You know how some weekends you have a goals in mind that you want to accomplish and then everything about the weekend works against you and you accomplish nothing? Yeah, that was my weekend. But let me tell you about it.
Goals: Go through photos, write blogs, run
FRIDAY
I don't recall anything noteworthy about work on Friday. I did leave after lunch time because I had hit 40 hours and I didn't want to be in the office anymore. When I got home, I tried to read linker-upper posts from the Show Us Your Books linkup, but failed because of exhaustion. Between girl week and shitty sleeps, I was done. I ended up napping on the couch until Teh German came home,
early!
He walked in the door ready to hang up the Germ-erica flag. I had told him that my stipulation was that we hang everything upstairs after we hung the flag and he had agreed. I slowly got up and we got started hanging the frame. There was a debacle since our step stool has been missing since the boarding-down party, Sunday after the hurricane. We ended up using a chair and with some German precision, we got the hooks hung and the frame up. We may have had to use the retractable roasting sticks to get the wire in the hooks, but the frame is up!
I should have put something else in the picture for perspective. Well, I can tell you that those photos are 4x6 photos. I didn't count how many there are in the frame. The frame is actually 3x5.. and I mean 3 FEET by 5 FEET. It took up the entire back of Yurtle when I brought it home. It's YUGE. I wanted to get a picture straight on of the frame, but the glare from the windows was killing my mojo. Every single time I passed the frame going up and down the stairs all weekend, I smiled. It makes me super happy.
After the flag went up, it was time to hang up other things. I had to get grumbly with Teh German who kept getting distracted by social media. He gave me his opinion on where certain things should go and we got all the upstairs stuff hung within 15 minutes. Woot.
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Bedroom - Storypeople
Guest Room - GTMO pics
Loft/Stairs - Etc/flag |
YAY for having a perspective photo of the flag!
We had agreed to "first date" for dinner. This means we would ride to Hometeam BBQ on Mike and Suzi for dinner. After we finished our hanging, we watched an episode or two of HIMYM and then decided we were hungry. We got ready and headed out to West Ashley. It was a boring ride since we saw cops on every road we turned onto. This was probably to make up for that 100mph ride we did a few weeks ago. I did get a good laugh out of the assholes who were trying to pass on the right since we were blocking the fast lane at 5-10 mph over the speed limit, keeping pace with the state trooper. They'd get over and start to pass and realize why we were all going so "slow" and then let off the gas. Really, you see 2 crotch rockets in the left lane going almost the speed limit and you don't think there is a reason they are blocking the left lane? You're an idiot, enjoy your ticket, douchewad.
It was almost just like first date because we even got "our" parking spot right up front. We waited in line for a bit since we arrived right at the dinner time rush. After we got our food, we sat outside to eat since it's not the temperature of hell in Charleston anymore, small miracles. We got to see a few puppies (actual puppies) and one older guy noticed my NCSU sweatshirt and said to me, "Go Pack!" I was in the middle of chewing, so I made the wolf hand sign as he passed. It made the evening even more awesome.
Eventually, after some chatting, we headed back home. The trip back home was, thankfully, uneventful. We settled in and watched a few more episodes of HIMYM and then it was time for bed.
SATURDAY
I slept like absolute shit on Friday night because I kept having concentration camp nightmares from the audiobook I was listening too. I was awake more than I was asleep. It made for a very difficult AM when Teh German's alarm went off so he could get to work. I felt like I had just fallen asleep and he uses the annoying bunker alarm so I really just wanted to hulksmash the phone. I wasn't able to fall back asleep for several hours after his alarm went off, but I think I managed to sneak in another hour before I finally gave up and got out of bed.
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| There was a monster in my bed. |
My biggest plan of the day was to get a run in. My toeS aren't completely better, but we have a 10k scheduled for next week, so I needed to at least test if I could manage to run at all. We had someone coming out to give us an estimate on laying concrete for a driveway extension and a slab for the trailer and to extend the patio, and I was waiting on them before I went on my run, knowing that they'd show up when I was at least 1/2 a mile away. It didn't take long to get the measurements and they said they'd get back to me with an estimate.
As soon as they left, I started my run. I turned on my audiobook, because I was determined to finish it before the day was over, to hopefully stop anymore nightmares from keeping me up. I'm pleased to say that I made it 2.25 miles with very minimal pain. That pain was actually on the ripped off nail toe, not the original gimp toe! This is good news! It means I'm 10k not-ready ready next weekend! After missing 1 run that I'd paid for, I'm glad not to have to sit out another.
After my run, I watered the flowers, ate lunch, did some puzzles, all the while listening to my audiobook. I figured Teh German was going to be home after lunchtime, but ended up being wrong. I showered and the audiobook FINALLY ended. I was glad for it to be over because it was a WW2/concentration camp book and I needed it to end so I could move on with my life. I didn't enjoy the narration and the story was horrific, but I had to finish it. It was a good book though.
With the audiobook over, I started the laundry and shortly after Teh German came home and we burned some time chatting and perusing social media until it was time to go over to Roux's house for a meet and greet type gathering. We arrived early so the dogs could burn off most of their energy before other guests started to arrive. We had snacks while the dogs played. Eventually the other guests arrived and we socialized. When it was doggy dinner time, I brought Meri and Phil home and fed them dinner, rotated the laundry, then put the dogs in their crates when I headed back to the gathering. I was exhausted and my head was hurting, but I went back.
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Phil on his chair at Roux's house
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| Roux wanted a close up taken. |
A few hours later, we headed home. It was also ladies night for the neighborhood, but I skipped out. Teh German was pretty drunk when we left and we came home and went straight to bed at 8:30. Since Teh German was so drunk, he kept twitching.. but when he started groaning, I sprang out of bed and retrieved a trash can to put by his side of the bed. He was up and down throughout the night, waking me up each time he woke up and shuffled his way to the bathroom.
SUNDAY
Another restless night accomplished, we woke up late on Sunday. Teh German wisely chose to feed the dogs while I stayed in bed. After feeding, everyone came back upstairs to morning naps. We slept in until 10ish, when Teh German noticed a message from his aunt asking if we were awake. We said yes and she skyped with us for a few minutes to explain that she was having some issues booking travel from Charlotte to Charleston, which I offered to assist her with. After we finished our skype chat, Teh German and I got out of bed and got ready to head out. We had agreed to go to a Barktober event with Roux's Humom and Mr. Golfer. I had already said we were not bringing the dogs, much to Teh German's dismay.
Despite his hangover, Teh German was a good sport. We got to the event and ate first thing. Then I noticed they had a small lure chasing course set up and I immediately wanted to go home and get Phil and Meri. I thought Meri would love to chase the lure. I figured Phil wouldn't care either way, what with taking his retirement very seriously. After we walked through all the booths, I spoke with the guy running the lure and he said that a greyhound would be fine, he would just have to make sure to turn the lure quick enough so he didn't barrel through the fencing.
Finally, we all loaded back up and headed back home for us to pick up Phil and Meri. Roux's Humom came back with us to take photos, while Mr. Golfer headed to Lowe's for other activities. I was super pumped to get the dogs running. When we got there, we got close parking (yay) and we went straight to the lure course and paid and waited in line for a bit. It wasn't too long, but it felt like a long time because we were in the sun. Finally, it was our turn. I figured Meri would have been amped up, but neither dog seemed to have noticed the lure going around the course. At the last minute, I decided to take Phil in first since I figured he'd be easier to hold while Meri ran her turn. It took a split second for Phil to notice the lure and then he was off! It was the fastest I'd seen him go ever. He wasn't at his full greyhound speed because the course wasn't long enough, but it was so awesome to see him run.
Then, I made a poor parenting choice. The guy stopped the lure and told me to check Phil's paws. I tried to lift Phil's leg, but he wasn't having it. He was limping on his usual sore leg, so I figured he had just exerted himself a bit too hard. I asked the guy to slow it down some and let him go more since he hadn't been running that long. The guy really didn't slow it down any. Phil kept right on going. Finally, Phil's turn was up. Teh German and I traded out Meri for Phil, but Meri wasn't having it. She was confused where Phil had went and she wouldn't chase the lure. So I had Teh German come back in with Phil. Meri was happy to chase Phil, who was chasing the lure again. They didn't run long because Phil was starting to run wonky. I thanked the lure guy for the good time and we headed out of the enclosed area. At which point, several people noticed at once that Phil was bleeding.
Phil was also huffing and puffing. He's not as in shape as he used to be. I knew there were pools in the dog area, so I took Phil and Teh German had Meri while Roux's Humom walked with us to the far side of the dog park. The pools were disgusting, but I walked Phil through them. Then when Roux's Humom noticed a water hose, I led my mini-horse to water. Once I got Phil on a smooth surface, I checked his paws. The big pad on each paw was ripped and pretty bad. He was obviously hurting. The thing about Greyhounds is they are
extremely stoic. There was no whimpering or sound, but my boy was moving super slowly and I knew. He was also panting very heavy, so the first thing I did was hose him down. I felt bad that I also hosed down Roux's Humom a little also, but it wasn't intentional. My pants were super wet from the hose. After getting Phil hosed off and his panting a little less heavy, I focused on rinsing off his feet. This was fruitless because we then had to walk all the way back across the dog park and to the car, but I wanted to make sure that whatever could have been in them from the pools was washed away.
Once I felt like I had cooled him down as much as possible, we slowly made our way back to the car. Truthfully, I was in full-blown panic mode after I noticed that Phil's paws were bleeding. I knew that Teh German had Meri so I seriously gave zero shits about anything else besides Phil in those moments. Some asshole hadn't bothered to latch the gate when he was coming out the
entrance so I made him latch the gate before we came in. I just can't with some people. I had to lead dogs out of our way because they wanted to come and say hi. This is not the time right now dogs, get away. I was in this zone from the time Phil left the course until I got him in the car. I also had a super panic moment when a smallish white/black dog crossed in front of us as I was leading Phil to the car. It was slow going, but after his just chasing a white thingy, I didn't need him eating someone's dog. I didn't even care about the lady sitting right there, I gently, but forcefully relocated the dog as Phil came around the table, so he didn't notice it.
I had given Teh German my keys and he was backing Yurtle up as far as possible so Phil wouldn't have to cross the gravel. While we waited on him to back up, Phil and I stopped at the edge of the sidewalk where a police officer was standing in the shade. While the officer and I exchanged pleasantries, Phil noticed the lure moving again and perked back up and started to lunge towards it! This dog could barely walk and was bleeding, but he wanted to go back for more! My heart ached.
I managed to get Phil to the back of Yurtle, Meri was already inside. I knew he wasn't going to be able to jump in the car, so I had Teh German help me lift Phil inside the car. Phil quickly settled down and I drove home in a mild panic. What kind of mom lets their kid hurt itself? That's all I could think of. Me. I did.
When we got home, we dropped off Roux's Humom and Teh German stopped and fetched our found step stool (yay!). We had some debate about how to get Phil out of the car without him jumping out. We tried using one of the hurricane boards for the windows, but it was too steep. In the end, I manhandled Phil and lifted him out myself. PS. Phil weighs 80 lbs. Mom-adrenaline is real.
The first thing I did was have both dogs go outside. Once back in, I knew Phil would settle quickly since he was hurting. Once he was laying down on a slumber ball (with my help), I washed each paw with warm soapy water, smothered the pads with neosporin, and wrapped each paw with a non-stick gauze pad and vet wrap and let Phil rest. I did massage his legs and back once in the afternoon and before bed to help his muscles some. When he got up for dinner and last out, my heart continued to break. My poor boy was limping so bad, I just wanted to carry him everywhere.
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| tired pups |
After Phil was taken care of, I texted another neighbor to let her know we were home. She had said she was making Thai noodles for dinner and asked if we wanted to try them. Of course we did. We ended up going over for an early dinner around 3:30 since that's when the baby was asleep. The noodles were delicious and she didn't add any spice to them so I could eat too! We socialized for a little bit and then when it was doggy dinner time, we headed home.
We hadn't put the dogs in their crates when we left because I knew they were both tired. When we came inside, Phil was coming down the stairs. I knew he would be ok, but I also knew he was hurting. He ate all his dinner with no issue and went outside for business. When he came back in, he settled on his slumber ball and passed out while Teh German and I watched HIMYM for the rest of the night.
Blogging or photos accomplished? Nurpe.
I'd been fighting a headache all of Sunday and realized Sunday evening it's because I had failed to put Sudafed in my daily pill container. Oops. We headed to bed after Stella and Ted broke up. Teh German rubbed my neck and shoulders since my head was hurting and because he's the best boyfriend ever. Then it was bedtime.
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Overall, a very fun socializing weekend. I knew that we had activities planned for this weekend, but I hadn't expected to so social. It's not a bad thing. I'm hoping that soon I can get back to sleeping soundly because this being exhausted all the time is unbecoming.
Phil was pretty bad off this morning. I gave him a tramadol (left over from his last dental) before bed and it was obviously working because in the middle of the night I heard Phil shuffling around and licking his foot. He wasn't pleased when he was caught and I made him go back to bed, but he was still in bed this morning when the alarms went off, even if he was missing his bandage on one foot (the worst foot, of course).
He hobbled down the stairs on his own and made it outside for business. When they came inside this morning, I had them go straight to their crates for peanut butter kongs so Phil would only have to settle one time. Since Phil hadn't taken his pills (to include a pain pill) or finished his breakfast, I put that in his crate with him. I'm headed home at lunch today to check on him and do his foot soaks and rewrap his foot, since I'm sure he's been licking at it.
Truthfully, I feel like an absolutely horrible dog mom. But I know he had a blast. From the
one two photos I've seen of his run, he has so much joy on his face. Kangaroo Meri is absolutely adorable too.
Overall, another great weekend. Phil will hopefully be back in commission soon, since I plan on having him on a regular treatment schedule with foot soaks and wraps and pain killers. Maybe one day I'll get to those photos.
