1 whole week of One Day.

Teh Bear has officially been here for a week!  It's been glorious.  So much more dishes and laundry to wash, more foods to prepare, more snuggles, and significant lack of desire to get out of bed in the mornings...

Monday was Teh Bear's first day at his new job.  The entire week consisted of training, so he claims its been rather boring, yet informative.  That morning, I didn't manage to get a run in, but I did do a video workout before work, in addition to physical therapy later.  I paid for that until Wednesday night....  ouch.  Monday night, we made our first One Day dinner together.  I had purchased some homemade garlic and basil noodles from someone at work and had definitely plans to pair it with alfredo sauce and chicken.  It was absolutely deeeeeeeeelightful.

homemade noodles, homemade alfredo sauce, mushrooms, and chicken.

NOMNOMNOMNOMMMMMMMMM.

Tuesday was another day, got my AM run in, which included Praise Team practice and I brought Phil along with me!  He was a hit, while being a distraction at first, and then once he settled down, he was good.  He's never been in a carpeted area that large so at first he was just running back and forth, enjoying the freedom.  Then he started sniffing at all the doors, like there were more interesting things to investigate, but he was stuck in the fellowship hall.  He attempted to get on the stage a few times, but was always too chicken to actually jump up.  I knew that since the stage was "slippery lava floor" he wouldn't actually get up there, but he did surprise me at the end of practice by walking up the steps onto the stage.. at which point he froze and started shaking, so I had to pull him off.  Silly Phil.

Hai, guys!  Can I play??

Dead Phil?  Nahhh.. he was just tired from all his sniffing/running around.

Wednesday morning, I got in my AM run, and after work, Teh Bear asked if I wanted to be "good" or "bad" and I said good, then changed my mind and we went out and got ice cream at Sweet Frogs.  I wasn't super impressed.  Yeah, they have lots of toppings and lots of flavors, but there were no recipe suggestions posted anywhere on what delicious treats to make, which was overwhelming for me.  I like to have a suggested action plan.  Additionally, when I told them that the chocolate ice cream was out/not working, instead of responding to me, the 2 girls standing there had a conversation amongst themselves instead of explaining to me that the machine was just trying to make some more ice cream, which I only learned via my bionic hearing.  I was NOT impressed with the customer service, needless to say.  I compare Sweet Frogs to Rita's, mostly because that is my other go-to ice cream place in S.MD, and I'd choose to go to Rita's over Sweet Frogs.  Additionally, going to Rita's means that Phil gets to go and he gets a free doggy cone there!  Phil treats always win my heart over.  Phil is the key to my heart.. I'm a sucker.

Early runs are beneficial for my sunrise catching.

Thursday morning came early, because Yurtle had to be dropped off at the Kia dealership in Waldorf, which is 45 minutes away.  Fortunately (for me) one of my coworkers lives in Waldorf, so she met me at the dealership and drove us to work.  They figured out what was causing Yurtle's weird noise, but the part wasn't going to come in until Monday, so I was able to pick up Yurtle after work (only to get to go through this again on Monday morning).  After I got back from Waldorf, Teh Bear and I had dinner and then went over to Teh Greyhound Neighbor's house to say bye to Miley whose owner was finally coming back to get her after being away for 7 months.  I'm going to miss that girl.  She's such a lover.

Olive thinks that her sister, Zoe, is a nice butt cushion.

Friday I was lucky and we got a half day at work, which was delightful.  I made it to the commissary to gather supplies for the party later that night and came home to work on homework.  Guests started to arrive a little before 6.  I hadn't picked up the pizza yet, so I had to run out and pick up the pizza and a bag of ice, which was way more difficult than anticipated.  When I arrived back home, more guests had arrived and business was in full swing.  After everyone had eaten, we started up a game of Turbo Cranium, boys against girls.  The boys ended up winning, but the girls were close.  After the game ended, most of the guests went home, and I proceeded to keep drinking.  The evening was lots of fun, even though I was ADD for most of the game with my heckling and bartending services and Phil pettins.

Saturday morning, Phil woke us up around 0630 with the delightful sounds of regurgitation.  Teh Bear and I both got up.  My head was pounding due to my inability to breathe.  That was slightly concerning, and quite painful, so I took a super strength sudafed, fed Phil, and went back to bed.  When I woke back up at 0830, I felt significantly better and was actually able to breathe again.  Teh Bear and I finally got up and started cleaning up the house and doing laundry.  I finally finished my homework for the week and Teh Singing Podcaster came over to hang out with Teh Bear.  That evening Teh Bear and I went over to Teh Monopoly's house to hang out and play Cards Against Humanity...  Finally, a little after 2300 we had went through ALL of the white cards.. That would be the base game plus TWO expansions....  Holy moly.

Sunday morning, I got up and fed Philbo and played on the internet.. until 09.. which incidentally is about 7 minutes prior to when I need to leave to get to church on time.  I ran upstairs to let Teh Bear know that it was my fault I was waking him up late, and understood if he didn't want to accompany me to church.  It was good he decided not to go with me, because the service was a disaster.  At least from a technical point of view.  Singers couldn't be heard, microphones were dying, the sound board guy kept changing all the levels, I wasn't ready to start when the band started (because I was getting the scripture ready for the service), the projector wasn't on, I was extremely flustered for most of the service because I was trying to help the soundboard guy and still try to not mess up the slides (which I wasn't successful at either)...  Then I wasn't able to upload the sermon to the internet..  But when I got home, Philbo had gotten a bath, the whole house had been vacuumed, the dishes had been put away and the dishwasher reloaded, and something from the Pirates of the Caribbean soundtrack was playing from Teh Bear's computer when I walked in.  True lub.  We had lunch at Panera and ran our errands.  Coming home for a little bit was relax (and blog) time and I made ice cream cone cupcakes for our afternoon adventures with Teh Humanitarian, Teh Coast Guardian, and Teh FL Greyhound Wife/Husband.  We played pool volleyball for about 2 hours, then finally everyone's sore arms got the best of them and we called it quits.  Ok, fine MY sore arms got the best of me, and it was getting late so everyone agreed to be finished.  I think in the end the teams tied, with Teh Humanitarian and Teh FL Greyhound Wife quitting before we were even halfway through.

Teh Bear threatened not to love me if I ever iced cupcakes prior to transport again..
Mostly due to the fact that I covered the cupcake tin with a huge piece of tinfoil and some saran wrap for transport..
And they all proceeded to fall over and roll around.  Deeeelightful.... 

I got out of the pool and was filled with sudden dread, because I had been expecting a call... which I had missed.  Fortunately, it wasn't a big deal.  We headed back home around 8:15p and then Teh Bear and I waited on another call to say it was time to go meet our foster dog halfway.  Around 9:15p, we met our new foster and started the return drive home.  Phil, who was locked in doggy jail due to his renewed inability to resist getting in the trash, seemed ok with tolerating our new guest for the next few weeks.  Exhausted, Teh Bear and I crashed into bed.

I miss amazing sunsets....

Meet Ruthy (fka TJ's Ruthless)!
She's a super soft, little girl who is ready for some permanent lovin's.

Linking up with all these ladies:

It's Ok Thursday #8

It's Ok....

...to be sad and frustrated and angry and unable to move on from certain things until I tell Teh Bear..
...to feel almost instantly better about a situation after telling Teh Bear.
...to be happy that he's on my side, no matter what.
...that my Cara Box did not impress, nor were my gifts appreciated.
...to be disappointed/frustrated that there were "standards" to meet, that I wasn't aware of.
...to drive 45 minutes to get your oil changed because that's the nearest "home base" for Yurtle (decoded: the nearest Kia dealership is in Waldorf).
...to have Monday and Tuesday evening planned with cleaning because Teh Bear is coming and I have a birthday party on Wednesday evening to attend.
...to clearance shop for clothing.. ESPECIALLY children's clothing.  Seriously, who prices leggings for a 1 year old at $15?!?!  and who is the idiot who pays that much????
...to sport Lisa Frank bandaids over my serious paper cuts... while in uniform.
...to have changed out of my uniform for some event/activity/appointment every day this week, one day more than once.
...to look like a bag lady coming into work because of having to change clothes.
...to put on sunglasses inside when the front of the store is all glass and the sun is making your head hurt.
...to have not built my brief until the very last day possible.
...to get impatient and refuse to wait on people to help me do things, at the risk of bodily injury (yes, I may have moved a futon mattress from Yurtle all the way up the stairs by myself).
...to be disappointed that Teh Sister didn't get to surprise me with her news.
...to have slept better snuggling with a dog than the 3 nights prior without the dog.
...to not take the dogs on a walk for the 2 days prior to my PRT.
...to yell at the dogs and then apologize to them a few minutes later.
...to accept their kisses and be happy they love me no matter my psycho-ness.
...to have gotten Teh Sister something random and to use Easter as an excuse.
...to be disappointed I couldn't find any more Sweetart Bunnies, Chicks, and Ducks during my last trip to Target.
...to skip Fill in the Blank Friday..  I mean, it's not a link up, so nbd.
...to update my FB status several times within an hour.  Don't judge me, I don't have Twitter because you can't limit awesome to 140 characters.

Dominoes, Destinations, Duty, and my Killer

There is only one more full work week till OUR vacation!!!!!!!!  The excitement is building, despite having no more plans to make, only events to show up for.  It's a feeling of surrealism that we're (Teh Bear and I, duh) actually taking a vacation, vacation, and doing something new and adventurous for both of us.

How did I celebrate this weekend?

Thursday night Teh Mom came in from NC.  She was going to Baltimore for the weekend, and she figured that stopping to see me wasn't a bad idea.  I agreed.  We hung out on Thurs night till way too late while I told her the story of my mystery pain and it's solution.  On Friday morning, I got up and went to work.  At lunch time she messaged me that she was heading out then called me to ask if I wanted to do lunch.  I agreed.  She said she wanted something "Southern Maryland-y" so I gave her two options of 2 places I hadn't been to yet:  Smokey Joe's (a bbq place) or Blue Wind Cafe (a gourmet sammich place).  She decided on bbq so I met her and drove us to Smokey Joe's.  We decided for "NC bbq" in MD it was actually really good.  After picking up a bbq sammich for my LPO (she needs a Teh Nickname), we left and I brought Teh Mom back to her car.  She headed on her way to Baltimore and I headed back to work.

After work, I came home and succumbed to the desire to take a nap.  It was delightful.  Afterwards, Phil and I went on a walk (since Teh Bear says I need to practice my walking for our Grand Canyon excursion) then it was dinner and dominoes, Mexican Dominoes to be exact, with Teh Humanitarian and Teh Coast Guardian and Teh Korean and Teh Flying Metal Mouth and 1 other friend later that night.  Teh Coast Guardian won Mexican Dominoes with doubles again, actually double doubles, but this time there was no argument if it was a valid play.  Phil and I came home to play on the internet and take a nap.

Saturday at 03, I woke up, got ready, took Phil out for a quick business and fed him half his breakfast, then left to meet my copilot so we could go transport some newly retired greyhounds back to GEGR's greyhound central (GHC).  At 05 we found out that the hauler with the dog was going to be 2 hours late.  We arrived 30 minutes early, despite getting some bad directions about taking an exit that wasn't necessary since we were already going the right direction.  I explained to my copilot that I had taken someone's watch that afternoon and that I needed a nap since the hauler was already late.  Hotel de Phil (the back of Yurtle) is more comfortable than I expected.  I wrapped myself in Phil's comforter and passed out till 0830 when my copilot woke me up to explain that the hauler was going to be even later than they had told us.  It was decided at that point that other people were going to come meet the hauler and that I could go home so I could make it to work on time that afternoon.  I felt like one of the ladies was frustrated with my having to leave, but both my copilot and another man there understood as they were both prior Navy.  As the man said, "I retired and I know that you can not be late to watch."  I agreed with him and apologized for having to leave to everyone and headed back to my car dog-less.  :(

I made it back home and took Phil on a walk and gave him the other half of his breakfast.  I played on the internets and chatted with Teh Bear on Skype until it was time for an afternoon nap before watch.  I made it to watch on time.. And survived watch, then came home, took Phil out, and collapsed in bed exhausted.

Sunday morning when my alarm went off for church, I wasn't ready to get out the bed.  But I couldn't be late!  I formally joined Lexington Park United Methodist Church today.  I've been going there since February, but finally made it official.  Teh Coast Guardian and Teh Humanitarian also came with me to church, which was awesome.  Afterwards, we hit up Linda's Cafe for lunch then the thrift store for me to drop some stuff off, look for another Phil comforter, and for Halloween costumes for Teh Coast Guardian who has decided he wants to be a banana.

After a skype date with Teh Bear, it was nap time again (I love weekends!).  I was, expectedly (yep, just made that word up for you), woken up by Teh Coast Guardian saying that they were going on a hike at St. Mary's River State Park and it was time to go.  After I was ready, we all piled into Yurtle and headed off.  Phil was a little cramp since I had to split Hotel de Phil (aka sit a seat up for a human to sit in), but he survived.

When we arrived at the park, I noticed Yurtle's TWIN in the parking lot!  I was so excited.  It's rare to see Kia Sportages, but it's extremely rare to see them in S. MD since the closest dealership is an hour away.  ANDDDDDDDD, this car was an EXACT twin, it was even twilight blue!  I left a note on their windshield: Awesome car!

There was a snafu during the hike where Phil decided that a fuzzy black dog was for eating after the dog growled at him.  The fuzzy black dog ended up being ok (Thank Allah, I could just see the vacation money pour from my account), and Phil acted like nothing had even happened after it was all over.  The full path around the lake was 7.5 miles, but we prob walked around 2 miles then turned around.  When we got back to the car, there was a note on my windshield:

I'm glad there are still friendly people in the world!

After we arrived back home, I started wings and pizza for dinner and Teh Coast Guardian and Teh Humanitarian came over.  We watched Louis CK: Chewed Up, which Teh Bear showed to me and I think is hilarious.

I also brought my camera with me on our walk!  Proof:

Playing on the fallen tree.

Catch me!  I'm going to jump.  - Teh Coast Guardian.

Phil's thunder thighs.

Can we say gorgeous day?

Pretending to sit on Phil since he's tall enough to be a personal bench.

Look at the camera, Phil!

Phil and I!  Finally a good pic together not taken by me.

Phil walking Gami (her leash was attached to his for about 3 steps, until he stepped on her leash and she abruptly stopped).

Teh Humanitarian and Teh Coast Guardian.

Peeps of fall in S. MD!

It was such a beautiful day!

WINTER IS COMING!

Walking path wide enough for 3 people and 2 dogs.

The lake.  /swoon.

Teh Phil-boy.  He's so handsome.  Even if he tries to eat fluffy black dogs.

Teh Coast Guardian and Teh Humanitarian and Gami-girl.

Teh Megan!

Next time, I won't bring Phil and I'll bring the Nikon.

Hai Mom!!

The lake.

Being artsy

YAY for excellent walks and weather and friends and no crazy vet bills and
vacation coming up and...  so many more things..
YAY to an awesome life!

Up this week:
-Work.  Rah.

Up this weekend:
-packing..  WOoo!
      *to include laundry, making a list of items to not forget anything, rolling everything I pack, digging my boots out of my storage closet, picking out which size suitcase I'm bringing, prepping the car (to include removing back seat headrests, bring the cargo cover in the apt)...  this list just seems to keep growing, I'll stop now.
-Fall Festival at church (crap, I gotta buy some stuff to make a cake!) to potentially include trunk-or-treat
-potential other Halloween activities during the day on Saturday
-relaxation and socialization!
-If my new (brown) chairs arrive (brown because Target no longer offers the black ones to match the ones that I ordered back in December) before Friday, then Mexican Dominoes at Teh Megan's house since we'll have enough seating for everyone at the table.. AND we can actually use the leaf (which means having to unwrap it from the original packaging...)

Little Notes #5

Dear YNAB (You Need a Budget),
You haven't really helped me control my spending, but I can see where every penny is going.  Sometimes your program is a little too complex for me, but I'm sure if I was ever patient enough to watch the instructional videos I wouldn't be so overwhelmed with all the budget options.  Nonetheless, I like tracking my monies.  It's kinda fun, even if it kinda sucks.

Dear soon-to-be-here-DeStefano Baby,

Your parents and family are really excited about you.  I saw that you got lots of presents.  If you're not an Eagles fan your Daddy might disown you, but that's no big deal.  I told your parents a secret about how you're the baby I'm most excited about this season.  That's kind of a big deal for me, FYI.  I hear you have big feet.  I at least need you to fit in one set of the outfits I bought, but preferably the monster one because I'm kinda partial to that one over the elephants.


Dear Philadelphia,
Your roads suck.  That stacked bridge thing on 95??  HATE IT.  It freaks me out.  But, thank you for no traffic issues this weekend, that was much appreciated.

Dear Vice Presidential debate,
You were worthless to me.. AND your presence on a Thursday night meant no Grey's Anatomy... AND it meant it was a school night, so there was no drinking game for this girl.  On the other hand, thanks for the 2 hour reminder that my vote.. and the all day reminder the next day via FB from all my friends was great too.

Dear MD/DE,
Your I-95 tolls are ridiculous.  I learned a secret on the way back to S.MD though.. going the Hwy 301 way only costs $2 instead of $14.

Dear Sunday night traffic,
Or lack there of...
You were awesome.  You made my trip back to MD significantly less painful and I appreciate that.  You were also going pretty fast.  Thanks for that.

Dear Yurtle,
Everyone loves you.  Seriously.  Especially that lady at the pizza place driving the Mercedes.  I'm not sure if she actually checked you out through the windows or opened the door, but she loooooooved your leather seats and how cute you were.  I loooooooooved your 28.9 miles per gallon and cooled seat on the way home.  While Phil enjoyed the back seats that fold down to create Mobile Hotel de Phil.  This trip was pre-game for our trip to NC in 2 weeks.  I'll miss you while we're in Denver and the Grand Canyon, but I promise to love you long time when we get back and drive around NC together.  I'll even pay for your insurance and renew your tags and get you inspected.  It will be good times.  Promise.

Dear Teh Bear,
17 days till our vacation.  Tickets are bought, hotels are reserved.  We're on a vacation mission.  I'm pretty excited for snuggles..  and for our first plane ride together (in completely cheesy mode).  I'll even hold your hand in the airport and try not to power walk every where like I do when I'm alone.  PS.  Phil is excited to see you in NC.

Little Notes #2

(image)

Dear non-Americans,
Please stop trying to be "cool" like Americans.  We're actually not that cool.  Seriously.  Mullets aren't cool, rattails aren't cool, neon colors aren't cool are kinda cool.  We aren't really as "advanced" as you think we are.  I mean, we don't even have chips in our credit cards, we still sign those suckers old school style.

Dear Western Australia,
I wish I could have enjoyed being here more.  Truly.  Sadly, this trip didn't start out well and that bad beginning just kinda seeped into everything about this det.  I did enjoy the differences of not being in America.  But, it really isn't nice when you close the grocery store at 5pm on a Saturday.  Seriously, who does that?  Your creatures were interesting, although after a while, everything starts to look like a kangaroo. You guys can keep that.  PS.  Dr Pepper is better than Coke, that is definitely "cool" and you should start carrying it in the soda aisle instead of shunning it to the international section.

Dear America,
I miss you.  Being away really does make me grateful for the fact that our mayo doesn't look like semen, that internet isn't hard to come by and doesn't cost a fortune AND there aren't limits to data usage (and please don't let that happen anytime soon), and that stores are open 24 hours.  Also, driving on the left side of the road isn't really that bad, sometimes I even find it easier than driving on the right.

Dear sticky toffee/date pudding,
You are the most delicious thing I have ever consumed (probably, I mean, I eat a lot).  America isn't "cool" enough to have you, but I will create you in my kitchen.  I will bring the best of Scotland and Australia back to my house.  I will remember.  I will recreate.  I will prosper...  with sticky toffee/date pudding in my life.
(In Scotland it was sticky toffee pudding, in Australia it was sticky date pudding, thus the distinction)

Dear Teh Nikon D5000,
I love you.  I love that we go on adventures together.  I promise to cherish you and keep you safe.  You will always be my first DSLR.  You make me so happy.  I'm glad you let me choose you.  I'm proud that you handle my abuse so well.  You should thank Teh Bear for suggesting that I pick you though, he has really good taste.

Dear airlines that I will be on to get back to America,
I hope that you are well and we can get this trip off to a good start.  I expect no delays, no hassles, and preferably for myself not to lose any more ID cards (not that this would be your fault, I'm just throwing that out there).  I know the flight will be long, but I will be patient.  I would like to be compensated prior to the flight for my patience by receiving a window seat, preferably with no one in my aisle, but I will accept no one sitting beside me.  I'm not really picky about food since I usually come prepared.

Dear Teh Body,
I've been trying to treat you good.  I know we haven't worked out since we've been in Australia, and I hope you enjoyed the breaks, except for those days that we walked around a lot.  I gave you this break in hopes that would be fair compensation for a painless flight back to America.  I function much better when I'm not in pain or drugged up.  Also, I'm a nicer(ish) person when I'm feeling normal.  If it is workouts you wanted, no worries, those start back up soon.  Teh Phil-boy will be anxiously anticipating his evening jog and command PT calls your name.  Also, we will be starting the investigation of this mysterious pain when we get back, just so you're aware, so don't get shy now.

Dear Yurtle,
I've not deserted you in the parking lot of VX-1.  I swear it.  I'll be back for you soon and we'll have adventures.  Please bear with me when I get back.  I've been switched around for the past few weeks.  I may accidentally turn on your wipers when I'm trying to signal, but it won't take me long to get back in the swing of things.  I also pre-apologize for any sudden swerving I may have to do if I start driving on the wrong side of the road.  Also, I've seen your brothers and sisters in my travels, they always make me miss you more.

I still love this guy.

In the meantime...

The most efficient way for car dealer service dept to teach you about your new car's gadgets:

turn something that you always keep on auto off...

you get in your car (when its dark) and all the interior lights have been turned off.  You try messing with the radio to get the lights back on, nothing.  You give up cause you're just going to the grocery store, you don't need the lights to control the air right?  You start driving and realize your headlights aren't on, at which point you realize the service people turned the headlights setting from auto to off...  You turn your lights back on auto and all the interior lights come on too!  HUH!  Learned.

PS.  I know I'm SUPER WAY behind on the Bear Chronicles, the adventure isn't over, but the motivation has been lacking and last weekend some awesome plans came up (Worldwide Jesus Lover's bachelorette party) which meant that my normal writing/inspired time was occupied.  I did write a few short Phil blogs..

PPS.  Dear Gentle Readers who are married/engaged/wish they were either or both...  I have to buy a wedding gift..  What did you want the most as a wedding gift?  Money or something from your registry?  Worldwide Jesus Lover swears that just my presence at her wedding is a good enough gift, but she's silly.  She's getting married...  I have to get her something!
Registries:
Target Registry
Walmart Registry

Worldwide Jesus Lover returns from Venezuela!

We had facial piercings!  Rebels!

Salsa dancing!