Weekend Review {11/25}

FRIDAY

Friday was the last day of class before Thanksgiving break started and it was a struggle.  I managed, but Lawd, I did NOT want to be in my dungeon.  As soon as class was finished, I headed to work to fight with the instant pot (which is no way instant (as it claims to be)).  Because we don't have a stove at work, I figured I could make the pasta in the instant pot and it wouldn't take that long, because instant pot, and then just melt in the velveeta and cream like normal.

Fun fact, when you put 2 pounds of pasta and 12 cups of water in the instant pot, what is normally a tedious process of building pressure becomes a lifelong process of building pressure.  In case you also think that cooking pasta in the instant pot could be a good idea, I would recommend sticking with 1 box of pasta as 2 boxes + the water took almost 40 minutes to come to pressure.  The pasta only had to cook for 3 minutes... Then there was the process of depressurizing, which also took a LONG time since 12 cups of water.

Here's how instant pot deficient I am: I had to have someone else turn it on to start the process for me.  He is a regular instant pot user, so that helped, but even he was shocked at how long it was taking.  Soooo, take my advice, if you want to "instantly" cook your pasta, it is NOT instant. 

Several people came in the kitchen while it was cooking and we had the "Do you recommend the instant pot?" conversation.  Spoiler alert: I 110% DO NOT RECOMMEND the instant pot.  It is a liar.  NOTHING is instant.  It takes just as much time to build pressure as it does to cook something on the stove (unless it's frozen, in which case, the instant pot is superior, but not better than throwing that frozen thing in the crockpot in the AM and coming home to a cooked meal). 

Anyways, despite my loathing of the instant pot, it worked for me in this situation.  Mac and cheese was made, not nearly enough of it was consumed because we had so.much.food.  I left it all at work though, knowing it would get eaten and knowing that I'm making mac and cheese again this week for Thanksgiving.

I was so hungry I took a half-eaten-plate photo. /shrug

After eating and cleaning up, I left the office for a massage appointment I had scheduled late the in the week.  I know that I just had a massage on Halloween, but I was a mess and I was struggling mightily last week with being in school without a break since the September Hurrication.  So it was part treat yo self, part necessity as my body was rebelling against me.

At some point during my massage, I realized I had left the week behind.  I wasn't focused on all the school things that constantly bombard me and it was such a relief.  If I would have had the time, I would have written a pretty feely post about end of semester strife, but I didn't...  because Thursday I was put on a new project and tasked with writing documentation for a project I know ZERO things about, oh yeah and they need it by next Friday.. but really Wednesday since holiday week.  Fun!  Not.

Wednesday, I texted Teh Bestie and said I needed a pep talk because I was run down and struggling.  She called right away and reminded me that it was only 2 more days until the break and really only one since there was no class on Thursday.  But the bigger part, more than the pep talk she gave me, was that I reached out instead of struggling on my own.  Usually, I struggle quietly until I manage to pull myself up by my bootstraps or whatever.

Anyways, after my massage, I headed home to work and wait on Teh Advising Sister to arrive.  She arrived around 7 and soon after, we headed out for dinner. We went to Pearlz in Avondale.  I hadn't been there, so fun adventures!  After dinner, we went to Kaminsky's for adult beverages.  We were pretty tired after drinks, so we headed home and had some couch time, judging dating app matches for Teh Advising Sister. 

Way later than anticipated, we finally headed to bed.

SATURDAY

Saturday was a slow start.  We had plans to go day drinking to celebrate Teh PT Husband's birthday.  We managed to meet with the gang, late, and proceeded to hang out for many hours. 

We started at Ghost Monkey Brewing, but due to a church group with A LOT of children, we headed out pretty quickly and went to Two Blokes Brewing.

We spent several hours at Two Blokes, then headed to Dog and Duck for dinner.  There had been plans to go Westbrook Brewing, but since they closed at 6, the group headed to Commonhouse instead.  We actually ended up going home after Dog and Duck because the dogs needed to be fed and I was over day drinking.

Here's the (selfish) thing.  I don't drink beer, so day drinking at breweries isn't my jam.  I go to be a good sport and hang out with my friends, but it's not got the same appeal for me as it does to the majority of the people we hang out with, so I try not to be overly sassy about it.  Additionally, it was a birthday celebration, so it wasn't my call.  We've discussed day drinking at distilleries, but that has yet to happen.

Teh German opted to come home instead of being dropped off at Commonhouse and then he proceeded to be upset after he realized he had "missed out" by not going.  Siiiigh.  Whatever.  I was able to get in my TV time for the week.  We watched Noah Trever's and Iliza Shlesinger's standup comedies.  We were in bed by 11.  It was fantastic.

SUNDAY

Sunday, the guys scheduled a brunch event, gasp!  It was called "Beards and Brunch" and there was absolutely NO information about the brunch part of the event, which was my priority.  It was a Rusty Bull Brewing, where I'd seen food trucks before, so no info on the food situation made me skeptical about the situation and I was very adamant if there were not solid brunch options, I would go somewhere else.  After being at breweries for the majority of the day before, I had no problem going somewhere I could also drink something besides water.

Fortunately, Rusty Bull has a kitchen (which I was not aware of, and no one told me about) and the brunch options were pretty good and I didn't feel the need to relocate.  Teh German and Teh PT Husband signed up for the beard competition and didn't officially win, but they were the real winners in my book.

Eventually, Teh Advising Sister said she wanted to do ax throwing, which is connected with the brewery.  We were all down.  It was $26 for an hour of throwing time and we almost finished one game, but after about 15 minutes of trying to score and play the game correctly, we gave up the fight and just spent the rest of the time throwing without keeping score.

Fun fact: I'm actually kinda good at ax throwing.

That was one of my legit throws.
BOOM!  BULLSEYE BABY!

After our time ended, we all headed home.  After walking the dogs and feeding them dinner, we headed over to Teh PT House for socializing.  We hung out until about 7:15, when Teh German and Teh Advising Sister agreed on Japanese for dinner and we headed out to Sushi 101 for dinner.

After dinner, we headed home and it was bedtime soon after since Monday was a normal work day for us.

______________________________________________

A fantastic weekend with Teh Advising Sister!  I love when we have company and she's always down for whatever (i.e. day drinking with people she sees maybe once a year and some strangers).  We went to several new-to-me places and I can now say I've done ax throwing annnddd that I'm fairly good at it.

This week includes NO SCHOOL, kinda.  I should say no class, since I still need to work on some homework things, but I'm not overly motivated to do those things.  In addition to these docs that I'm working on for work, doing homework is even less appealing.  Friday is more tattoo and I have no idea what I want.  Originally, I wanted geometric pattern as the background, but now IDK and decisions are hard.

Thursday is Thanksgiving.  In the AM, Teh PT Wife and I are running a 5k, then we will go home and do cooking things.  Socializing and food in the afternoon.  Maybe if I'm super productive this week I can pound out those docs AND get a Friday post up?  Bahahahah, let's not get overly excited, Gentle Readers.

Happy Thanksgiving if that's your thing.
Happy normal week if it's not.

Weekend Review {08/12}

FRIDAY

Friday was work and I left around 3 to hit up the gym.  While I was working out, Best Buy called to say my computer was ready for pick up and I scheduled to pick it up at 7.  After my workout, I went home and showered.  Teh German came home a few minutes after me but did some job/computer things before he showered.  Around 6:30, we headed to Best Buy to pick up my laptop.

Guessssss whhhhaaaatttt, Gentle Readers....
The screen is ACTUALLY fixed!
ANNNDDD yet again, my laptop did NOT come home with me!!!!  Crazy, right?
Honestly, I'm not even a little bit surprised.  I actually laughed when the tech told me it'd need to be sent back, again, for the repairs.

So what had happened wasssssss...
When the tech opened the laptop, right away he noticed that the laptop hadn't been reassembled correctly and tabs that shouldn't be showing, were, in fact, showing on top of the keyboard.  ANNNDDD, in addition to that, the plastic piece covering the rear hinges/guts was broken.. ANNNDDD it had to be sent back because the tech couldn't put the tabs back in without taking the computer apart AND since it was broken, the plastic piece had to be replaced, which they don't keep in stock, understandably.

Sooooooo, I mean, I didn't cry this time, that's progress.  Teh German asked if I was really ok and I was.  I think he was surprised I wasn't more pissed off about the situation, but when you're me, you just go into shit expecting to be disappointed and then it's not overly surprising when you ARE disappointed.  🤷 And #DemAnxietyPillsYo

We had agreed on the way to Best Buy to go to my fave Mexican place for dinner, La Nortena.  Thankfully, Teh German acknowledged that Wild Wing Cafe, which is in the same parking lot as Best Buy, had recently received pretty poor sanitation ratings and he didn't really want to go there.  Fun fact, had he suggested WWC, I would have informed him about the poor sanitation ratings and we wouldn't have went there anyways.  I was glad I didn't have to disappoint him.

Lingua chimichanga with a side of cilantro.
#ProudCilantroLover

After dinner, we headed home and released the beasts, then headed over to Teh PT House for socializing.  At yawn-o-clock, we finally headed home for bedtime.

SATURDAY

Saturday was lazy day.  I'm not used to not having things to do.  Soooo, I woke up early because I had to pee, fed the dogs, then went back to bed.  When I got up later, I decided to walk the dogs before it got too hot (I was too late).  I took the beasts on a walk and I was literally dripping sweat by the time I got back. 

Gentle Readers, I am a Southern Belle, in all ways except for the part about glistening.  No.  I sweat.  Like a pig.  Sometimes, I drip sweat.  It's the most disgusting thing to me.  Hate, Hate, HHHHAAATTEEEEE.

The only silver lining to the sweating session was that Meri was giving a toy lawn mower in someone's yard the motherfuckin stare down and she ran into the silk fence around one of the construction lots and because that surprised her, she then jumped and got caught halfway on the silk fence.  The commotion and noise was so abrupt that it freaked out Pax, who also jumped, but did not come in contact with any silk fence.  I, on the other hand, lost my shit cackling at everything that had transpired.  I was not laughing when I got home, dripping with sweat.  Ugh.

I called Teh Running Bestie and told her and Teh German of Meri's demise with the silk fence and they both got a chuckle.  For many years I've waited on Meri to hit her face on one of the steel rods holding up the silk fence or some other issue and finally the day came!  Her near misses have baffled me for years, but my wait was worth it.

After getting back home and drying myself off, I had breakfast and coffee and then we videoed with Mama G for a bit.  I managed to toss in some German and understood enough of what was going on the majority of the time.  After it was over, Teh German and I worked to get Skype working with Alexa so we can just use the Show next time for video.  It would be awesome if Amazon also integrated with WhatsApp, butttt that's probably never gonna happen.

I moved to the couch and finished a book, nothing great, and Teh German left to go "help" Teh PT Husband smoke a turkey as a pre-Thanksgiving trial.  And by "help" I mean, they sat outside together in the mabillionty degree weather and watched the electronic smoker do what it does without assistance.  I refused to go outside after my stint with the dogs, so after I finished my book, I laid down and took a nap...

..and woke up 3 hours later... and then I just laid on the couch because I had nothing to do.  I'm not good with having nothing to do...

Around 4, Teh German texted telling me smoked turkey was almost done and asked if we had any sides we could contribute.  So, I made mac and cheese and warmed up peas and baked beans.  Pantry hoarding to the rescue!

August Thanksgiving

By 5, we were enjoying the fruits of our labors.  I'm not disappointed by smoked turkey.  We hung out for a while longer, Teh PT Husband introduced me/us to Big Mouth, a show on Netflix, which had me cracking up.  Teh German and I agreed that we would watch it next/when The Americans gets too heavy and we need something funny to watch.

When we got home, Teh German offered to let me peroxide his ears.  It was gross and awesome.  After, it was bedtime.

SUNDAY

Again, with the needing to pee super early.. Ugh.  I fed the dogs while I was up, because #BestWifeEver, then I went back to bed.  Around 8 or 0830, I woke up to some beeping and was super confused and then finally deduced that it was probably the fish tank, so I woke up Teh German, told him the fish tank alarm was going off and he got up and I went back to sleep.  When I did wake up again, I got dressed and took the dogs on a walk... again. 

Sunday was not as miserable as Saturday, thankfully and there was sweating, but not dripping. 🙌

When we got home, Meri insisted on going outside for a while, then came in and watched the front door for a bit, then she laid down for less than 3 minutes and was up being a busy body again.  I swear to Buddha that dog is solar-charged.  Like, I joke about it, but I was ready to take a nap and I'd only been awake for 45 minutes.  Pax was laying on the floor panting with me questioning if I'd almost given him heat exhaustion.... and Meri was like, MOOOAAARRR!!!  Weirdo.

I finally got tired of dealing with her, so I gave both dogs bully sticks and after, they finally settled.  Shitheads.  Teh German left to go help the Biker Gang move something, so I had another boring day ahead of me.  This time, I decided to be productive. 

First, I repaired Pax's caterpillar.  I had to repair it in the guest room because when I took it into the loft, Pax did not approve and we played tug until I finally gave up and he brought it back into guest room.  He supervised my work, then he DNGAF when I was finished with it.  #RUDE.

Next up, I showered because I was gross.  After the shower, I started laundry and purged my clothes, as I had planned.  Then, I headed to Walmart to pick up my hot flashes BC and a few items that were on the list.  Then I came back home and made brownies for the cookout Teh German and I were going to for dinner.  Then... I waited for Teh German to come home.  I did my Duolingo lessons and played Solitaire and talked to Teh Dad, who I almost hung up on because he insisted on comparing me to Karl, which he thought was funny for some reason, but 100% was not since Karl was a fucking douchewad and he was saying I was being like Karl since I was pissed at Teh German for being late.  Anxiety pills did NOT help in this situation.  Then again, neither did Teh Dad, who seemed to be insistent on trying to piss me off more, even though he thought he was being funny.  Only one of us was laughing and it sure as shit wasn't me.

Teh German came home an hour later than we had agreed on, then he tried to pull some shit where "[I] said 3:30."  Bitch please, I literally broke down the schedule for you and repeated you should be home to get ready by 2:30 no less than 2 times, and then we'd leave at 3:30.  Don't pull some shit with me like you were confused.  Own it, because it's not MYYYYY fault that YOU are late.  In the end, he didn't get to shower before we left and I didn't care.  He knew that he was wrong, even if he'd never acknowledge it and will blame it on the people he was helping, because I'm 100% confident at no point did he ever say to them, "I need to be home by 2:30 because we have plans this afternoon."

We made it to Teh Advocates' house shortly before 4:30.  The rest of the guests arrived around 5ish.  We had burgers and socialized with their new German exchange student and each other.  I didn't understand everything, but it was super loud and I couldn't hear well, so it was fine.  I was struggling to understand English conversation as well, so it was NBD.  Around 7:30ish we headed home to feed the beasts the other half of their dinner.  We watched an episode of The Americans and then it was bedtime.

______________________________________________

Part of me hates weekends with nothing to do, but most of me loves them.  It's a difficult situation because I'm so programmed to be doing something.  I also know that in the very near future, my weekends will probably be shit because they will be filled with homework and I'll be having to coordinate my time again.

This is another quiet week, as I purposely planned.
I have a massage today.  🙌🙌🙌
Friday is hairs did day and then we're going to an Aquarium After Hours event with Teh PT Husband/Wife.  Yes, I purposely rescheduled my hair appointment for a day when I knew we had activities going on so I could show off my fresh hairs.  #NotSorry

Crowd Tested and Approved Mac and Cheese

I was voluntold to bring mac and cheese for Thanksgiving dinner.  It was recommended that I just pick up a Stouffer's frozen mac and cheese and I was like, U-HHH NO.  Teh Mom used to make homemade mac and cheese all the tiiiimmee and it seemed pretty straightforward.  Boil pasta, add Velveeta, add some milk.. Dun.  Actually, you can also add butter, to make it even more healthy, but my memory didn't fail me.

This is the leftovers...
Since the picture I took of my fresh mac and cheese disappeared.

Ingredients:

-16oz box of pasta (I used campanella instead of elbow pasta since they are "fun" pasta)
-16oz box of Velveeta cheese (that's the small box, if you double the recipe, buy the big box)
-some butter
-some milk

Directions:

-Boil pasta to your preferred eating style and drain, return to pot
-Add entire box of Velveeta, a heaping spoonful of butter, milk to your preferred level of creaminess.
-Stir until everything is melted and mixed well. 

Megan Directions:

-Boil pasta
-While waiting on water/pasta, cut up Velveeta into small chunks (so it melts easier)
-When pasta is cooked to your liking, drain pasta, return to pot.
-Toss in heaping spoonful of butter, all the Velveeta, and add enough milk to the liquidiness of your choice.
-Stir until everything is melted and mixed well.


Another option to get the Velveeta to melt quicker is to put the milk, butter, and Velveeta in a pot on low-medium heat and let it meld/melt while the pasta is cooking, then add the cooked pasta to the mixture.  I did this because I was already using 2 pots.  You could prob also heat up the Velveeta/mixture in the microwave to soften the Velveeta.  Trust me, you want to make it as easy as possible to spread the Velveeta.  It's a LOT of stirring to get an entire box of Velveeta melted.  IN case you were not aware.

Weekend Review {11/26}

THURSDAY

Gentle Readers, I have a confession to make.  Prepare yourselves.  I hope you are sitting down.  Ok, here goes.  I don't like turkey.  I will eat it out of Thanksgiving obligation but I don't like it.  I definitely don't like it reheated.  It took me almost 33 years to come to this conclusion, but this year.. I've decided for certain.  I don't like turkey.  Thanksgiving for me is about everything else.  Especially the stuffing.  I LIVE for stuffing.  I'll also generously serve myself mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, whatever form of corn you got, carrots, mac and cheese, maybe 2 rolls if I don't have worry about everyone getting one, and maybe try a little bit of those weird things that are part of your family's "traditions"... but I'll have a minuscule serving of turkey, kthx.  I'll save that for everyone else.

Coffee and chocolate pie filling for breakfast.
#Champion

We woke up, had breakfast and I had considered going on a run, but wasn't feeling it, so I didn't.  Instead I went to the computer and fucked around until Teh Running Bestie texted me asking how my mac and cheese was, which I had completely forgotten I needed to make.

Does having a head cold and/or having to take medication for sinus problems make anyone else deficient?  There is so much from last week that I cannot remember.. obviously I was struggling during the week as well.  /shrug

Teh PT Wife had brought over a turkey to put in our oven around 11, so I can say I helped with the turkey.  I did actually.  I made sure that every time I even looked at anything that was going to be eaten I washed my hands so my sickness was less likely to be contracted.  Additionally, when it was time, I checked the turkey's temp and took it out when it was finished.

With Teh Running Bestie's prompting, I headed to the kitchen at 1230 to start my mac and cheese.  Most everyone who cooks asked for the mac and cheese recipe, so I think it was a winner!  I'll prob be posting the recipe in the foreseeable future.  Teh German turned on the dog show for me while I cooked.  I thought we had missed the hound group, but we hadn't.  I won't lie.  After the hounds, I turned off the TV and resumed my audiobook.  #Priorities.

After everything was done cooking, I headed upstairs to shower and get ready for public viewing.  By 2 we were next door to celebrate Thanksgiving with our extended family.  We were at Teh PT House for most of the afternoon.  In the evening, Teh PT Wife and I ventured out for some Black Friday shopping at Old Navy, Best Buy, Dick's, and Target.  While we were shopping, husbands were smoking cigars and drinking.

We made it back home around 11 and then it was bedtime.

FRIDAY

A slow start on Friday morning.  We started off the day by going to the gym, where death would have been a preferable end for most of the 30 minute workout.  After, Teh German went to help a riding buddy pack/move stuff while I worked for a bit.

While we were at the gym, Meri proved that no matter how much I treat her like my child, she is, but, an animal.

After Teh German came home, I finally showered, we ate late lunch/early dinner, and then we sat down and watched the entire Divergent series.  Sadly, the movies fucking suck and the books were sooo much better.  Additionally, the last movie was complete crap.  Even Teh German started to notice inconsistencies and errors and would point them out, which only served to stir me up and then I started in on my regular bashing, which I had been keeping in check.

Also, Allegiant doesn't really follow the book at all.  NO ME GUSTA.  SHE DIES.  At least get that right, faaacccckkkk.

While we were wasting our lives away in front of a screen, I discovered this Black Friday gem and made a solid life choice.  This is actually Teh Bear's fault, because eons ago when we lived together in MD, I remember him getting a steal of a deal on all 8 Harry Potter movies and I never forgot.  With Teh PT Kid currently reading through the series, I'm amping up for when he eventually finishes the series and we can watch all the movies.  #SorryNotSorry

This is doubly good because then Teh PT Wife can finally experience some Harry Potter awesomeness and she will finally get HP jokes between Teh PT Kid and I.

After watching 3 movies in a row, I was d.u.n.DUN. 

SATURDAY

Teh PT Wife wanted to go shopping again.  Who am I to not tag along?  We went by Home Goods and TJ Maxx, then we hit up Tattooed Moose for lunch, then we hiked across Charleston walked to the other end of the mall to go by Belk.  We stopped by World Market so I could pick up spatzle for Teh German.  Then we stopped at At Home, Kirklands, and, finally, Hobby Lobby.

Picked up a sweet $5 tank that I couldn't deny the gift of living in my closet.

After I got home, Teh German and I ate dinner, then we sat down in front of the TV and watched (please sit down to read this part too) the Clemson vs USC foosball game.  I kept making comments that we could watch Shameless instead, but Teh German insisted on watching the game.  We knew which team was going to win (Clemson), but Teh German kept yelling at the TV like it would make a difference.  I won't lie, USC really played hard, despite going up against an undefeated team.

After the game, it was bedtime.

SUNDAY

Teh German and I needed to run some errands on Sunday.  We were going to go to Denny's for breakfast, but I discovered as I drove up to the restaurant that they were closed... based on the black plastic over all the Denny's signs.  UGH.. So instead we went to IHOP.

After breakfast, we hit up Sam's, Walmart, then Lowe's.

When we got home,
Teh German was messing around in the garage and I was putting stuff away in the house.  Eventually, I started working on some homework.  Teh German came in just as I was finishing up.  We've been having some back and forth lately about the immigration interview and things we need to bring, but it kinda seemed like Teh German was putting all these things WE needed to bring on my shoulders.  I had asked him to send me a list of documents that we needed and he just kept saying shared accounts.  We have the utilities and a bank account together, but he insisted that wasn't enough.  Despite my objections, I finally looked up a suggested list of documents to bring to the interview and ended up printing out a millionty things.

I discovered that only one of our utility bills has both of our names on it, that my name was still incorrect on our insurance policies, and that many other things could serve to prove the relationship legitimacy.

Teh German was being helpful and tried to move the printer while it was printing to the new stand I purchased, and I almost threatened to cut his arms off and beat him with them.  I have a very precarious relationship with the current printer and when it works, no one is allowed to mess with the printer.  With all the documents in the printer queue, I would have been pissed if the printer had accidentally gotten unplugged and I had to redo all my work.  But he was trying, so 10 points for Gryffindor Teh German.

After I was done printing everything, Teh German suggested a dog walk since the beasts were extra obnoxious and I was obviously a little.. harried.  After our walk, Teh German helped me complete my pot cabinet lid storage task.  Lids are the most annoying part of my pots/pans storage and putting them on the door was the perfect solution.

Then, Teh German headed to Teh PT House for smoking time.  I followed a little while later, after finally putting the rest of the laundry stuff away.  We hung out for a little bit and eventually headed home for dinner.  After dinner, we watched a few episodes of Shameless and then, my Thanksgiving break was over and it was bedtime.

______________________________________________

Despite being sick, Thanksgiving break was very good for me.  The benefit to being sick is that midday naps aren't as frowned upon vs when you're just on school break and just happen to be home in time to take a midday nap.  #YOLO

I didn't do any homework, despite having a coding assignment, German hw, the last project for my circuits class, and the final project for my cybersecurity class.  I needed a break.  And I was sick.  It was probably for the best that I didn't even bother.

I cooked so much last week that we probably will only have to make dinner once this week because we still have so much leftovers in the fridge.  #Blessed?  Is that how it works?

This week consists of anxiously awaiting all my Black Friday shipments.
I have an OB/GYN appt to follow up on the follow up for my hot flashes on Wednesday.
Friday, we have our first Holiday party of the season.
Dec 5th, Teh Running Bestie and Teh Chief Smartass will be in CHS.
Dec 7th is the Kiawah Half Marathon. 
Our MD visitors will be taking Meri and Pax with them when they go back to MD and we will be without the beasts until Teh Running Bestie returns to Charleston in January for the Charleston Half Marathon.  There are a few consolations.  1- we will see them over NYE.  2- Where we are staying in Denver, there will be at least 10 greyhounds.  3- the neighbors would happily whore out their dogs if we needed a fix.


Let us trudge together into December!  ONWARD!

Five on Friday #174

EINS - Random Shit

-So I'm sick.  I want to die.  It's totally a thing.  Went to the doc on Wednesday and she has no idea what is wrong with me.  I have a slight fever, the strep test came back negative, and there might be some infection in my sinuses.  🤷  The doc prescribed me an antibiotic that is a distant penicillin relative (which I'm definitely allergic to), and we were worried it might kill me for the first 24-48 hours of me taking it.  I'm still alive, and no allergic reaction yet.  For real though, I carried around 2 benedryl in my pocket for the first 24 hours after taking it.

-I'm not ready for school to start back.  I don't really feel like I got anything accomplished over break since I was sick.  Granted, I'd rather be sick over a break than be sick and have to miss class.  So it's a trade off. 

-Today was my first day back at the gym in over a week (since I don't go to the gym within 3/4 days of a run-race) and I wanted to die.  Sickness + not having gone in over a week + being a fat ass yesterday?  Kill.me.now.please.

-There is homework I need to accomplish.  I'm not interested.  In fact, I'm feeling pretty checked out of the remainder of this semester.  This is no bueno.

-I learned a cool Cricut trick yesterday to "write" on the stickers to make them all stay in place.  I'm excited to try this on a large scale.  My Cricut likes to pretend it knows what to do better than me, BUT IT IS WRONG.

-The 99% off sale by Cards Against Humanity is awesome, but too time consuming for me to really care. 

-Soooo soooo soooo badly I want to do a Ragnar race.  This is where you and 11 other people run 200 miles in 2 days on almost no sleep while living in a 15 passenger van. 

-Monday, Tuesday, AND Wednesday, we had some sort of pasta.  This is an impressive record for me, Gentle Readers, as I tend to stay away from pasta.  Lasagna from the freezer on Monday since it was minimal effort, chicken and bok choy ramen on Tuesday, then beef stroganoff on Wednesday.  I'm not sure Teh German appreciated this as much as he should have.

-My favorite part of any Thanksgiving/Christmas (which is kinda like Thanksgiving 2) meal is the stuffing and the sweet potatoes and either chocolate or lemon pie.  The rest of it is optional.  I know.  I'm weird.

-We went to Teh PT House for Thanksgiving dinner and it was awesome.  I made homemade mac and cheese with velveeta (like Teh Mom used to/does) and every person who is super picky about food they like said it was the best mac and cheese they'd ever eaten.

-Also, Teh Sister said that she was kinda jealous of my chocolate pie because it was completely set and she's been having issues with her pies setting.  #WIN.  PS. I'm not the cooking sibling.  That's Teh Sister.  I'm the one everyone thought would need to hire a cook to live past the age of 30.  #HereWeAre

-Good thing Thanksgiving Break isn't over yet.  I still need to watch Catch & Release, which is already loaded in the DVD player.

-I've been wearing Teh Running Bestie's Garmin.  Gentle Readers, step tracking IS STUPID.  This stupid thing doesn't properly track my going up and down stairs and it sometimes gives me steps before I'm even out of the bed because I've pet Meri or rolled over and grabbed my phone.  And also, unless I run, I won't make my step "goal".  I just won't.  I don't even care.  Who the fuck actually NEEDS that many steps (at least 5000 per day is what the Garmin sets my "goal" at, stupid, stupid, stupid)?

-I got so many awesome shirts last weekend at the expo.  Mostly workout shirts because I needed some race and gym shirts since my race outfits are.. lacking.  #FirstWorldProblems, I know.

-I have 5 credits I need to use on Audible before I cancel my account (since I reactivated the other account), this is one of the most difficult problems I have to deal with, I'm certain.  I have to make good choices and still meet certain standards (purchased audiobooks may not be shorter than 10 hours).

ZWEI - Money Shit

Fuck me I went Black Friday shopping after being out of town the weekend prior.  Goodbye dollas.

-Old Navy - clothes for Teh German and myself.  Did we neeeeed new clothes?  Not really, but I'm using this as an excuse to purge.

-Dick's - new running shoes.  This was a need and pre-decided on.  I ended up buying 2 new pairs of running shoes.  1 will be put away for when my favorite pair finally gives up on me.  Again, with the purging.

-Best Buy - Back when I lived in Pax River, I used to scan stuff on ShopKick all.the.time.  I had 33,000 points that I'd never done anything with.  Well, after I decided NOT to buy a new laser printer that I really wanted, I realized that I could get some gift certificates with all those ShopKick points.  After a little bit of scanning last night at Best Buy, I ended up with $135 in gift certificates for Best Buy.  I/They couldn't find the printer I wanted in the store, so I came home and ordered it online for the same price.  Done.

-Kohl's - another pre-determined purchase, after a dog (PAX) ripped a hole in our already ripped comforter a few weeks ago, I need/wanted to get another comforter.  It worked itself out that I had a spare king-sized comforter on hand from the guest room, which just happened to be wayyyyyyy too big for the guest bed since it's low to the ground.  So I ended up buying 2 different comforters in queen size.  I'll see which one I like and return the other, probably.  Unless I like both and then I'll keep both and we'll have a back up for when the dogs (inevitably) rip this comforter.  #ThisIsWhyICantHaveNiceThings.  I also purchased a pair of capri workout britches for myself.  I've been on the hunt, so this was also a semi-planned purchase.

-Brooks - When I discovered that the shoes I had purchased at Dick's also came in black, I got pissed because I'd been looking for plain black shoes for walking/casual wear.  They showed on the Dick's website, but couldn't be ordered online and they were not available in any store.  This extra sucked, because it meant I had to pay full price for them rather than getting the 25% off.  BOO.  I did get a stupid ugly christmas sweater shirt with my $120 purchase, but still.  I'd rather get 25% off, kthx.

-Cards Against Humanity - I bought the new expansion and I tried to buy some of their 99% off crap, but wasn't successful.  Oh well.

-Target - Since Teh PT Wife and I were by Target, we perused the store and picked up a few things.  I found some squeaky toys for Meri for Christmas, Pax was already taken care of at Halloween, and some oreos and a white shirt to replace the one that I accidentally tinted blue while we were in Australia, and some Nexium.  I know, real solid Black Friday purchases going on there.

-Audible - I have 2 Audible accounts I switch between depending on if there is a sale running, since sales never apply to current subscribers, which I find incredibly infuriating.  For Black Friday you can pay $7 per month for 3 months.  Done.

All the food/travel things for a Runcation.
-baggage fees (rude)
-eating, plenty of that.
-expo purchases (a percussion massager (WORTH IT), shirts)

Real life purchases:
-Spotify subscription
-Groceries x2
-Dairy Queen blizzard
-Willow's first doctor appointment (first oil change)

DREI - From My Phone Shit

When Husband says, "There's cough drops in the pantry."
And this is what you find.
Honey, that doesn't look like plural cough drops....
Also, what monster only leaves ONE cough drop in the bag?

Nurses have been on duty all week.

Care package from Teh Stepmom was a sweet surprise!

When you wash a linty blanket with your towels and then you have hairy pits and have to rewash ALL the towels.

Nurses on duty again.

When NOT to speak to your Husband.  ^^^

I know it's first worldy, but this plastic drain cover thingy brings me so much joy.
Being able to cover my knees AND my boobs?  #WorthIt

At least his ass isn't on MY pillow.
./shrug

#ThanksgivingBreakGoals
Check.

The beasts rode with me to pick up my meds after my doc visit.

I attempted to make beef (bison) stroganoff.
It was ok.

Morning snuggles

Coffee and chocolate pie filling for breakfast,
it's looking a little like Thanksgiving or Christmas around here.

I also had a poached egg and toast and it kinda looked like a smiley face, lol.

Teh German turned on the dog show for me while I was cooking mac and cheese for Thanksgiving dinner.

Found my EXACT Tamagotchi at Best Buy.
How are these still $20.  I do not understand.

This may be a TMI, but I'm on an antibiotic for whatever sickness I currently have and my doc gave me this for just in case.  #LadyProblems, ya'll.
Came home from the gym this morning and found this.
Thanks, Meri.

VIER - From the Internet Shit

FÜNF - Things that made me happy this week

1. Impromptu Black Friday shopping with Teh PT Wife.
2. Getting schweeeeet deals on shit.
3. The idea of purging my closet.  
4. When I squeaky farted getting out of bed this morning and Teh German almost cried from laughing.
5. Speech-to-text.  For real.  So good.  
6. A shared running calendar for Teh Running Bestie, Matilda, and myself.
7. Cooking 2 things perfectly for Thanksgiving: mac and cheese and chocolate pie.
8. Finally getting to go to the gym, even if I wanted to die.  Sick workouts are not for the weak.
9. Hot beverages and cold ice cream.
10. Having things to be grateful for.  Not just this week, but every.single.day.

Happy Friday, Gentle Readers.

Five on Friday #130

EINS - Shit from the week

-Math test, chem test, German test... At least we're getting these out of the way before we spend a week out of school, when I will promptly forget everything I've learned.  #notsorry

-I'm not disappointed that we took a nap instead of going to see Jason Segal.  Not even a little bit.

-I am disappointed by my food choices over the past week and I'm making it a goal to do better.  Less treats, Megan.  You are not a dog (yes I am).

-When people don't contact me when they say they will, I get stabby.  That includes my wedding planner and DJ.

-Teh German was super frustrated on Monday night trying to install the new thermostats.  I called the HVAC company we deal with on Tuesday afternoon (when I remembered) and talked to the dispatcher some about the issue of neither thermostat (the new one Teh German had installed or the old one we hadn't touched) showing anything on the display.  She said it would be best to send a tech out and she informed me that it would cost $150 per thermostat for a tech to install it.  When I got home on Tuesday evening, I asked Teh German to have the new thermostats installed before the tech arrived.  This way, the tech could just troubleshoot instead of saying he couldn't do anything since I didn't want to pay him to install them, when I was 100% confident in Teh German's work.

Jerry, the HVAC dude who had spent so much time at our house in August, was the tech to show up and he confirmed that the fuse was blown and our HVAC warranty covered it.  WOOT.  Finally a warranty that doesn't just waste my money.  With the fuse replaced, BOTH thermostats worked and Teh German was friendly again AND we saved $300 since Jerry didn't install them.

BTW, it is super simple to do things like replace the light switches with motion sensors and change out a thermostat.  Many a people on YouTube are willing to show you how to do things.  It's super helpful in home ownership needs and saves us a LOT of money... AND Teh German gets satisfaction from doing home improvement projects.  Unfortunately for him, my next home improvement tasks won't be as simple (paining, hanging pictures)...

-I try to be on my best kitchen behavior when I cook things that are being eaten not at my house.  For instance, I try to use clean, unlicked, utensils when I mess with the food and I make a conscious effort to wash my hands before messing with the food if I've touched the dogs, even if I'm just stirring something.  I hope everyone else is the same way..... (don't burst my bubble, kthx).

-I made 9 POUNDS of sweet potatoes for Company Thanksgiving.  Granted, I used about 2/3 of it and the remaining 1/3 is at home for Teh German (and I) to eat.  The only reason I used all of the sweet potatoes that I had was because I noticed that the 4 potatoes I was going to save for later were on the peak of going bad.  So instead of wasting them, I just cooked them.  It's good that Teh German likes sweet potatoes, especially since I'm leaving today for MD.

-At our wedding, Teh German got very choked up before reading his vows.  Well, I'll just admit here that every time I listen to my vows to Teh German or read them, my eyes leak.  I love what he said to me, but what I said to him makes me more emotional for some reason.  Maybe because it's things I've promised to do for forever?  That said, the part where he calls me the "strongest, smartest, toughest woman [he] knows" gets me every time...

-Someone brought Cheerrwine Punch to our Thanksgiving lunch at work.  I have to say, it's not as delicious as regular Cheerwine and you should not bother.

-Yesterday, I walked into the kitchen to fill up my water before we ate lunch and noticed that my insulated bag was on the floor and it was standing like normal instead of laid on it's side, how I'd put it.  RAGE.  Here's why it mattered:

So much gd rage.  Apparently, my bag (that was holding my heated sweet potatoes) had been placed in a location that was "in someone's way" when it was laying on it's side, so they stood it up......  At which point, all the carefully laid out, perfectly toasted, marshmallows became stuck to the lid.  I had to scrape all the marshmallow out of the lid and plop it back on the sweet potatoes.  It wasn't pretty and I might have been a bit hangry thus my overly ragey response, but WTF! DON'T MESS WITH PEOPLE'S SHIT ON BRING IN FOOD DAY. 

I had let Teh German shower first so I could get the sweet potatoes heated up before work.  Then, I had meticulously laid out the marshmallows on top of the sweet potatoes so they could melt and be toasted.  I even dealt with shitty morning traffic since I left late...  And then THIS.

TL;DR: Just because you might not understand why something is the way it is, doesn't mean it's not like that for a reason.  Thus, leave other people's shit alone.


-Greyhound owner's worst nightmare happened when I was walking the dogs with Teh PT Wife earlier this week.  We were about 20 feet away and a car was parked on the street.  The door opened and a little puffball dog jumped out, fortunately on a leash.  Pax immediately went to alert.  I can control Meri, but I knew that if Pax took off, he was going to take me (and Meri) with him.  Thankfully, the humans saw me reel my dogs in and brace myself for either one of them to take off and they picked up their step.  Unfortunately, they did NOT pick up their dog, so we had to pause and wait for them to get into the house before continuing on.  It took no less than 6-8 houses before Pax stopped turning around to look for his potential new toy.  Meri was whining and rearing back the entire time the dog was walking in the house because she loves new friends...

-I'm skipping Chemistry today to leave for MD.  #priorities

ZWEI - Shit I've spent money on

Ugh.

-Chiro visit
-Shipping for some thangs (amazon return, and Teh Sister's usb hub)
-YALL Fest shirt (which was a disappointment.  Essentially, I paid $25 for a sleep shirt since that was the smallest size they had left.  Then, later they posted you could order online.  Grr/boo hiss.)
-Teh Sister's Christmas present
-Hookah downtown
-Callie's Hot Little Biscuit
-Willie Jewell's
-The remaining items on our registry.... (Turns out, people have a year to buy a wedding gift.  Oops.)
-Sam's Club membership.
-Gas
-Food/things from Sam's.
-Cards Against Humanity's Holiday Thing
-Chickfila sweet tea (FML they finally opened the one on campus up and I have no will power against the sweet nectar of life)
-Disposable pans for the Thanksgiving celebration at work so I don't have to worry about reclaiming my Pyrex dishes.
-98 Rock Fest tickets to see Seether, Three Days Grace, 10 Years and some other bands in April.

DREI - Shit from my phone

Whew, definitely gonna fail German now.  😆

Pumpkin/squash soup = fall.

Whiteboards are... remarkable.
My dry humored coworker even laughed.  #notsorry

What do you call an anxious dinosaur?
Nervous Rex
I wrote this one specifically for Teh German since he was coming to Company Thanksgiving Lunch.

#vacationgoals
I'm headed to MD to play nurse for Teh Running Bestie.
She's not currently running, so it seemed like the perfect time to complete this puzzle that Teh WJL gave us as a wedding present of Schloss Neuschwanstein (which we visited in Germany, where Timo did not propose).

Another gem from TehWJL, this photo of me.

WORKING smart thermostats!
The problem was not Teh German's install job, but a blown fuse.
Which that expensive ass HVAC warranty covered. 

YYYAAASSSS Thanksgiving!

VIER - Shit from the internet

Essentially, I am a dog...

If anyone was considering getting me a Christmas present, I'm happy to accept this as a gift, as well as the "free" bag that comes with it.

FÜNF - Shit that made me happy

1. Haus is a Smart House.  I can view my thermostats from my phone and Teh German can tell Siri to turn off the lights at night.  Once I figure out how to set up my phone to turn off the lights when I tell it to, we'll be in business.
2. Teh German actually laughing (not just a chortle) at the joke I shared on Teh Blog's FB page.
3. Sending the DJ her website information and being done with that whole thing.
4. The cleaning lady agreeing to redo some of the shit she didn't do properly when she did the deep clean when she comes this month.
5. Google.  For all the answers.
6. Thanksgiving puns.
7. Completing assignments prior to school vacation so I don't have to worry with them during vacation.
8. Teh Running Bestie gifting me with The Handmaid's Tale.  I've been wanting to read it for a while.
9. Visiting old web comics I used to read and being nostalgic.
10. I'M ON MY WAY TO MARYLAND TO VISIT TEH RUNNING BESTIE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Happy Friday, Gentle Readers.