Taking the road less traveled.

Let me start this off by saying, I have a great life.  There are some difficult parts, but overall, I have a great life.  I chose this life.

But sometimes, I look at other people's lives and get jealous.  I see that they are married and they have kids and a house and a dog and I think to myself, why isn't that me?  I do.  Sometimes, I get lost in things I don't have, because of decisions I made.

I question the decisions of Past Teh Megan, did you make the right choice?  Would you have changed your mind if you'd have known this would be the outcome?

I know these questions are often futile.  Silly even.  But, I appreciate the perspective I gain on looking back at where I've come from, what I've accomplished (or not), dreams I have yet to fulfill.

Most of the time when I think back, I realize that I did make right choices.  I made the best choice under those circumstances.  I did the best thing for me.  Rarely ever do I think that I would have changed my mind on decisions I've made.

Yes, I would have still worn that tye-dye t-shirt and those plaid pajama pants, even though I looked homeless.  That was the most comfortable outfit I owned.  Yes, I would have still went to NC State.  Yes, I would have joined the Navy.  Yes, I would have ended that relationship... and that one too... and that one too.

Sometimes, I get lost in things I don't have that other people do.  I get lost because other people seem to enjoy these things that I don't have.  I wonder if I'm missing out on something.  I realize that maybe I am actually missing out on these things... but at the cheap expense of NOT missing out on all the things that I do have.

I'm a world traveler.  This wasn't true 3.5 years ago.
I'm a dog owner.  This was half true 3 years ago, and completely true before then, but it is completely true again.
I was debt free.  Until I bought a new car because I can.
I'm a new car owner.
I've lived alone.
I've had a roommate.
I've had lots of roommates.
I have a college degree.  That I have never professionally applied.
I want for nothing.
I need for nothing.
There are actually people that are jealous of my life.  Woah.

So, I'm not married, I don't have kids, I don't have my own house... all things that I get lost in that other people have.  But, I have an awesome life...  sometimes I forget that.  Sometimes, I jog my own memory when I watch my screensaver flash from GTMO, Raleigh, Home Home, MD, VA, Bahrain, IL, NC mountains, DC.. when I see people like Teh Bear, Teh BFF, Miss Reflective, Shoulda Been a Cowgirl, Miss Difficult Last Name, Teh Ginger, Teh Lumberjack, Mr. Voice and Mrs. Boomkin, Worldwide Jesus Lover, Teh Family, Teh Granny.. so many people.

No regrets?  Maybe not.  Minimal regrets?  Definitely.

Best shirt ever.

Dinner for one.. in a slow cooker for 15.

Pinterest really is where I stash things now... good ideas mostly.. and it might actually be thievery, but its ok, because its good ideas and everyone should want to share their good ideas!!

Dr. Pepper Pork was a good idea that I've been wanting to try for a while.

1.  It's easy.  I'm all over easy.
2.  It is 3 ingredients.. and I was only missing the pork...
3.  Refer back to #1.

On the other hand, that recipe would probably feed a family of 12.  So, I was going to fix it while Teh Bear was here at the beginning of May, but we ran out of days to cook for (since we had leftovers from the night he cooked dinner).  I put this off till this weekend, because I knew that I was going to eat all the carrots (or give them to Phil as treats) if I didn't make this soon.

So, Friday after I got off work, I went by the commissary and picked up fruits (finnnnaaallllyyy, I've been out for a while, and that makes me sad), pork tenderloin (or so I thought), eel rolls for dinner, oreos, and swiss cake rolls.  I was going to make the pork Saturday, but I was gone all day and didn't really feel motivated to throw the ingredients into the crock pot before leaving for the Animal Fair...  that's a serious level of unmotivated by the way... its 3 ingredients and my slow cooker is almost at arm's level on my shelf.

I decided Saturday night that I was going to put it together Sunday morning, then it would be ready by dinner time that afternoon.  It was only 3 ingredients.  So this morning, before I left for church, I did as the instructions said.

*additional step* rinse out your cooker if you live with a dog who sheds.
I rinsed the pork.
I laid it nicely in the cooker.
I added a bag of carrots.
I added a can of Dr. Pepper.
I added italian seasoning, salt, pepper, and a bit of garlic.  (I know those last 3 ingredients really just threw some people for a loop.  It's true, I used garlic, salt, AND pepper.)
I set the cooker on high for 6 hours.

My changes to the recipe:
-I did NOT use a 7-8 pound tenderloin.  Woah, so much meat!  (that's what she said).  I think I ended up with an almost 2 pound roast.  It was pork, I didn't really care much (and I didn't read the label that closely).
-I only used 12 oz. of Dr. Pepper instead of 20 oz.  I already had a can of Dr. Pepper and 20 oz's are expensive these days!!
-I don't do spicy, but if you do, good on you.

I only had to cook this for 5 hours, probably due to the fact that my pork was significantly smaller than what the directions called for.  I put my food thermometer in the roast and it was at 210°...  it was done.  It flaked apart easily with a fork and it met the temp requirements, so I turned off the cooker and put the meat and carrots in a plastic bowl (to separate it from the fatty stuffs while they were still melted).

The carrots tasted sweet, but when I think of sweet carrots, I think of Japanese hibachi carrots, and these weren't like that.  They weren't bad, but they weren't what I was expecting.

The meat is delicious!  The flavor is good and the meat isn't dry.

I made jasmine rice to go with it, which was also delicious.

I didn't take any pictures.... it was too scrumptious.  But this is what it looks like from the fridge:

YYYYYYYUUUUUUUMMMMMMMMMMMM.

There are more carrots in another bowl since they wouldn't all fit in this one... YUUUUUMMMM x2.

Scottish Meals

I posted while I was in Scotland about eating the local foods and trying to share that with you.  I'm sure all my Gentle Readers were waiting with abated breath.

My summary of Scottish/English food:  It's GREASY!  It would definitely take a period of getting used to.  Everyone that I talked to concurred that they were "moved" by the foods we were eating.  Not that the food was bad, but it was different, for sure.

The best thing I had the entire trip, besides the sticky toffee pudding (which doesn't count since it was dessert), was Sunday buffet/brunch/dinner.. I'm not sure what they referred to it as, but it was usually roasted turkey, roasted lamb, roasted pork, sausage wrapped in bacon, several vegetable options, several potato options, a oatmeal stuffing (which was actually pretty good), and some puff pastry thingies (that I didn't think had a taste) and probably other things I forgot.  Sadly, I did not get a photo of this spread because I was busy stuffing my face so I forgot and the day that I got my plate to go, I left my camera and phone at the hotel and I was starving so photos were sacrificed.  I know, I'm such a bad blogger!  :)

But food pictures:

My first "fish and chips".. ok actually its a tuna sandwich with literal chips.  Not the same, but I thought it was funny!

My first dessert was pancakes with ice cream and cherries.  I really wanted pancakes.  I forgot to take a picture of my dinner which was Tapas (which were greasy).

Cullen Skink.  Which is Haddock (fish) in a potato soup.  It wasn't so bad, but it was really greasy.
Definitely didn't need that butter on my bread.

Victoria Sponge, which is a sponge cake with strawberry jam and buttercream between the cakes.
It wasn't as impressive as I wanted it to be.

Natties and Tatties (or something like that).  This is ground beef in a gravy/sauce (natties?) with mushed up carrots (orange), mashed potatoes (tatties?) with some oat stuffing (which was interesting).

This actually wasn't my meal, but it was Yorkshire Pudding

Bangers and Mash = sausage + mashed potatoes + peas + pie bowl.  Also not my meal, but definitely encouraged several dirty comments.

Fish and chips and beer... and a Nikon.. none of which was mine.

Steak.. w/ fries and peas.. and mushrooms.. and a roasted tomato... my meal.

McDonald's... Big Mac..  Tasted the same to me.

The sandwich that was NOT consumed:  Cheese, mayo, diced onion, and I assume that green stuff is parsley?  I used my finger and tested it after smelling it.  It was a NO GO.

My own Yorkshire Pudding type meal.  The puff pastry wasn't that good, so I just tossed it off since it had arrived on top of my beef, which tasted like pot roast to me.

The most delicious thing Scotland has to offer:  Sticky Toffee Pudding.  It's a chocolate-like cake with toffee sauce and ice cream.  This place was ok, but the hotel where we were staying was the BBBEEESSSTTTT.. and I only got to have it once because their menu changed...... ultimate crushedness.

The hotel was nice enough to pack a sandwich for me since I was going to work.  I asked for a ham sammich.  I started eating it and realized something tasted extremely familiar and not right at the same time.  Then I played sandwich surgery and realized I was eating chunks of butter.  Nothing says you're a fatty and you're gonna fail your physical fitness test like eating straight butter.  I ate the ham off the sammich and called it day.

My final fish and chips.  With a salad and pureed peas (who thought serving baby food was acceptable?)
The tarter sauce was delicious btw.

Those are all the food photos from my phone.

I'm still going through pics from my camera (all 1k of them), but there were no food photos on there to my knowledge.  But since there are so many pics, its still taking a pretty long time to get through all the photos.  I'll get through them eventually and share some of them here for you.  There were some pretty awesome sights to see, including Loch Ness (maybe you'll find Nessie in my photos?), several castles, a ruined cathedral, beautiful scenery driving through the SW/Western part of the country, several distilleries, a national park (Cairngorms), some roundabouts, some civilization, and some crazy signs.

So you should be excited, Gentle Reader, cause I might just get motivated before I go to Australia and post some pics!!  :)

When the Church and State get married, who's the man and who's the woman?

I know its been a hot minute since I posted a blog.  I mean, I do only have 5 followers, so I'm sure they were the only ones that were concerned.. but still... I do feel kinda bad for the lack of posts, but I've been pretty busy.

There was Scotland, then Celtic Festival, then Teh Bear arrived in MD for a week, then there was 3 days of working, then there was Teh Sister's graduation in NC which included a road trip with BOTH my boys, then a road trip back to MD, then the next day Teh Bear went back to FL..  its just like WOAH, Life...  just let me get a firm grip before you take off again...

But in the time that I've been not blogging, there has been a lot of hype going on about Amendment One in North Carolina.  

Now, if you're not from North Carolina, I understand if you stop reading now.  But I do feel like there is a bigger picture that expands beyond NC with this issue.  I personally didn't vote on this issue, which gives me the right to just STFU..  but this is my blog and I do what I want.. and I didn't remember/know about absentee voting.. and I was probably in Scotland when that took place anyways, lets be honest.

But if I had voted?  I would have voted AGAINST Amendment One.

Let me back up.  What is Amendment One?

In short, it will ban same-sex marriage AND civil-unions.  

Now, let me clarify that NC already only recognizes the marriage of "one woman and one man", so to pass this Amendment is just another piece of legislation that says the same thing that we already have.  Why is that so important to people?  Does the current law not satisfy all the "protect our families" crowds?

Even if Amendment One was NOT passed, meaning there would be no amendment to the NC Constitution banning same-sex marriages/civil-unions (that are already unrecognized in NC), NOTHING CHANGES.  

Amendment One doesn't legalize same-sex marriage in anyway, but it will make it more difficult if NC were to ever decide to pass a law that did legalize same-sex marriage (I'm sure that would be a cold day in hell).

I've seen that people are worried about protecting the sanctity of marriage.  My personal opinion is, that's a load of shit.  If you are worried about protecting the sanctity of marriage, then encourage those who are married to stay married.  Better yet, work on your own marriage and leave everyone out else out of it.  "Marriage is when 2 people love one another and they decide to announce that to the world."  No.  WRONG.  

What is marriage is really?  A legal bond that the State recognizes.  It is recognized for the purposes of pay and dependents and health care and I'm sure other things that I don't know about because I'm not married.  You, straight people, got to choose who you wanted to be legally tied to for the rest of your life, why can't someone else make that decision to someone else of the same sex?  They decide to have children, via whatever methods.  Say they adopt an orphan, what is wrong about that?  Oh that child will have 2 mommies or 2 daddies?  Yeah well, I'm sure that 2 same sex parents are better than foster care or no parents at all.

The sanctity of marriage is what YOU make of YOUR OWN marriage.. NOT what YOU make of someone else's marriage.

You want to throw Bible quotes around?  Well, if you take a few verses you can make them mean whatever you want.  The Bible is a storybook written thousands of years ago by men then compiled, often these stories are the same and can even overlap.  Yes, it tells the story of God and tells about the life of Jesus.  The Bible can be used as a standard by which to live your life.. but I'm sure that if you literally followed "eye for an eye", you'd be scorned.  There is a passage that says that marriage is between a man and woman, but how many stories were there about orgies?  prostitution?  incest?  How about we talk about the passage about "ye who are sinless cast the first stone"?  That's my favorite for all the gay-bashers.

Last time I checked, there were only 10 Commandments.  Nothing about being homosexual in any of those. Dare you to ask God if you can make an amendment to HIS constitution.  PS, let me know how that works out for you.  How about we just start practicing the "love thy neighbor" one and accept people for the choices they make, even if they aren't the same choices you would make?

I'm not gay.  It's not a secret.  I'm not even close.  I've never even kissed a girl and liked it (you're welcome for that Katy Perry reference).  But if I was.. I'd want the choice to be legally tied to a man or woman to be recognized by the state.  Because its MY choice.  Not the choice of someone else.

I can love anyone.  I can marry anyone.  And I'd hate to not have either of those options because someone else said decided their opinions mattered more than my rights.

End note:

I'm not really into politics in anyway, shape, or form.  When people start talking about liberals, conservatives, democrats, republicans, blah blah blah.. I usually blank out.  Sometimes, I even have to ask myself, who are the lefts vs rights, isn't the elephant the republicans.. oh no, the jackass donkey is the republicans.. That makes WAY more sense.  I've actually told people that I don't care and to shut the hell up about politics (this happened at work).  But I've seen lots of propaganda on FB about this issue and I know today is the day to vote, so I'm all fired up... and I'm kinda sad I didn't get to vote on this issue, because it does matter to me.  I've seen Bible verses and people changed their FB photos.  It's all the rage for my NC friends, so I'm jumping on the soapbox too, dammit.

In other news, how about those troops in the Middle East?  :)

Look what I can do!!

Post blogs from my phone.  Weeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!

Good morning from Scotland!  :)

Adventures with Teh Bear... part 9.5

This post is 3 months late, but its ok, because I'm the blogger, dammit!  PS, Teh Bear is coming to visit me again the first week of May!!!  YYAYYY!!!

While Teh Bear was in MD in February, I completed 2 Pinterest inspired ideas.

Most important:  food.  Pepperoni croissant roll ups with string cheese.

I started a project in November for decorating the apartment.  From these inspirations:

On canvas (image)

On stryofoam (image)

One is on stryofoam board and the other is on canvas.  I went with canvas, since I was worried about the wear and tear of the styrofoam boards.  I bought fabric (sets of 5 from Jo-Anns) instead of paper and a super duper staple gun.  I ironed the fabric since it had been folded, but stretching it over the canvas helped get the wrinkles out the best.  Some of the wrinkles never came out period.  Oh well.

After ironing, I stapled the fabric to the back side of the canvas frame.

Each canvas ended up being folded differently, but I did at least try to make each corner neat.

Fabric completely stapled around the canvas.

This was the part that I'd been waiting on.  I had to hammer the hanging hooks on them.  I just bought a  can of sawtooth picture hangers and when I purchased them, I didn't have a hammer.  Since Teh Bear and I were doing all kinds of home projects, the tool set was definitely in use and I no longer had an excuse.

Completed Christmas set.  Yay for decorations for next year!

The final look of the final product.  I didn't really measure between each canvas, but they are all still hanging on the wall, so I consider it a success.

The final look of the bathroom canvases.  These turned out matching the bathroom set better than I anticipated.

We also did a lot of eating.  Teh Bear made chili and we also found a killer pizza sauce recipe in the recipe book he got me for my birthday.  We decided to make homemade pizza, since we already had the sauce.  We used the dough recipe from the KitchenAid stand mixer recipe book.  It was difficult and I actually made it twice.  I had to add water to make it not too dry... both tries.  Siiiiigh.

Teh Bear making his pizza.  He was concentrating very hard.

Me making my pizza.  We had a lot of pepperoni left over after the roll ups, so we had to use it!

YYYAAYYY for more Adventures with Teh Bear coming soon!!  (probably).

Being a tourist... driving around.

So, just because I work midnight to 8am (for the first part of my Scotland trip) isn't a reason to miss out on all the great tourism opportunities, apparently.  So, another guy who is standing watch on a different shift than me decided he was going to go castle hunting.  I asked if I could join him, since I didn't want to sit at the hotel all day for my day off.  He said yes.

The next morning at 0615 I woke up, showered, got dressed and was ready to go by 7.  Please note, I've not been going to bed till after 9am on days that I've worked, but that night I went to bed by 1230 with the help of a sleeping pill.  Who's gonna be jacked up when she gets home??  This girl!  We took my rental car and he drove, which was fine because I was still tired.  Also, riding gives me the opportunity to enjoy the scenery... and helps me learns that I really do have some control freak issues...  oops.

I was very worried about driving when I arrived in Scotland.  They drive on the opposite side of the road, on the opposite side of the car, and most of the cars are manual transmissions.  Luckily, the pedals are still in the same order as in America, which was the most beneficial thing.  I quickly was able to pick up driving.  The biggest reminder I have to give myself is to get on the LEFT side of the road...  we'll get to that.

After driving for 10+ minutes, I get into the swing of things and have minimal issues (unless I'm doing a u-turn, and those are always tricky and usually result in 3 point turns).  As a passenger, I try not to pay attention to the driving abilities of the driver.  I just navigate when asked and try to keep my passenger seat driver (since I'm not often actually in the back seat) quiet.

Several times on our castle huntin' trip, I couldn't control my passenger seat driver.  She had outburts like, TURN! when I was almost certain that we were going to keep going straight while the road curved to the right. Or CURB! when I started to feel the road get bumpy and realized what the next obstacle was going to be.  But roundabouts were my biggest demon.

I understand that as a driver in a different country, things are already strange.  Then you add in roundabouts.  America seriously needs more roundabouts.  Traffic congestion would be so much less after the initial idiots were weeded out after having accidents.  I was thrown into the roundabout world in Bahrain.  One of my first driving experiences in Bahrain included going through a THREE LANE ROUNDABOUT!  WTF?!  1.  Arab drivers.  Woah.  2.  THREE LANES of cars/trucks/transfer trucks/etc vehicles.  Woah.  3.  My own inexperience.  Eyes = opened.

Lessons about roundabouts:
-Don't stop unless there is a red light or another car coming.  As in, passing in front of you.  If there is an opening, keep going.  If it looks close, you're probably alright.  If its a line of cars, start pressing the gas as the last car passes you.  Hesitation is your enemy.
-DO NOT EVER STOP WHILE GOING AROUND THE ROUNDABOUT.
-If you know that the road you are exiting to has 2 lanes, you can exit from the middle.  If the road you are exiting onto only has 1 lane, you need to be in the left most lane.
-Don't blame other drivers for being stupid if you're the person pressing on the brakes in the middle of a roundabout.  Roundabouts go in circles, its nice that way, so if you miss your exit, you can just keep going around.  Woah.

My passenger seat driver also had to yell out GO! when I realized the driver was trying to stop to merge into the left lane to exit the roundabout.  OMG scary.  Talk about the stink eye from the locals.  The only thing scarier than that during my Scotland trip was the curvy one-lane roads with other cars that didn't look like they were going to share the road (although the difference was, that wasn't my rental car)..  at least so far.

As for myself being a driver.. sometimes, I, too, make mistakes...  Like tonight after dinner.  The keys were relinquished to me since my castle huntin' partner decided to have a few beers at dinner.  When I pulled out onto the main road, I got in the right lane like it was no one else's business.  At which point his passenger seat driver stared yelling, "WRONG WAY!  WRONG WAY!  WRONG WAY!"

At first I was confused, because I knew that we were supposed to turn left to head back to the hotel, then I realized, WRONG LANE.  This was quickly remedied, what with the oncoming cars that were also starting to confuse me for the 3 seconds that I was in the wrong lane.  Oops.. even persons almost having mastered roundabouts still choose the wrong lane while driving in a different country sometimes.

A few reminders:

I think the languages for the road signs is Gaelic and English..  not sure though.

Roundabouts.  Scaring Passenger Teh Megan forever.

Quality store.  Suited to meet all vices no matter your age.

April photo of the day.. falling off the wagon.

Not really surprisingly, I fell off the photo a day bandwagon.  I'm going to try and catch up when I get home, but I make no promises.  Depends on how the schedule turns out.

Sorry to be so disappointing.  Maybe I'll try another month when my schedule isn't so busy..  hahaha.  my schedule not being busy!  What a funny joke.

Eating overseas

I'm well known for my sensitive stomach.  It's a requirement at any place I live to have 2 toilets.  One for me and one for anyone else, for simultaneous timed needs.  This was especially important when Teh BFF and I lived together since she also has similar issues.

When I went to Bahrain, I was worried about what I'd eat.  It was nice once I finally got into my apartment so I could cook for myself.  Eating out all the time gets old quick.  I could usually predict what was going to upset my stomach, so that was good.

When I went back to the US, I had to readjust to American food.  Luckily, that wasn't as torturous as leaving America.

Now that I'm in Scotland, the food is strange again.  We've all been complaining of stomach issues.  I'm pretty sure I've eaten something either fried or greasy for every meal since I've been here.  :(  This makes me extremely sad, as I've worked really, really hard to eat better in the last year.  Another issue with eating here is that everything is expensive.  Pretty sure I've not eaten a meal that I've had to pay for that was less than $10.

Oddly enough, I didn't think about what I'd blog while I was away.  Food never even crossed my mind till today.  By the time I'd thought of it, they'd already cleared my dinner from the table.  On the other hand, my eating schedule has been pretty messed up since I've been standing the midnight-8am watch, so that would explain why the thought hadn't really crossed my mind.

I've not yet tried Haggis, which is a local "delicacy".  I'm willing, but I'm not going to order it for a meal then not be able to eat it.

Tonight, I went to The 1629, an italian restaurant.  I ordered Tapas for dinner.  I got 3 different things:  some type of meatball that was fried, mushrooms stuffed with pate (also breaded/fried), and bruschetta.  Since I was livin it up, I also ordered dessert:  pancake with ice cream and cherries.  Never had I considered pancakes a dessert, but I'm not opposed to the idea.  I had wanted a cannoli, but this definitely made up for it.

Pancake over ice cream with whipped cream and black cherries.

Learning lessons 1 photograph at a time with my cell phone instead of my Nikon.

I didn't anticipate such good lighting because from the hotel, I could see all the clouds rolling in.  I was extremely disappointed when I pulled up for dinner and this was the view, along with the rainbow directly in front of me when I parked.  Lesson of the night: don't leave the hotel without my DSLR.  Teh Bear told me, "Duh," when I shared these photos with him.

It's ok, I deserved it.

8 April: wallet

My first goal was to do this photo challenge on instagram.  Luckily, all technology can be combined, so for my photo of the day via instagram:

I got a wallet!

No jk, every time I think of the word wallet, I think of the move Multiplicity.  Not the greatest movie ever, but I recall it being at least slightly amusing.  Hrm.. I wonder if that's on Netflix.

7 April: Shadow

Of course, I started with the obligatory self-portrait shadow.

Then, I was like, ooo, lets be artsy!
Then, I realized Teh Bear might consider violence when he sees this photo, but I'm brave since he's so far away.

Finally, I decided on something a little more refined:  shadows from the other petals.

I was planning on doing this challenge on instagram at first, but I had my Nikon with me today and not my cell phone, so blog it is!

April photo a day challenge!

Maybe you've noticed?  I love taking pictures.  :)  I also like sharing my pics with the world, mostly when they are good, but that's not the point.  I also love photo challenges.  Apparently, several other people do as well.

So I'll be starting on day 7, since that's today and yesterday when I found this I'd already eaten lunch.  /shrug.

Hopefully, I'll be able to keep up with this challenge, but I have a trip to Scotland scheduled mid-end of April, so we'll see.

I don't always sit in front of the computer.. just frequently...

This weekend is the last weekend I have before returning to work after my surgery and that may not seem like a milestone to many, but for me, I had this "relish this opportunity" attitude to it being the weekend before I return to work.  I guess I tried to make it like I would a "regular" weekend, and by "regular" I mean, worked like a normal person who wasn't on convalescent leave.

I've tried not to vary my schedule too much, despite not going to work.  Mostly for Teh Phil-boy, he's a stickler for a schedule.  When the caretakers were here, he continued his walks regimen, same feeding time, etc.  I've also picked back up on our walk/runs since I was given the all-clear-but-be-careful talk from the doc.  Wake-up time is only 45 minutes-1.5 hours (depending on how lucky I was each day) later.  We still go on our long afternoon exercise session.  Dinner is still between 6-7 (or 5-6 pre-daylight savings time, ugh).  Bedtime.. well, that doesn't matter because, lets be honest, Phil sleeps all day and all night.

But today, I was all carpe diem.  Phil let me sleep till 0755, at which point I tried to lay in bed and not move, because if he hears me move, he gets excited and gets up and his tail slaps all the furniture, which has to annoy the neighbors.  I made it till 0801, which I know the exact time because I was roused by the sound of colors.  After carry on, I carried on.  I got up and took Phil out then came back and fed him breakfast.  I enjoyed a scrumptious Carnation Instant Breakfast shake while doing my morning internetting.  I finally burned Worldwide Jesus Lover's (WwJL) wedding photos onto discs.  I poked around on Pinterest and watched 2 episodes of How I Met Your Mother (HIMYM) and then the carpe diem started making me feel unmotivated and like I was wasting the day away.

I got the stupid motivational bug and did the dishes and cleaned the kitchen counters.  Then, I decided it was pb&j toast day (mostly because I bought a whole new loaf of bread for Teh Granny since the loaf I had was almost gone, and she left the next day).  As I was getting my PB&J toast prepared, my NY Cousin called me on Skype to talk to Teh Gramps.  We didn't really have much to talk about, since I'm not often in touch with my NY relatives other than FB.  He kept commenting on what a nice smile I had.  I felt like I should have been smiling less, lol.  But I was hoping that by being smiley there would be no reason for him to have a grouchy/angry mood swing (he has Dementia).  After signing off with Teh Gramps, I finally finished my cold toast (it was still delicious) while talking to Teh Bear on Skype.  We watched a few episodes of Community (love that show) then it was time for him to get ready for work and for me to be productive.

I started laundry and watched another episode of HIMYM.  Since WwJL's photos were complete, I packed the dvd's and the spare bridesmaid dress (oh guess who forgot her dress on the wedding day?  This girl!!!) in the box that my new flash came in.  I also told someone that I would send her my brown undershirts since I would no longer be requiring them.  She has some re-purpose ideas for them, and I'm excited that I don't have to deal with them (all 15+) in the closet anymore.  I gathered those up for mailing on Monday also.

Then, I was searching for things to do again.  So, I figured I'd make the chicken that's been sitting in the fridge since the day before Teh Granny left.  We bought it for dinner then ended up eating other stuff and then she left.. so it was up to me to eat it.  Le sigh.  I also made rice and beans the night before she left.  I made a whole bag of beans because I thought Teh Granny was going to be staying longer.  Soooo much rice and beans.  Anyways, 1 package of thigh pieces + 1 can of shredded pineapple (dump entire can into pan) + bake till done (165°F+) = delicious, fyi.  Goes well over rice (without beans) and a salad (which I enjoyed for dinner).  After the chicken was done and a few more episodes of HIMYM, some Pinterest scrollin, and a call from Teh Dad, I decided it was time to do something outside.

I figured I'd start with a walk/run with Teh Phil-boy.  I think he was very appreciative, because he'd started to get restless.  After our run, we went by the dog park to cool down.  There we met a dog named Cody and his parents.  Today I learned that Phil is possessive over toys.  He only barked at Cody, but I quickly told him no and took the toy from him (and it was Cody's toy anyways, greedy Phil).  Cody and his parents left and Phil was bored (I think when they finally mowed the dog park, they took out all the tennis balls that are usually laying around), so we left too.  Once Phil was watered, I decided to finally take my camera and take photos of flowers/things I've been eyeing for a while now around the apartment complex.

Side story: I had my eyes on my (I call it mine since its right beside the stairs to come up to my apt) cherry blossom tree when I returned from NC with Teh Dad, but the flowers were only there for a day or 2 then started blowing away, and after my surgery I didn't give a shit that the tree had flowers, to take photos of it was way too much effort for this girl, so all the petals blew away and now the tree is just ugly again.

So, I set out for the single yellow Tulip amid all the other yellow Pansies?  Idk, they were ground level, yellow flowers.  I'm not a botanist people, I only took a Mushroom class in college.  Everyday that I pass this single yellow tulip, I think to myself, "one of these things just doesn't belong" (oh yeah, Sesame Street kid!).  After that, I kinda moseyed around the complex, finding whatever I could that looked pretty/interesting.

Evidence I went outside today:

Can you find the camouflage tulip?

Swaying in the breeze.

Pretty and pink.

Spyglass.  Literally.

Duck on what I like to call the "collector pond" since it seems to just sit there stagnant.

Random boat/floaty thingy in the water...

...That these men seemed to be operating.

Today's April Photo of the Day was "shadow".  I had a more clever shadow of my camera lens.  

This is spring.  In America.  Which you never take for granted again after being in a desert climate for 2 years.

Floating spider?

The pathway for Phil's morning walk.

Tulip.

Fallen solider.

After photos was more HIMYM, rolling the laundry (finally), and dinner time for me then Phil.

How about a YAY for shooting photos so awesome they don't need to be edited???  YAY!!

Also, I've noticed that Lightroom does watermarks.  As in, you can put watermarks on all your photos with a few simple clicks.  WIN.  Maybe once I figure out a cool mark I can start putting some of my bestest photos on the blog/fb?  We'll see.  :)