crackers.
I have now used my carpet cleaner.

Day 3 (Wednesday) is when I almost had a break down.  There was a fight over a Mr. Goodbar and Phil got the brunt of the damages.  I'm pretty sure I had a "Mom" moment because I was really upset that Phil was hurt.  I tried to love on Rudy as much as Phil, but it was very obvious that the scales had shifted.

Day 4 (Thursday) is when the breakdown finally occurred   Coming home to such a mess (the crumbs were also strewn all through the kitchen and dining room) set me off.  There were tears and phone calls.  I hadn't even been home long enough to take off my uniform, which is usually the first thing I do after letting the dogs out. 

When I left for NC, Rudy was taken to a different place than Phil and despite not getting adopted this weekend :(, he was placed in another foster home.  I had originally agreed to take him back if he wasn't adopted, but it wasn't meant to be.

Phil teefs!

Thursday, I called the vet to see if there were any appointments available on Friday for Phil because his wounds were large and I knew I would feel better having taken him.  Thankfully, there was an appointment with our normal vet (who is awesome) so we took that.

Phil is my VERY stoic boy.  He barely even flinched when they were cleaning out his wounds.  The only time he whined was when they were clipping a piece of dangly skin and it wasn't numbed all the way (I would have been doing more than whining!).  They shaved down the areas where there are wounds so that way the openings could properly scab over without being irritated by the fur.  He got lots of treats for being awesome. 

Phil got up on the vet table on his own!
Usually we have to coax him up.

Phil's first hair cut... :(

With some neon vet wrap and antibiotics, I brought Phil home and returned to work for a few hours before finally calling it a day.  I really wanted to get on the road and I knew I had at least an hour's worth of errands to run before I got to leave, including dropping Rudy off at GHC which is the opposite direction of NC.

I dropped Phil off with Teh Cedar Cove Neighbors and then it was Rudy's turn.  Finally, I was on the road to NC... which proved just as adventurous as the week had been living up to.  As I was crossing the NC/VA line, a HUGE TREE FELL ON THE INTERSTATE!!!  It felt like it happened in slow motion since I watched the tree go from standing like normal to being in the middle of the road.  Thankfully it didn't hit any cars and the cars that were in front of me were able to slow down enough to miss it by doing some minimal off-roading.  One truck did take the very tip top of the tree off because they didn't get over far enough, but they were able to keep driving and pull over after passing the tree.  I immediately called 911 because that was scary shit yo!  It was my first real 911 call ever.  I felt so adult!

After the tree, I got lost in Durham trying to find Danny's BBQ.  I went where the address said it was, but there was no Danny's to be found.  I was very irritated because I had been looking forward to deliciousness in my belly.  Having given up on BBQ, I decided on Bojangles and after placing my order and driving up to the window, I was informed that my sandwich was going to take an extra 5 minutes because it had to be cooked.  Hangry and defeated, I finally decided on Wendy's, where I waited in line long enough to have probably gotten my grilled chicken from Bojangles, which only irritated me more.  I consumed the most mayo ever put on a burger in the next 5 minutes and felt like I wanted to vomit for the remaining 3 hours of the drive.

I finally made it to Teh Dad's house by 1130.  I snuck in the driveway, head-lights turned off (holy mother of dangerous) and the only reason they even knew I was there was because they heard my door shut.  I had also put on a fabulous light show trying to turn my lights OFF, OFF, which is apparently practically impossible with the daylamps.  Whatevs.

Teh Dad opened the door for me and I went downstairs to greet Teh Sister and put my stuff down.  She didn't really show it, but she was surprised.  Teh Dad tried to say he knew, which he didn't.  They both might have suspected, but neither of them KNEW, without doubt that I'd be there.  I did know that Teh Sister would have been very disappointed if I didn't make it, so I made it happen.

Teh Bear said he'd love me more if I wore this shirt.
Fortunately, it is Teh Sister's.

I've had this belt since... 2005?
I told Teh Sister to give it a proper burial becuase I couldn't watch.
She tried to toss it in the trash while I was standing there!  I saved it.

Yurtle got her insides cleaned!
I got to ride around for THREE DAYS with NO dog hair on my dash! 
It was lonely.

Welcome to NC.
Check out all the different TYPES of tobacco (not the brands, the TYPES).

What?  I can't hear you.

On Saturday, Yurtle got a much needed detailing, I got to eat lunch with Teh BFF, I went to hang out at Fort Defiance to see Ms. Historic for a few hours, and then I headed to Teh Mom's to hang out with Teh Mom and Teh Sister for the evening.  After much debate over evening activities, I finally helped Teh Sister figure out what she wanted to do for her last night of at home freedom.

We decided on making dinner, which she said she didn't want to have to cook it and since she turned down my suggestions, she ended up cooking.  We rented The Perks of Being a Wallflower from Redbox (because she knows all the promo codes, evar, so it was free).

We wanted to do swordfish, but home, home isn't that fancy.  We settled for tuna steaks instead, which were equally delicious.  While Teh Sister and Teh Mom worked on dinner, I worked on dessert:  Strawberry pie.  NOMNOMNOM.  It was my first time ever making a strawberry pie and with instructions from Teh Mom and Teh Sister, I think I successfully managed a pretty good pie.  White it wasn't completely set up for dessert time, it tasted pretty delightful.  There were was no photographic evidence of this...  Actually there was but Teh Sister didn't message the photo of me licking the filling bowl clean, and since she's now in bootcamp, we prob won't see that picture.

Ingles, I'm not sure "crusty rolls" was the best description you could have used.

Teh Sister's "last supper" before bootcamp.
Homemade sweet potato fries, brussel sprouts, ahi tuna with kiwi avocado salsa

I was impressed with The Perks of Being a Wallflower.  I had it on my very long list of "movies to see", so I was pleased that it turned out good considering most movie I want to see are usually crap (it's a very unfortunate curse).  After the movie was over, we cleaned up and headed back to Teh Dad's for last minute packing and beauty sleeps.

Sunday Funday was very busy.  Teh Sister was out of the house by 1015 and I was on my way to church with Teh BFF since she was getting baptized.  After being yelled at, we switched churches for her "dunkin'", then we all continued on to her Mamaw's house for a cookout.  At 3, I was on the road, headed towards Charlotte to start the "seeing Teh Sister off" festivities.

We started at Beans Vegan Cuisine  which is exactly what the name says, vegan.  Since Teh Sister is a vegetarian, she decided to spice up our lives... and she did.  She also gifted me "The Devil" which is a tool used to pull hot items out of the oven.  I found it hilarious and used it as a "buddy" to enforce everything I was saying at dinner.  "I think this, and THE DEVIL AGREES!"  Everyone else agreed that I'm pretty crazy.

Teh Sister gave me THE DEVIL!
It's used for pulling hot dishes out of the oven, but I used it as a friend while we were eating dinner in Charlotte.
While we were praying before dinner, Teh Sister happened to glace up at me and I waved THE DEVIL at her.
:D

After dinner, Teh Mom headed back to home, home since she is now in charge of feeding Teh Sister's doggies.  Teh Dad and Teh Stepmom headed to their hotel and Teh Sister and I struck out for earplugs at Wal-Mart and dessert.  I'm pretty sure we found the most ghetto Wal-Mart in/around Charlotte.  I have a  knack for finding the ghetto areas of places, what can I say?  We went to 2 different places for dessert (one that wasn't open and one that was inside the Ritz that was gonna cost more dollas than I had) and we finally ended up going to The Cheesecake Factory, which rarely disappoints.  We got a crazy waiter named Blu (like from Old School, he informed us), drizzled on by the sky, and extremely full bellies.

With nothing else left to do, and having already "toured" Charlotte via driving around trying to find places, we agreed to call it a night.  I dropped Teh Sister off at her hotel an I learned that there are 2 Extended Stay hotels in the zipcode that Teh Dad had reserved our room in.  After figuring out that my key didn't work, I went back to Suzy (my cell phone) and called her some bad names (even though this time was kinda my fault) and navigated to the correct hotel.  Teh Dad and Teh Stepmom didn't mind finishing our Cheesecake Factory leftovers. 

The BIG day finally arrived.  After stopping at a less ghetto Wal-Mart to pick up a working shaving cream for Teh Sister, Teh Stepmom and I headed to MEPS for her swearing in.  Teh Dad and Teh Mom were already there.  The Major gave a super speech about being on the defense in bootcamp so that no one could push you around.  Which sounds kinda silly, but with her visual aid, it really worked. 

I learned that I had gotten the wrong size shaving cream and had to return to Wal-Mart to get a travel size.  My phone was on silent so I didn't get the message from Teh Mom saying that Teh Sister was told to tell family good-bye so she had left.  When I got back to MEPS with the correct shaving cream, Teh Dad and Teh Stepmom were the only family members left in the waiting area.  Apparently, they had been outside when the goodbyes were said so they missed the memo.  I asked the PO1 at the front desk how long the brief would last and he said 20-30 minutes.  Teh Dad had to be on the road before Teh Sister got out of her brief, so they didn't get to say bye and they were pretty upset. 

I waited on Teh Sister, since my 2 jobs for the day were to see her off and drive back to MD.  Finally, she came out of her brief.  She was very hangry because she was the only person who hadn't gotten to eat lunch.  Fortunately, Teh Stepmom had given me a blueberry muffin that morning that I was able to give her.  She explained it was time to head to the airport, so I rushed to CLT and parked and waited with them while they checked into their airline.  I escorted them to security telling them to go get free food at the USO (because the USO ROCKS!). 

Teh Sister going through security at CLT to catch her flight to MO.

She didn't even see me standing there waving at her like an idiot.

With Teh Sister on her way, it was time for me to head back to MD.  I started the drive by stopping at Bojangles for the grilled chicken sammich I wasn't able to get on Friday night.  Instead of driving and eating, I decided to just watch the planes land and text Teh Sister and Teh Bear while I enjoyed my lunch.  That was probably the most relaxing point of my entire weekend.

Yurtle reached another milestone!
Uggghhh, that means the next service session isn't gonna be cheap...

There were no trees or ladders on the drive back, which was much appreciated.  Unfortunately, I did run into some idiots who refused to use cruise control who were travelling together.  They also had a transfer truck riding with them, which didn't help.  I tried riding with them since they were going fairly fast, but then I realized that they were slowing down at every possible hidden area where a cop could be sitting.  It was impossible to use my cruise control because they were riding in the fast lane and refused to get over, even when I'd pass them on the right when I was trying to use cruise control.  It was a small blessing that the transfer truck had to stop at a weigh point.  Then it was only the 2 idiots.  About 20 minutes after we lost the truck, the 2 drivers decided to take an exit.. from the left lane!  Fortunately, there were no cars in the way of their crazy lane cutting.  Unfortunately for me, they had taken up most of the 70 mph zone at the NC/VA line, which is where I make the most of my time.

They were so frustrating that I even posted a /rage FB status.  I made pretty good time getting home.  Once I finally made it, it was time for laundry and unpacking and general weekend-catch-up activities.  It was very difficult to get to sleep since there was no Phil-boy to keep me company.

Tuesday started my work week and what a delight it has been!!!  This weekend is jam-packed with activities and I'm excited!!! :)