Five on Friday #226

EINS - Random Shit

Real talk, if you are a vlogger, LOOK AT THE FUCKING CAMERA.  Do NOT look at yourself for your entire video (if you are using your cell phone or some media showing device to record yourself).  Jesus Christ, why isn't this obvious?  Talk to ME, your viewer, not to yourself.  I know, it's hard not to watch yourself, but you can do it.  I swear.  If you need to check yourself every so often, that's cool, but watching yourself for a 10 minute video?  I will rip off your arms and beat you with them.

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I might have admitted this before, but it's worth posting again.

It always takes me 3 holes to hang something on the wall that has 2 hangers (a hook on each side).  Every.fucking.time.
Please also note that I hang stuff by the "eh, that's fine" method 95% of the time, which means eyeballing it to see if something is straight or not.

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A few of my bras have a sparkly edging on the cups.  Monday, the dress I wore kinda showed the sparkly area of my bra through the fabric of the dress.  I deemed myself, "Sparkle Tits."

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Does eating frozen yogurt count as taking probiotics?  Asking for a friend.

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Sometimes, I creep on what my Spotify friends are listening to and listen to their playlists that are made for them.  I have learned (and am not surprised by) the fact that Teh Sister and I have very similar music tastes.  Thanks, Sis!

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There are few things worse than the smell of Lowcountry being trapped in your car.  If you cannot relate to this, imagine that you fart your worst smelling fart then open your door and get out of your car and do your thing.  When you get back in your car hours later, it still smells like the fart.  Except worse because now it's warm.  It's a fetid fart.  #HateHateHate

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It's been a hot minute since I posted a Shit Teh German Said (STGS) post.. and I wanted to discuss that for a second.  First off, I will say that there is a STGS post scheduled for this month.  But I often struggle with documenting the hilarious shit he says because... I want to enjoy it.  I don't want to have to stop cackling to text myself the conversation.  It really takes away from my enjoyment of the moment.  So I'm torn.  I know everyone loves those posts, because they are, obviously, hilarious.  But it takes effort for me to laugh, then recall the conversation with perfect clarity and text it to myself.  Effort that I don't always want to put in.

So just know, I'm debating on whether or not to make more of an effort again for STGS posts.  I can't guarentee anything will change, but it's on my mind.

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PITA Professor straight up called me out on doing less good this semester than I did last semester.  HELLLLLLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO Senioritis!

"Your performance thus far has been below your normal excellent performance, you can do better!

Also, this is specifically on his daily quizzes and often I mix up 2 definitions, which means that I don't just miss 1 question, but 2 and when a quiz has less than 10 questions, that's a pretty significant portion.  Maybe looking at the material would help, but mostly, IDGAF.  /shrug. And also.. if my average quiz grade is my lowest grade of 3 tests and the final exam, it will get dropped anyways.  #DoNotCurr.

I'm always really affected by disappointment, so while this comment makes me laugh on the outside, it is really getting under my skin.  I know that logically, of course, I am doing poorly because we've had 10 quizzes and I missed 2 of them when I was out sick (and we're not allowed to make them up), so those are probably also dragging my average down.  Like, I understand the LOGIC of why he'd write that comment, but I can literally do NOTHING to improve other than study better for quizzes, which I don't really care to stress myself out over.  I'm not sure why I'm still wrestling with this.

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Dear Spotify,
I haven't listened to Christmas music since December.  You can update my "Recently Played" playlists now... /facepalm

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Teh German is pretty bad about just going on Amazon and buying something, rather than doing any price comparing at other places we shop at (i.e. Sam's Club).  I'm hoping he learned his lesson recently when he paid double for an item on Amazon that he would have paid if he would have purchased it at Sam's.

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Dear Chase,
Thanks for free Doordash delivery for a year.  Now I might actually be tempted to use Doordash.

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First, there was just fat week.
Then, there was fat week and skinny week.
Then, there was fat week, motivated week, then skinny week.
Then.. there was fat week, motivated week, exhausted week, then skinny week.

This is all because having a uterus is a punishment.

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Forgetting to turn on the crockpot in the morning is why someone invented the instant (it's not fucking instant) pot.  But for us, it just means a valid excuse to ride the bikes to dinner... which is exactly what happened on Tuesday, despite Teh German getting home later than usually AND me having a test on Wednesday (which meant I need to study the night prior).

I was stressed out about being out late and then Suzi wouldn't start so he had to ride the Bobber (what a rough life having 2 motorcycles to choose from!).. And guess what, it was all fine.  We ended up riding to the Workshop for dinner and I had zero regrets.  We made it home by 8:15 and I was still able to go through the remainder of the test review

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I loved The Ranch.. until this last season.  I'm super disappointed to admit that.  This season, all the jokes felt trope-y, tired, and forced.  I did still have some LOL moments, but mostly, I wasn't sorry to play games on my phone while The Ranch was on the big screen.

Next up: Vikings.
Also, I was informed that I would really like Dark.  My German class loved the show, so I'm curious.

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I almost sent Teh German a cheesy valentine's day beer gift basket to his office on principle to be like, SEEE this is what people that like each other do...
But I didn't because... I'm a petty asshole.
Ya know, in case you were worried about me not being a petty asshole.  I still am.
Additionally, I already purchased a couples massage for us, so I can use my gift certificate that he got me for Christmas/being a good cheerleader during the job change drama and I already paid for his massage.  Soooooo yeah.  Not keeping score.  And also, I don't want to fuel my own bitterness.  Because that's probably what it would do.

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Someone brought in 2 Edward's frozen pies for Thanksgiving and they are still in the freezer since we had wayyy too much food for work Thanksgiving.  Fast forward to February and I've been helping myself to freezer pie since it's fat week.  I'm NOT FUCKING SORRY about it either.

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My Stats professor is the least "Citadel-y" professor I've ever had and I'm not even sad about it.  He straight up told us how to work out one problem during the test and he answered my question, even if it didn't really help me get the answer because something was missing.  I pulled a "when it doubt, c it out" and called it done.

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What it's like to work with me:

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Does anyone else feel like this week took a millionty days to finally get to Friday?  Because I'm confident that's exactly how many days it's been since last week.

ZWEI - Money Shit

-Groceries
-Power bill.  $100 in the winter makes me stabby since that means our AC has been running... IN THE WINTER TIME.
-Denver hotel
-Denver rental car

DREI - From My Phone Shit

New sign after I removed the millionth k-cup before I was able to brew my own coffee:
After brewing, please remove your mold developing k-cup from the machine.
Queen of Passive-Aggressiva strikes again!

Ring selfies.
Not sorry
88 days when I took this.

My new Company hoodie came in.  Small is WAY better than the medium.
Too bad it's too fucking hot here to wear a hoodie.  :|

Saw an APV just rollin' down the street with a non-uniformed person chillin' from the manhole.
Filed under: Really fucking bizarre shit.

When you're almost to the office and realize it's a school day.
Thankfully, work is halfway to school, even if a little out of the way, so I still managed to make it to school in time to get decent parking and in time for my test.

VIER - From the Internet Shit

As much as you have given thought to the way things were before,
you can give mindful grace filled thoughts to the present all the more.
MHN

Who you are right now matters more than you know.
MHN

you do not have to be fearless to be confident.
MHN

FÜNF - Things that made me happy this week

1. Learning a new, EASIER, way to do work things.  Thanks to a coworker for taking the 10 minutes out of his busy day to help me and make me more productive and less of a burden on him.  #TeachAManToFish
2. The Chiro.  
3. Freezer pie.
4. Patience.  Even if it's only minimal.
5. Accurate #BarometerHead readings.
6. Looking forward to a massage all week long.
7. Not succumbing to my own pressure to go out for breakfast/lunch.
8. Riding to dinner with Teh German on Wednesday.
9. Baloo being paid off.
10. Chatting with Teh Bestie during our drives, even if our phones sometimes cut out and we call each other back so quickly that we get each other's voicemail. 

Happy Friday, Gentle Readers.

Five on Friday #184

EINS - Random Shit

-I thought about it.  I don't think my German teacher minds my enthusiasm, but she doesn't hold back with the red correction pen when the time comes, despite my efforts.  Also, why can I not figure out where the verb goes?!  Ugh.  Spoiler alert: I can't always figure it out because the placement of the verb changes depending on the sentence structure or certain words used at the beginning of a sentence.

-Sometimes I read articles about "things that will make your life easier".  I always close the tab feeling justified that I'm not sooooo needy in this regard.  That said.. if you need a pack of bra strap holders so you don't constantly have to pull your bra straps up, you're buying the wrong bras and/or you need to tighten the straps!  It's one thing if you're trying to convert to a racerback, but seriously, there is no excuse for droopy straps... And if there is, I'm listening.

-There was also an ice try with a lid... and the description touted that your ice would never taste stale again.  Uhhhh wut? What is stale ice? 

-I think I've come to the decision that Buzzfeed, specifically, is just posting sponsored items.  This makes the stupidity make so much more sense.

-A new guy at work has called a few of the females "kiddo".  It is not going over well.  Some coworkers said we're making a bigger deal of it than it is.  I pointed out that they work on teams that are at least 90% women.  Someone else presented a not-hypothetical situation where she ran a meeting, then at the end new guy says, "Thanks, Kiddo."  How is that not demeaning?

Same dude incessantly clears his throat and I'm ready to throat punch him.  It makes me irrationally angry to hear it.

-We had a quiz in my Networks class on Tuesday that went soooo badly (despite it being open notes) that the professor FINALLY assigned some homework and announced we'd be having a make up quiz next week.  We need the grades, so I'm not sad about this.

-First test in my Sys Engineering class on Thurs.  Didn't fail.  Didn't make an A.  This is also the first test in any of my classes besides German.  Midterm is next week and I feel like I'm in a glorious time warp.  Granted, it may not be so glorious once I start getting grades back...  /shrug.

-It official, I'm going to Germany in May to study abroad!!!! I keep forgetting and then I remember and I squee a little bit.  I have to declare a German minor to apply for the scholarships, so I'm going to do that.  It will only require 2 more German classes, so it's not a problem.  It's not really a commitment I want to make, butttt for free money.. I'll sacrifice.  If I manage to get a scholarship, I will probably NOT take an online summer class for the GI Bill money.  We'll see what happens.  I really don't want to commit to taking an online class so I can actually ENJOY my time, instead of feeling pulled in a millionty directions (ya know, like my every day life).

-Got my hairs did, FINALLY.  And had a BUNCH chopped off.  More than I think I intended to, but once I have them start snipping, I get excited and forget that I spent a millionty years growing that mess out.  Sooo now I'll have to do some growing again.  At least I have a goal, lol.

-I bought 2 new sports bras because the ones I have are funky.. and I don't mean like "cold medina" kind of funky (you're welcome for that earwig).. I mean like, smell funky.. and I can't figure out how to make it go away.. so I purchased 2 new ones.  I wore one running this week and I GOT UNDER BOOB CHAFED.  I want to like these bras soo bad, since I can't find the ideal sports bra, but they poke me and now chafe me and it makes me disgruntled. 

-The library has been coming through with my holds.. except she wasn't ready!  I've had to return several holds without even listening/reading because 1- I'm not through the previous book or 2- Teh PT Kid hasn't started the book yet (Harry Potter books).  It's a rough life, obviously.  I'm also starting to smell this same funk in my non-sports bras and I do NOT like it.

ZWEI - Money Shit

-Groceries/House stuff
-Woot shirts since they were B1G1
-Spotify
-Reusable chopsticks
-The Mental Load - which was free since I used a birthday gift card. (not an affiliate)
-Chickfila straw-colate milkshake (strawberry + chocolate)
-Hairs did.  Praise Allah, it was getting rough around here.
-More groceries
-Cookout strawberry milkshake with oreos
-Snack from Chickfila (tater tots and sweet tea)

DREI - From My Phone Shit

My sacrifice for the fish tank: A set of pantyhose.. so Teh German could put a shrimp in it.
Is this weird?  I think so, a little bit.

Strawcolate milkshake.

Kitchen Chemistry.

When the tortillas are expired, Pax and Meri get special treats.
Watching Pax figure out how to eat a tortilla was highly amusing.

Meri was way smarter about how to eat the tortilla.

New Woot shirts.
Woot!

Why he insisted on being between my legs for pets, I will never know.

I switched up the routine Thursday morning and walks happened before breakfast.
Pax had to wait on Meri and I to come back from a longer run..
He showed me how he felt about that.

#Truth

Why did the programmer quit their job?
They didn't get arrays.
(I found a plethora of nerd jokes and I cannot wait to share these.)

VIER - From the Internet Shit

Sometimes Buzzfeed sucks me in and I know it's all clickbait, but I can't help myself.  This article about things that will bother average people or whatever catch all title they used got me.. and those fingernails are the stuff of nightmares.  ALSO, how do you not notice your bird doing that?!

From a coworker who gets me.

Stole this one from Steph because I know too many people this applies to.

Just in case no one has told you this lately:
The mere fact that you keep choosing to show up every day after everything you have been through
only points to your strength. -MHN

Reminder.

FÜNF - Things that made me happy this week

1. Happy hour at Sesame all week long, which means 1/2 off burgers, which actually makes them affordable.  We went on Thurs.
2. GERMANY IN MAY!!!!!!
3. It being the end of February and being close to Spring Break.  *infinite praise hands*
4. Seeing Teh Running Bestie next weekend for the MB Half!  /Squeeeeeee.  Then I get to see her again in Pittsburgh for the Mumford & Sons concert a week and a half later.  Then she comes to CHS for the Bridge Run in April. 
5. Taking Meri on a long run.  It didn't really drain her batteries, but it was something different for both of us and she did soo good with taking direction about crossing streets (I say "cross" and she knows we're going to cross the street) and veering around poles and cars parked in the street/blocking the sidewalk.
6. A semester of more relaxed classes.  The atmosphere of the class, not the work load.  The students and professor are more likely to embrace tangents and be silly instead of the professor just performing death by powerpoint on the class.  It makes this semester less bad that it could be.
7. Open sunroof drives.  It's been Charleston "spring" outside.  The pine trees are also jizzing all over the place, so I mean.. bittersweet.  Good news, Teh German's "sickness" last weekend was just allergies.  I felt such relief when he told me there was a layer of yellow on his truck on Monday.
8. Cadbury eggs.  IT IS TIME, PEOPLE!
9. Hairs did.  Really.  I was feeling in a way about my hair mess.
10. Staying home this weekend since it's raining, not snowing in the mountains.  That doesn't make for good snowboarding, soooo we're staying home and doing something together celebrate Teh German's birthday.  Hopefully, he'll figure out what in the near future?

Happy Friday, Gentle Readers.

Five on Friday #182

EINS - Random Shit

-I didn't do my standard millionty hours of homework last weekend, so all week I've felt like I'm behind.  I'm not, but because I was caught up but not ahead, I was out of sorts.  Despite plans this weekend, I'm going to sit down and power through a few hours of German so I don't have to do it during the week and I can focus on homework for my other classes.  I also have a question about my Circuits homework, which should be simple enough to get answered, then I can take care of that assignment too.  I've mostly stopped caring about my Cybersecurity class after an assignment wasted hours of my time and then we had to go back through all the same steps and apply "fixes" to the issues that we'd "discovered" in the first round, rather than just applying fixes at the time of discovery.  Wasting my time makes me stabby because my time is precious.  My Network class doesn't currently have any assignments and my Algorithms homework is already complete.

-Humor me, why don't I earn travel rewards when I'm charged for my annual renewal fee for my miles credit card?  #RUDE

-Teh German's big boss (BB) in Germany is probably my least favorite person ever.  Mostly because he stressed out Teh German, which causes stress in MY life, which is unnecessary.  All week long Teh German was supposed to have his annual performance review with BB.  All week long the meeting has been delayed.  I not only find this incredibly unprofessional (once is fine, but rescheduling more than twice? NOPE.), but also extremely disrespectful.  I'm aware that Teh German isn't the highest level of importance to BB, but still.

The problem for me is that this is consistent behavior.  Almost every meeting has to be rescheduled at least once, which I greatly disapprove of.

-Speaking of annual reviews.. Had mine.  The shitty shit from last summer with the PM Who Shall Not Be Named who wrote me up has been handled and did not affect my performance review.  *praise hands*  We've all agreed to never speak of or think of that individual ever again.  Since I have been chomping at the bit about it anddd I was in his office, I brought up the study abroad issue to my boss.  We have just decided to embrace the challenge that I am in all regards.  I had fully expected him to say that I was asking for too much and it probably wouldn't happen and it wasn't worth the hassle of discussing it with corporate, but he seemed to be willing to advocate for me.  #WIN.  It probably helps that his daughter is currently on a study abroad in London.  #ThanksBae.

I applied for 2 scholarships, one that I am ineligible for, grrr.  I should find out around spring break time if I received anything or not.  That said, as long as Company says it's ok, I'm going with or without the scholarship.  Teh German and I discussed it and we both agreed that the money was there and the opportunity was there and it was something I always wanted to do, so I should do it.  Even if it means being apart for a month and missing out on some super awesome racecations with Matilda and Teh Running Bestie and the associated awesome medals (there's always next year).

-I ordered my class ring!!!  They will arrive in April for trying on/sizing purposes.  They will be distributed in October.  I have RSVPed to the ring presentation ceremony.  I'm more excited than I thought I would be.  I never purchased my NC State class ring, because I never wore my HS class ring that Teh Mom bought me, though I do still have it.  Teh German was the one to encourage me to get my Citadel ring... and to think about purchasing my NC State ring.  The NC State ring is still under review, but Citadel ring = ordered.

I've always been more of a diploma frame fan.  It was the one thing I wanted as a graduation gift after I graduated from NC State, and the money I received as graduation gifts, sadly, had to be put towards living expenses since I was unemployed and eating was more important than a diploma frame for a diploma I didn't even have, or have a place to even hang the frame.... *shrug*

Spoiler Alert: I did eventually buy my diploma frame after I got my you-joined-the-navy bonus dollas.. and my DSLR camera.  Both items were totally worth it.  I still often gaze upon my diploma frame with great joy.. and I still lurve my DSLR camera, although I have thought of replacing the camera recently for a more upgraded version.   

I am super pumped because The Citadel gives out HUGE diplomas, which means a HUGE frame.  I've been scoping them out at the bookstore every time I go there for any reason.  #NOTSORRY

Coming: October 2019.

-My massage lady at Teh Chiro's office gave me a 150 minute massage on Monday (that would be 3 50 minute sessions, aka 3 "1 hour" massages).  I had scheduled a 2 hour massage because I knew that I'd be torn up from my half and since no one made the 1100 appointment, she just continued working on me because I was really, really torn up.  She was digging out knots all over my entire body.  To the point that on Tuesday and Wednesday, I was sore to the touch.  I would barely brush my thigh and I'd want to have an outburst.  I love her.

-I finally broke down and ordered White Fragility and 2 other books on race from Amazon.  My library still doesn't have it, and it's not long enough for an Audible credit. 

-While teleworking on Friday, I used my phone as a wifi hotspot.  It's the first time I've ever purposely used my phone as a hotspot.  There was one time I accidentally tried it, back in 2009 (not 2012, thank you), when I didn't realize what that meant and Verizon charged $25 to connect as as hotspot...  Yeah I called them immediately to correct that issue.

-People that know about my 2012 situation will find this story amusing.  Teh German and I had been discussing something about 2019 things and then this happened.
Me: It's like we're not in 2012 or something.
Teh German: You mean 2019?
Me: Did I say 2012?
Teh German: Yep.
Me: Well, you knew what I meant.  You people always know when I say 2012, I usually mean the current year.
Teh German: Yeah, we know....
Me: Sometimes you gotta work to be my person.

-I bought a new sports bra from VS last weekend and I'm afraid to try it.  Also, I've not had an opportunity to try it out, so there's that as well.  But.. what if I chafe?!  That's serious.

ZWEI - Money Shit

-Cash dollas for massage tip
-Billz Billz Billz
-Audible subscription (when that goes back up to $15, I'm going to cancel for a while to get caught up on the backlog)
-Car wash subscription
-Chase credit card annual membership fee, which I think is shit, but it's the only way to have a miles rewards credit card.  Yes, I could just use my debit card, butttt I've earned enough points with this card to be able to take 2 racecations, soooo I guess $95 isn't that much in the end, but principle!
-Birthday things (Teh German accidentally left his wallet at home, NBD)- brunch, parking, photobooth.
-Walmart order x2
-Massage
-Lunch after forgetting it at the office 2x this week.
-Birfday cake for Saturday's celebration.

DREI - From My Phone Shit

Monday-do-not-talk-to-me-about-football face.
I even put in earbuds and I was the only one in the office.
Still the first person who came in asked me if I watched the game.
I WILL FUCKING KILL YOU.

What kind of bird sticks to sweaters?
Vel-crow.

How is Magic even still a thing?

Dean's List, 3 semesters strong (aka, all my semesters at The Citadel).

Got some cool new challenge coins.
The gold one is The Citadel's coin
The colored one is the Student Veteran's Association - Citadel coin.
My CNO (Chief of Naval Operations) coin will probably always be my high roller.

We had a visitor last night.
When I let the dogs back in, he was awol.
I cannot be certain one of the dogs didn't eat him...

Honestly, this solution worked better than I anticipated and I am pleased with my life choices.

VIER - From the Internet Shit

FÜNF - Things that made me happy this week

1. Mickey birthday ears.
2. Bagheera days.  Even if it means no hoodies.  
3. Accomplishing my coding homework in a timely, mostly painless manner.
4. Planning for potential flights to Germany....  Stay tuned, Auntie P.. I may be coming to see you soon!!!! :D
5. Outlander book 90million987.  Or book 7, or maybe it's book 8.  IDK, I can't keep up with it, but it's the last one that I have to listen to and I do love the narrator.
6. Looking up half marathons in Germany that give out participation medals.
7. Being able to wade through most of the German websites (meaning websites were written in German) to determine if they actually gave out participation medals.
8. Fun bandaid designs.
9. Double Stuf Oreos with milk.  Seriously, this package I bought is ON POINT and when I dunk the cookies in milk, they get perfectly soggy.  SO MUCH JOY IN MY MOUTH.
10. Friends who identify and agree with my ragey FB posts.

Happy Friday, Gentle Readers.

Weekend Review {02/04}

FRIDAY

Pre-birthday Friyay!  Work, then German class, then "beer lunch", then work, then home, then sushi for dinner, followed up by The Office until bedtime.

Teh Twins and Teh Twin Mom came to beer lunch with us.
I can't believe I've literally known a human being their entire life.
Also, how cute are they?!

These typos made me lol.  IDK why Asian restaurants don't find an English speaker to look over their menus before printing.
Calamary and cream chesse.
Yum.

SATURDAY

In order to stay trained up for the Myrtle Beach Half Marathon March 2, I signed up to do the Save the Lighthouse Half this year.  It wasn't overly expensive, so I was pleased.  It was a week after the 15k, so ya know, "training" and shit.

But I'll be honest, I was NOT excited about this race for lots of reasons.  Mainly, the course looked boring AF and after the 15k the week before being painfully boring, I wasn't excited about it.  Also, there had been ZERO pre-race communication.  NUN.  This was so alarming to me that I posted on the FB event page, and the Charleston Parks and Recreation (CHS P&R) FB account replied at that all the info was on the website.  Yep, I know that, but I've been running races since 2014 and this is the first time that I've not received anything before a race.  They hadn't even posted on the event page about packet pickup, so it was just weird.

Also, because the race was so small, packet pickup was only offered from 4-7 on Friday and then before the race.  I sure as shit wasn't driving down to Folly Beach on a Friday night to just pick up a packet and come all the way back home, so I waited until before the race.

I left home around 6:15 on Saturday morning.  Teh German had to work on Saturday so we woke up at normal M-F time, which was convenient.  I made it to Folly shortly after 7.  I was able to park for free at the Tides Hotel since the money collector hadn't set up yet, close to where packet pickup was and the start/finish.  It was a painless pickup.  With less than 300 participants (which would explain some other things), pickup was fast.  I was quite disappointed when I was told that I hadn't registered early enough to guarantee that I got a shirt, and that they had already run out of the size I'd requested.  I asked if I could get a different size and they told me they weren't allowed to do that.  Uhhh, wut?  Turns out, I wasn't the only one that had been shafted, and no one was pleased at the CHS P&R response that it was stated on the website.  Again, in previous races, if they ran out of your size, you could generally get a different size.  Masking my annoyance super well OR the lady who gave me my bib was an epic smartass, I finally gave up after the lady said, "Thank you for being so understanding."  Look, bitch, I'm not being understanding, it's 7am and I'd rather be asleep right now and fighting with you about a shirt isn't high on my list of priorities right now and I'm slated to be asleep in the backseat of my car within 15 minutes.

I took my bib and headed back to the car for Megan burrito time.  I set an alarm for 0810 so I could get up and get race ready and pee.

I made it to the start line with 5 minutes to spare and then we were off.

When I run races where the 5k goes along the same course as the longer distances, I never understand my life choices to do the longer distances and it's always such a temptation to do the shorter distance and spare my body the inevitable pain.

The race course wasn't as bad as I had expected it to be.  We did have to do a loop and repeat a majority of the course, but this worked out for me since I opted to stop and take some photos of fun things I'd seen along the way.  I guess if I compare Folly Beach and Sullivans Island, Folly definitely had more "fun" stuff along the course.

The course took us out to the lighthouse that they are wanting to save, and the paved path to the lighthouse had spray painted doodle on it that were cheesy at first, but when I saw this one, I finally got the attitude adjustment I needed.

I've encountered this lighthouse at several local races.  I'm not sure if it's always the same person, but it's still pretty impressive to carry that for 13 miles.

During my 2nd loop, I stopped to take photos of interesting things I'd seen along the way.  This was a nice break from the tedium.

919 also happens to be the area code of my phone number, which is the Raleigh/piedmont NC area.

This Wolfpack encouragement was parked at the "3.5 miles left" mark.
It was definitely much needed encouragement.

Sooo, it was a tiny medal.
I've definitely become a medal snob.

Teh German had planned to surprise me at the finish line, but I surprised everyone when I came in at 2:26, instead of my expected 2:30-2:45 time.  He had even picked up flowers and a happy birthday balloon.  I was kinda sad, but he gets credit for trying.

Instead, we met at Smokey Oak for lunch. 

Post-race sweet tea is one of life's ultimate gifts.

After lunch, Teh German headed to the fish store to do salt water tank things and I headed home for a epsom salt bath and my post-race nap.

When I woke up from my nap, I took care of some laundry, of course.  Pax helped.  Of course.

When Teh German came home, I put my flowers in a vase while he "aquascaped" an actual term for setting up the rock formations in a tank of water.

I considered homework, but I took the birthday excuse and opted to not.  Instead, we had leftovers for dinner and watched The Office.  I did also get a wild hair up my ass and decided to make the box of brownies that I've had stashed in the pantry for decades, approximately.

If you're not aware, one of my life skills is making perfectly fudgy brownies.

I was pretty tired fairly early, considering I had a nap, so we were in bed by 10:30, like the old people we are.

SUNDAY = BIRTHDAY DAY!!!

Teh German and I had agreed on going to Millers All Day for brunch, which is special since 1- it's downtown, 2- we'd never been there before, 3- it'd been on my list of places to go for a hot minute.  So when Meri decided we were done with the sleeps at 8:45, we got up and got ready.

Teh German had taken my package from Teh Running Bestie out of it's hiding place for me by the time I made it downstairs.  Matilda and Teh Running Bestie got my special birthday ears!  #WIN

After opening my presents, we headed downtown.

Birthday perks = not having to pump my own gas.

We arrived to Millers right on time, shortly before 10.  Within 15 mins, there was a waitlist.  #LikeABoss.

I subbed out bacon for livermush.
YAAAAASSSSS.

After brunch, we went to the mall so I could redeem some Victoria's Secret coupons.  After waiting 30 minutes for them to open, I discovered that my $15 off coupon was MIA.  Uggggh.  I did redeem my free panty, and had them hold the bra I was going to purchase.  While I was standing in line, I had Teh German go and pull the car up.  I grabbed my VS card and my ID out of my wallet and handed it off to him so he would have the key (this is relevant later).

When we got home, I took a nap.  It was my birthday, so I do what I wawnt.  After nap time, I halfassed some homework.  I didn't get far into it when I decided to check my backpack for the missing coupon and found it.  Then I opted to go back to VS and pick up the bra that I had put on hold. 

When I got to the mall, I got some cash from the ATM to tip the massage lady on Monday, and then headed to VS... where I discovered my ID and VS card were in the pocket of the jeans I'd been wearing earlier, which I had taken off to nap... instead of putting my jeans back on for homework, I put on some gym pants... and had opted to go to VS in that instead of changing since Teh German wasn't going with me.  #MeganFail.

Dejected, I left the mall and headed to Walmart for groceries/things.  I had texted Teh German of my trials and he had offered to bring me my cards, but I told him not to worry about it and I'd just go by VS on my way home on Monday.  BTW, they could have looked my card number up, IF I had my ID, but it was also in my pants.  By trying to be prepared the first time, I'd fucked myself later.  That's a pretty real analogy for my life.

When I got home around 5:45 from Walmart, I put away the groceries and we headed over to Teh PT House to watch the shittiest NFL event in a long time (i.e. the Super Bowl).  I had to rush Teh German out of the house to catch the National Anthem.  I socialized during the first half and critized through the halftime show (no, really, what WAS he doing with those weird hip moves?) and then I went home to do homework.

While I had been next door, Teh PT Kid gave me my birthday present from their trip to Universal: Slytherin magnetic bookmarks.  That kid gets me.  I was able to immediately put one to use after finishing some of my homework in the German book we're reading!  #WIN

Teh German came home around 10:30 and I was just finishing up.  We went to bed shortly after.

______________________________________________

Overall, a very relaxing weekend.  I mean, I took naps on Saturday and Sunday!  I was also smart and put KT tape on my left knee after the race, which REALLY helped me be able to use my leg on Sunday.  Next time, I'll tape both knees and see what happens.  Or I'll tape both knees for the race and leave it through the weekend for support.  We'll see.

Next weekend is the actual Megan's bday gathering.  We're meeting for dinner and then going ice skating!  WOOT!  I still need to determine a dinner location, order/pick up a cake or ice cream cake (ugh decisions are hard), pick up plates/eating things, etc.

This week includes actually catching up on homework.  Please, Lawd Jebus, I need the ability to give half a fuck so I can focus and pound out some homework.  I've been taking that birthday excuse VERY seriously.

Yesterday (Monday) was mostly a circus and they were my monkeys, so I had to wrangle.  A 2 hour massage turned into 3 hours since she didn't have a client after me (yes, I know, what a rough problem to have), but it meant missing some things that I had to catch up on later and missing class.  It also means that my entire body is a sore spot today (Tuesday), which is extra funny because Teh Sister is also an entire body sore spot for all her life.

I have my last? laser hair appointment on Friday morning, which is bittersweet (yay no hairs!  boo ouch!).  Saturday is homework and birthday gathering.  Sunday is recovery. 

YAY for birfdays!
Also, if you reached out and sent birthday greeting, you da bestest and I appreciate you.
If you didn't, that's ok too, I still appreciate you as a Gentle Reader.  This is a no obligations situation.