Five on Friday #141

EINS - Random things

-I was talking to the vets in my Calc class and admitted that I used to play World of Warcraft, to which they responded, so did we.  Then I also admitted that I was really having a "craving" to go mining in WoW and they completely understood.  #NerdsUnite

-Let's talk about rage for a moment.  My photoshop professor's grading and the inability to make a perfect score on any assignment.  Our most recent project was to create 3 panoramas in photoshop.  This is actually a very simple task and I have actually shot photos specifically for the purpose of making them into a panorama, so I was ready.  I stitched together my 3 panoramas, set the auto color/contrast/etc on all of them (because I am an over-contrastor and over-greener) because that's what he tends to prefer based on feedback from other projects I've submitted.  I actually submitted 4 instead of 3 by accident and still only made a 190/200 points.  He didn't leave comments on this one for me to know why I lost points.

Here's my real problem.  There is no grading rubric anywhere.  Not even the assignments are posted with a rubric of requirements.  So grading is completely subjective.  /RAGE

I let another student use some of my photos for her projects and I'm interested to see what grade she made.
Final note: The teacher let several students leave to take photos for the project during class time and didn't tell them how to shoot for a panoramic.  I was the one who finally brought it up after another student was asking me if I thought his pictures would work (no).  I know that this is an arts class and it's really a senior blow off class, but I feel like I've learned nothing and what I thought was going to be an easy A isn't because of the instructor's subjectivity.  My only goal is to get an A in that class because it's Photoshop.  I learned more watching YouTube videos than I have in this class.

-In lieu of a biology lab this week, I'm pretty sure we had sex ed, but used a microscope to look at what Chlamydia, Gonorrhea, yeast (like from a yeast infection), and a louse (head, not pubic) look like to call it "lab."  This isn't actually worth commenting on.. except that... The Citadel is more than 90% male, and that does NOT bother me in the slightest.

What bothers me is that probable-sexually-active adult males were asking questions about birth control because they don't know about it.  I was educating my instructor on Depo-Provera and he was using it as an in-class example of birth control.  THIS IS NOT OK.  I do not claim to know everything there is to know about being male, but I feel confident about my level of knowledge about male birth control options (yeah, I know they are limited), but here's my thing.  Birth control is a TWO WAY STREET, if you are using it responsibly as a decision NOT to have a child and/or a means to protect yourself from a sexually transmitted disease.  The instructor even pointed out that women have most of the burden when it comes to birth control, which kinda made me want to punch him in the face.

NEWS FLASH!
Sex isn't awkward unless you let it be.  I can (almost) guarantee that your parents had sex and so did your Granny and even your great-great-great-great-grandparents.  Based on biology, sex is not only completely normal, it's natural.  There are scientific reasons that we want to have sex.  All too often, people associate sex with shame and then it becomes a taboo and kids think they have to sneak around to have sex.

I believe that sex isn't shameful and normalizing sex will help reduce teen pregnancy.  It will also open lines of communication between teenagers and adults.  To villainize or shame feelings about sex is to make it more appealing to teenagers.  My thing is that teenagers (and even some children) are going to have sex no matter what.  To have open lines of communication about that means that teenagers/children can make educated decisions about their bodies with the help of an adult.

Obviously, I feel quite strongly about this.
PS.  If you want me to give your kid the birds and the bees talk, I'm available.

-Midterm grades:

• Photoshop - A (but barely, grrr)
• Computer Science 2 - A (because I do my homework)
• Calculus 1 - B (which is because I love derivatives)
• German 2 - A (but it won't last if I don't step up my game)
• Biology 2 - B (this is a blow off class for me to meet a requirement that my NCSU credits didn't fulfill even though I fulfilled it already, #DGAF)
• Biology 2 Lab - A (duh)

I'd like to pull both B's up to an A, but I'm not sure if it will be possible.  We shall see.
As always, passing is the minimum requirement, but all A's is preferable.

-Spring break is next week!  I've got the "spring break itis" so bad this I can't accurately describe it, but trust me, school is not where I want to be.

-Teh Running Bestie will be here next week!  She's bring FOUR dogs with her and I'm excited and I'm not telling Teh German because, 1- I'm an asshole, 2- I don't want to deal with his stress about "all the dogs" until they arrive (ugh, just no on the drama llama), 3- I kind of want to see his reaction when he comes home to SIX dogs in the house, 4- I am excited to have 6 dogs in the house, 5- There will be 4 humans and 6 dogs, we can handle it.

-Teh Advising Sister is coming over Easter weekend and I'm puuuuumppped.  She was here for the wedding, but she made the commute and before that, she was here when House was in-progress, so she gets to see the final results!

-70 days until we start our honeymoon adventure(s)! 

-Meri's 4th Gotcha Day was this week and that fuzz-bucket is a decision that was an easy choice once it was right in front of me.  It took me a while to warm up to the idea of 2 dogs, but once she came home, it was like she was exactly what we'd been missing.

My Monkey-Doodle still has that Podenco crazy, but she's changed soooo much in our 4 years together.  When she came home, she was full of puppy terrorism (to include losing all her baby teeth everywhere and then I'd step on them and cuss) and an addiction to stuffed mice.  Despite Phil's resistance to playing with her, she never bothered him.  Today, she's terrorized by Pax but she has to charge her batteries sometimes, which wasn't always a requirement.  She has never stopped dripping water all over my floors or whoring for butt scratches and she's definitely part cat with her desire to curl up and snuggle always.  I look forward to a decade more with my Wiggly-butt-doodlebug.

ZWEI - Money spent

• Annual vet visit for the Beasts
• Groceries, groceries, groceries, and more groceries.
• pest-control payment 
• water bill
• monthly homework assistant bill
• Sunday brunch
• new Camelbak since I lost mine on the dive trip and my old Nalgene doesn't have a straw 
• new laptop, wireless mouse, and case for Teh Granny.
• Eye doc appt + new glasses.
• Sentinel Spectrum for Pax
• Postage to mail Teh Granny her new tech
• probiotics for myself and the beasts.
• dog food auto-ship
• lunch on weds since a group of vet students were going to a place I hadn't been before. 
• It was an overpriced hipster shop and I won't make that mistake again.
• Dresser for the guest room (from FB marketplace)

DREI - Things from my phone

Cadbury, why you do me like this?
PS.  I used this as an opportunity to strengthen my immune system.

I got to select the colors...
Blue laptop, purple mouse, yellow sleeve.
#NoFavoriteColor

Took Yurtle through the car wash on Weds afternoon.
Parked here on Thursday morning...
Thanks Citadel for the "car wash" to collect all the pollen...
Please note, ONLY my car was in the direction of the sprinkler.
#FML

That probably looks like a bird or dot to you, but it is an E-2 Hawkeye and I'm 100% sure it doesn't live in Charleston and it's probably drunk and needs to go home before too many VX-1 bumblebee memories flood my brain.

Eye appointment on Tuesday for Teh German and I.
We got dilated!

If you've been around for a while, you probably remember my posts about finding the most ridiculous sunglasses.  Well, that game has now spread into the word of vision correction.  #NOTSORRY

If my teeth were worse, I'd look like Megan from Mad Men.

Lookin' like Teh Mom circa 1986-1997.

Lookin' like Teh MD-Teenage Roomie

I liked this color

EPIC NERD POWA!

I don't know why these are making a come-back, but no.

I told Teh German no on these for personal reasons.

I really loved the color of these, but I could see the green from the inside and it was very distracting.

Final selection.
I went with bigger lenses since my current glasses are a bit too narrow, which wasn't an issue before school.

VIER - Things from the Internet

FÜNF - 10 things that made me happy this week

1. Ideas for Wednesday blog posts..
2. SPRING MOTHERFUCKIN' BREAK
3. Lower anxiety med doses and having feelings and being clear again.
4. Getting Granny's laptop set up the day I received it and getting it mailed off the following day.  GETTING SHIT DONE.  BOOM.
5. Monday and Tuesday going quickly.
6. Classes ending early and decisions to skip certain classes on Friday.
7. A notable lack of homework over spring break.
8. Getting the laundry done in an afternoon.
9. 4 A's and 2 B's as my midterm grades. #LikeAFuckinBoss
10. Making plans for visitors!

Happy Friday, Gentle Readers.

Books Books Books (February)

I haven't been a good linker-upper, so I've stopped linking up with the Show Us Your Books linkup on principle.  I was that blogger that would drop my link off and not check out any other bloggers.  Mostly this was due to time constraints, but also because my TBR list is currently exploding at the seams and I keep going for books that I don't love because I saw that someone else loved them.. and well, rarely does it work out that I also love them.

So I'm doing a reset.

I'm going back to books that I know I want to read (WW2).  I'm going to try to get through some of the books on my TBR list.  If I feel like my TBR list isn't doing it for me, I know of the places to go to get book suggestions (SUYB link up, duh) and other people.  But I now I no longer need to feel guilty for not commenting on other linker-uppers.  /BrainSigh

This posts won't be scheduled so much as I'll post them when I feel like I have enough for a post.  I'd make a monthly commitment, but that just isn't realistic with school going on.

Rating scale*:

1/5 - Hated it, DNF (didn't finish).
2/5 - Tolerated it on principle to finish, didn't like it.
3/5 - Eh, didn't love it, didn't hate it. Had some good parts/kept me interested/finished it on principle.
3.5/5 - I liked parts of it.
4/5 - I liked the whole thing.
4.5/5 - I liked it a lot, but not sure I'd read it again.
5/5 - I LURVED it and I'd read it again.

*Subject to change based on my mood, the phase of the moon, or other unpredictable variables.

Skimmers, stick with the bold text (TL;DR* parts).
PS. Possible spoilers included in reviews.

Grass for His Pillow (Tales of the Otori #2) by Lian Hearn   3.75/5 (hard copy, own, reread)

This book went much faster than the 1st book.  Not sure why.  I appreciated that Kaede isn't as much of a naive idiot in book 2.  I did get annoyed with her frailty and always being sick.  I liked reading about Takeo's training, despite the brutality.  The Makato scenes still weird me out a little, but I understand that the story is based on attitudes at the time and that's how things went.  I was glad when everyone was reunited at the abbey.

TL;DR: Teenage Megan loved this series.  Adult Megan gets it.  Maybe this is one of those you had to read when you didn't have life experience.

The Hundred Lies of Lizzie Lovett by Chelsea Sedoti  1/5 (library audiobook)

I downloaded this book from the library on a whim since I was waiting on 2 holds to come in.  All I recall is sooooo much teenage angst, a lot of eye rolling on my part (which presents a safety concern since I was driving while listening) and then my holds came in and I didn't mind returning this one early without having to finish it.

TL;DR: DNF.  My opinion is invalid.

Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys   4/5 (Audible audiobook) 

This one has been on my TBR list for a long time.
Based on a true story of a WW2 refugee ship that was sank, this story broke my heart.  The perils of the journey to get to the port and the back and forths between Florian and Joana keep me interested in the tedious parts.  Alfred sufficiently freaked me out.

TL;DR: WW2 (based on truth) story.  It's a WW2 story, so ultimately it comes to, who will live and who will die?

Turtles All the Way Down by John Green   3/5 (library ebook) 

I read this one because everyone else was reading and honestly, it was meh for me.  I like the concept of turtles all the way down, but at the same time this book was too YA for me and I have a hard time with the entire situation of giving 2 teenage girls $100,000.  My biggest problem I think was that the "murder-mystery" was just a vessel for the story about OCD, which seemed like a stretch for me (an equivalent analogy is that pizza is just a vessel to transport ranch dressing into my mouth).

Regarding the mental health/OCD aspect of the story, I felt like it was very well told.  Aza's struggles are plausible.  I did appreciate the fact that her not taking her medication regularly was part of the problem.

TL;DR: I really should just skip the bandwagon books because rarely do I love them like everyone else.  For John Green fans, this is probably your jam.

Swimming Lessons by Claire Fuller    3.5/5 (library ebook)

This story was complicated for me.  Part of me liked it, part of me didn't.  Also, why was Flora always naked?  I appreciated the concept of the story told through letters, but I never figured out if the letters were found or not.  At first, I truly believed that the Mom was going to show back up, and then I realized I, too, was crazy.

The BF hanging around was a little weird for me, then again, the entire family seemed a little strange, so it didn't make it overwhelmingly weird (if that's a thing?).  The end kinda took me by surprise, but I was ready for the book to end, so I just accepted it for what it was.

That cover though.. Sooo prettay.

TL;DR: Judge this book by it's cover with a grain of salt.  A book about an author with ties to lots of books had me interested, but it was weird and the family was weird and not in a good way.

A Breath of Snow and Ashes (Outlander #6) by Diana Gabaldon   3.75/5 (Audible audiobook)

At almost 58 hours long, this was a haul.  Yet, this book didn't trudge along like the previous 2/3 did.   I can't really remember what all happened in what book anymore, but I do recall that Roger is getting ordained, Brianna whines less, there is a LOT less about her nipples/breast feeding, Jamie doesn't say if he's for the king or America, Jamie acts as an agent of the kings and "checks in" with the Indians regularly, Claire gets abducted, Jamie kills some motherfuckers, Marsali has a handicapped baby which causes even more issues with Fergus who needs his nuts smashed in, someone is murdered and Jamie and Claire are blamed, Steven Bonnet comes into the picture again, lots of adultery/potential adultery/sexy/STD things happen, there's gold in them thar hills crypts, no science lessons other than a LOT of talk about penicillin and ways to inject it, the cat and the white sow are randomly mentioned and feel like trivial things that could have been leftout, Stephen Bonnet is finally out of the picture.. oh and Brianna and Roger go back to modern times.

Serious question.. why did all of this need to happen in one book?   At least things happened in this book so the page count (almost 1000) didn't result in me thinking, "I just wasted hours of my life reading listening to the last 2 hours."

Honestly, I'd really like to see Jamie in modern times, but I doubt that will happen, but we shall see.  A few more books until I'm completely caught up with the series... and then I can start on the Lord John books.  Thankfully, those audiobooks are generally under 10 hours each. 

TL;DR: More Outlander, but I had some LOL moments while listening to this one and it wasn't a slog like the last few. 

Daughters of the Night Sky by Aimie K. Runyan   3/5 (Amazon Prime free ebook)

WW2 themed, but set in Russia.  Not normally where my WW2 reads are located, but I figured since it was free, I'd give it a shot.

I'm not sure if this book was based on actual events, but if so, these women were awesome.  It's only mildly infuriating that some of the ways men treated the pilots are still experienced by females in the military today.  I felt like the marriage plot-line was useless and it felt sudden and random, then by the end it was like, why bother?  I understand the point the author was trying to make, but it just seemed nonsensical in this form.

TL;DR: I probably wouldn't recommend this to anyone, but it was free.  I appreciated the depiction of women in the military.

Still Me (Me Before You #3) by Jojo Moyes   3.5/5 (Library audiobook)

Lou is still Lou.  I won't lie, the fact that she was still hung up on Will grated on my nerves in a way I cannot explain.  Will this, Will that.  OMG WE KNOW.  Then again, maybe that is what grief is like and I'm heartless? 

Part of me wanted to love this, but most of me didn't.  I felt like my adventure with Louisa Clark (as she is called over and over and over (I can't remember why her first and last name are significant)) could have ended at the first book.  Then again at the end of the 2nd book.  I didn't need a 3rd book.  In fact, I probably would have preferred it that way.  But, alas, a dollar is to be made.

If you loved the adventures of Louisa Clark, you'll probably enjoy this one as well.  There were some actual LOL moments in the story, which I appreciated.  I hated how shitty the family was to her and wanted to punch Agnes always.

TL;DR: Louisa Clark continues her journey in book 3.  Although really, book 1 was sufficient, kthxbye.

In Progress:

Iron Gold (Red Rising Saga #4) by Pierce Brown  */5 (Audible audiobook)The Irresistible Blueberry Bakeshop & Cafe by Mary Simses   */5 (library ebook)

On Deck:

• Carve the Mark by Veronica Roth    */5 (library ebook) 
• I was on the waitlist for a while for this one.  The reviews aren't that great, but I'll give it a shot.
• Everless by Sara Holland   */5 (???) 
• I found this one on a "must-read" list and I've never seen my last name in a book before so this is a must read.
• More Outlander
• I will finish this series, even if it takes me the rest of my life. 
• The Time Quintet series (aka The Wrinkle in Time series) 
• More Tales of the Otori 
• Brilliance of the Moon (Tales of the Otori #3) by Lian Hearn   */5 (hardcopy)  
• The Harsh Cry of the Heron (Tales of the Otori #4) by Lian Hearn    */5 (hardcopy) 
• Heaven's Net is Wide (Tales of the Otori #0/5) by Lian Hearn    */5 (hardcopy)  
• TBR list

YAY for books!
*TL;DR = too long, don't read

Weekend Review {3/5}

FRIDAY

Check out the awesome moon-setting I got to see on Friday morning..

It was an awesome start to the day, despite having a headache, which is really holdin' me down.  I'm blaming allergies and pollen and mother nature hating me for these headaches.  Not so much the #barometerhead.

It was a day of work and school.  I had a German test that I really rode the struggle bus on.  Work was work.  I headed home after and Teh German and I decided to go out for dinner (no real surprise there) and we agreed to go the Nowhere bar, which is a place that I've passed by since 2014, when I moved to SC.

When we walked in, we were met by a haze of 2nd hand smoke.  Once our eyes adjusted to the darkness, we sat at one of the tables placed between the "stage" (open floor area for live bands) and the pool tables.  The bar was straight back.  There were menus on the tables, so we sat at a table (closest to the door) and waited to be greeted.  We both noted the guy at the table next to us with his bucket of Bud Lite.  We weren't sure if he was waiting on others or if that entire bucket was for just for him.  We didn't stay long enough to find out.  We were inside the bar for no more than 3 minutes.  Neither of us loved the smoke and the food didn't seem like anything we couldn't get somewhere else, without the smoke, so we agreed to leave.  We both sniffed ourselves all the way to our final dinner location because we had carried so much smoke out on our clothes.  Blech.

We ended up at Neighborhood Taphouse, which boasts an extensive selection of beer, and the food is passable for me.  We hadn't wanted to go far from home, which really limits our choices.

2 home, home beers!

When we got home after dinner, Teh German headed over to smoke a cigar with Teh PT Husband while I took a bath and then lounged in the bed reading and petting Meri with my free hand.  It was as wonderful as you're imagining it was.

I was tired, but was 50 pages from the end of my book, so I powered through.  Teh German came home when I was about 10 pages from the end, which kinda distracted me, but it wasn't a big deal.  I finished the book, and of course, wasn't tired after that.  Ugggggh.  Teh German came to bed soon after and I tossed and turned for all my life.

SATURDAY

Saturday morning, Teh German got scolded for getting up to pee after sunrise and then coming back to bed instead of feeding the beasts.  This meant that I was awake almost the entire time after he got up to pee because the beasts think that once someone is up it's feeding time and I had already claimed not it for the entire weekend.  Meri has a habit of jumping on and off the bed, slamming herself into us as she plops down on the bed to snuggle, thumping her tail against stuff, and Pax likes to do his personal grooming in the morning and I get very little joy from any of that when I want to be asleep.

Nonetheless, we had to get up "early" to get the dogs to their vet appointment at 0920. 

We spent the car ride bickering after Teh German was giving me unhelpful hints about driving and tisking at me for taking pictures while moving.  He also informed me when the lights would turn green.. except that there were still cars stopped in front of me, sooo that wasn't really helpful.  After an overly long 12 minute drive, we finally arrived at the vet with me yelling about the fact that I've been driving for a really long time and do not need his commentary or help, thank you very much.  Damn, control freak.

The vet was a test of our mental endurance, as if the drive hadn't been bad enough.  It wasn't us though, it was the fact that the vet tech put us in the same exam room that we had last been in with Phil.  It was hard not to see my Baggins in the middle of the floor of the room, but Meri and Pax wandering around and investigating and then looking for each other when they were taken back for their blood draws and to get their nails clipped.

After the vet, we went through the car wash because Yurtle needed the tree jizz washed off.  Then we headed home for my lazy weekend to start.  Teh German headed to the garage and went through this box of crap that he's been toting around since we started dating.  My mind was blown.  Andddd then he put more crap in the box "to go through later"...

I went inside, since the garage is not MY "mancave" to do whatever the fuck I wanted to do because, NO HOMEWORK ALL WEEEEEEKKKEEENNNDDD BEEECCHHEESSS!!

I read for a little bit then got bored.  Teh German had migrated from his mancave to the yard.  He had made weeding the yard a priority for the weekend.  When I asked if he wanted help, he told me that I had already deemed it lazy weekend, so I didn't have to help him if I didn't want to.  #BestHusbandEver  Since I was bored, I did end up going down and helping him weed the backyard for about 2 hours.  It was the worst.  Teh German did agree that we could mulch the yard.  Pax really "aerates" the yard chasing after Meri, which means that after we pulled the weeds, there was barely anything green left in the yard.

After yard work, we showered and then went to a Crab Shack with Teh Dental Hygienist and Teh AF Maintainer.  It was derrrichious.  We had to wait for an hour for a table and we sat at the bar, ordered drinks and hushpuppies, watched the NC State game (which happened to be on the TV), and chatted.  I hadn't had crab legs in a hot minute and they were tasty.

Originally, we had planned on hanging out post-dinner, but by the time we got home, I was exhausted and opted out of hanging out for going to bed.  #OldLady  No shit, we were in the bed by 9:30 and I wasn't a little bit sorry.

SUNDAY

Sunday morning, I was feeling semi-motivated.  I asked Roux's Humom if she wanted to go with me to get brunch at Charleston Deli and she said yes.  We hit up Charleston Deli for breakfast and then I talked her into going to Lowes Foods with me to pick up a few options.  Lowes Food just opened in the area, so I had kinda wanted to check it out anyways.  It's a grocery store, but they allow you to drink (alcohol) inside the store.

I picked up this gift for Teh Running Bestie since she will be here next week!

After grocery shopping, we headed home and it was lazy time.  Teh German was working on the Bobber bike and I seriously have no idea what I did..  other than put away the groceries and refill the dog food container.. and subsequently spilled it all over the floor.  Rather than clean it up, I left it for "dessert" for Pax and Meri.  It ended up being Meri's dessert since Pax is adamant about licking his bowl completely clean.

Teh German eventually finished up his bike stuffs and we ate dinner.  After dinner we had a Mad Men marathon.  We ended the night with 4 episodes remaining.

______________________________________________

Very good weekend!  I needed a lazy weekend after being nonstop in February.  Teh Running Bestie will be here next week.  Teh Advising Sister will be here at the end of the month.  I anticipate another dive trip in April for Teh German to finish up his Advanced dive cert.  Exams are at the end of April.  MD/Honeymoon/Teh Sister's Graduation in May/June.  I'm going to enjoy this "downtime" before shit gets cray.

Five on Friday #140

EINS - Random things

-I'm kind of a hippy about some things.. I had a LOT of tie-dye shirts in the days of high school/NC State.  On Valentine's Day, I let the masseuse use Himalayan salt rocks on me.  It was pretty much like a hot stone massage.  Then as we were checking out, the cashier said something about how for 2 weeks after she just felt more motivated and like a fog had lifted.  I chalked it up to hokey BS.  And then.. 2 days after the massages, I woke up and felt like my head had cleared.  Like the forgetful fog I've been in for months had lifted enough so I could function again.  I had no issues with getting up and going on runs 2 different days.  I'm not sure if it's just the phase of the moon, or my girl time cycle, or the Himalayan salt causing the fog to lift, but it's awesome being so clear again.  I don't feel like a fucking moron all the time when I talk to people and I can show people how to do things because I am actually smart.  I need this to last for forever, plskthx.

Update: It didn't last forever.  I'm back to fighting through the fog.  I have started running more regularly as an effort to combat the fog.  I have a feeling that the "fog" might also be heavier during PMS time, which I am only thinking is a possibility because I have also been unbearably tired in the afternoons.. to the point of requesting nap pods at work and eventually just giving up and laying my head on my desk.  Why is being me so hard?

Update: Being a girl is why being me is so hard.  NOT making a baby is super difficult for my body to handle.  Lethargy, headache, mood swings.  #FML

-When I called Chase to merge my Maiden Name Acct with my New Name Account, they somehow managed to fuck it up and merged the accounts but the name on the account was my maiden name, and the lady tried to tell me that I had to mail in a form and blah blah blah and I finally got fed up and said NO.  I've done this already.  It JUST said the correct name before you merged the accounts.  Lady, "Well, ma'am, I'll have to put in a research ticket.."  Me: "Ok.  Because I've already done the name change stuff."  Lady, "Ok, well, I'll make an exception.  But just be aware it may take up to an hour to show the change."  Yeah.. do not curr.  Fix what you broke.  I cannot with people this week.
Update: over a week later, this issue is NOT resolved.  I hate everyone.

-I've decided to come off my anxiety meds.  Mostly due to the "fog".  I am NOT going to the doc about it, but did some online research about coming off of anxiety meds.  So I halved all my pills and have continued taking them.  Since I was only on 5mg for 6 months, it shouldn't be so hard to taper off.  Most of the videos I watched were individuals who were taking 20+mg of medicine for 5+ years.  That seems scary.  I'm going to take 2.5mg for a while and see what happens.  If the fog continues then I'll definitely taper off, but if the rage returns and the fog isn't as bad, I may just continue taking the 2.5mg.  Essentially, when the doc said that maybe I was just having some adjustment issues last year when school started + wedding + work + life, she may have been right.  Homework no longer results in me sitting at the kitchen table bawling because I can't understand it.

-Midterms are due next week which means exams were this week.  I survived a vocab test in German, test in Biology, test in Calculus, and a chapter test in German.  PLUS, I also accomplished passing a stupid computer test that I had to get at least 6/7 questions correct to pass.  Next week, I have a computer science test.  BRING IT.  All that garbage means spring break is closer and closer.

-Dissected frogs in Bio lab.  Just as gross as it was in 10th grade.

-Megan in the kitchen:  #notsorry

L to R: Crockpot, InstantPot, rice cooker

-Things that will change your life: Willie Jewells bread pudding WITH vanilla ice cream.

aka, food that makes everything better.

-I did a financial review of our house account and have deemed it worthy of finally using for joint things/house adhoc things.  My goal was to have at least 3 months worth of savings in the account for the worst case scenario.  That money included the house payment and all the bills and money to buy groceries and maybe even going out still.  Teh German requested that if we were going to save for that situation that it could be at the same standard of living we currently enjoy.  I think that's a little lavish, but it wasn't that difficult to accomplish.

This really means that the screened in porch project is fully funded and that some honeymoon purchases can come from the House (/joint) account.

-Meri and Pax have a vet appointment on Saturday morning, which really slays my "sleep in" plans.  #MeganFail.  I think I'll be dragging Teh German along with me to be a dog-wrangler with me so I don't have to deal with both of them at the same time, which is always a fucking nightmare.  You'd think that not having to deal with Phil and the slippery floors it would be easier.. but no.  The dogs lose their minds at all the smells and want to investigate every.single.thing and just, kthxno.

-I'm thinking that over spring break, I will telework a few days because this woman NEEDS a break.

ZWEI - Money spent (2 weeks worth, ugh)

• gas for Columbia
• Zoo tickets
• Chicago Rock n Roll 5k and 10k
• Bully sticks for the beasts.
• A cord for my sunglasses, so I didn't lose them on our dive
• Sweet tea and a small McFlurry
• Decorations for the current holiday tree at the office
• Gas
• Birthday dinner for Teh German 
• Willie Jewell's
• random Amazon things:
• oil for the dryer balls (in lieu of softener)
• a metal colander for the instant pot (after a cooking the broccoli to death)
• Red Turvis lid for Teh German's new Turvis 
• Blue Turvis straw lid for myself because discounts.

Andddddd most importantly!
Our taxes came back and I PAID OFF BAGHEERA!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Other than House and Baloo, we're debt free.  Wewt.

DREI - Things from my phone

Reward: an awkward as fuck hug.

I'm still not sure what this guy had going on, but we guessed he was definitely European with those sassy Birkenstocks

Forever: Chicks, Bunnies, and Dicks.
Thank you autocorrect.

What did DJ Allergies say to the nose?
Drop it like it's snot.

Last week's menu still makes me smile with the tiny bubbles.

What do you Cubic Zirconia in Ireland?
A sham rock.

What is a leprechaun's favorite cereal?
Lucky charms

Fuck you, Calculus.
PS.  I secretly love derivatives, but I love anti-derivatives more.
Keep yo judgement to yoself.

VIER - From the Internet

I can get behind this.

FÜNF - Things that made me happy this week

1. Publix cake for the GLCK and neighbors who know that coming over in pajamas is VERY MUCH encouraged, always.
2. Bagheera being paid off and no more annoying paper bills from the company about my bill being due in 2020.
3. FB chat with Teh Sister to pass the time away.
4. Passing that stupid computer test for Calculus.  Submitting math through a computer is the absolute WORST thing EVAR.
5. Coming out of the fog.  After reading that a lack of empathy is a side effect of the anxiety meds, everything kinda made sense in my life.
6. All the pretty flowers (despite the yellow every.fucking.where)
7. A week that didn't take a mabillionty years to get through.  I'm like, how it is Friday already?  and like, who the fuck cares, IT'S FRIYAY BITCHES!
8. Planning for a massage to kickstart my spring break.
9. Being ahead/caught up on homework.
10. Online shopping.  Because it's easy and I can wear my stretchy pants without judgement.

Happy Friday, Gentle Readers.