Five on Friday #218

EINS - Random Shit

I had an appointment at the VA to re-access my back disability rating and add my neck to it so I've not been to the Chiro since right before Thanksgiving.  I wanted to be at my worst for my VA appointment.  As someone who usually goes at least 2x per month, it's been rough going.

I went on Thursday after class and I felt like I was walking on clouds.  My pops were so thorough my nose was running.  I tell myself that nose running = everything is no longer backed up and stuff is back in alignment.

I told Chiro that I'll be running Kiawah this weekend and he said, "You're going to undo all our work!"  I said, don't worry, I'll be back on Monday for a massage AND to see you again."  He was satisfied with that... but I knew I could NOT run 13 miles being as out of whack as I was.

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Teh PT Wife expressed how impressed she was with seeing Lion King on Broadway and that was enough to talk me into going.  I conned Teh German into going with me after telling him that Teh PT Kid would go with us if we went and "Uncle" Teh German would do almost anything for Teh PT Kid, so away we went.

There was some ticket strife after I bought tickets and we thought there was a conflict, but it ended up working out.

Yoouuuu guuuuyyyysss... Lion King on Broadway was phenomenal.  SOOOO GOOOOD.  I think most of the original songs were performed, plus some not from the movie.  Also, the lady that plays Rafiki?  #HERO

I know we weren't supposed to take photos, but I had to send Teh Sister something!
I picked a scene from Be Prepared by Scar.

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Due to Hurrication, the last day of class was pushed to Thursday instead of Tuesday.  I only have 2 final exams (hallelujah) since 3 of 5 classes had final projects in lieu of final exams.  Unfortunately, one on Sunday afternoon and the other on Monday morning.  Siiiiiigh.  My field of fucks is completely barren and truthfully, I just want better than Cs in all my classes and I'm satisfied.  Truthfully.  No self guilt.  Cs are acceptable after this semester of hell.

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Matilda talked me into doing the Kiawah Half Marathon and I definitely didn't train enough.  I know it will be fine, but it's going to be a struggle.. also if it's raining and 40°F I'm going to be disgruntled.  But the medal is pretty cute and I've not earned a medal since May... so fineeee.  Additionally, the shirt is Christmas-y but also from a race, so technically I can wear it year round.  Technically.

Matilda will arrive on Friday evening and it's bittersweet, but it means that we'll leave my company holiday party early/when it ends and won't be post-gaming with my coworkers, like we have done in years past.  But, it's also ok because Teh German is currently taking it easy and I won't be going crazy since I have to run on Saturday morning.

Also, what does it mean that the thing I'm most looking forward to about doing the Kiawah race is the pre-race nap where I make a Megan-rito and sleep on the floor before the race?  This excludes my excitement about getting to hang out with Matilda.

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I got a new phone on cyber Monday.  It wasn't really planned, but I'm not overly surprised.  My Pixel 2 had started doing weird freezing.  When I checked, my phone was worth $97 (which was a disappointment, but understandable) and that value will only go down in the coming year, so rather than have to spend full price later, I took the 50% off and the $97 from Google to upgrade to the Pixel 4 XL.  XL because when Cadet Spouse* compared his Pixel 2 XL with my Pixel 2 and I realized just how much more screen there was, I was sold.

*Ya know how sometimes there are people that are always associated with each other?  That's me and my Cadet Project Partner.  Remember the Cadet I bitched about last year during my Circuits class who drove me absolutely bonkers and I had to yell at him in front of other people that one time?  Well, anyways, that all happened and he's a CS major who happens to be one of the most responsible Cadets I've come across (other than that first semester when I was considering killing him) so we decided after that rough start that, whenever possible, we would be each other's partner for assignments.  We're so much associated with each other that PITA Professor asked me where Cadet Spouse was in a class Cadet Spouse wasn't even in.  I had to explain the concept of "work spouse" to the Cadets after making a joke that Cadet Spouse was my "school spouse".  Then they were all, "Yeahhhh, that totally makes sense," and started making their own school spouse associations.

100% will miss Cadet Spouse next semester because he's graduating this semester and I'll have to be partners with other CS majors and that brings me pain in my brain.  Siiiiigh.

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A new phone meant new screen protectors and phone case.  I'm always #TeamOtterbox and the only colors they had for the Pixel 4XL (at the time) were black, navy blue, and yellow.  Of course, of those options, I went with yellow and now my phone is known as Big Bird.

When discussing this new name with a Cadet who asked if I got a new phone, she informed me that the guy that had played Big Bird on Sesame Street had recently died.  I was super sad, but then I had to judge the shit out of her millennial ass when she said, "He played Big Bird and that Grouch character... I can't remember his name."

I dead-eyed her and said, "HOW CAN YOU NOT REMEMBER OSCAR THE GROUCH'S NAME?!?! HEATHEN!"  Then we laughed.  But really, how do you not remember Oscar's name?  He's one of my personal heroes.

Also, does doing a factory reset on any device give anyone else crippling anxiety like it does me?  Because resetting my Pixel 2 was almost debilitating.

Can you hear my heart palpitations from this photo?

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Despite having shit to do, I did paint swatches anyways.  It brought me great joy until I realized now I have to live with my entire house covered in paint sample swatches until we make a decision and get some painters out.  #JesusTakeTheWheel.

Unfortunately, the colors in the photo are not the true colors.  Despite editing the photo to be as close as possible, the colors are still a bit off.  I can't describe the colors accurately to explain the difference but these are the colors we're looking at.  There are more swatches in the bedrooms.

I was originally thinking green in the bathrooms and blues for the bedrooms and a fun blue color for the office, but decisions are hard.  So I spend my teeth brushing time now staring at the wall trying to decide which colors I love the most for what rooms.

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My Web Development class that I wanted to take is going to get cancelled because there are only 5 people enrolled in the class and The Citadel requires 10 people be in the class to not cancel it and there's no way I can make that happen.  I've already registered for a German class to replace it and keep myself at full time status.  I could take another, easier/less work class, but I've really missed my German class.

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Speaking of German things, I did a loose interpretation of Krampus for last Friday's Christmas parties and like 2% of people got it.  I didn't get a photo with my full branches, but I was carrying sticks around and someone asked me if they were Charlie Brown's Christmas tree.  SMDH, fucking Americans.

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IDK why the home improvement bug bit me in the ass, but I also signed the contract with Lowe's to contract out someone coming to put up a backsplash in our kitchen.  With the backsplash and paint situations going on, Teh German decided to put motion sensor light strip in the pantry and now it's lit up like daylight in there and it's something I didn't know I needed.  Now he will remove the awkward chandiler from the kitchen and cap the space and then the kitchen will be done.

The next big project will be the dining room ceiling molding.  It will get painted at the same time as the rest of the house, then Teh German will mount it.  In the end, we wanted to put Hue lightstrips in the molding, but I've been waiting to see if the lightstrips would go on sale and so far they haven't.

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After Meri's new jammies came in from Australia, I HAD to order some for Paximoose.  They came and then it got hot, because fucking Charleston, so I had to wait to put them on.. but I finally did.

IT IS GLORIOUS!

Awkward dog is awkward.

EARS FOR DAYS.
If there wasn't already an abundance of personality in Teh Ville, the personality of these ears alone would alert people what they are in store for.
Please also note that Pax's ears match which is odd.

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0/10 would NOT recommend going to the Charleston VA hospital.  It's not the service that's the problem it's the fucking parking.  It took me 6 minutes to get to the VA hospital from school for my appt on Tuesday.  Then I spent 35 fucking minutes circling the parking lot looking for parking/waiting on the free valet to come for me.  I managed to get a spot before the free valet came available.  HHHAAATTTEEEEEEEE.

This is not a single occurrence.  It has happened to me before.  Next time, I will make the 35 minute drive to another clinic and then be 35 minutes closer to work/home.

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I've had my end-of-semester massage scheduled since October at my Chiro office.  It was extremely convenient that the appointment fell after the Kiawah half.  YAY for recovery assistance.

I also went ahead and scheduled my pre-semester massage for after the Charleston half marathon.

I've come to terms with my massage habit.  Some people get their nails done regularly or get Starbucks.  I get massages.  #NotSorry  Also, my body is ALWAYS tight as a rubber band and monthly massages is not actually enough for my body to be relaxed... but multiple massages per month is not in my budget, so I'll stick with my current schedule.

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Life has been so overwhelming lately that when I get in the car, I don't turn on my audiobook or music.. I just let it be silent.  I love/hate it.  Love because my brain feels better, hate because my road rage is worse without the book to distract me.

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We had this stupid optional bonus credit assignment in my operating system class and I selected the Super Nintendo to write the paper and presentation on and the fact that I could understand the assembly language instructions and the circuit diagrams meant that I learned something in college!

It was so surprising to me how much I was enjoying understanding the memory maps and circuitry diagrams that I made sure to stop by and tell my Circuits professor that he had actually taught me something.. and maybe if we had been building a SNES instead of a microwave for our final project, I'd have been more motivated, loooool.  JK.

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The company holiday party is tonight and the dress code is 1920s or holiday themed.  My only possibly 1920 wear would be the same dress I wore last year.  Also, it's supposed to be chilly and rainy and I don't want to be traipsing around downtown in heels, cold and wet, so it's looking like "holiday themed" for this fam.  #NotSorry

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Test anxiety inducing situation:
"All answers have a 200 word limit, and brevity is encouraged."

WUT?
My answers were all brerite (that is not a word, I just made it up to be funny and it wasn't even that funny.  Don't be like me = lesson of the day).

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Ok, I'm going to confess something now that the non-dedicated Gentle Readers have scrolled to the bottom to see the images and funny things...  In my mind, wearing camo anything means you're a redneck.  Now, I'm aware, as an adult, that is stereotyping and I need to not project my personal beliefs (right or wrong) onto others.  That goes hand-in-hand with the fact that I never owned anything that was camo.. like ever.  My NC family is more the farmer type than the hunting type... sooo more overalls than camo (and yes, I wore the shit out of some overalls).

Now being a redneck isn't something to be embarrassed about per say (unless you are an ignorant fuck who chooses ignorance over intelligence because you're lazy and would rather not be worldly out of self-convenience), but I was always kinda embarrassed to potentially be considered a redneck because it held such a negative connotation, even in my Podunk hometown of mostly rednecks...

All that to say, I never owned anything camo because it would mean I'm a redneck and I'm not a redneck because I'm college educated (x2) and well-traveled and worldly and shit.  Side note: I'm sure there are college educated rednecks and in reality, those are probably my spirit animals... and here's why.

For Halloween Teh German bought a pair of camo house slippers from Walmart.  Like legit, RealTree camo house shoes.  He bought them because they were the cheapest shoes available in his size.  Here's what NO ONE EVER TOLD ME about camo: that shit is comfortable and warm.  There's a reason rednecks wear camo!  It's COMFORTABLE and WARM!

Timo already has Birkenstock house shoes (oh, yes I know how German that is and so does he) so he didn't really need another pair, but since we were going out in our house shoes, he couldn't wear his actual house shoes because they never leave the house (also, I know how German that is (with the rule following and such) and so does he).  Soooo, since he doesn't actually wear the camo shoes, I adopted them.

THEY ARE THE MOST COMFORTABLE SLIPPERS I'VE EVER OWNED AND NOW I'M OFFICIALLY A REDNECK BECAUSE I HAVE CAMO SOMETHING.  I bought a pair of fleece lined Crocs last year to be my house shoes because I always have cold toes.  Those Crocs just manage to get my feet super sweaty, which means I take my feet out of them and because my feet are sweaty, my feet get even colder, then I put them back in the shoes and start the process over again.  NOT WITH MY CAMO SLIPPERS!  They are the perfect balance of warm but not too warm so my feet don't get sweaty.

LONG LIVE THE CAMO SLIPPERS!
PS.  I anticipate that these slippers will be the only camo thing I have unless someone gifts me something camo that I can stomach.

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It's a not-secret that I'm the favorite child of my Dad (even if he refuses to say it outloud, we all know it), with the exception of Teh German who knocked me off my high-horse with his accent and engineering background and ability to do things around the house without having a meltdown about it.  But more importantly, I am my Granny's favorite grandchild and she is my favorite elder family member.  Like, if you come at my Mom, fine, she'll take care of you, but if you come at my Granny, I'ma fight you.

So anyways, my Granny has been taking care of people, kinda like unpaid, uncertified home health nurse for years.  This last person has been her former brother-in-law (former because he and Granny's sister got divorced) and he and his family have taken advantage of her for so long and she has let it go on and it makes me so fucking mad that "family" can be this way.

Anyways, I learned that she signed for financial responsibility of this former BIL for something that I'm not sure of and I almost went through the GD roof.  And within 15 minutes of finding that shit out, I also learned that former BIL died.

I'm going to be honest, I was GLAD.  This man had been taking advantage of my Granny for years and I'm not sure why she let it happen, other than the fact that she's too old to be taking care of anyone and she's mentally declining in a way that she refused to acknowledge, that I've been going on about for years.

Soooooo, for the last month or so, Granny has been staying with my Mom since the former BIL was in the hospital for something, idk, idc, not my fucking problem.  Since my Granny has been with Mom, she's called me more and I don't mind.  She's expressed the desire to "move out west" with my Mom and I'm 200% for it... buuuttt I also know that my Granny doesn't do anything she doesn't want to do, so I have to be careful about how I encourage it.

Truthfully, I want my Granny to move out there because I don't think my uncles at Home, Home would take care of her when the time comes and I know my Mom would.  I also know that I would go crazy and my marriage would probably implode if I had to take care of my Granny.. sooooo Mom is the best option.

When I found out about the financial responsibility stuff, I was ready to drive the 4 hours to Home, Home and beat down some motherfucking doors... In all honesty, even after finding out the man died, I was still ready to go beat down some motherfucking doors... but it's probably not worth it.  Also, I don't know where they live, so they are saved.

Buttt, I did admit to Teh German that if my Granny said she would commit to moving to live with my Mom, I would have her fly into CHS, she'd be with us for a few days so she could sit in the Sam's parking lot and watch the planes fly over, and then I'd take her to Home, Home and we'd pack up her necessary things, and we'd drive her car to Mom's.  Like, I'm ready.  Do I have the PTO for this?  100% most definitely NOT, but you guys, I'd do anything for my Granny.

So much so, that despite my boycott of speaking to my Mom since January 2018, which has made my life infinitely less dramatic and less stressful, I considered texting my Mom to tell her that I'd do what it takes to get Granny to live with her.  I haven't done it, but the fact that I even considered it speaks volumes.  After talking to Teh Sister, I was almost ready to call Mom and start planning for Granny's move.. but ya'll, I just can't bite the bullet yet.  I'm not ready.  Part of it is stubbornness, which I mean, the apple doesn't fall far from the tree, sooooo that.  But also, I'm still pissed at my Mom for the scenes she made at the wedding and for the Jan 2018 scene that was the final straw to make me stop talking to her altogether.

BUT FOR MY GRANNY.....
It might actually happen.

Truthfully, I don't want to deal with it right now.  I was looking forward to my stress-free, no school time... but I also know that this is my ONLY time to take care of a family "emergency" situation like this until June.

BUT FOR MY GRANNY....
I'd do anything.

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Circling back to that Mom drama.  I know that it's stupid to be angry about something for so long.  Like, I should just let it go, but Gentle Readers, for over 30 years of dealing with my Mom, I let so much go.  I wouldn't call it forgiveness, but I definitely practiced that whole "offer the other cheek" thing.  There was a lot of mental abuse going on that I didn't recognize because I was a teenager.  Not just from my Mom, but also my Dad (in the sake of calling a Spade a Spade), and there was not a greater day than the day I moved to NC State to live without my family.

People say that you only have one family, one mom, one dad, etc.  I know that I might have regrets about shutting her out, but I also know that the lack of drama and stress, coupled with the marginal guilt about the fact that she is my mother, is more healthy for me than the drama roller coaster I rode for so long.

So like, I get it, but also understand, I've thought about it A LOT before finally shutting that shit show down.. and it's hard to let it back in, knowing how often I've been burned by that fire.

ZWEI - Money Shit

-Groceries
-Gas
-Bojangles
-Christmas leggings
-Phone
-Necessary phone accessories
-At Home trip with Twin Mom
-Hue bulb for the new office lamp
-Backsplash (Merry Christmas, Husband)
-Lion King tickets

DREI - From My Phone Shit

When you go to visit your husband at his office and he's not there!

New phone accessories, sans Big Bird case.

This monster was demanding attention.
He's not usually QUITE this demanding.

If this doesn't make you giggle, you need to lighten up.
Every single time I look at my feet when I'm wearing my Clawz, I giggle.
So much so that Teh German knows EXACTLY what I'm laughing at.

Stuffie DOWN!
Skinny caterpillar went into Dr. Mom's tailoring pile.

This Monkey.
/swoon.

<3 <3 <3 

I think this is going to get printed and framed for future Christmas decorating purposes.

annndddd here she is being ridiculous because I was scratching her butt and she was twerking.

If you're looking for a Christmas gift for our household, any of these awesome toys from Target are accepted.
Or just an empty-handed visit.  Butt scratches (for the dogs, kthx) and socializing with the humans is completely acceptable.

New lamp! LURRVVEEE!

Meri's new office chair bed.
She loves it.
Pax is super jealous.  Sorry buddy, you're too big for chair sleeps.

Point made.
See also: His HEAD is on MY couch pillow and his ASS is on MY couch blanket.
Teh German's dog my ass.  #MamasBoy

Be still my heart.

VIER - From the Internet Shit

The fact that Curve is still a thing blows my mind.
Nothing screams, "Megan's teenage era" quite like Curve.
I didn't wear it, but I know MANY people who did.

#NOTSORRY

Take heart.
Breathe deep.
You are further along than you think.
-MHN

All along,
You were stronger than you were able to see.
MHN

Even here, you are allowed to be proud of your progress.
MHN

I hope you can give yourself a little more credit.
I hope you can remember that this road has not been easy for you.
I hope you can see where you are as progress even though so much is still unknown.
MHN

👏👏👏🙌🙌🙌

FÜNF - Things that made me happy this week

1. End of classes for the Fall 2019 semester.  ONE.MORE.SEMESTER, Gentle Readers.  One.more.fucking.semester.
2. Definitely making an A in one of my classes.  It's not a surprise, but still a pleasant certainty.
3. New phone life.  Truthfully, it doesn't feel like much changed except the size, but it's new and fancy and I love new tech and the camera is on.fucking.point.
4. Chatting with Teh Sister.
5. The Lion King on Broadway.  It was more than I could have ever expected.
6. Dogs in jammies.  My dogs specifically, but I'm not always picky.
7. The smell of my laundry while I'm not at home actively doing laundry (aka, the reward of my Laundry Fairy efforts).
8. Company flexibility.  These last 2 weeks have been very school demanding.
9. Matilda coming to visit!
10. A new medal for the rack.  As much as I love/hate running, I've missed it.  Also, please, thoughts and prayers for my bad hip as it's been super achy the last 2 weeks.  And yes, I'm still going to go run a half marathon on it this weekend and again in a month.  #JesusTakeTheWheel.

Happy Friday, Gentle Readers.
2019 is almost over.
🙌🙌🙌🙌🙌🙌🙌

Confessions {4/27}

-When I called Chewy.com customer service to return a bag of dog food that gave Meri some of the worst runny butt I've ever experienced, they told me to donate it to a local rescue or a neighbor and they refunded my money.  Also, on the 3rd ring, A PERSON answered the phone.  Then, after 3 minutes on the phone, she was apologizing for taking so long.  #tooimpressedtocare #awesomecustomerservice

-The Marshmallow (Android) system update included the ability to add more to a screenshot, to eliminate the need to stitch photos together after the fact.  #PraiseAllah

-Last week, when the Prince announcement went live, my FB feed went from nothing to BOOM ALL THINGS PRINCE.. and I x-ed out that bitch like a boss.  #donotcurr

-When I got the email about our closing date for sure being 5/3, I forwarded it to Teh German and texted him to check his email NOW.  He was excited then immediately asked me about the screened in porch and I almost lost my fucking mind.

Back story: I discovered there may be an issue with putting a screened in porch over the patio slab on the back of the house because of easements or some ridiculous bullshitary.  I told Teh German about this.  Big mistake, HUGE (you're welcome for that Pretty Woman reference).  Every.single.day since then he's brought up the damn screened in porch.  In fact, we actually had a fight after he said he would refuse to move in House if the screened in porch was not an option.  I have already signed a contract with someone to build the screened in patio, so now we have to wait to close, so the paperwork can be submitted to the HOA, at which point we will find something out one way or another.  Guess what.. I told him in early April.. that's like almost a month of hearing about this screened in porch and him saying how House would be completely perfect with the screened in porch, blah blah blah.  It will still be good without, but with would be unbelievable..  The fact that I didn't lose it on him before this point should be impressive.

This conversation ended up happening and then I felt guilty because maybe I was "too mean" and then my OMG YAY CLOSING DATE high was gone and I was pissed again.  This is not the first time that Teh German has killed my "buzz."  That shit is getting old.  Can I just have my fucking moment please?  #dontruinthisforme  #thetruthhurts 

-More about the shared document drama.  The last week of the project, the govt rep was on vacation Tues-Thurs, then our engineer went on leave on Friday, the last day of the project.  They finally handed over the documentation for me to fix on Thursday afternoon.  About 2 hours into it, I discovered that some significant changes had be lost and I was pretty much on my own to find them.  The best thing about saving things to the cloud?  Version review.  #letscomparethesesidebyside #wastinghoursofmylife #techwriterproblems

Turns out, the tech had made those changes and failed to communicate that until the following Monday.. when I was going through and remaking those changes that he had changed back to his changes on Sunday night.  WTF?  USE YOUR WORDS.  Actually, I knew he'd been messing with the document because my mother-fucking headers were messed up again.  #icantevenwithyou

-I found #techwriterproblems on Twitter and it's like there are people that understand me and my problems.  It's CRAZY AND WONDERFUL and no one else cares about margins and styles and paragraph spacing.

-Yesterday was our final walk through inspection.  I was seriously all crazy lady up in there.  Turning on all the faucets and appliances and flushing toilets and inspecting corners and walls and doors, oh my.  I know I will forever praise my builder, but #worthit to go through the entire thing like the OCD lady that I really am.  #LetYourOCDShine

-I counted 45 light bulbs currently in House.  That's not including lights for fans that will be installed.  All those lights will be LED.  #savingmoney  #LetThereBeLight

-I've ran 2 days of the past 4.  That's progress by my book.  #runnerlife #itsformedals

-I think I'm going to be the new leader of our daily morning meeting.  Those poor unfortunate souls.  #AgileSucks #DSUarestupid





Linking up with:
Life with Lolo
Humpday Confessions with Nadine and Kathy

Confessions {4/20}

-Things I don't care about today: anything related to smoking pot and the date.  #notsorry

-I sat in a meeting on Monday for about 4 hours while 2 techs went over a document I've been working on.  I didn't really do anything the entire time because they were making notes on the print outs and not handing them to me.  I assumed I'd get to make the changes after, but they took the notes with them.  No work for me!  #bummer #jk

-PS.  Monday's post was brought to you by that 4 hour meeting.  #kthx

-I'm struggling to decide if I should reperm my hair within the next week (so it doesn't look super frizzy and will have loosened up by Germany) or just let the curls grow out.  #fakecurlsproblems

-I burnt popcorn at work on Monday and felt semi-bad about.  I was sitting in a conference room since I was in a meeting and couldn't smell it.  #onlyalittlesorry #donotremicrowavepopcorn #lessonlearned

-I went through all my draft posts and finally deleted all those good ideas that will never come to fruition.  #springcleaning

-Yesterday, after heading home from work at 1030 and scarfing down lunch, I spend the remainder of the work day laying in bed, which happens to be the darkest area in the house with a migraine.  I was 100% certain that if I stayed at work for the whole day, I wouldn't have been able to drive myself home.  Also, #BarometerHead is 85% certain it will rain by tonight.

-I don't understand why my Macbook brightness goes from 50% to 0%.  I don't want to have to wear sunglasses to look at my computer.  Get with it, Apple. #migrainewoes #ITBURNSMYEYES

-Things I have fallen out of the habit of doing:
working out (training plan is coming, we must be ready for Dumbo Dare...)
moderating my gluten intake
posting an adorable dog photo on Instagram each day (blame the lack of meetings on this one)
clearing out my Feedly in a reasonable amount of time
going grocery shopping each weekend
doing laundry on a schedule
not eating a dessert with every meal

-I factory reset my phone last Friday morning to see if it helped the battery life.  Turns out, the system upgrade helped the battery life.  #timewasted #WHEREDIDALLMYTEXTSGO #Dorothywastired #goldengirlsclub (PS. I had to go back through some Dec blogs to find the correct hashtag that Erin and I came up with for our gold phones)
 

-I want to tell you all about House, but I need things to talk about in Friday's post.  I will tell you we're almost at 100% complete.  #delivercontent #bloggerproblems


Linking up with:
Life with Lolo
Humpday Confessions with Nadine and Kathy

Confessions {3/16}

-The idea of Disneyland brings me great joy.  The logistics, maybe not so much.  #allthedollas #planestrainsandautomobiles

-I'm having the itch to get pierced.  I also want a new tattoo(s), but House.  That said, is it weird to get piercings on just one side of your body?  I feel weird about it.  Both sides or nothing.  #OCDproblems #bodyart

-I have this bad habit of buying sweets then not eating them.  I'll bring them to work for coworkers if/when Teh German won't eat them.  #wastenotwantnot

-We haven't been to crossfit in a while and I really wanted to go yesterday but Teh German didn't get home until late and I laid on the couch finishing This is Where I Leave You until 6:45.  #fatass #bookchallenge

-Speaking of book challenge, I switched up a few of my books because I'd like to finish this challenge and Children of Hurin was making me want to not read.  #dontreadshittybooks

-Yesterday when Teh German got an email from Landlord asking about our progress on House, I almost exploded with rage.  It's none of their damn business how our build is going.  How our build is going shouldn't have any effect on if they fix the problems in Shitty House or not.  I'll be giving Landlord a call about it later today.  I'm obviously thrilled.  #renterwoes  #soon

-I was complaining to Teh Sister about how Dorothy always dies super fast and she told me to turn down my location accuracy setting.  She's a genius!  It worked!  Yesterday night when I went to bed, I had 35% left!  Before, I'd be at 10% or under...  #stupidtechnology

-It has taken me 4 days to finish all the laundry from the new blankets/sheets I bought on Friday.  The worst part is that if I don't put the extra comforters in my car, I have no where to put them.  #firstworldproblem #dogproblems

-I'm still actually not done with laundry because I'd like to wash the sheets on the guest bed for Teh Advising Sister, who arrives on Friday!!!  #yayvisitors #FML #laundrymakesmestabby #cleaningtoiletsistheworst

-I'm still a little bit amazing/impressed/embarrassed that I backed up the on-ramp on the interstate.

-I keep finding events to spend money on and I'm really trying my best not to!  There's a concert Twin Dad asked if we wanted to go, run after run after run, tattoos, trips to NC, etc.  #temptation #thestruggleisreal

-I'm back to my Linux training.  I think I'm just going to get the cert to satisfy the requirement then do some studies.  #thenavyway

-We should have an official closing date by the end of next week on House.  There are not words to describe my excitement.  #nowthehardpartstarts #banksstressmeout #legalcrapisevenworse

-The building manager and I dressed almost exactly the same today: black shirt, khaki pants, black shoes.  We could be besties, I swear.  #twins

-I didn't go to the chiro yesterday because I was wearing a dress.  #Iwasstilltempted

-This entire week's dinner plan: WING IT!  #usewhatyougot

-There are no gifs because I'm lazy AF.  #AFdoesntmeanAirForce

-Instead I'll give you a throw back to when Teh WJL came to visit me last July.  Yesterday she couldn't remember why in 2007 we were going out on Friday, then I reminded her it was probably for her birthday celebration.  #anelephantneverforgets #besties #visitmesoonplease #Iknowyourereadingthis  

Linking up with:
Life with Lolo
Humpday Confessions with Nadine and Kathy

Five on Friday #73

EINS

ALL THE ONLINE SHOPPING HAS BEEN GOING DOWN!

I have a secret.  It's not really a secret (kinda like when I tell Teh German I have a secret and really I just want to tell him I love him, but I have to build him up first (you don't do this?  You should.))...  I don't really love shopping.  I don't love the feel of rejection when something does fit when I really liked it or how much time I waste trying on clothes under those horrible dressing room lights which expose every single blackhead on my face ever, despite how much money I am initially saved when rejection happens.

That said, I never outgrew my 17 year old smart ass self and I want these new things:

Except I want this one on a black hoodie with lime green/yellow text...
And NO "" marks, because.. I'm well-educated.  Her fonts are on point though.

I think is a perfect workout shirt that might motivate me to shave my armpits more.

These are also still on my wishlist if you're considering a gift for me:  ;)

here, but swap out the shirt for a not juniors sizing!

As always, my Amazon Wishlist is always available for viewing.

ZWEI

I almost had a breakdown over Teh German's Christmas present, let's just say it's a "cup."  As in, I knew what cup I wanted to buy (and I'm pretty sure he knows what it is, so I really need some good idea at ways to throw him off) and I bought one (vagueness just in case he gets nosey before Christmas.. just in case) and then realized the cup wasn't big enough/it wouldn't work the way I wanted it to, so I cancelled the order.

Then I spent an ENTIRE DAY researching different brands of "cups" and alternatives if it didn't work the way I had wanted it to (lets just say the cup had a quote on it, that shows if you hold the cup with your right hand, but you're left handed, so it doesn't work).  I asked questions on at least 8 different "cups" on Amazon and most people were helpful, but there were a few assholes who were all, "Never tried holding the 'cup' with my left hand because I'm right handed."  Completely useless, stop wasting air.  One of the mabillionty "cups" I left a question on said it would work left-handed, so I ordered it and a "special sticker" for it if they lied to me because speaking English is hard.  This "special sticker" will mean the "cup" will work no matter what because the "special sticker" is stand-alone and can hold it's own.

If you have no idea wtf I'm talking about, I got Teh German's Christmas present and it was something I hope to never have to deal with again.

What this all really means is because Amazon has 2 day shipping, his present(s) will be here in a few days and we don't even have a Christmas tree set up!  Which means the Christmas tree needs to be acquired this weekend so it can get decorated and we can enjoy it for at least a few weeks before it dies.

But really, the analogy kinda works in my real life.

TREI

Runs are FINDING ME.  I wish I was kidding.

I signed Teh German and I up for a hot chocolate 5k because you get a sweatshirt.  It's not a medal, but I've really been into a sweatshirt shopping mode lately after missing out on an adorable Woot sweatshirt on Cyber Monday (it was only $3 cheaper than normal, but not the point).

**Then I was perusing Charleston events on FB, like I do, and noticed the Charleston Marathon.  Now, Alyssa had told me about this before.  In fact, she hinted about her actually running the marathon one day.  But then I realized this was also the Shrimp and Grits 5k that I had seen last year that I really wanted to run but I was poor/we were in CA, so I couldn't.  THEN I saw that there's a medal.  And of course, in my bull in the china shop type way, I emailed the race cordinator and asked if 5k participants got a medal and if it was the same medal as the other events.  No answer yet (she answered and said everyone gets a medal but different races get different designs), but I really hope 5k-ers get a medal/the same medal so I can just run the 5k and satisfy my running aficionado. That said, the 1/2 goes through the park by my work and it would be kinda awesome to run all the way from downtown to Park Circle (where we often go for lunch since it's close to work).  #conundrum  The MD AR even said she'd do it with me in 2017 when I emailed her about it. 

I still really want to do the Hot Chocolate 15k in Atlanta in January, but House means zero running funds should be alloted to more runs.  I really, really, reallllyy should stop.  #WHYCANTISTOPRUNNING

**Fast-foward an hour and a half in my life after I wrote that when I was at home, discussing my #conundrum with Teh German about doing the 1/2 or the 5k and he asked when it was, I said, "January 16th."  Without missing a beat or even having to look at the calendar, he said, "Isn't that your sister's wedding?" 

Uhhhh, hello #worstsiblingever.  I almost died standing in my kitchen of mortification (and laughter at myself). 

THEN.. Teh German is scrolling through his FB feed about a minute later and says, "AND you marked that you were interested on Facebook?!"  There was nothing that could save me.  Seriously, not only am I the worst SISTER ever, I'm the worst Maid of Honor ever. 

So, I called up Teh MD AR to explain to her what had just transpired and she cackled with me because #Meganfail.

I figure we're good.  We laughed about it, I admitted my error to Teh MD-AR.  Then.. 30 minutes later, I receive this:

The absolute worst/best part is that earlier in the morning, I had asked Teh Sister about the bridal shower situation (because I'd kinda forgot and because I'm the #worstMOH ever).  She had said something about not knowing who would come/where it would be held, which I took to mean, don't worry about it, you're off the hook.

Yeah.  There's no coming back from the disaster that was me yesterday.

FÜNF

10 things that made me happy this week:

1. Using German instead of Spanish (not only here, but also in real life).
2. Conversations with Coworkers completely about food... almost every single day.
3. Hugs from Teh German (which really matter since we're on a kissing hiatus until the Herpaderps completely clear up).
4. Resisting the temptation to go out for lunch to save dollars.
5. Teh German suggesting we do a Christmas photograph so he can send Christmas cards to Germany.  All I could think of was the awkward epicness that was our 2013 Christmas photo (please click that link and view it, it's SOOOO worth it).
6. Naming the new phone Dorthy and being part of the #goldengirlsclub with Erin.  We're saving Sofia and Rose for other awesome candidates with gold devices.
7. Eating all of the Thanksgiving leftovers (rather than tossing them).
8. Motivation/sweaty selfies with Kimmi.
9. Having an old cell phone so I could get all the (dog) photos off my SD card.
10. I bought a shirt at Target on Black Friday and then this happened on the way to the car:

Happy Friday, Gentle Readers.

Linking up with these ladies since it's FFFFRRRRRRIIIIIIDDDDAAAAYYYY!!!!!!!!!

http://meetatthebarre.blogspot.ca/ | http://farmerbell.blogspot.com | http://theflynnigans.com/

(Long) Weekend Review {11/30}

UPDATED WITH PHOTOS!!!

WEDNESDAY

After waking up at 4am and being unable to get back to sleep, I got out of bed and took care of my Confessions post and did some work.  Before Teh German's alarms went off, I crawled back in the bed for AM snuggles.  We had to be at the design center by 830, so we were pretty much on our normal weekday schedule.

Decision making wasn't as difficult as either of us anticipated.  The biggest debate we had was about a double or single sink (I wanted double, he wanted single) and then I realized that with a single sink, there is only one drain to worry about and it has the garbage disposal, so a single sink it was.

The colors aren't as brown as they look.
I couldn't get the color right because of all the weird lighting.

The most infuriating part of the process was when the home theater/security system/Smartbox guy came in to "not" sell us products.  He started the process with something about being at someone's house recently who was having a wifi issue because there were too many devices on the wifi.  The point of telling us this was to sell us the Smartbox (which we'd already opted to get), but when I said, "So did you log into the router and switch up the bands so everything wasn't on the same wifi band?"  I was completely ignored.  Credibility hit #1.

He then brought us over the to the display box and we were pretty pumped about the music player control from the walls.. we later learned the music controls were $1500, except that I had to point blank ask him and then tell him no we wouldn't be paying for that since the theater system we wanted ($2000) would require a receiver and we could just plug whatever we wanted to play into the receiver via an auxiliary cable since we were already paying for it.  Again, he refused to acknowledge that what I said was a valid option.  Credibility hit #2.

His final product was the home security system.  He started by asking if we had dogs, yes.  Then he said we needed a home security system because if there was ever a fire, the CO2 detectors would notify the fire department and they'd be able to save the dogs.  I didn't even have words.  I could have seen that going the complete other way, but no.  Really I couldn't get over the fact that he didn't want to talk about shady neighborhoods or builders in the area or not knowing our neighbors to talk us into the security system, nope.  It was about the dogs.  It was at this point that I decided that I was done with this moron and the sooner he got out from in front of me the better.

Before he finally left, he wanted to talk us into a behind the wall conduit for the cables for the TV and was actually making zero sense because of needing a subwoofer and a receiver and the Smartbox placement and I was fed up with him for not acknowledging me and for primarily speaking to Teh German instead of me, despite my obvious technical knowledge (I'm blaming the boobs really).  Teh German asked if we could get a sub and receiver through his company and it was all I could do not to be like, NOT HAPPENING.

We ended up going over budget and we probably would have been done early if the paperwork hadn't needed to be printed out 3 times.  The first time was the sales lady's fault, the 2nd time was everyone's fault because we added the fridge at the last minute, and the final time was my fault because I'm all, "We're already over-budget, what's $1000 more dollars for this and this?"

I've never been so excited to get out of "shopping" in my entire life.  We were both completely drained of all abilities and we'd went over budget and Teh German was worried about paying for it all and having money for closing, blah blah blah.  We went to Willie Jewell's (yes my 2nd time that week) for lunch and after we finished eating, we were slightly better.  We headed home after lunch to pack and load Yurtle and the pups and head to Fayettenam.

The worst part of the drive was getting out of Charleston.  Since it was a holiday, rush hour had started early and Charleston drivers are... there aren't words to accurately describe the horrendousness that is Charleston drivers.  We made it into town by 6ish.  We decided to go out grab food at a bar type place downtown (if you really want to see where, I checked in on Yelp), which just so happened to be doing last call 20 minutes after we arrived, and our server was taking FORRREVER to deliver the first round of beer.  We didn't realize they'd be closing early because it was the day before Thanksgiving.  Oops.

After dinner, we headed home and Teh German and Teh Utah Specialist hung out while Teh Sister and I worked on food for Thanksgiving.  Teh German and Teh Utah Specialist went to bed way before Teh Sister and I finally did, which was around 1.

Thanksgiving Tetris: Master Level

THURSDAY

The problem with the good idea of cooking Thanksgiving lunch is that it means you get up early and it's stupid.  Teh Sister and I got up at 6 to get the turkey in the oven and finish prepping the other foods.  We had chocolate pudding/pie filling for breakfast.  That's how you know it's officially Thanksgiving with Teh Family.

Me fisting stuffing the stuffing in the turkey

This guy made an appearance in the kitchen and we have no idea where he came from,
but we suspect my backpack since he appeared after I pulled out my computer.
He was quickly returned to the wild.
#AlwaysAnAdventureWithMeganAround

Everything was finally ready by 1230 (we had predicted noon).  Sadly, due to some technical difficulties, the video of Teh Sister making the turkey dance and other various prep photos are stuck on the SD card that was in Suzy2.5.  Teh German had asked me when we were packing what he should wear and I showed him my tshirt and jeans.  He packed a button down to wear.  Then we all spent the entire day in pajamas.  We keep it classy.  We didn't even shower all day.

Dat roasted toasted skin...

Teh Sister's first time cooking a turkey (ps she's a vegetarian),
so we had to get a photo of her with the "beautiful bird"

NOOOOOMMMMMM

Thanksgiving dinner selfie!

Best part of my day:
Snuggles with this handsome dude.

This was perfectly acceptable because right after we finished eating lunch, we all went and took a nap.  When we woke up, we had lemon and chocolate pie for dessert.  Teh Mom arrived around 7, at which point Teh Sister wanted to start trying wedding beverages.  She had seen the Disney alcoholic beverages lists on Pinterest and bartender sister was to make them (me) for her.  Instead of doing full beverages, I did the drinks as shots.  2 shots in, Teh Sister was getting louder.  3 shots in, Teh Sister was pretty much out of control and we had 4-6 more drinks to try and I was drinking the excess of what wouldn't fit in the shot glasses.

Post nap silliness

Phil celebrated Thanksgiving by getting to eat the turkey neck.
A decision I later came to regret when some of it ended up on my bedroom rug after we got back home.

Lesson(s) of the night: Teh Sister and Teh Mom are both lightweights.  I can, apparently, drink like Teh Dad/a fish.

After I had Teh Utah Specialist bring Teh Sister to bed, Teh German and I sat with Teh Mom and her friend and walked them through the floorplan of the new house.  Eventually, we were all exhausted and headed to bed.  Fortunately, we were still in our PJs.  #win

FRIDAY

There was nothing about me that wanted to get up on Friday morning, but the dogs were relentless.  Meri was incessant about watching the squirrels in the trees/yard so she kept knocking the vertical blinds and we both kept wanting to kill her and she was NOT staying in her bed.  Eventually, I got up and Teh Sister and Teh Mom were going shopping.  They would have waited on me to get ready (aka shower my stank away) but I was irritated they hadn't asked me.  I mean, I did bartend for them the night before!  Additionally, I had to work since I was teleworking.  I actually made negative process on the work front because I messed up the styles/headers in my document and was too frustrated to fix them.

Meri was super pumped to be able to have a huge yard to run and chase ALL THE SQUIRRELS in.
When she wasn't outside, she was looking out the front window, then she'd run to the back patio door to inspect her domain.

Aunt Teh Sister painted Phil's nail since he's such a good boy and lays so still.
#bestdogever

When Teh Mom and Teh Sister came back, Teh Mom made breakfast (homemade biscuits that I'd been wanting for a while), eggs, bacon, and gravy).  I probably could have eaten 2 more biscuits, but we ran out.  /sadface.  After breakfast Teh Mom and her friend left.  I decided it was finally time for a shower since I had told Teh Sister that we could go back out for Black Friday shopping to the places they didn't go, since they had only been to Walmart.

With everyone loaded up, we hit up Kohl's, Best Buy, and Target.  We had a break for luper (lunch/supper) at Which Wich (deeeelicious), and then I talked them into going by the Verizon store to see if they'd let me upgrade from Suzy2.5 (who no longer had a working speakerphone).  What I thought would be a 30 minute thing turned into an hour+ long ordeal.  But, I ended up getting an HTC One M9 and we ported Teh German onto my Verizon plan (sadly he had to get a new phone, so he got the 6S).  The lady that was helping us was very distracted.  She'd work with us for 10 minutes then go away for a while.  She'd pass us off to someone else, then come back.  It was weird and I didn't like it.  Then as we were almost done, she was all, "Here's your free tablet!"  We were like, uhh ok? and accepted it.  We walked out mostly satisfied.

HTC One M9 front camera was pretty good.

My phone wasn't charged at all so it was practically dead when we left the store and I was unable to mess with it until we got home and I attached myself to a wall charger.  #firstworldproblems.  Once I got plugged in and on the wifi, the phone wanted to run a mabillionty updates.  I wish I was exaggerating, but it took the phone over 6 hours to completely charge (granted, I was using it pretty steadily to change the settings, it was downloading systems updates, AND I had to call Verizon at one point to actually port Teh German's number over from T-Mobile, since the ADD sales lady hadn't actually done it) and the system updates took well into the night to finally complete.  During the evening I had been reading Galaxy S6 vs HTC M9 reviews and the S6 had come out on top.  I had debated getting the Galaxy when I was in the store, but I wanted something new and the S6 is pretty much the same as the S5, except it doesn't have an SD slot, which is why I ended up picking the HTC anyways.  That and I had seen Kathy's rave review of her HTC, so I was willing to give it a shot.

The evening was completely lazy.  We didn't really eat dinner/thanksgiving leftovers because we'd had sandwiches.  We ended up going to bed pretty early because we were all drained from the past 2 days.

SATURDAY

We got a slow start on Saturday morning, after the same AM debacle with Meri as Friday morning.  She's sooo, soo, soo cute.  Teh German and I had decided that we were heading back to Charleston on Saturday so we could have a day to recover and get ready for the week.  I was out of the bed before Teh German so I could put leftovers into bowls to bring back with us.  After I was finished, we got ready and I asked Teh Sister if they wanted to get lunch with us and they said yes.  We went back to Which Wich (and I even got the egg salad.. again) and the dogs stayed in the car.

Photographic evidence of Phil touching Meri.

I lurve my fuzzy face girl and my big boy.

After lunch, we headed back to Charleston.  I try to help keep Teh German entertained while he drives, but I had started reading Still Alice and I was super sucked in and didn't want to stop reading.  Except for when it got too sad.  When we got home, we unloaded the car, fed the beasts, and lounged on the couch for the evening.  After I finished reading, we had dinner (leftovers, finally).  Then it was time for bed. 

Dangerous when you have my (lack of) will power over my favorite types of pie (chocolate and lemon).

SUNDAY

We stayed in bed until noonish when I finally told Teh German that I wanted/needed to get stuff done.  He hadn't really been feeling well since early in the week, so I gave him a pass at going to the grocery store with me.  Additionally, I had decided that I wasn't going to keep the HTC and I was going to pick up the S6 (like I should have just gotten to begin with) and after seeing that the Verizon lady had given me a "free" tablet that required you add a $10 a month line to your plan, wanted to return the tablet as well.  The Verizon rep I dealt with was nice and knowledgeable and NOT ADD.

It cost me $35 to return the tablet (a restocking fee), but I told him that $30 was still cheaper than the $220+tax that it would cost me to keep a tablet that I would never use.  Had she told me the tablet required a line, she would have kept her free tablet and I would have saved $30, but whatever.  Live and learn.  I was so overwhelmed at the Verizon store that I didn't even think to question it.  He clarified on insurance that she hadn't even asked about and he noticed that I had called in to port the number to the new line.  He also called the Fayettenam store to verify that the $60 credit that we'd been promised would get applied and made a note on the account.  Despite his hipster/Teh Bear look, I wanted to hug him a bit.

He did try to sell me the Droid Turbo 2, but I just couldn't sell myself on the Droid after the Droid 2 and Droid 4.  #thanksbutnothanks  I knew that the S6 would make me happy, so I went with it.  What I did NOT consider was that I wouldn't have the ability to get my photos off the SD card that was in Suzy2.5, thus rendering this post almost photoless.  I have a microSD adapter, but I can't find it, and the USB adapter that I have wasn't reading properly when the SD card was in.  #technologywoes

PS. My new phone is gold and it feels like #bling and it needs a name.

While I was at the Verizon store, a coworker messaged me asking if he could deliver boxes to the house and I told him yes.  When I left the Verizon store, I went to Publix since I knew the grocery store wouldn't take too long.  Another trip where I only shopped the perimeter of the store, with the exception of going down the tea aisle to pick up some tea for Teh German to help with his sore throat.  #win

When I got home, Coworker was there chatting with Teh German while the mosquitoes sucked him dry.  Eventually, Coworker headed home and we brought the groceries in.  I continued the laundry and put away the groceries.  Teh German had taken care of the dishes and moved the laundry for me, despite not feeling well, while I was out because he's the best.  After everything was put away and there was nothing really left to do, I started working on this post and realized there was an SD crisis.

It's super sad because there was video of Teh Sister making the turkey dance and first time selfies with the new HTC phone and selfies eating Thanksgiving dinner and other random stuff that would have been awesome to share with you.. but #technologyfail

Eventually, it was time for dinner and I gave Teh German the choice of Thanksgiving or frozen pizza and he (finally) chose the frozen pizza (that I've been offering as an alternative since September).  After dinner, we prepared for Monday and eventually headed to bed.

*******

It was a pretty great Thanksgiving and it was nice to get away and still have a day to recover.  I'm going to work on getting the SD card crisis solved in the near future because ALL THE PHOTOS!

We did commit to going to Home, Home for Christmas, but we haven't figured out the time line for that yet.  We have a month, I'm sure we'll figure it out soon enough.

This week/weekend holds lots of Crossfit (sooo much fooooooddd), work, and possibly getting a Christmas tree!!