Weekend Review {04/29}

FRIDAY

I worked all day on Friday AND I rode Bagheera in.  Don't worry, it was as strange as it sounds.  I stopped by Best Buy on my way home regarding my loose T key that keeps popping off making me have very violent tendencies towards my beautiful laptop.  Apparently, it can take UP TO THREE WEEKS to send in a computer for repairs with the warranty.  This makes me (IMO) reasonably angry.  I mean, it could take a week.. but I don't have that much time and I can't risk it.  Soooo I'm fucked until I get return from Europe with my T key randomly coming off.  SO MUCH RAGE.  I would have taken my computer in sooner, but school.. so I needed my laptop.  Also, the T key was bearable until the last week when it won't stay on at all anymore.

Sooo, I brought my broken computer home with the last resort being to glue the fucking key to the keyboard, although when I asked if this would void the warranty, the Geek Squad girl helping me mentally reviewed the warranty policy and wasn't sure then said, "If it does void the warranty that's on me."  I'm not sure if my face expressed my thoughts, but it was something along the lines of WTF and disbelief since my thought was, "So you're going to pay for my new computer or the repairs when the warranty doesn't cover this issue???"

Soooo this is my current solution to the problem.

Whatever. 

Teh German and I went out for dinner at Myles and Jun Yakitori since we hadn't been there in a while.  Our service really sucked for the first half of our meal and our food took FOREVERRR to arrive.  But I mean.. I did drink half a pitcher of sangria, so by the end I cared less.

When we got home, Teh German turned on the Hurricanes vs Islanders game and I fell asleep during the 3rd period because I was drunk and relaxed.  We actually went to bed instead of watching the OT period because I was done.  While I was in the bathroom, I checked the score of the OT period and we'd won!  WOOOTT!  Teh German chuckled when he heard my reaction from the bathroom.

We were in bed by 10:30 since Saturday was a long day.

SATURDAY

Saturday morning we slept in a little, but also got up at a reasonable time (0830).  I went downstairs and fed the dogs and started my computer tasks.  Teh German texted me asking if we were going to breakfast and I couldn't make a decision, so he did.  We decided to ride the bikes to Ihop for breakfast because I really wanted Ihop pancakes before I left.  And trust me... they were everything I wanted them to be.  I ended up deserting Teh German at Ihop after someone wanted to talk his ear off about the Bobber bike, which I have zero interest in.  Also, I needed to get home so I could shower and study for a few minutes and make sure I had all the test/hw solutions printed out so I could use them during the exam.

I knew the professor of my Networks class was an asshole, but it was a royal slap in the face after he'd agreed with us all semester what shit it was that our exam was on a Saturday at 1 that he didn't even show up and someone else proctored our exam.  I assume that he knew he had a conflict, but rather than telling us, he just played it off.  Rude.  Others were pissed that they couldn't ask questions during the exam, but let's just be honest.. he wouldn't have answered questions anyway.

What was a "10" question exam took me over 3 hours.  Because each question had at least 3-5 sub-questions and about 75% of the questions involved micro math AND each calculation would be used in another equation, so if one number was incorrect, the entire problem was, ultimately, incorrect.  #RAGE.  No shit, the calculations for the extra credit question took me no less than 40 minutes to find the equations for in the chapter slides then calculate.  The asshole Marine (who I've made peace with) ensured that I knew there was an extra credit page on the test after the test was passed out.  I told him that I appreciated his pointing it out to me, even if he was being a smartass.  The fact that he even bothered was appreciated.

After the exam, I headed to the grocery store to buy snacks for the gathering we were having later in the evening.  $75 later (don't judge me, I was hungry), I headed home with munchies.  After unloading the groceries, I didn't have anything to do.  Sooo, Meri and I relaxed on the couch before company arrived while Teh German did Teh German things. 

My heart explodes.

 Around 7, peeps started arriving.  After consuming pizza, it was socializing time.  Around 8, it was smores time.  It was a perfect night for a campfire.  After Teh German started the fire, I kept it going.  I didn't blaze off anyone's eyebrows, but I felt like Teh Dad would have approved of my skillz.

As I walked up the stairs at 1245, I said, "I'm going to bed," to the guests who were still at the house and they took that as their cue to leave.  Teh German was right behind me.  I was pretty fucking stabby at 0317 when Teh German's entire body twitches woke me from my slumber.  Despite moderately gentle kicks and shoves, he continued to switch and I knew that I had to go to the guest room.  The problem with that is the guest room bed didn't have any sheets on it, which meant that I would have to make the fucking bed at 3:30 in the fucking morning and few things make me more stabby than that.  After gathering sheets and my phone and water and pillow and blankie, I slammed the bedroom door when I left (yes, childish I know, do not give a fuck).  I heard Teh German rouse and let out a stupor-ed, hurh? and that was it.  I was so angry I couldn't go back to sleep after making the bed and closing the blinds and curtains and getting myself situated so I played some solitaire until sleep was finally upon me again.

SUNDAY

I heard Teh German get up with the dogs, and I was not a little bit sorry that he had to get up to let them out.  He had asked me before the last guests left if we got to sleep in the next morning and I had actually planned to take care of the dogs since he's going to be dealing with them for the next 3 weeks solo.. buuuuuttttttt his drunken twitches meant he got the big fuck you and he got to deal with the dogs. 

My thinking is always that he should never drink so much that he twitches in his sleep if he knows that it keeps me awake.  Like, marital sacrifice type of shit, right there.  Honestly, if the situation was reversed, I would limit my intake.  The other thing is that when he drinks too much, he's an asshole, which makes me be a bitch, which I hate having to be.  And then, he remembers NOTHING.  Which only fuels my rage because then it's like I'm mad and living it over and over and he's not living it at all.  I know part of this is irrational, but a larger part is NOT irrational.

I did manage to go back to sleep and I finally got up around 11, as the queen of passive aggressiva who avoided all eye contact because glares were inevitable.  I did the laundry, not caring if I woke up Teh German up.  I didn't slam any doors, but I didn't go out of my way to be quiet... to mean I was as quiet as I normally am, which is pretty quiet.  After getting the laundry put away, I "started packing".. specifically, I got out a suitcase to put my clothes in.. and then I determined that it was too early to start packing.  I still need my shit for this week and packing too early is annoying because if you need something from the bag you have to reposition everything and then the refolding.. and it's just best if I wait until the night before.  I've already got a list of items I don't want to forget that aren't clothes.. so I'm not super worried.  And let's be honest, I can't put my toothbrush in the suitcase until the day I leave.. so I'll be packing the day I leave, period.

Teh German didn't seem in a hurry to get out of bed after I told him we weren't going to brunch (I wasn't feeling it and we had plenty of food in the fridge to eat) and that we were going to Teh NY Chef's house for dinner at 5:30.

Ramen for lunch!
This also shows me finally getting to use the chopsticks I ordered for us andddd the seaweed I found at Target which was DELICIOUSSSSS and I ate almost the entire pack with no guilt since it's like 50 calories for all of that.

After lunch, I headed to the office to pound out Italy details.  I want to finish this task so it's not hanging over my head anymore, but decisions are hard.  Teh German had gotten up and started his day and came into the office at one point to ask if some free fencing would be fine for a raised flower bed for the back yard.  I said yes, he fetched it and started working on it.  Later, I was determining Rome activities when Teh Dad called to chat. 

During our chat, I finally had a revelation that I wanted to spend more time in Rome.  There's so much I want to do in Rome and only having 3 nights was not enough.  Also, I'd already purchased plane tickets from Stuttgart to Venice and from Rome to Baltimore.. soooo I decided to cut Florence from our itinerary.  There wasn't much in Florence that I'd been excited about and I'd only planned for a day trip to the countryside to include the Leaning Tower of Pisa.  Not going to Florence means 2.5 more days in Rome.

After getting off the phone with Teh Dad, I went out to tell Teh German of my decision, which he was fine with and he was building away.  He didn't get much done since we needed to be at Teh NY Chef's house by 5:30 and I refused to be late.

I was too excited over delicious noms to take a photo, but dinner was stuffed shells and meatballs and chicken and zucchini and spaghetti squash and peppers and sausage and garlic bread and salad.  It was all super delicious.  THEN...  THEN... Teh NY Chef out did herself by making cream puffs from scratch. 

Wanna know a weakness I have?  Cream puffs.  I ate 4 before I left because I'm a fat ass and do not curr when it comes to cream puffs.  I brought 3 home.  I may have had one for breakfast this morning.

By 7, everyone was headed home and Teh PT Wife went with me to drop Willow off at the dealership for her doctor's appointment on Monday.  When I got home, I grabbed the computer to do Italy things and watch Vikings with Teh German.

By 10, we were in bed.

______________________________________________

GENTLE READERS.
Are you ready?
Sit down.
SPRING 2019 SEMESTER IS OVVVVVVEEERRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!
Praise Allah.

Many people asked me on Saturday night if I'm excited about going to Germany and I had to admit that I hadn't really allowed myself to be excited.  I couldn't.  I knew that getting excited about Germany would mean that I would shift my primary focus from school to Germany and I still had too many weeks of school and too many assignments to allow myself to do that.  I think that's another facet of why this semester has been so painful.

Also, by Saturday night, I had just started to realize that the semester was over and I hadn't even started mentally switching gears yet.  My objectives were: School, gathering, sleeps.  Also, the sooner and more I let myself get excited about Germany, the more the anxiety will distract me from things like work and solid preparations.  When I get excited, I tend to forget more things, which doesn't make for good packing decisions, especially when I'm packing for over a month away and for multiple seasons.

Sunday, I didn't really know what to do with myself at first, but then Italy preparations took hold.  On Sunday evening after dinner, I felt weird because I didn't have any school things that needed/could be done.  Like, I could literally do whatever I wanted without feeling like I was going to have to make up for any non-school activity at a later time.

3 days until I leave for Germany.
7 days until language class starts.  (holy fuck, that's a WEEK!)
26 days until my Germany race.
26 days until Teh German arrives in Germany.
37 days until Italy.
49 days until I return to work in a full capacity (until my July class starts).
67 days until Chem 2 starts.
368 days until GRADUATION.

Weekend Review {12/03}

FRIDAY

After the series of inconveniences day, I headed to the gym after work.  After the gym, I headed home to shower and wrap our white elephant gift and then we headed to the annual holiday party some friends host.  It's always a real shindig.  This year was 1920's themed (better get in the habit of adding 19 to the years from last century...), and my Amazon dress purchased actually worked out better than I had anticipated.  There was a hole in the sequins layer and one of the shoulders was coming unstitched, but I can fix those issues, I think.. or I just ignore them and no one would actually notice because I'm the only one who cares.

The party was loads of fun.  We stayed a lot longer than I thought we would and I had accidentally left my flippy floppies at home, so by 10:30, I left my heels at the door.  I think our friends thought I was being dramatic as I tread gently across the floor, but my feet hurt sooooooooooo bad.

Also, awkward moment of the night?  Ginger Beard showed up.
Oh you're confused at who the fuck Ginger Beard is?  Let me remind you about that one time that I used an online dating site.  Did I ever think I'd meet one of those online dates out in the real world as I stand beside my husband?  NO.  NO I DID NOT. 

Despite my inebriated state, I sent out "DO NOT FUCKING COME OVER HERE AND MAKE ME HAVE TO EXPLAIN HOW I KNOW YOU" vibes.  Fortunately, he was with his group of friends and I was with mine and the groups didn't seem to know each other and I, sure as shit, was NOT going to be the one who made the connection.  Nope, nope, nope. 

I might be the Queen of the Awkward, but introducing "the guy I went out with a few times before you" or "the guy I was at that baseball game with; the one where I was bored AF and was texting you" to Husband?  Or better yet, "This is my husband, the guy I picked over you after you went stage 5 clinger after knowing me for less than 3 weeks.  Although, ultimately, I would have picked him over you because he was more awesome, actually laughed at my jokes, and has a sexy accent, but that's neither here nor there." 
That is on a level that I cannot handle. 

I have no idea what time we actually left, but I know that we "started" to leave around 9:30/45 and we were still there at 11:30..  so /shrug.  I wasn't driving, so whatever.

We got home before 0100, but after midnight.  It was immediately brush teeth and bedtime.. I hadn't stopped since 0530 that morning, I was DUN.

SATURDAY

Saturday was a semi slow start.  We got up around 9 and got ready.  We headed out to brunch with Teh NY Chef to the Jewish Deli.  I needed to pick up my Kiawah race packet at the Summerville Fleet Feet, so I figured this was a solid excuse to go to the deli.  While we were there, I also scheduled my post semester massage.

After picking up my packet and buying some clearance socks (since they didn't have the model of sock I wanted (yes, that's a thing)), we headed back home.  I was dragging ass (let's blame how long Friday was, not the inebriation, kthx) so I laid down for a nap.

A delightful couple of hours later, I woke up and messed around on my phone for a bit.  Eventually, Teh German headed over to Teh PT House for cigar time and eventually, I followed.  A plan was made to go to Carolina Ale House for dinner.  Teh Neighbor Besties took over.  We didn't realize the Alabama vs Georgia game was on, so we had a short wait.  We definitely left before the Clemson game started.

New rule:
All photos with babies require a silly face.

After dinner, we headed back to Teh PT House for hanging out time.  I was reunited with my "vibrator" (the percussion massager, not an actual vibrator) and stood in the living room massaging all my sore pieces so I could walk the next day.  #NotSorryForTheGroans

Eventually, it was sleepy time and we headed home.

SUNDAY

Sunday was productive day.

I got up and took care of the dogs (again) and started on homework things.  I worked on homework things for a few hours, having Teh German review my German skits that I wrote for our oral exam, and completed the final exam for my online class.  I finally got tired of that and needed a break.  Teh German told me no to going out with me to run errands since it was a "rainy, lazy day" and he was watching football and then added, "Why do I need to go get your hair stuff with you?".... which was essentially him lighting my fuse...  Soooo muuuuccchhhh rrraaagggeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.

I hate having to play the martyr when it comes to everything.. but when I have to MAKE time to do things like taking the dogs to get their nails cut (which was done VERRRRRRRRRYYYY poorly, some nails weren't even CUT, poorly), picking up shampoo/conditioner at Sally's, and then going to get groceries and a photo album for the 163 photos I found and had printed out for his immigration interview, and Husband tells me he is having a lazy day (which is what he did the prior day), I see fucking red.

I'm grateful my work is flexible so I can go to school, but I don't have all the free time he has.  We very rarely spend time together, other than eating meals, which are often quick and doesn't involve much talking.  Then I retreat to the office to do work or homework or finally take a shower after getting home from the gym AND THEN go back down to the office to accomplish things.. So on the weekends, I have to get shit done because I don't have time during the week to accomplish more than I already do.  I feel guilty going to the gym because I feel like I'm cheating work out of time (I'm not) and/or it's time I could be at home..  The time guilt is real, which is probably why I feel the need to bring up the time martyr situation when shit like this happens.

Teh German knew without a doubt that I was fucking pissed when I left, as I ensured he knew it when I told him bye. 

I took the dogs to get their nails cut, I should have checked in the store and had her cut more.  I was pissed when I got home and saw that you couldn't even tell a few of Pax's nails had even been touched with clippers.  MORE HULKSMASH RAGE.

Pax and Meri were ready for their poultry treat.
(Birds, they wanted to eat the birds.)

I went back home to drop the dogs off and headed back out to get MY shampoo and conditioner and OUR groceries and HIS photo album.  Still ragey, but with a sign right in front of me (a van from Teh Dad's company was in front of me on my way to Walmart), I finally called Teh Dad back after I'd ignored his calls Saturday (I was out with Teh NY Chef and Teh German) and on Sunday (since I was pissed at Teh German and Teh Dad always takes his side of every argument with some "manly" bullshit and cut him some slack and whatever fucking nonsense he says that usually incites my feminist-everything-equal into a blind rage). 

Fortunately, I told him all of that, so he didn't go down that track.  He did tell me not to say things I'd regret.  He also mentioned that I got my "barbarous" tongue from both parents, so he understood how it might be difficult to keep it in check.  I reminded him that living with Teh Mom had made me well-trained in not saying anything at all.

I accomplished errands and when I got home, Teh German got the groceries out of the car and put them away without me asking.  This method of acting like nothing happened is his way of apologizing for pissing me off, but not saying sorry is him not feeling bad about his decision to stay home.  I'm still stabby, but, again, I lived with Teh Mom long enough to learn to power through the rage and put on the nothing-is-wrong front. 

I had purchased a frozen bag dinner (first time in our marriage for that trick I've been keeping up my sleeve) and while it was cooking, I put away laundry from earlier in the week and kept the in process laundry going.  After dinner, I did the laundry, then headed back to the office to work on more homework.

This is where the time martyr comes in.  Gentle Readers, I.do.not.stop.  All day usually.  There's always something I should be doing.  Homework, studying for the next test, laundry, something for dogs (poop hasn't been scooped in at least a month, since the last time I did it, since Teh German hates to scoop).  From the moment I get out of bed, I'm going.  I work in the AM or I do school work before going to school, or I'll go on a run, sometimes I'll come home after a run and take the dogs on a jog/walk.  Then I get ready.  I go to school.  I go to work.  Sometimes between school and work I'll stop by the chiro or get gas.  Rarely, I'll pick up lunch.  I'm at the office until most everyone has left (because no one likes it when the person who arrives last leaves before the person who arrived at 0900).  MWF I go to the gym, TH, I go home.  Depending on what is going on, it means extra homework or work time for me.  After I get home, it's dinner time.  Sometimes I cook, sometimes Teh German has cooked.  Sometimes, after the gym, I don't even bother going upstairs to shower because I know I will not want to come back downstairs to do work/homework, so I stay in my sweaty gym clothes until I'm done with my work.  I try to be upstairs by 9:30 so I can shower and be in bed by 10.  This starts again at 0530-0600 the next day.

During the semester, there were plenty of days that I was able to get ahead on my homework and finish up my work tasks while I was at work, so there would be days I could be available for work and still watch Shameless when I got home.  But right now, I don't have time to watch Shameless.  In fact, a new episode of Vikings went live last weekend and I haven't even been able to pretend to want to watch it.  Teh Ranch comes back on Dec 7th and I realllllly want to watch, but I know that I have exams next week.

It's a difficult balance, so when Husband, who has spent 2 days laying on the couch scrolling through his endless social media feeds, tells me, "Why should I go with you to pick up your hair stuff?" I want to rip of his arms and beat him with them.  I wanted to remind him of how I ensure that he never runs out of body wash or deodorant or FOOD and who plans our meals 97% of the time and who communicates to the cleaners and most of the service people for anything we use.

This mental time/effort that I've put forth for us is difficult to quantify and maybe that's why I feel the need to pull out the time martyr.  I know I posted about this within the last 2 years, but I cannot find the actual term I discovered to accurately describe this phenomenon that sooo many women experience.  If someone remembers, please jog my memory.. It's annoying me not to know now. 

Anyways.. after finishing up some school stuff, I headed upstairs for more laundry, bedtime chores, and then I laid in bed listening to an audiobook and playing solitare until Teh German came to bed.  I would have read my ebook, but I discovered the library had taken it back.... AND NOW there's a wait.. ugh.

My watch said I was asleep by 9:30, and I'm not actually sure if it's true or not, but it's fine if it was.

______________________________________________

I woke up this morning to several notifications that my library holds were ready for download.  Now I have a millionty books all at the same time, a bittersweet event, of course.  One of the library audiobooks was an audiobook I had used an Audible credit on, so I returned that bad boy.  #NoCreditWasted

Despite my partner's very strong desire to put off our German oral exam, I semi-forced her into doing it today, and it went just fine, as expected.  We're the top 2 students in the class.  I was FAR from worried about our oral exam.  This is the same student who our professor wanted to put into the next level class at the beginning of the semester, but it wouldn't fit with her schedule, so she stayed in our section... like, girl, you don't need to be worried.

I consider my online class complete since I completed the final exam.  I haven't care about that class all semester, but I am expecting an A.


This week includes:
-TEH RUNNING BESTIE'S ARRIVAL! with Boyfran and the dogs.
-Computer science test Wednesday.
-Final circuits project due Thursday.
-Company holiday party on Friday.
-Kiawah Half Marathon on Saturday.


PS.  It's December.
I'd be more glad if it was COLD and December and not just December.
Instead it's rainy and December and if it was cold that would mean SNOW and December..
That said, while I love the rain, the damp is making my bad hip hurt and I really don't enjoy that.

Weekend Review {10/30} - The weekend before we were MAWWIED.

TL;DR: Drunken shenanigans and puking in streets and dressing up like princesses and ALL THINGS WEDDING!

FRIDAY

Chilly FALL morning with the fog over the parade field at The Citadel.

I'm not sure why I don't go to the Dollar Tree more.
SO MANY AWESOME THINGS.

We had some issues printing out the guestbook sign/poster and Staples was awesome at assisting me to get it PERFECT.
I think the lady was satisfied to see the look on my face when I came in to pick up the corrected poster and I was elated.

Every time I went to the store I'd think to myself "Do we need more beer?"
NO, MEGAN.  The answer is NO.
We look like we have a problem.
Fortunately, a large dent was put into the collection on Sunday night (as expected).

After a long day, I took a nap and Teh German went out for his bachelor hangout.  Teh Running Bestie and I hung out with Teh Neighbor Besties.  We ordered pizza and played Organ Attack.  Eventually we headed back home and did some late night teleworking.  YAY for teleworking.

It was pretty early when Teh German came home white girl wasted.  He had puked and that debacle was hilarious to me.  His claim to fame is that he puked ON OUR STREET while the car was still moving.  I helped him get cleaned up and into bed, then went back downstairs to document the night away.

SATURDAY

Teh German rallied well and had no issues getting up for our walk on Saturday morning.  #TeamInjuredBrokeAsses walked almost a whole 5k, which was boring, but the most we could commit to with 2 bum ankles and my hip.

We met a 7 year old at the end who needed some "fuel" to keep going and we encouraged her and jogged with her.  Her chaperone didn't seem very into it, so they were glad we showed up to save the day.

After our run, we met Teh Neighbor Besties at Sam's to pick up some items for the gathering on Sunday night.  I ended up with a whole lot more than was on my list, butttt #weddingweek #donotcurr.

After a required nap, I showered and Teh Running Bestie and I met Teh Neighbor Besties downtown to start my bachelorette shenanigans.

When you are just not strong enough to hold up to my abuse...
I broke Teh PT Wife's credit card and it was definitely weird.

After the bar, Teh Sister and I walked down to Callie's Hot Little Biscuit to pick up a hangover biscuits.  It was worth all the steps and bitches stepping on my feet with their spike heels.

SUNDAY

We headed to brunch on Sunday morning with an extremely hungover Megan and Teh Dental Hygienist.  I joined the street pukers club and regurgitated all the water I had consumed since I woke up at 0615 on the side of the road.  While not our street, Teh German and I have our own club again.  #bestteamforever

Rutledge Cab Co brunch
Huevos rancheros with Teh PT Wife's eggs.
#NOREGRETS

After brunch, we headed back home.  I tried to get my life together and work on immediately due homework and things.  I did end up taking a nap because there were a LOT of people coming to the house in the evening and I knew that I needed to not be a grouchy pants.

We gathered with the neighbors and the Germans and I believe that everyone had a good time.

MONDAY

I went to school on Monday because I need to learn things in class.  NC State Megan would have just skipped class, but Citadel Megan has to go to class to learn things.  It was torture because I did NOT want to be in class.  I did remember to stop and pay for my parking pass since it expires at the end of October (because that's super convenient).  I asked for a blue parking pass instead of the red day vet one and they said yes.  FUCK YES.  This should be a complete eliminator of future parking citations.

Pax was super interested in the feather on our wedding present from Teh Sister:
A lady and dude dinosaur dressed up in wedding regalia.
They are epic.

Monday evening included dinner with the newly arrived Germans who were not here on Sunday night.  I have been unsuccessfully attempting to do homework since I got out of school on Monday and have not been very successful.  This post was yet another procrastination methodology.  Siiiigh.

Tomorrow is the big day.  I'm excited and not really nervous and excited.
But do not worry, Gentle Readers, tomorrow's blog post has been scheduled for at least 2 weeks...  :)

Weekend Review {8/29}

So uhhhh, August is gone.  I'm not overly sorry to see it go, to be honest.  Historically, August is a very tumultuous month for me.  In more recent years, that hasn't necessarily been the case as much.  Nonetheless, this August was hot and miserable and I am still ticking down the days until Disney and if it could just be September 1st already, that'd be greatttttttt..

FRIDAY

Friday was a weird day at work since it was our last day in our old office.  I'm glad that we're finally done with that office because being on the verge of something like a move is always more stressful for me than actually moving.  That and I hate being in transition.  My stuff was half at the new office and half at the old.  On Friday morning, I went ahead and brought over the remaining items that needed to be moved with the exception of my laptop.  When I got back, I tried to resist the Disney pull, but couldn't.  #ALLTHEDISNEY!!!! 

Since it was our last day at that space, Company had lunch brought in for everyone from Cru Cafe.  It's a place that has been on my Yelp list, so I was excited to try it.  I was disappointed though.  I almost had the turkey sammich, but gave it up for the chicken salad for Twin Dad who hates mayo.  I don't think the turkey would have been much better than the chicken salad, and it wasn't bad, but it wasn't anything worth going out of the way to get.

After lunch, I was burning time till I left at 1:30.  It was a close call to boredom because I had moved my laptop charger to the new office and was fully reliant on the battery which was draining quickly.  I ended up shutting the computer down to leave with 9% of the battery remaining.  If you've ever been scuba diving, you know that the deeper you go, the more oxygen you consume due to pressurization.  Yeah, I feel like that also happens when you're operating on battery juice.  The less you have, the more you use. 

Almost like the day I started.

I headed out and went straight to my massage appointment at the technical school.  I discovered gold recently when I learned there is a massage school in Charleston and it's not too far from our house (about halfway between home and work).  Also, $35 for 90 minutes?  Yes, please, and thank you.  No tipping allowed?  HELLLS YEAHHH BEECHES!  Truthfully, it wasn't the best massage ever, nor did I expect it to be, but it did feel good, so I'm not complaining.. much.  Also, they should give you an email survey to fill out instead of a piece of paper immediately after.  It wasn't until I got home and was thinking about it and realized why my triceps were sore that I realized it was from too much pressure.  Also, I didn't get a scalp massage, and between that and a face massage, it's hard to decide which I like more.  It's essentially my massage happy ending.  Nonetheless, $35 massage.

I headed home to wait on Teh German to get home.  I finished up a challenge book.  Teh WJL had forwarded me an email about Audible's sale going on and I re-signed up with my original Audible account (so the books would all be on the not-sequel account) so I could get the discounted rates.  I ended up getting Dragonfly in Amber (Outlander 2), A Man Called Ove, Code Name Verity, and The Last Anniversary.

Right before Teh German came home, I received an email from Shitty House Owner asking me to forward him the emails from the property management company discussing shed access.  Because I'm an overly nice person, I forwarded him the emails, but also included a note detailing how it was even discovered that all of his crap in the shed (which he clarified was worth about $32,000) and if the mistake hadn't been made, no one would have known for at least a year, unless he had come to check on the shed.  I actually called Teh MD-AR and read her the email before I sent it because I wanted to make sure that I wasn't out of line in the way I wrapped up the email, but I wanted to make sure it was on the record somewhere that he had been negligent towards the house.  I blamed the shed, but it seems like he is just that type of person.

We had plans with Neighbors to go out to Sushi 101 for dinner, so after I finished responding to his email, around 6, they picked us up and we headed to dinner.  Right in time, since 15 minutes after we were seated, the restaurant went from a quarter full to people waiting at the door.  Our food did take a while, but we were chatting, so it wasn't too bad.  After dinner, Neighbors showed us houses they were looking at for his mom and then brought us home so we could release the hounds.

We spent the evening being lazy.  Teh German tried to watch the Patriots/Panthers game, but was having technical difficulties.  Meanwhile, I was trying to troubleshoot my Kindle since it wasn't accepting the books I was trying to side load.  I ended up factory resetting my Kindle to see if it would accept books.  Much to my dismay, it did not work AND I lost all my puzzle accomplishments.  Which I know doesn't really matter, but it does when you have completed all but 3 of the goals and you have 508 stars for all your completed puzzles, it totally does.

As I was falling asleep, I thought that maybe if I backed up from a restore point I could get my puzzle data back.  I didn't sleep well Saturday night because technical malfunctions stress me out.  Especially when it's my reading machine so close to travel time.

SATURDAY

I BOLTED out of the bed at 6:45 on Saturday morning in a white-hot panic that it was Tuesday morning and it was daylight outside and Teh German was still asleep beside me and how the shit did he not hear his alarm going off and OMG he's going to be late for work and be stressed and grouchy.. Oh fuck, oh fuck, oh fuck. 

My abruptness woke Teh German up and while I'm having 2 minutes of thoughts in about 5 seconds, he mumbled out a "What?" about the time that I realized that it was actually Saturday and he hadn't heard his alarm because there was no alarm and it wasn't because I slept with an earplug in.  I crawled back in the bed with a pounding heart and Teh German cuddled me.  3 minutes later, we both had to pee, and Teh German offered to feed the beasts.  Once we were all reset, we fell back asleep until 10.  This is what happens when I stay up too late troubleshooting.  I sleep too long.

Teh German and I got up and started playing around on social media while we ate a small breakfast.  Then before we lost motivation, we started doing choirs.  I negociated my way out of scooping poop by tell Teh German I would vacuum the entire house without asking him to help.  I got the shitty end of the deal.  I'm kind of OCD about the floors.  So not only did I vacuum, I also beat off the rugs and the dog beds and vacuumed the dog beds and couches, but I also we ahead and swiffer mopped while I had everything up since it hadn't been done since the Haus warming party.  I hadn't even started vacuuming the stairs or upstairs when Teh German came in from doing the yard work (scooping poop, mowing the grass, and edging). 

It took me a total of 3 hours to vacuum the entire house and "mop" the floors.  I also dusted off the table and vacuumed the base boards that obviously needed it.  I finished vacuuming right in time to get my stinky sweaty ass in the shower before we needed to leave to head to the hair cut place for our appointments at 2:30.  I broke my promise and asked Teh German to lay the bathroom rugs back down, but I replaced all the living room rugs for Phil.

We arrived to the hair cut place right on time.  It's a place that Teh German found about a month ago and he liked the lady that cut his hair.  I knew I needed mine cut as well, so I just made an appointment at the same place at the same time.  It's hair, it will grow back... but I know better.  The lady that did my hair said it definitely needed to be cut and she asked if I wanted to layers.  I told her I didn't care and just to make it look good and ensure it still would go up in a pony tail.  When she washed my hair, she massaged my scalp, so I enjoyed that.  But then, I started to get scared.  She started cutting, which was fine since I don't have a length fear.  But then she started aggressively floofing my hair.  Know what you shouldn't do to curly hair?  Excessively floof.  I'm not even sure what she was doing, but my hair was a hot mess when I left, despite her "fixing" it. 

Also, let me just admit that I'm aware hair dressers hate doing perms.  I get it.  They are time consuming, they stink, blah blah blah.  2 of the hair dressers were surprised when I told them my hair was permed and not naturally curly, 1 of those was the lady cutting my hair.  She was still aggressively floofing when I told her.  She didn't stop floofing.  Even when she was trying to fix it.  I almost pulled away and said, "Have you ever deal with curly hair, ever?"  I didn't, but holy moly.  Stop floofing the curls.  You're just making them frizzy and I have to walk around like this for the rest of the day.  STTTAAHHPPP.  Also, I later learned that she had cut the front too short and it doesn't want to stay in the ponytail.  I was impressed with Teh German's hair cut until Sunday when he got wet and you could see that she hadn't trimmed one side of his "bangs".  Le siiiigh. 

After hair cuts, we decided to go to Home Team BBQ for late lunch/early dinner.  We had wanted to go on our anniversary evening to recreate our first date, but when Teh German's clutch broke, that was nixed and then we ended up doing Halls instead, so it was fine.  Teh German was starting to get a headache so food was our first priority.  There was a chipotle tostada special and they wouldn't let me try a small sample of the meat to judge how spicy it was, so I ordered it blindly.  Both people behind the counter said it wasn't really spicy, but Teh German and I shared a knowing look that said, they don't get it, but ok.  Truthfully, I suffered through it because it was good, but my mouth and lips were on fire.  Teh German said it was kinda spicy, so for me, it was almost unbearable. 

After we ate, we people/car watched for a bit and chatted.  Eventually, we headed out since Teh German wanted to go to Lowes.  About the time we pulled out of the parking lot, I needed to go to the bathroom.  I actually went so far as to ask Teh German where the bathroom was at the Lowes we were going to so I could plan properly.  He asked if we needed to stop at his work and I admitted that wouldn't be a bad idea.  The bad part of the idea was that Teh German didn't actually remember his alarm code.  Excellent.  So I took care of business while listening to the soothing sounds of the building alarm.  After I finished, we were still waiting on the cops to show up to ensure them that no one was actually breaking in.  It took 15-20 minutes for the lone officer to even meander up in his car.  Long enough that if someone were really breaking in, they'd be gone.

Once the alarm situation was dealt with, we headed to Lowes.  We only needed string for the weed eater.  We ended up with a 100 foot hose, 2 hose holders, 1 thing of string, 1 thing of 2 cycle oil, and we found a pressure washer we're going to get since it's got good reviews and it's on sale for $50 off right now.  Lowes free wifi is seriously a life saver for me.  After about an hour, we finally left and headed home.  Teh German's head was hurting so he relaxed and watched youtube for most of the evening, while I started the process of troubleshooting my Kindle.

So Kindle Fire's come with a program called Mayday which is essentially tech help via web cam where they can also control your Kindle.  It's creepy and awesome at the same time.  I was working with one tech who seemed to know what was up, but then the call got lost when I went to fetch the USB cable to transfer a book manually.  With sadness, I called back and the tech I got didn't even know what Calibre was.  Fantastic.  I explained the issues I was having and she pretty much said she didn't have any idea what was going on and that she was going to escalate me to a technician.  Ok.

The tech was trying to help me restore the Kindle to an old back up, but the screen kept freezing up/going black.  When I told him I was just getting a black screen he noticed that I had an extended warranty and said he would put me in contact with the warrant people to get a new Kindle for me since the black screen was a problem.  /shrug ok.

I had some issues with the warranty lady because she didn't want to use my credit card on file since it it is an Amazon rewards card.  She finally "made an exception" when I couldn't validate any of the other cards listed on the account and when I told her that I was calling through my Kindle and I didn't have a number pad to actually input a card number and she wasn't allowed to put card info in. 

TL;DR: I have a new Kindle HD 10 arriving on Wednesday.  For once, something that Mr. Scrooge did had a directly positive impact on my life. 

It makes me worried that the new Kindle is arriving right before we leave, but hopefully it won't be difficult to set up.  It was after I bought a new case for the Kindle 10 that I started trying to get my current Kindle to cooperate with the book situation.  Of course, it felt threatened, so it started working properly.  Not only did it start working properly, but I also learned a few things.

-.mobi files are better for ebooks than .azw.  Many moons ago, I read that .azw was the proper file to send to a Kindle, so that's what I had been using.  If you use the .mobi format, the books will show up with the covers under the Books tab, which hadn't been happening.

 -When using Calibre, don't allow Calibre to email .azw files to Amazon.  Amazon doesn't accept them.  Oops.  If you email them (correctly) to Amazon, not only do they show up on your Kindle, but also in the Kindle app.  Meannnninnngggg... if you have the Kindle app on your computer/phone, you can read there as well.. and it syncs.  Granted, the book will show up under Documents\sent-to-device and not in the Books tab, but for the ability to read across all my platforms, I'm willing to sacrifice titles not showing up under books for the ability to read and sync across platforms.

I got a few books loaded onto my Kindle and started reading my final challenge book, Forever, Interrupted.  In the beginning, I was bitter for being hooked so quickly, but I stayed up until midnight:30 to finish the book, so it was pretty good.  Also, challenge COMPLETE. 

I know I shouldn't be so caught up in what Goodreads is judging me for saying, but after seeing 4 books behind, I got a little obsessive.  Well, now I'm 4 books ahead... and I have 4 audiobooks, 2 hard copies, and several ebooks to read.  #cantstopwontstop

I reviewed the book so I could wind down and fall asleep, which was nearly impossible. 

SUNDAY

Another startle awake on Sunday morning, but not as bad as Saturday morning.  I think the dogs heard something and they both shot up, which woke me up too.  Ugh.  I got up and fed them and let them out, then we all went back to bed.  I continued reading Bossypants, which is still not sucking me in.  Eventually, Meri got up on the bed for snuggles and Teh German woke up, so reading was put to the side for family snuggles. 

We had plans to meet some of Teh German's coworkers at Triangle for brunch, then we were headed out to the Charleston Harbor on a boat around 2.  Brunch was successful, then we headed to grab a bag of ice, then meet everyone else at the marina.  The clouds had started rolling in, but we were still fine.  Our boat wasn't ready, so we walked back to the restaurant we had passed to continue our drinking while we waited.  30 minutes later, our boat arrived and was cleaned and we were headed out.  We were warned that storms were coming and to dock if we could, if we were caught in the storm. 

First we headed into the bay towards the Ravenel Bridge and the USS YORKTOWN.  After photos were accomplished and everyone emptied their bladders, we loaded back up and headed towards Isle of Palms and into Shem Creek.  The waters were rough and we could see the clouds headed our way and that it was raining, so we went around the other side of the storm towards James Island and Folly Beach.  We were able to get some tube time in, which was fun, abet mildly painful.  Let's just say that I definitely got some good salt water rinses done on my sinus cavities.

Charleston Battery

Bridge selfie!
With my Troll-esque hairs.

Love dat Bridge.

Fishing boats at Shem Creek

Fishing boats and paddle boarders.

Headed into the riverway to get some tubing on.

Charles Towne Landing, a historical thing in Charleston
(students in SC learn about it)

Storms avoided

Selfies with Boyfran.

We had to be back by sunset and as we were almost to the marina it started raining.  By the time we pulled up to the marina, it was pouring.  I grabbed our duffle bag with our stuff in it and tried to put it under my towel and headed to cover with Teh SC Teacher.  I rang out my towel twice just get my clothes put on.  I ended up free boobing and free ballin' because it was easier than dealing with a wet swim suit.  Also, I had consumed a nalgene full of adult "juice" so I had zero fucks to give. 

We had planned on eating at the restaurant where we had gotten drinks, but they were closed.  We redirected to Mex 1 since Mexican was a drunk crowd pleaser.  Some members of our group were overly drunk and I don't think our poor server was prepared for that.  I have the ability to be very sober acting while pretty intoxicated, so I essentially took charge at the table.  By the time we were finished eating, I was overly annoyed because no amount of drunkenness helps me tolerate certain things.  I was almost sober by the time checks came, so I drove home. 

I was feeling a little guilty because we got home around 8:30 and that's wayyyy late for the dogs, who normally eat dinner at 5-6pm.  Teh German helped me take care of the dogs, then it was time to shower the salt water off and get to bed.

________________________________

Overall, an outstanding weekend.  I'm sure I'm special in that I am glad I cleaned the floors for 3 hours.  I like a clean house and all those hours make me feel even prouder.  Also, the fact that I spent 3 hours just cleaning the floors should explain why I could never hire someone to clean my house.  I have really, realllllyyyyy high standards. 

I was hoping for more time in the harbor/under the Bridge, but the waters were so choppy that I was having to hold my boobs and I was over that.  Also, there would have been no tubing in the harbor, so it was good that the storms ran us away. 

Extra yays for discovering what emailing a book actually means for my life (no more brainless Insta/FB scrolling since I READ now)!  Extra YAYs (in caps) for a new Kindle.  Despite getting the book situation worked out, I was still getting the black screen of nothingness, and having already lost all my puzzle progress and it not coming back, I had nothing to lose by saying yes to a new Kindle.  I had the option to get a refurbished Kindle HDX 8.9 (like I have), but I went with the 10 upgrade since #whynot.

Final YAYs for it FINALLY being DISNEY WEEK!!!!  (And for finally being in the new office, even though I get to claim "first" for being the first one to lock myself out of our space because my access badge was missing (it had fallen off my laynard and onto the floor and I hadn't noticed until I went to my car and was trying to find it to get back in the building).)