Weekend Review {10/12}

FRIDAY

I had to set an alarm (GASP) so I could actually wake my ass up and get ready and commute my ass TO WORK.  Oh yes, I went into the office.  It could barely be called a work day, but that's exactly what I did.

Backyard watch team.

FIRST HOODIE OF THE SEASON
Ok, it's actually the 2nd, but this was a DAYTIME hoodie, so I'm counting it as first.
Also, someone besides Husband got to see it.  That matter.

My commute into DC was easy peasy.  The most complicated part was that the garage to my building is closed so I had to figure out where the other garage was.  There had been a vague discussion about it earlier in the week so I knew it wasn't far and I just kinda winged it and it managed to work out.  I only had to ask 1 person for direction and I did validate with security that I was in the correct building.  From there, I relied on my shitty memory of going in for my first day to get to where I was supposed to be and it worked.  I was actually ALMOST there before second guessing myself and asking that one person, but I didn't check the OTHER direction, so I didn't see where I was supposed to be and went back to where I started.  Whatever it's complicated.  I managed.  

FIRST EVER OFFICE SELFIE!!!

One of my coworkers was in the office to check the mail so I got to meet him in person and another coworker was actually coming into the building to manage some other stuff, but swung by to say hi and give me a copy of the relational diagram for our database which made me super pumped.  I had some issues getting all my stuff setup and connected, but thankfully, the IT guy who I met on my first day (who actually remembered me AND my name (riddle me impressed)) was in the cube right across from me, so he was able to help me out.  Once I got everything righted around and we figured out that I had accidentally turned off the power on the power strip under the desk, which was why my coworker couldn't remote into his tablet, I headed back home.  

I stopped and picked up lunch on the way in since I had a meeting as soon as I got in the door.  After my meeting, Teh Bestie and Teh Chief Smartass departed and I could no longer function due to a #BarometerHead situation and took to the couch.  And then I had to get up and go medicate, and then I went back to the couch.  I was to the point that I was nauseous, so it was bad news bears.  After an hour of almost napping, I was able to open my eyes and breathe again without the vomitous feeling.  The rest of the evening was spent on my screens and snuggling with beasties. 

I ended up going to bed at 0100 because I make poor life choices.

SATURDAY

Secret made sure to start barking about whatever the fuck she was barking about at 0620.  I told her to go back to bed.  She continued barking.  I got up and let all the beasts go business and went back to bed.  Then at 0730 or something, the barking started back up again and I yelled at her and she barked and I yelled and she barked and I finally lost my fucking shit on her and screeched like a banshee and she STFU and ran away terrified that her parents had left her with a fucking psycho bitch (she ain't wrong).  I was able to have 15 minutes of peace and I finally got up and fed the assholes breakfast.

Since I was already up, I opted to make my grocery store run to pick up the ingredients we needed for taco soup.  Teh German was leaving Charleston in the AM to deliver Pax and the rest of the dog things and both motorcycles to MD and I knew I wanted to have everything ready for when he arrived.

Ok so, quick story.

When I first came back from GTMO, I went into the grocery store and my mind was blown by ALL THE OPTIONS.  We had a limited supply in GTMO and everyone there accepted it because we didn't have a choice.  I felt like that lady from The Sound of Music who is singing in the fields, except it was me dancing down the multiple aisles of frozen goods.

When I came back from Bahrain, I went into the grocery store and my mind was blown by the comfort of recognizable things.  Mostly, I did my grocery shopping at the market below my flat and at the NEX while I was on base so I didn't have to make a trip out in town to the actual grocery store (Carriefour).  

So anyways, since Teh Bestie moved to northern MD, she's talked about going to Wegman's.  I worked in a grocery store for multiple years while I was in high school.  I get grocery stores.  Obviously, I've been going into them my entire life.  I had never experienced anything like walking into Wegman's.  It was like I had been going to the GTMO commissary my entire life.  Wegman's is like the MECCA of all grocery stores.  I didn't even know.  I thought all grocery stores were created equal.  Turns out, I was fucking WRONG.  

I wanted to just stand there and marvel at all the things.. but then I would have been blocking ingress/egress traffic and I don't do that as a personal mission, so I carried on and picked up my 4 items turned 5, after finding brown cheese that I've been searching for since March 2014 after I met the Prince of Norway at Epcot.  Unfortunately, that Disney brown cheese must have had the special Disney magics, because the brown cheese I had when I got home was not nearly as delicious as I remember it being.

Anyways, before I had went into the grocery store, I called in my breakfast order at Rise, which was across the street.  There are no photos because I forgot that my phone could be used to do anything besides GPS, Disney Emoji Blitz, take dog photos, and group text.  Oops.  I had the blueberry biscuit with sausage and added a fried egg and it was just as fucking delightful as I needed it to be.

I spent the rest of the day playing Throne of Bitches with my bitches (the dogs) and reading Allie Brosh's new book (which I'm still not sure how I feel about).

I did have to make a 2nd trip to the grocery store to pick up some items I had forgotten, but I went to Weis, a peasant grocery store (and by peasant I mean normal grocery store).

Teh German arrived with Moosey-Moose and Bagheera and Lars-Ludwig around 7:45 and we got Pax fed, fed ourselves, then unloaded the trailer of all the things.  After we were finished, we had some screen time, more for Teh German's sake than mine, and decided at 10 that it was bedtime.  I knew this would have consequences in the AM since Secret gets her late night snack at 11 usually, so she'd be hellbent in the AM about waking me up since she'd be starving.  But Teh German had been driving all day, his first long trip with the new trailer AND with Pax and he was tired, so it was a sacrifice I was willing to make.

SUNDAY

Sunday morning started exactly as I expected, with Secret annoying the fuck out of me.  Instead of going banshee on her, I got up and let out all the beasts and fed them.  I knew this would mean extra annoyance in the PM hours, but I just wanted to fucking lay in bed without being harassed for a few more hours... which is exactly what happened.

Teh German and I finally got up around 0915 since he'd wanted to leave earlier so he wouldn't be getting back to Charleston super late.  Our original plan included riding the bikes to brunch, but there was a threat of rain and Teh German said that he'd like to get back home at a decent time, so I acquiesced as I was not the one driving 8 hours, 12 hours after having driven 8 hours to be at a place.  See, I'm not always bad at marriage!

After coffee and breakfast, Teh German headed out and I spent a 2nd day playing Throne of Bitches with my bitches + Pax.  My day consisted of Disney Emoji Blitz and listening to my audiobook and texting with Teh Sister about hip surgery and listening to it rain and snuggling with dogs and being generally lazy AF.

Olive needed to check that my business was going well.

And then she was adorable.

Since I had eaten taco soup for breakfast (keep your judgement to yourself, that shiz is delicious), I really didn't want it for dinner.  So I spent a battery killing amount of time trying to decide what I'd like for dinner and when I noticed that the Cheesecake Factory had pineapple upside down cake cheesecake on the meny, it was easily decided.  

Things I noticed:

1- Doordash charges $1 more on all the menu items than to order on the Cheesecake Factory site for pickup.

2- My driver sat at a place that was NOT Cheesecake Factory for 15 minutes AFTER picking up my order.  I was a little pissed when my food did arrive and it was barely lukewarm.  But it was delicious and I ate like I had never eaten before ever.  

If you don't get the pineapple upside down cake cheesecake, you are wrong.

After dinner was couch time until it was doggy dinner time.  Teh German did call as he got off 26 and he was rather hangry, which I gently pointed out to him after I tried to ask some silly "road trip" questions and he got pissy with me.  I was just trying to keep him entertained, but he wasn't in the mood.. because he hadn't eaten anything but gas station snacks and greek yogurt+apple+nuts all day, but what do I know?  Also, one of the first things he asked me was if there was still a frozen pizza in the freezer, which would indicate that he hadn't eaten and was hungry.  So ya know, I'm a real genius over here.

My evening was spent on my screens, as my day had been spent.  After my phone was almost dead a 2nd time (shut up with your judgement, kthx), I gave it up and moved to the laptop to do something productive with my screentime, like draft this post that I won't be able to write on Monday since it'll be MY turn to drive back to Charleston.

Dog evening looked like this: 

Pax's archnemesis is ANY fly in the house.  He becomes very alligator like with his snappy teeths, which is moderately alarming if you're not expecting it.  This photo is after he missed the fly. 

The Bestie and Teh Chief Smartass came home ALMOST past curfew (looool), but they did manage to make it home on Sunday night after a weekend at Cedar Point.

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I told Teh German that I was glad for a completely lazy, nothing-to-do weekend.  I know that next week is panning out to be extremely busy with packing things and dinner dates.  I did feel bored at points, but I was able to mitigate it enough not to go crazy... and obviously it wasn't that bad if I didn't absolutely HAVE to get out of the house on Sunday to pick up dinner.  /shrug.

I underestimated just how short Teh German's time in MD was going to be, but I did definitely appreciate one night of snuggles.  I spammed Instagram this weekend with all the cute dog photos and I have a secret obsession with scrolling through my own Instagram feed because I'm obsessed with my dogs and I realized that I didn't even realize that the last photos I took of the beasts at home were their last photos in Haus.  It was definitely a sad realization.  Teh German even commented that he was going to be ALL ALONE overnight in the house and that it was going to be weird.  We tried to think back to a time when that had happened before, but we couldn't come up with anything off-hand, although I'm fairly confident that he's had overnights without me or the dogs before, although maybe the tank was around then, so there was at least a fish to keep him company, LOL.

Part of me wishes we'd gotten one last family photo in front of the house, but I know we'll get a new family photo in front of the new MD house.  I think that a photo in front of SC Haus would bring up too many sad memories of leaving our framily behind, so maybe it's best we didn't get one.  

So, in fun news, I'm off work tomorrow, LOOOOL.  I forgot that we are now in the season of holidays every month!  ANNNDDDDD now I get all these holidays off AND PAID and it doesn't come out of my PTO!  I'd say it's the small things, but that's fucking huge.

In addition to being off, it's also Sandy's 8th birthday!  That doesn't seem like old lady age, but for a big dog, that's elderly AF, especially when your Mahm doesn't know your past-life and expected you to die a few months ago since you were supposed to be a hospice foster, each day is a cherished day.  

That said, Sandra is obviously no longer a hospice dog, much less a foster.  I'm not looking forward to the day that we have to make any hard decisions for her, but I will do that for her because she's shown me strength and perseverance and determination since May.  She's shown me that old ladies are full of surprises and do best when given LOTS of delicious treats (preferably freeze dried chicken hearts and beef lung pieces), plenty of space on the couch, and allowed to drag you down the street at a full on sprint because she's feelin' sassy.

Floofus snuggles melt my heart.

Happy Birthday to my Sandra Dee,

These past 5.5 months have been... interesting.  You don't know the strife that it caused when I insisted on bringing you home.  We are not a 3-dog family, but apparently we are now, even if it's definitely temporary.  But no matter what happened before you arrived, all of the strife was absolutely worth it.  I am sorry that your family decided that they didn't want you anymore because you are everything I didn't know I needed + a little more stress that is slightly unnecessary but I'll manage because you are the bestest floofiest old lady that I've ever met.  I know they loved you at some point because you sit and shake like a champ.  You are never shy about what you need, be that to go outside or play time with Mahm and Dad or extra snacks.  I'm so glad that your strength has returned and I'm much less worried about your shuffles these days, as you get around just fuckin' fine, thank you very much.  I know you don't really love strangers, but you were a champ with all the stranger danger at the going away gathering and for that, I love you extra.  Thank you for being my umbilical cord dog, even if I get frustrated sometimes.  Despite not being a 3-dog family, I hope you're around for as many more years as you'll give me.  

Love, 

Your Mahm

Five on Friday #243

EINS - Random Shit

Steph posted this last week and it's everything I haven't been able to put into words for YEARS.

What exactly do we mean when we say Make America Great Again? To return to our lips not coming near the same water fountains, our asses not sitting on the same seats, our kids not going to the same schools, our neighborhoods staying lily white, red lining, Jim Crow, Black bodies being used and discarded, Black labor being valued differently? Was America great in those times? What time do we want to go back to when America was great? The entire time we've been racist since the beginning? The incredible horror we've inflicted on the native people and the land? The time when we fought World War II against fascism? Wait, people are against Antifa now, which essentially means being in support of fascism, so that can't be right. It seems like we want to go back to women dying from back alley abortions too. Is that the time? All of the above times? I don't have enough expletives right now. And to quote something I saw on the Internet last night, fuck off I'm not leaving just because it's unjust and fucked up here. There is work to be done. We cannot change the past but we sure as FUCK should not be going back to any time in it because America was NEVER great for ALL of her people. Act right and stop saying Make America Great Again. Your racism is showing. Work to build a better tomorrow for EVERYONE instead. No fucking exceptions. To see how many white people are invested in upholding this system that disproportionately benefits them, read any comment section on the Internet. The longer we hold on to old ways designed to keep a foot on the neck of Black people (read a book, the criminal justice system was literally designed to do this, and modern day police themselves were born from slave catchers-we need to start ENTIRELY OVER), the more the unrest grows and makes everyone less safe. Change is needed for the well being of Black people, brown people, white people, and police of every color.

THIS.  ALL OF THE THIS.

YOUR RACISM IS SHOWING. 

There's nothing you can say to change my mind on this.  There is no meme you can share to make me laugh at this.  And if you support a president who encourages the division of a nation and enables some to openly air their racist opinions and hatred, then you are part of the problem.  This is me saying if you vote for Trump in 2020, you're a racist.  Maybe it wasn't super clear in 2016, but it's super clear now and there is absolutely ZERO excuse.

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Apparently, getting older and being an adult means waking up earlier to do shit.  And I don't mean like work shit, I mean like personal shit.  I.e.: Exercise, chores, bathe the dogs.  Things that you know have to be accomplished, but also know that at the end of the day, you do not want to deal with it.

It's crazy how much shit I sometimes accomplish before I sit down at my desk at 0830 (sometimes earlier, sometimes later, get up off me) to start doing work things.

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If you hate new Blogger and need Legacy for your sanity, let me help you.

1. Copy this link into the address bar:
   https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=#######&useLegacyBlogger=true#allposts
2. In another tab, sign into Blogger.  In the address bar, copy that super long number at the end of the URL.  
3. Replace the ###### with that super long number you just copied.
4. Hit enter/return.

You are welcome.  I do not know how long this leet hack will work, but you better believe I'll be using it for as long as possible.  Also, fuck the new template.

Hate, hate, hate.  Loathe entirely.

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All yall iOS-ers who just had your eyes opened to the marvel of widgets are making me LOL.  Android has had widgets forever.  They are fabulous.  Welcome to like.. 2010 or something.

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I didn't watch the debate.  I have ZERO regrets.  My mental health and good sleeps are way more important to me than watching something I can skim highlights about the next day if I choose to.  I mostly chose NOT to.  I'm not sorry.  I didn't anticipate anything significant or life changing would come out of the debate and it was exactly the horse and pony show that it was expected to be, based on what I saw online the following morning.

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I have 3 different banks that I use.  It's stupid, but I'm stubborn.  I got paid at some point and decided to set up my allotments and decided to switch my savings account bank money to the same bank we have the house account with.  This is all fun and games until I'm trying to move money between accounts.

So anyways, now I have FOUR PayPal accounts, ya know, in case you needed to confirm that I am truly, 100% ridiculous.  Also, setting up new accounts takes time and Jesus needed to take the wheel on that since I'm super impatient.  So I put in no less than 20949293492 confirmation numbers and still I could not transfer money.  Also, the House account bank created 2 checking accounts from my one request and when I called to get one closed I was told I'd have to call back after 24 hours since the system needs time to process.  /facepalmfordays.

I still haven't been able to successfully transfer the money from Paypal into the new account, but it's a work in progress.  Really, why is this so difficult?  And I could have paid for a wire transfer of all the funds, but why deal with that when I can do it for free between my 6 millionty Paypal accounts?

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Look, Gentle Readers, I have a SERIOUS problem with using the last of anything.  I have trained myself to replace things before we get to the last one of anything so that way we don't run out of things.  This is not a good method when you are moving.  This way ensures you have more shit to move and that's really the pits.

So I went to the grocery store to pick up a few necessities like eggs, which I eat for breakfast, ok, gosh.. and some Halloween candy to be used for smores instead of just having chocolate bars.  There were so many items I was like, Oo I could pick up this and this and this and had to FORCE myself NOT to grab those items.  Transition is hard.

In addition to saying no at the grocery store, I've been telling myself no about picking up food when I'm out of the house because I'm always tempted when I leave the house to "treat myself".  Not only did we have leftovers at home since I'd cooked consistently this week and it was actually pretty good, but eating out means leftovers last longer, which means I don't need to cook as much, which means food is in our house still when we move out.

Soooo, in making an effort NOT to eat out as a "get out of the house, treat yoself", I am in turn, forcing myself to 1- save money, 2- eat the food at home, 3- forcing myself to cook, all of which means that there will be less food in the house to transport when we finally leave.  It's a long and winding road, thanks for taking it with me.

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When your Bestie asks you to pick up some Bath and Body Works hand sanitizer for her from the outlet before you leave Charleston and you go to the website and see they offer things online and then you both go down a rabbit hole, and you finally have this exchange:

We love who we love, loooool.

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It's a common cybersecurity mechanism to lock a computer after there is no activity for a certain period of time.  This, unfortunately, makes you go offline.  Soooo.. I've learned to play YouTube videos when I am AFK so I do not go offline when my computer locks.  This wouldn't be an issue if Skype for Business wasn't the way it is and/or if I could download it for my phone and actually be able to sign in.

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Teh German did a thing!

With the money he made from selling Suzi and the Bobber and the former trailer, Teh German upgraded Teh Ville with a new covered trailer!  This will make hauling the bikes MUCH better because we won't be AS paranoid that someone is going to steal them AND if we go somewhere there is no covered storage, we will have brought our own covered storage with us.

IN ADDITION... the trailer will be used for storage purposes while we are living with Teh Bestie and Teh Chief Smartass.  This is a decision Teh German has been researching for quite a while now, so him finally pulling the trigger is nice.

I also want to note that he had me come outside to "help" him back it inside the fence and he managed to get it in on the FIRST try.  The only assistance I really offered was telling him when to stop backing up so he didn't run over the HVAC.

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I was about to start researching where to purchase moving boxes and did a quick marketplace search (on Teh German's acct, don't be foolish) and saw that someone had posted a LOT of boxes outside of a business for freeizzle within the hour.  You better bet I high-tailed it right the fuck over there and filled up Willow like a boss.

Teh German informed me that they are kinda small and I explained to him the larger the box the heavier it is to move.  Also, most of these boxes are the same size, which is super helpful when it comes time to Tetris the shit out of the POD.

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Speaking of the POD.  It arrived today.

Teh German and I both watched with wonder while the POD was unloaded off the truck with a portable crane which almost literally blew our minds.  We had been curious how it was going to be moved and we found out.  Also, how cool is a portable crane?  Engineering is marvelous!

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Pulled out my tech writer skillz to create a standard document for the GEGR application reviewers to fill out since the current process is a bit finicky.  AND THEN my people let me down and didn't even seem to care that I did it so fabulously!  Siiiiiiiiiigh.  YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE.

I won't lie.  It felt good to do that kind of editing.

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I've been given some long term research goals for our department.  It's kinda scary because it's not a subject I'm deeply educated in so it will require some learning.  But at the same time, it is a SUPER interesting subject for me, so that shouldn't be difficult.

Also, I'm that nerd that is legitimately interested in data and making it work for the user.  I get EXCITED about the data and learning it and using it and I really think my new coworkers underestimated my passion.  While training with one of my coworkers this week, I explained to him that I really enjoyed learning about the stuff he works on and that I wasn't even kissing his ass, I had a REAL interest in the system and making it better and trying to find ways to implement the suggestions he makes since he's the primary user who manipulates the data.

Also, I discovered a data dictionary Thursday and it details all the attributes in the key tables and I almost jizzed my pants I was so jazzed about it.  If none of that meant anything to you, let me translate: I found some nerdy shit that made me excited.

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Because of all the weird race deferrals, I have NO idea what races I'm still signed up for or what has been deferred.  Particularly all of the Rock n Roll races I signed up for, which is super annoying since that was a LOT of dollas.

Also, I had to give my running spreadsheet a facelift since I will no longer be in Charleston next year for local races, I went ahead and deleted those that were tentative sign ups.  I'll be seeking out DC/MD races, if they are held.

This is all because Charleston Marathon announced that the race in January will be virtual.  This makes me happy and sad.  Happy that I won't have to coordinate coming back for the race, sad because I won't have a reason to come to CHS for the race.  BOOOOOOOOO.  Also, I'm not overly excited about the medal or the rest of the package.  They are including a River Dogs (baseball) ticket.  Guess what I'll never fucking use.  A baseball ticket.  Ugh.

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My knees have started to hurt when I run.  Any distance.  This is an indicator that I need new running shoes.  Things I do not want to have to buy: New running shoes.  It feels like I just bought new running shoes... and then I remember that I ran almost 100 miles in June and that kinda explains why I might need new shoes.  Le siiiiiigh.

ZWEI - Money Shit

-Dog shampoo for Sandy... again
-Dog food when I realized my autoship was delayed because my scheduling considerations were unrealistic
-Willow maintenance
-minimal groceries.  Absolute necessities: eggs and candy for the gathering on Saturday.
-Thanksgiving day 5k with Teh Bestie and Teh MD Native.

DREI - From My Phone Shit

When your Bestie goes AWOL and Googly says she's at home and she's not responding to any of your correspondence (work emails or texts) and so you message her on the hour for a while, then every few hours.. and then you finally decide that if she doesn't respond by dinnertime, you'll reach out to her people because ZERO TO DOOM is literally the way my brain works.

Full Paper Jacket for my lady bits appointment.
Also, if you are one of those people who is miserable and shy about getting your privates medically inspected, it's time to get over it.  Your business ain't nothin' they ain't seen before.  Slide all the way down and spread em and get it over with while laughing because life is short and ain't nobody got time for unnecessary misery.

Someone is texting my work phone like they know me.
They do not know me, nor do I know them.
And now it's been so long that I don't know how to tell them that I am not the person they are looking for.
Also, what horrible person didn't tell them that they changed their number if they were close enough to get relative updates?!

VIER - Dogs (aka I don't feel like searching the internet cesspool for entertainment)

He's so goofy/

Office situation: Meri on the couch, Sandy on the bed, Pax on a couch

This makes me tense up every time (because I'm always afraid Meri is gonna be snarky) but it melts my heart so much.

How to lure an old lady into eating her noms.

A day in the life of Paximoose:

For real, all of ^^ those photos were from the same day.  He, truly, wants you to understand how hard his life is.  The ruffest of the RUFF!

Be still...

...my heart.

When Meri steals your regular spot and you're forced to snuggle with Mahm and Mahm is afraid she's going to die on the couch because she refuses to get up until after you do and you're definitely not getting up.

Friday morning office situation. /swoon.

FÜNF - Things that made me happy this week

1. Free motherfuckin' boxes.  
2. 2 runs this week, which also meant 2 dog walking sessions this week.
3. Sandy RUNNING ME 1/3 of her route home.  She'd have ran me 1/2 of the route if I had been able to keep up with her galloping, but it was just too much.
4. That salmon I cooked on Tuesday.  It was so delicious and teleworking = heating up fish leftovers and no one bitching about it.
5. Getting assigned my first GEGR application to process.
6. NOT watching the debate.
7. Hosting a gathering.  Yes, even though it's during a pandemic.  I'm mildly stressed about that, but the payoff will be that we get to see our people before we leave.
8. NOT eating out despite many opportunities.  1- we're going out this weekend.  2- forced to cook.  3- $$ saved.  #AdultingFuckingMaster
9. Scheduling dinners with people who we won't see on Saturday.
10. Leftover birthday cake from Meri's birthday last weekend with lemon icing.

Happy Friday, Gentle Readers!

Five on Friday #238

EINS - Random Shit

Every day is a new day.. Which means that each morning when I wake up for work, I tell myself,
"10 days."
"9 days."
"8 days."
"7 days."
and so forth.

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Workout things.

Monday:

Wednesday:
5 supermans (face down)
10 situps
5 hollow hold (face up)
10 crisscross (L+R=2)
10 heel taps (L+R=2)
+ 3 mile run + .5 mile loop with Sandy + 1 mile loop with Pax and Meri

Friday:

I wanted to add in more running because these WODs are not enough cardio for my dessert loving ass... Sooo I've integrated more to make it slightly more difficult, which both Teh German and I kinda love-hate.  If we aren't feeling it on a particular day, workouts can be scaled for ease, that's the best thing about garage workouts.. no Buff Billys making you feel inferior.  Just two sweaty foodies in the garage moving around awkwardly.

Monday is generally an overall body day.
Wednesday is generally focused on core workouts.
Friday is generally heavy on the run with some random activities.

Let me just say that Wednesday Megan planned Friday's workout and Friday Megan hates Wednesday Megan.. Like, I'm here for a challenge, but in addition to "hard mode" workout, it was also 9492942% humidity so I couldn't BREATHE which made everything rather miserable.. and then it started drizzling which didn't actually cool anything down, so then I was dripping MORE and couldn't breathe.. in general, it was miserable and I didn't die, but I almost quit more than once.  Also, I still fucking hate jump rope things.  I ended up subbing jumping backs for the double unders because whipping myself with a jump rope takes me from "yeah, let's do this" to "I WILL FUCKING HULKSMASH ALL THINGS" in a second.

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I googled myself this week to see what came up (as I do a few time a year just to make sure I'm not overly stalkable)..
-Citadel commencement thingy (which I hope will ultimately come down since it's associated with my photo and full fucking name).
-Race results from various races (why does Google crawl that? eww, go away).
-The DVIDS video from GTMO (that will never go away).

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I cleaned out my desk this week.  It was bittersweet.  Also, I have a lot of shit.

I'll turn in my laptop and key on my last day, but at least this is taken care of.

I will admit, I didn't change the joke on the whiteboard.  I debated it, but ultimately didn't.  Not sure why.

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While cleaning out my desk, I found these bad boys.  Oh yeah, that's the 4 parking tickets from my first month at The Citadel because no parking map or clear explanation was provided and then one from a few years later when I couldn't find parking and didn't want to park a millionty miles away since I was already late for class and risked it.  The ticket was issued 5 minutes before I returned to my car.

But guess what.. I didn't pay ANY of these fines because .. well.. I didn't.. and they never came to me with a bill prior to graduation, so guess what, Citadel security...  You suck.

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I know it's super first world-y, but I ran out of wet wipes in the bathroom and I was legitimately sad.  I only bought them because the TP shortage and now I can't live without them.

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I've been doing very good at brushing Sandy daily to every other day and it just makes her look soooo pretty.  She hates, so I've been dispensing chicken hearts as an after-treat, so hopefully that makes up for it.. But she gets such bad tingle-tangles and mats, so it HAS to be done.

Also, if she'd stop licking everything and then laying on the wet spots 3 things would happen: 1- she'd smell less bad, 2- she'd get less mats, 3- I'd be less annoyed at her constant glopping noises.

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I started shopping for a barbell to use for garage workouts.. and then I remembered that I'm 99% sure thrusters with an unloaded barbell is how I ended up needing hip surgery in 2017 and closed out all those tabs.

#MoneySaved (in so many ways)

ZWEI - Money Shit

-Food
-Dog food
-Dog treats
-Groceries
-Gas
-Swim trunks/underwear for Teh German
-Azul for lunch since I was in Park Circle.
-Bojangles, it is what it is.

DREI - From My Phone Shit

Me: Let's take a selfie.
Pax: Let's fucking not.

Me: Let's take a selfie, PAXXXXX.
Pax: Ugh, fine, but I hate you.

This is my circus and these are my monkeys.
#HereForTheDisaster

Sandy SAT on Pax to get this spot....

And this was where she ultimately ended up.
#MomLife

VIER - From the Internet Shit

FÜNF - Things that made me happy this week

1. Quittin' something that was making me supremely unhappy.  I mean my job, just to be clear.
2. Solid workout programming (by me, kthx).
3. Getting my VA appointments rescheduled... rescheduled from like February and before that September 2019... Whoops.  In my defense, they got SUPER pissed at me for going to the VA Clinic with the flu (or maybe it was COVID, no one knows! wee!).
4. "What are they gonna do, fire me?" on motherfuckin' reeeeppppeeeaaaatttt.  
5. Paximoose coming behind the control center (my desk) for lovins multiple times this week.
6. Brushing the Floofernoodle consistently and cutting out her mats when necessary.  We both know it's a necessary evil.
7. Rainy days that mean nap days.
8. Taking care of business during my first DSU since I don't get called on and just sitting on the call while I'm not even in the room. /shrug
9. Teh German getting an interview with an MD company.
10. Yakitori on Saturday!!!!

Happy Friday, Gentle Readers.

Five on Friday #235

EINS - Random Shit

There are 2 types of people.  Those who view their email in an individual view, where each email is it's own line, and those who view them as threads when they have the same subject line.  It is often VERY easy to see who uses which by who replies all and who doesn't.

________________________________________

Sooo, I'm not the queen of keeping work/personal life separate, but when a coworker posted this in our work chat,

"Not a good day.  My Dad would have been 90yo today.  He passed away last year on July 25th.  Sure do miss him terribly."

I was like, wuuuuttttt?  Of course, in another channel, I started shooting off messages like WTTTFFF??  This is NOT your therapist's couch.  There had been no other chatter that morning, so that was the ONLY message in chat as people started signing on.

This individual and I have had several interactions and almost none of them overwhelmingly positive.  I blame this on generational communication differences.  You see, they are an older person and I am less old.  As a Comm major, I do try to be receptive to different communication styles and this person's style feels very much like, "You are young, you are a woman, and you obviously need to be kept on top of to do your job."  Anddd wellllllllll, I do NOT do well with that.

________________________________________

Teh Ginger posted on FB (ages ago now) about how if you fly a Confederate flag, you are not supporting your heritage, you are supporting racism... and I 100% agree.

FOR EXAMPLE.
South Carolina flew a Confederate flag at the Statehouse from 1961 (put up for the Civil War Centennial and then left up the following year to PROTEST the Civil Rights Movement) until 2015, when it was taken down after the SC Emanuel AME shooting and moved to a museum.

If you're telling me that the Confederate flag doesn't support racism, you need to read some history books (like well researched ones, not the ones that you had to read aloud in middle school that were written by people who want to gloss over the nasty things (which is called whitewashing, look that up too)).

________________________________________

Being told the way we have been doing documentation for over a year and a half is probably going to be going away and we'll start using a new method which has been available all along that we refused to use because we had our own way is incredibly demoralizing.

Same for doing a job that isn't actually your job.

________________________________________

It's hard coming back to this space and deciding what to say and what not to say after saying nothing at all for so long.

________________________________________

Bestie: I've still been kinda looking at places for you...  

Me: Oh, I know you have.

Bestie: ...Hoping that nothing comes up too soon.

________________________________________

On MWF, Teh German and I work out.  Teh German goes to the gym and I do my run and then we meet back up at home.  On days when Teh German works (all days except when he is on unpaid COVID leave), I manage walking the beasts... But when Teh German is home, he walks with me on my rounds (plural because Big Booty Judy walks like a white-girl-wasted sorority sister who also had a hit of crack, so she has to be walked on her own, then I/we go with the other 2).

Big Booty Judy pooped while we were walking and I picked it up.  In our neighborhood, trash pick up is on Tuesday.  I feel that if your trashcan is still at the curb on Wednesday morning, it's fair game, so I tossed the bag of poop into an unsuspecting trash can, rather than waiting to get to a construction plot bin.

Teh German: Why would you do that?

Me: They should have brought their trash can in.  That's the way it works.

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Sandra Dee decided that she's too good for kibble because she's an asshole.  I tried another type of kibble and it was still a no.  Then I tried cooked chicken and rice.  She ate the chicken and refused the rice.  Pax and Meri have enjoyed her rejections.  Then I was giving her cooked chicken + freeze dry raw patties from her SHUG Godmother.

Because I hate the smell of cooking meat, I finally just decided that Sandy will be going on a raw diet.  Fortunately, Teh Sister is all over that shit since she feeds her wiener army raw.  She mathed out the ounces of food that Sandy would need and now I just need to find the different types of meats she needs (muscle, bones, organs) and chop it all up (ugh) for her.

So now I'm that lady.  I'm trying to decide if I just want to move all the beasts to raw or not, but I'm just not sure.  Such a hugeeee commitment when they don't have any issues eating kibble.  So they probably won't move to raw because I'm lazy AF.  But everyone should know, I considered it.

________________________________________

I wore jeans yesterday without the intention of leaving my house.  Granted, I did leave to go out and hunt for Sandy food, buttttt I just felt BETTER which meant that leaving for any reason wasn't an impossible goal.

It took me a few weeks to get into a COVID groove with the teleworking/working out/showering/etc.  That sounds silly, but it's true.  When this all started, I'd get up and go downstairs and feed the dogs and never go back upstairs so I'd be in my PJs all day lookin' dumpy without even brushing my teeth and I felt gross.  Did not like.

So I switched it up.  Each day, I insisted on brushing my teeth and putting on non-pj clothes before starting work.  Dress for success or whatever.  Really it was just "when you wear a bra you don't get such horrible under boob sweat, so just do it, ok?"  

Then I started MWF run days with my accountability partners (Teh Bestie and Teh Running Advisor) and those days became hair wash days.  Also, I don't leave my house without brushing my teeth, nor do I appreciate funk breath while I'm huffing and puffing, so I always brush my teeth before a run.  That meant on T/Th, getting up and brushing teeth and showering or not and then going downstairs for work.

All that time though, unless I was leaving the house, or sometimes even if I was leaving the house, I'd put on stretchy waist pants, be that pj pants or gym pants, and a t-shirt.  Within the last week or so, the culmination of that blah feeling had crescendo-ed to the point of lethargy and depression.  Not to say my clothes were making me depressed, but the appeal of putting on stretchy pants had diminished over the last few weeks. Wearing stretchy pants is comfortable, but at the same time I judged myself over it.  Harshly.  For no real reason.  

Just like the day I wore my interview dress for the entire day, I felt BETTER wearing jeans.  I felt like leaving the house wasn't such a monumental event... it wasn't as hard as it was in days prior wearing stretchy pants. 

ZWEI - Money Shit

-Groceries

-Food scale for #SandyProblems

-Sandy food, ugh.

-Burger King for lunch, because if I leave the house, that's what I do, pick up food.

-Mooosage

DREI - From My Phone Shit

I have repaired the bunny 2x now.
Once more and bunny goes to heaven.

DA MOOOOOOOSE

Melted dogs are melty.

Solar charging and grazing....

VIER - From the Internet Shit

FÜNF - Things that made me happy this week

1. The children hanging out (aka napping) in the office with me during the work day.  Sometimes they do, sometimes they don't.  I never mind unless there is licking.
2. Sandy being still while I cut out her mats.  I'm not really sure how they got there, but they were in sensitive places that I knew she wouldn't tolerate detangling, so I just cut them out.  Goes well with the massive shaved zone on her back... Siiiigh.
3. Light work load.  I focused on tolerating stupidity this week instead of trying to do it all.
4. Scheduling a head/scalp add-on to my massage.
5. Jeans.  Whoda thunk?
6. Accepting that it may be the end of August before I hear anything about final offer.
7. Teh German applying for jobs.
8. Rain.
9. Afternoon naps.
10. Sandy playtime where she does her wobbly zoomies in the loft and sticks her entire head in the toy box in search of the perfect toy.

Happy Friday, Gentle Readers.