Five on Friday #206

EINS - Random Shit

I saw an employee at Walmart carrying a sign that said, "Are you sure it's not still Mercury Retrograde?" and I felt that in my soul.  Thankfully, there is a marked difference between the frustrations of last month and the lack of frustrations this month.  There has been some anxiety (tattoo pain is real, yall, plus the will it rain or not drama after trailering the bikes 5 hours making it pointless), but nothing like the WTFness of July.  Whether it's the lack of Chemistry, meaning my life is more simple, or the fact that we're out of Mercury Retrograde.. I'm taking it.

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Monday night I took an anxiety pill to sleep.  I was angry and frustrated at Teh German for trivial shit that I was making issues of, even though they really weren't issues (like I do, thanks for coming to my TED Talk), I was overly tired from sleeping poorly most of the weekend/week/month, and I.  I slept like a MFing champ.  It was delightful.  I woke up feeling rested.

It's never been a secret that I don't sleep well, but when I've already got a ton of shit going on and then you add the lack of good sleep?  Well, it's kind of a disaster.  I'm trying not to let the impending final semesters loom over my August and give me anxiety, but they kind of are.

And so.. I'm going to try to make it a priority this month to 1- find a new doc. 2- try to find an anxiety medication that doesn't make me forget my entire life.  There is better living to be found through chemistry.  Anxiety medicated Megan doesn't lose her shit about every.little.thing.ever.  And I'll be honest, losing my shit over all the little things is exhausting.  I try to make it funny when it happens to mitigate the fact that, yet again, I'm bitching about something.. but it's exhausting for everyone.  I know it.

In the meantime, I don't have anything I'm worried about forgetting, so I'm putting myself back on the anxiety meds.  Maybe if I'm self-aware of the forgetfulness then I can continue taking the meds after school starts?  We'll see what happens...

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I have a feeling the decision to take the anxiety pill Monday night helped me from having a catastrophic rage-induced meltdown on Tuesday afternoon after discovering the mysterious "red stuff" on the carpet in the loft was actually pizza sauce from the unauthorized pizza buffet the dog sitter allowed the dogs to have.

After noticing the weird red shit all over the carpet and then noticing crumbs, I suspected the dogs got into something while we were away.  Fun fact, THIS is why I finally gave Teh German the ok to install cameras in the house.  I checked the cameras and, in fact, the dogs DID get into something.. Meri helped the dog sitter finish off his uneaten pizza and garlic knots, which had been left sitting on the loft couches when he left during the evening.  Poor Pax was muzzled, but he tried soooo hard to also enjoy the buffet.

If the cameras hadn't caught enough of what happened, these bread bites would have been a dead give away...
Also, WHY IN THE FUCK DO PEOPLE REFUSE TO MOVE SHIT WHEN THEY CLEAN!?!?!?!

I think I'm so used to being disappointed by the people I hire to help us that I was more disappointed than angry that we can't trust the person we thought we could.  I did message the sitter to let him know that he should have told me and was told that he forgot because he was running late.  I'm not sure if he was referring to leaving the pizza out or telling me, either way, I'm not pleased.  I'm not really sure why he didn't feel the need to mention it to me, at all, when he came on Monday afternoon to pick up his stuff.

I also cleaned up the mess he left on the stove when we got home, from the frozen pizza he'd cooked on Friday, which I only know because he asked where the pizza pan was after he arrived and said he was going to cook it.  I don't feel like it's unreasonable to have the expectation to NOT allow the dogs to get into anything while you're watching them.  I also don't think it's unreasonable to expect the person staying at your house to clean up after themselves.

We don't leave food out because of the #GoatDog situation we constantly endure, but also because I don't want to NEED an exterminator.

Dem professional ass lines.

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Speaking of moving shit when you clean...  I found out that Pax is creating tiny clones of himself when I cleaned the loft.  Since there was sauce on the cushions and bread crumbs, I pulled up the cushions to vacuum the couches out and discovered in-progress Pax clones.  I also discovered that our cleaners have never ONCE vacuumed under the couch cushions.  In a house with 2 dogs.  NEVER vacuumed under the couch cushions.

It's hard to see,but there are little in-progress Pax clones in progress in that crack.
Both couches had these black tumbleweeds filling the entire crack, for the full length of the sofa.
There was also a black tumbleweed in the tiny corner where the couches come together that had never been vacuumed up.

Do I have overly high expectations?  Am I unreasonable for expecting that under the couch cushions be vacuumed maybe every quarter or something?  Or that the vacuum wand be used to get corners/hard to reach places?  I'm not asking that the furniture be moved every time.  Siiiiiiiiiiigh.

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We finally, finallly, got some clown fish for the tank.  FINALLY.

They are hard to see, but they are there.
Soon we will be getting an anemone for the fishies, which is really all I wanted to begin with.

Teh German asked what we should name them and I told him that I wasn't sure yet, but we always called our fish "Pete" and "Repeat" when I was a kid.  I will observe said fishies and see if they have any distinguishing marks and then determine names for them.

Update: I have observed said fishies and one has a fat middle stripe and the other has a skinny middle stripe.  This is their distinguishing features and for now, they are being call fat stripe and skinny/thin stripe.  Maybe these names will stick.  Maybe something better will come along.  Either way, Fat Stripe is always charging at me.  We think since it's the slightly bigger fish, it's the female and if that bitch doesn't get outta my face she won't get her anemone!  Come at me, bro.

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If you were interested in the menstrual tracker app situation, I guessed correctly when I said I redownloaded the Garmin app and have continued using that.  Most of the apps for menstrual tracking are more for people with regular periods (not me) or people who are trying to get pregnant, (not me).  There was one app that was overwhelming in all of the mood options, which I liked and hated at the same time.

I'm sticking with Garmin because my data is already there AND because I figured out how to turn off the device not connected notification and I like the few, simple options they offer for menstrual tracking things.

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People who cut open resealable bags and leave stuff in the bag that is now unable to be sealed shut, deserve to be cut.  Period.

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My very smart, sometimes assholish, loving, cute, so very cute, Husband insists on locking the storm door.  INSISTS ON IT. 

WHY IN THE FUCK DID I BUY A $200 SMART LOCK FOR HIM TO LOCK PEOPLE OUT SO THEY CAN'T FUCKING GET TO IT?!?!?!

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Because I'm bored AF, I've made it my goal to bump up the visibility of the GEGR FB page.  Truthfully, I love doing social media things and wish I got paid to do it.  Well, I guess actually I am since I don't really have tasking at work currently.  But fret not, it's coming.  All the documents are coming.  I imagine that they will all be need to be finalized between the few weeks prior to midterms and Christmas.  #PositiveThinking

Also, looking at cute dogs never hurts my heart.  It will soothe the stress of all those document finalization dates which happen to be on the same days as CS assignments being due.

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I've been doing the Tweeter thing again.  This is what happens when I have too much time on my hands.

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I have 5 classes this semester and 4 of them are in the same classroom.  Which happens to be one of THE most depressing classrooms that the computer science department uses.  It's small, cramped, and the projector is in a weird way. 

Anyways... I'm thinking of making a sign to claim my spot for the semester... because.. why wouldn't I?

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New acronym announcement: MIGFYSU
This stands for:
Megan is gonna fuck your shit up.

This is completely in relation to someone sitting in my claimed space in that classroom I'll be spending so much time in this fall.

ZWEI - Money Shit

-Bully sticks for the beasts
-Phone bill
-Water bill
-Tickets for an aquarium event later in the month
-Tattoo session + tip
-Dog sitter
-Gas
-Groceries
-New, less greasy, tattoo lotion + travel bottle
-Several long dresses with pockets.  These will replace the long dresses I have without pockets.  Seriously, pockets are sometimes the determining factor regarding my outfit for the day.
-Replacement shirts from Old Navy.  I need some solid, no funny prints, t-shirts for work and the one/two I do have, have holes in them.  I'll be doing a serious closet purge soon!
-Pizza for lunch
-New front door knob that doesn't lock so Teh German will have one less way to lock people out.
-Replacement screens for the pergola since one of the screens has a rip in it along the entire length of the screen and Teh German has already repaired 2 small holes and this is too large to repair.  I bought something from WayFair for an 11x13 pergola in the hopes that it will be ok for our 11x14 pergola.  When Teh German contacted the pergola company, they said that new screens would cost $289 and would include both the mosquito netting and the solid panels (that we never use anyways).  I wasn't pleased with that and asked Teh German if we could try it a cheaper way first or try repairing it ourselves.  He said yes.  Worst case, my cheaper methods don't work and I'll return the screens I got from WayFair and he'll be paying the $289 for the screens.


Sooooo uhhhhh...
I said fuck it and now I'm completely poor but Willow is paid off!
This is what happens when I'm bored and I've spent too much money over the past few months.
Annndd also, I'd rather see those car payment dollas going towards my savings account, knowing they don't have anywhere else they could be going.
Soo back to being #DebtFree other than the mortgage. 
#Adulting #LikeABoss

DREI - From My Phone Shit

There is a basil plant at work.
I'm gonna make some pesto.

When do computers overheat?
When they need to vent.

This bumper sticker had my name! #WIN

POCKETS!!
All non-pocket dresses will be donated.
#SorryNotSorry

VIER - From the Internet Shit

Husband to me.

It's ok if your strength looks different in this season.
MHN

You are brave.
Even when it does not seem that way and your bravery shows up in your choice to keep going every day.
-MHN

FÜNF - Things that made me happy this week

1. No school August.  Not actually all of August, but a significant enough portion that I'm calling it no school August.
2. 30-40% off everything at Bilo.  I bought all kinds of shit I'm generally too cheap to buy.  Shelled pistachios?  Check.  Pint-sized ice cream?  Check.  + $80 more in stuff that we will actually use/eat.  #NotSorry
3. No more car payment.  I mean, this also means no vacations anytime soon, but I don't have the PTO anyways.. Soooooooo, it's fine.
4. Eating lunch outside with a coworker each day.
5. Not having to lug around my backpack with a computer in it everywhere I go.
6. Dresses that have the empire waist that I desire.
7. POCKETS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
8. Using the air fryer for new things.
9. The smell of the clean couch covers... #SilverLinings
10. Not having to sit through all-day long meetings for 3 days this week.

Happy Friday, Gentle Readers.

Weekend Review {12/26}

FRIDAY

I worked from home on Friday since the majority of the office was doing the same thing.  I'm sure my coworkers were able to be much more productive than I was.  In between being accosted by the 4 dogs in the house and yelling no at them when they'd start barking because our wonderful neighbors left their dogs outside ALL DAY to bark at everything that passed by, not much was really accomplished.

Nonetheless, I had my hours by lunch time and decided that since it was #treatyoself weekend, that I'd start it off with a bubble bath.  #noregrets

I had a hair appointment scheduled for 3 on Friday, so after my midday bubble bath, I passed the time somehow until it was time to leave.

My hair appointment took a few hours because I had some color added.  The blah blah brown was getting to me and I needed something fun.  I really like it, but I was going for something a little more... "fun"?  Yeah, fun.  But it's a good smooth transition into something a little more fun next time.

Teh PT Fam had agreed to go to the Stingrays game with us that night, so we met at the Coliseum for the game.  Teh PT Kid is now a hockey lover, which brings me great joy.

After the super shitty game (because the refs), the men bitched out on looking at Christmas lights and went home to smoke cigar while Teh PT Wife, Teh PT Kid, and I went on a food adventure and to look at Christmas lights.

I say food adventure because after sitting in 3 different drive thrus for no less than 40 minutes total, we finally pulled into a Denny's and had quicker service at Denny's than our entire waiting time at the fast food places we had tried to eat at.  When we finally got to Park Circle to see the lights, we ended up driving around the circle super slow our with the hazard lights on.

When we eventually made it home, Max refused to go inside and get warm and opted to snuggle with me over Teh German, which was odd.  Nonetheless, some epic selfies were acquired.

We were all tired and we called it a night around midnight.

SATURDAY - Christmas Eve Eve

It was a slow start to the day with nothing planned in the AM.  I started off with some puzzling.  I almost lost my shit when the neighbor's dogs who were, again, tethered outside, started barking at me because they could see me through the dining room window.  Ya'll.  That's my hard limit.  I was struggling with your dogs being outside ALL FUCKING DAY LONG barking at everything the day before, but if your dog starts barking at me when I'm in my house, I WILL KNOCK ON YOUR DOOR.  I will NOT deal with that bullshit.  Nope, nope, nope.

After breakfast, everyone was upstairs and Pax was being the most adorable so I snuggled with him for a bit.  

I then laid down and took a real nap until it was time for my spa session at 3:30.  I was scheduled to get an hour and a half massage, to include a foot "refresh" and I added on a 30 minute head massage.

Let's talk about things I won't do again: Go back to that spa.
The spa wasn't bad, but the massage was mediocre and for what I was paying?  Nope.  The head massage was mostly her putting coconut oil on my hair and tangling/pulling my hair.  She also added a "free" mask since I was so congested, which conveniently took up a significant portion of my head massage time, as well as her getting all the ingredients.  When she was doing my massage, she kept trying to work out my shoulder knots which I'm pretty sure are permanent.  Yeah, I was SUPER sore by bedtime.  

I didn't get a post-massage picture of my hair, but I kinda looked like Medusa.

After I got home, Teh German asked me if I wanted to go to a bonfire with Teh PT Fam.  I said that was ok and we headed to Summerville to make friends.  We stopped by Carolina Ale House to pick up dinner to go and then headed to the fire.  It was fun.  I showed off my marshmallow toasting master skills, several people were introduced to smores with Reese Cups instead of plain chocolate, and there was singing.

We headed home at a decent hour since Teh PT Family had to get up early on Sunday for church.

SUNDAY - Christmas Eve

Teh PT Wife and Husband made their debut at their church's Christmas play and we went to see them.  Roux's Humom and Mr. Golfer also came.  Teh German doesn't do church, but no one burst into flamed when we went in the building.

GLCK parking.

Husband and Wife selfie!

Festive stage

The play was very good, as was the sermon.  I enjoyed the music as well, which Teh PT Wife had told me I would.  She gets me.

After church, we headed to Michael's to pick up some crafting stuff for Teh German and then we headed to brunch at Crackle Barrel with Mr. Golfer and Roux's Humom.

After brunch, Teh German and I made, what I expected to be a poor life choice, a pit stop at Walmart to pick up a few items.  We were in and out in 20 minutes!  We happened to find a register open with no one at it!  Mind = blown.  It was obviously the 2017 Christmas miracle.

When we got home, Teh German started working on his project while I headed upstairs to nap.  I love naps.  Teh PT Family was hosting a Fishy Feast (or something Italian about fish and Christmas?  IDK) and we headed over around 4 for dinner.

Tom-fecta

The food and company was great.  We ended the night with smoking hour and then finally headed home for bed.

MONDAY - Christmas!

We had a slow start to Christmas day, which was perfect.  Well, kinda.  We had a Skype date with Papa G at 0900, so we set an alarm to get up in time.  I had made some pretty spectacularly horrible coffee on Sunday morning, so I waited for Teh German to come down to make the coffee.  After we Skyped with the Germans, we agreed on a breakfast plan.  Teh German makes the bacon better than me, so he's in charge of that, and after he flips it over, I start the eggs.  I also had a can of biscuits in the fridge that didn't get cooked from chicken and dumplins earlier in the week, so we added those to the menu as well.

Christmas selfie

Breakfast

The beasts.

Scrooge, I mean Teh German, hadn't wrapped my presents until after he started cooking the bacon.  Here to hoping that next year he can assimilate to American culture and at least get something under the tree for me by Christmas Eve....

Can we be impressed with his ability to tie a bow out of wrapping paper?

I surprised Teh German with a new robe and a new Stingrays shirt that he had wanted when we went to the sale over the summer, except we/I wasn't willing to wait in line for a single t-shirt that was regular price.

Those are sheep.
I could have gotten him a boring plaid one, but no.

The bottom earrings are my Christmas/wedding presents from Teh German.
Rose gold earrings to match my wedding band.

He also ordered my planner that I wanted.  No surprises.  There's always next year.  After cleaning up, we marathon-ed Mad Men until it was time to become publicly presentable.

Because our neighbors were feeling super sorry for us because we didn't have anything planned on Christmas day besides laziness, we were invited to Roux's house for Christmas dinner.  Then we migrated with the GLCK to another neighbor's house for dessert.

By 10pm, I was exhausted and we finally headed home.  After reading for 20 minutes, it was lights out and Christmas was over.

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It was a super awesome lazy holiday.  It was nice to be on our own schedule and not have to travel back home.  I was able to take unlimited naps, which is always the best.  I was mostly unproductive, which was also awesome.  I'm working from home today, but tomorrow is back to normal.  Teh German is off all week, which I'm pretty jealous of.... butttt next weekend should be another lazy weekend and I'm already ready for it.  ALL THE NAPS!

This week you can look forward to the 2nd installment of wedding photos and I'll probably have a Friday post, as long as nothing wacky happens.

I hope all my Gentle Readers had a great weekend/Christmas/holiday celebration/whatever you did was good.

PS.  No I did not watch Star Wars.  Teh German mentioned going to watch it and then laughed at himself.  At least he knows.
PPS.  I DID order the entire Wrinkle in Time quintet since I've never actually read it.  The only L'engle book I've read was A Ring of Endless Light, which I discovered today is actually in the middle of that series.  Womp womp.  I'm considering reading that series as well, but after I finish A Wrinkle in Time.  The real push is that the movie is coming out and it looks like something I may be interested in seeing in theaters.  We'll see.  School will be back in session by then...

Weekend Review {7/17}

FRIDAY

After my Ortho appointment (where I learned that I could have been hip brace free 2 weeks ago), I went home and worked on my Friday post and did a little work.  I stalked the UPS site for when my laptop would be delivered and despite the 0945-1:45 estimate, it arrived after I left at 4:50... of course.

I headed to Moncks Corner with Teh PT Family to photograph their Mom's wedding.  After a simple ceremony, we took some photos on the train tracks and we set up for the reception.  The reception was a blast and we made it home around midnight.  Teh German and Teh Dental Hygienist came for the reception. 

Teh Dental Hygienist drove since she was test driving a new car.  This is only relevant because we were 90% of the way home when Teh German questioned if the vehicle's lights were on, which would cause the problem of there being no interior light.  Turns out, they were not.  Oops.  She's fully aware she'll never live it down.

We came home to bloody vomit on the rug downstairs.  Carpet cleaner use since Friday morning at 0515: 4.  It was at this point, I admitted defeat and agree with Teh German, no more dog sitting.

SATURDAY

The weekend goals were slim, which was nice.  I got up and fed the beasts, not wanting to deal with another session with the carpet cleaner.  I had intended on going back to bed, but the lure of a new computer was just too much for me.  I spent about 2 hours downloading programs and setting up the computer.  I put my new stickers on it.  I was pumped.  I uploaded the wedding photos and subscribed (ugh) to Lightroom and Photoshop (PS) to start working on photo editing.  I was going through the setting in Photoshop and noticed that PS was using the integrated graphics card instead of the Nvidia video card.  This is a problem because I specifically upgraded the video card in the computer for exactly this purpose.  After some troubleshooting, I couldn't fix the problem so I admitted defeat and decided to bring the laptop to Best Buy after my hair appointment.

Stickers!

I headed back to bed to take a nap.  I got up with Teh German around 10 and we had a slow start.  I tried to troubleshoot again with no success.  Teh German and I agreed that I would clean the toilets and he would clean the sinks so we could accomplish my lone weekend goal: to clean the bathrooms.

Around 1, I finally started getting ready for my appointment at 2.  We were super unmotivated.  I think I found a hair person in Charleston.  I'm sure several people will have outbursts of joy when they read that.  She was very nice and explained everything she was doing to my hair.  I explained that I was trying to grow it for the wedding.  I was pleased to see there was not a lot of hair on the floor after I got up.  I got several compliments on my blow out. 

I headed to Best Buy, trying to be optimistic.  Naive.  There was only 1 Geek at the Geek Squad desk since the other person was dispatched out on calls, strike 1.  The Geek at the desk seemed like he might be moderately proficient so I explained the problem and what I had done to troubleshoot the issue.  He suggested downloading the drivers directly from the Nvidia website, which we started the 7 minute download for.  And at 1 minute left, he needed the serial number and closed the laptop to get it...  Then when he came to check on the download a few minutes later I got to inform him that it had cancelled... when he had shut the laptopm strike 2.  He then said to me, "Oh, I thought it would download in the background."  Uhhhhhhhhh, what?  So we have to restart the download and at this point, I'm getting frustrated and he's already checking in my computer for drop-off, which should have been my indication that he wasn't going to be able to help me fix the problem, but again.. naive.

We could have been friends.. but noooooooo.

While all this was going on, I spoke to Teh SC Greyhound neighbor (who we were dog sitting for) to explain some of the issues we were having.  We agreed that she shouldn't come home right away, but that I needed her to be aware of the issues. 

I ended up leaving my brand new laptop at Best Buy with no idea of when I'd get it back.  Depressed, I headed home.  Teh German was outside (where it was no less than 98°F outside) washing Baloo.  The soap was drying and I helped him by rinsing since he refused to wash then rinse sections.  Have I mentioned lately how stubborn he is?  Anyways...  He said he had already cleaned the sinks, so I went inside and called Teh Running Bestie to chat while I cleaned the toilets.  After the toilets were cleaned, I started working on the puzzle while we chatted.  Eventually Teh German came inside and showered. 

Teh German puzzles vs Teh Megan puzzles....

After I got off the phone, we tried to make a dinner plan but I wasn't feeling it.  My motivation level was at the bottom of the scale.  I had planned to make chicken enchiladas and the chicken was cooked (yay crockpot), but needed to be shredded and then the enchiladas stuffed and baked and that was just too much effort for me.  I ended up mostly skipping out on dinner and I don't even remember what Teh German ate. 

Dinner of champions.  I didn't eat the entire cup.
So yah know, moderation.

Teh German has this habit of constantly perusing the Facebook Marketplace for "things" and he actually found some runner steps for Baloo for a super low price.  The only hitch was that they were located in GA and he'd have to drive down there to fetch them.  I told him to go for it and he made plans for a drive to GA on Sunday.  It ended up working out super since the seller was even willing to help Teh German install them when he picked them up. 

Later, we went over to Teh PT House for celebratory smoking hour since they had upgraded their vehicle situation. 

Carpet cleaner use since Friday at 0515: 5

SUNDAY

Sunday morning, Teh German got up with the beasts.  He ended up coming back to bed until his alarm went off, at which point he got up and got ready and I checked my phone since I wasn't able to go back to sleep.  I had a massage scheduled at 2 (a neighbor is an LMT and she was coming to the house), but since Teh German was already out (which wasn't planned when I made the appointment), I messaged her and told her if she wanted to bump up the appointment time, that worked for me.  We agreed on doing it at 1 and I took the time to social media, write up the weekly menu, make a store list, and hit up Walmart (ugh) and Bilo.  I still didn't find everything I needed, so I'll be making a trip to Publix at some point, but that's fine. 

I didn't realize when I had Yurtle cleaned that they had folded the blankets and put them in the back.
SUUUPPPPPEEERRRR impressed with Tidal Wave.  I wish they were closer.

I made it home by 1215 and Roux's Humom, Teh PT Family, and Teh Dental Hygienist came over to meet Sweet Tea.  Everyone left when the masseuse arrived.  We set up right in the living room, which was fine with me.  Amazingly, the dogs were angels and other than the power flashing due to some crazy storms, there were no disturbances. 

Tired dogs are the best dogs.

She was awesome and I happily recommended her to several people.  Teh PT Wife had brought in a box when she came in and it was my new, correct color, Kindle. 

Side story: I accidentally ordered a black Kindle on Prime Day and didn't realize until it was too late to cancel it.  So I ordered a 2nd Kindle in the color that I wanted.  Because it was so late in the day, it wouldn't arrive till later.  Boooo, hiss. 

I happily added my stickers to my Kindle, put the case on and I was messing around on it when Teh German arrived home.  The 7 makes me sooo much happier than the 10.  It's not as heavy in my hands and I can tap to turn the pages!  I'm trying to figure out what to do with the Kindle 10 now and I seriously have no idea.  There is currently no trade-in option for it either.  :(

After checking out his new steps (which would have made getting in and out of Baloo much easier 6 weeks ago), I showered and got ready for a birthday dinner at Swig and Swine.  We got to ride in Teh PT Husband's Hummer-limo sized truck (a Toyota Tundra).  When we got home, we were locked out of the house!  We couldn't figure out what was going on.  Teh German asked me if I locked the door (from the garage to the house) and I laughed at him and said, "I never lock any doors!" 

Luckily, I have a house key on Yurtle's fob and I was able to let us in.  Teh German was almost afraid to come in after I walked in and said, "Oh shit."  I walked into the house and the downstairs was littered with dog collars and various items that were in a container in the closet.  A closet that I had, apparently, not closed the door to after I put something away before we left.  #lessonlearned

The dogs had a blast while we were gone.  Phil's muzzle had been chewed up, Pax's racing muzzle had been chewed up, the buckle was eaten off the paracord collar Teh Sister made for Phil.  Toys that I had been hoarding were strewn about the house.  It was like they had a party without us.  It was so exciting that they locked the deadbolt on the door!  Fortunately, only a collar was destroyed in the party, so that's a positive. 

After we got everything cleaned up, Teh SC Greyhound Neighbor arrived to pick up Edie and Sweet Tea.  We chatted about Edie and my concern over her lack of eating and her not greeting anyone when they came in.  Edie really wasn't interested in getting off our couch, so Teh SC Greyhound Neighbor had to pick her up.  When she put her on the floor, Edie was knuckling and Teh German and I saw it and exchanged a look that Teh SC Greyhound Neighbor didn't miss.  On our way to the car, she asked me to tell it to her straight and I said that knuckling is a neurological issue... or it could just be that Edie was laying funny and her foot was asleep.  Time would tell.  Edie was supposed to go to the vet today, so I have my fingers crossed.

After our house was settled again, Teh German and I headed over to Teh PT House for a little bit.  Shortly after 9, I decided it was bedtime and we ran home in the ran.  Yep, I ran.  Not like a sprint.. but more effort than I'm used to.  Once home, we did our pre-bed chores and passed out.  Pretty sure I didn't move all night I was so tired.

Final carpet cleaner use count for the weekend: 7
This means that we're going to have to fully clean the runner downstairs again and pull it outside to dry, as well as the rubber mats underneath.  Kind of a pain in the ass, especially on a week where it's going to rain.  Le siiiiiigh.

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Teh German said it was a productive weekend and I guess it was.  Truthfully, I didn't feel all that productive and I kinda felt lazy, but there was an undercurrent of frustration the entire weekend at all the vomit, shit, and piss in our house.  The party the dogs had last night made them soooo tired that no one budged this morning until it was actually breakfast time.  Generally, the dogs will move around in the mornings while we get ready, but not this morning.  I anticipate many naps throughout the day for them today and hopefully tomorrow too since it's scheduled to rain all week long.

This week is kinda busy.  PT Mon/Thurs.  The builder will be coming on Weds to make repairs (hopefully) and Yurtle has an oil change that day.  Friday we have dance lessons and then a birthday bar-hop to attend.  Next weekend will be kinda hectic since our Saturday is already full.

Tomorrow is everyone's favorite post, Shit Teh German Said!

Gratuitous dog photos:

Oh yeah and I just want to share this kick in the pants with you: 107 days till wedding day.
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuckkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk. 
Additionally, 14 days until Teh German no longer has a choice about what he wears.

Five on Friday #115

EINS

Another no-Wednesday post week.  #notsorry.  Truthfully, I just didn't have enough to "confess".  I think instead of confessions I just need to change my prompt to "It's Ok..."  I give self-guilt myself about a lot of things and I just need to let myself off the hook.  I am my own worst enemy.

For instance...

It's ok..

...that I ripped the sheets with my brace on Monday night.  #shithappens and I can do nothing about it.  It just sucks that those are some of my favorite sheets because they are so soft.  BUTTT, this does give me a reason to finally replace the sheets (as if we really need replacements) since I also may or may not have bleached the pillow cases with some benzoyl peroxide cream after Teh German moved in...

...that I just (re)discovered that my keyboard has function keys to control Spotify.

...that I've planned a Nerd day on Saturday (after we clean the bathrooms and take the dogs for a nail trim) since my new Kindle arrived on Thursday and my new laptop arrives today.

...to wait after new toys arrive to tinker with them since I'll be busy all day today with work/Ortho appt/shooting a wedding.

...to wear jeans to work, especially when wearing dresses means wearing another outfit under my dress so I can wear my brace.. and well, that's just too many layers for Charleston summer.

...to put off work because it's not high priority right now to compose this post.  The formatting is a nightmare that will require some serious dedication and it just seems like too much effort my first week back at work.

...to work half days at the office as I "ease" myself back into being at the office.

...that I didn't get this post done before my doctor's appointment on Friday...  Which leads us tooooooo.....

ZWEI

The Hip Update:
Ortho informed me earlier that I could have been out of my hip brace 2 weeks ago/the 1 month/4 week mark.  I tried to set him on fire with my eyes but failed.  That would have saved me a set of sheets and a lot of shitty sleeps. 

Good sides to this:
-No more brace.
-I can actually work on things at PT.
-I'm mostly healed.
-No more driving restrictions.
-No more ripped sheets.
-Better sleeps.
-Less guilt over not wearing my brace.

Bad sides:
-No more external lap band/sweat band, which was certainly helping with the wedding diet.
-What the fuck do I do with a $1000+ hip brace and $(how ever much I paid for) crutches?

DREI

From my phone:

That car is same color as Teh Mom's favorite color of nail polish when I was a kid.
The car even turned iridescent in certain light.

The start of the idea for my wedding band design.
Actually this band, but swap the rose and white gold.

We're dog sitting this weekend.
Edie is the fawn, Sweet Tea is a pocket pit (back against the fence) and you know who Meri and Pax are.

Meri stood in that position for a solid 2 minutes until Sweet Tea finally decided to play.

She likes 'em big... and fluffy..

Edie likes to marinade her brain and get smarter.

There is a car wash place beside the PT office and I splurged and bought a month's membership.
This means Yurtle will be getting a bath every time I go to PT.  The initial job they did was worth the month's membership fee!  It's crazy how shiny and pretty she is!

New ID.  Yaaarrrr matey.

VIER

From my brain:

-I still need to buy sudafed.  Having to purchase it from a pharmacy annoys me.

-It bothers me that there is no orientation for The Citadel for veteran day students.  It would be nice to have someone take me around and actually introduce me to the school rather than go to a webpage and download a map and hope for the best.  Also, maybe I've been ruined by NCSU, but when the shit can I finally pay for parking? 

-I need to go backpack shopping.  I love my backpack, but the beverage holder on the side is too small and ripped and it makes me sad.  I need to find a backpack with extra padded straps like this one, but at least moderately cute.

-I was honest about why I was returning a Kindle that I ordered on Prime Day.  I accidentally ordered a black one and the order couldn't be cancelled so I had to accept it and just purchase another one.  To get the color that I wanted, yellow, I had to make another order.  Which means now I have to return the black one and I'll be paying $3 to return it since it was my own mistake.  I probably could have lied and said it was wrong, but I'm going for some good karma.

-I have no idea what I'm wearing to the wedding I'm shooting in 2 hours.  I should work on that.

-When you ask someone to dog sit for you, here's a few tips:
1. Do not bring your dogs to the beach to wear them out and let them guzzle down salt water if you know it gives them ass pee. 
2. Do not start your dog on a new food the day you drop them off with the dog sitter.  Again, ass pee.
3. Breakdown your dog's daily life for the sitter so they can know what to expect from your dog(s).  When the dogs expect to be fed helps the sitter understand why your dog is acting so weird at a particular time.  What time the dog wakes up tells the sitter when they can expect to need to let the dog out.

You can ask our dog sitter, I leave an obnoxiously detailed note when we leave the dogs.  This is to help my dog sitter help me.  We keep Meri and Pax on a consistent schedule because our life works better when they are on a schedule.  Everyone knows what to expect.  Dogs thrive on consistency.

-I've ran the carpet cleaner 2x in less than 12 hours and it makes for an unpleasant day.

-I will be working normal work days next week and I'm kinda dreading it.  Additionally, we have customers visiting and I'm considering wearing my hip brace so they will stay out of my way.

-I have high hopes my ring won't be super expensive.  We're planning on buying 2 sets of rings.  A real ring and a silicone ring for each of us.

-I really feel like I need a brain dump, but I've noticed I've started to censor here and it makes me sad.

FÜNF

10 things that made me happy this week:

1. NO MORE MOTHER FUCKING HIP BRACE.
2. I remembered our anniversary (8/2) last night and I thought of the perfect gift for Teh German.. oh and I already bought it.  #likeaboss
3. Ridiculous ID pictures.
4. New technology (my new laptop arrives today at some point and the new Kindle should be here on Monday).
5. Clean Yurtle.
6. New stickers
7. Dog sitting (I should caveat this with the fact that doesn't include the stress that the dogs wouldn't eat, one was afraid of me, and I've already had to use my carpet cleaner 2x in the last 24 hours).
8. Being back at work and having a routine.
9. Watching some Grey's Anatomy.
10. Making appointments to take care of shit that needs to get handled that I've put off and put off...  (dermatologist, Yurtle doc appointment, hair cut, massage, Dan Ryan repairs, dance lesson, etc).

Happy Friday, Gentle Readers.