Adventures with Teh Bear... part 11

My vacation started on Wednesday, so from my birthday weekend until Wednesday was mostly boring.  We accomplished some of the home decorating stuff during that time, but mostly we ate chili (that Drew made with my birthday present (slow cooker), which was a recipe from the other birthday present (cookbook)) and home-made pizzas and watched the Lord of the Rings Extended Edition in Blu-Ray, No Strings Attached, and random TV shows that Drew would put on from Netflix that I managed to get sucked into every time.  Honestly, it was awesome.

Once my vacation started, we did more of the sitting around.  That was also awesome.  But by Friday, we finally decided to get out and do something.  I'm pretty sure Drew was also annoyed at me checking my phone/computer for any new emails from the Greyhound rescue group about my adoption approval/denial.  I was threatening to email them back and ask if they had reviewed my application or not by Thursday.  On Friday, I was going to wait till noonish and send them an email asking about the status of my application, if I hadn't heard anything.  Patience, not my virtue.

Drew and I had went out to have lunch at a Cafe in Leondardtown.  We actually didn't eat at the Cafe that I had planned on (because we wanted some normal, not expensive, but still delicious foods), but found somewhere else in the downtown "area", if you will.  We didn't really want to go back home after we finished lunch, so instead Drew opened up the S. MD map of places I have in the car (for just this purpose actually), and he suggested we go explore Point Lookout Lighthouse, which is at the literal southern most point of S. MD.  It was a straight shot from where we were, so I said okie dokie.

We drove for at least 45 minutes to get to this place.  We re-discovered the roads that we had taken to get to the seafood restaurant we'd went to on my birthday.  We went even further into Podunk than on my birthday.  We passed a Civil War Memorial/Graveyard (hello Mason-Dixon Line).  Finally, we came into the state park area.  Drew paid the $4 to enter (actually $5 since he only had a $5 and there was no one there to give change since it was the honor system type deal, and I didn't have an dollars to contribute) and we drove some more.  We passed a campground and several beach accesses.  We passed places that looked like houses where people currently lived.  We passed some picnic areas.  We went over a bridge.  I was pretty sure we were going to drive into the water and still not find a lighthouse.  But, alas, finally we found a very big box with windows house.  With a light on top of it.  With a fence around it.  Which was locked.

Newsflash:  not all lighthouses are like the ones on the Outer Banks.  This experience was a bitter reminder of the literal term "light house."  Touche, world, touche.

Point Lookout Lighthouse...  This ain't no Cape Hatteras.  (image)
Actually, the snow and grey were pretty much the exact same conditions as when we went.

We had planned to take photos, but since there was a fence and it was pretty dreary and fairly chilly outside, we decided that maybe One Day we'd just come back instead.  I checked my phone to see if anything interesting had happened since we started the journey, but for the first time since arriving back in America from Bahrain.....  I didn't have cell phone service.  Woah.  We laughed about this as I started the 45+ minute drive towards home.  After getting past the memorial/graveyard, my phone "Drrrrroid"-ed at me, letting me know I had either a text message or new email.  Being the most excellent driver that I am, and since we were behind someone that wasn't even going the speed limit (in an area where I'm sure cops don't even bother with, considering the low population), I checked to see what it was as a mini-Yay I have cell reception again-celebration.

It was an email from Greyt Expectations!  I had been approved to adopt a Greyhound!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! There were squeals and giggles and excitement and maybe even some bouncing in my seat due to an abundance of excitement.  It definitely made up for the lighthouse fail.

The reason for my earlier impatience was that the next day (Saturday the 11th) was adoption day, which I knew when I put in my application.  If I didn't get to choose on that Sat, I would have to wait 2 weeks!  Which would also mean that Drew wouldn't get to help me pick out the doggy...

Drew and I started talking about where we were going to go next.  Potentially DC or Annapolis.  But, it was already after 2, and it would take at least 2+ hours to get to either place.  By then, we'd be running out of daylight and it was still going to be cold outside.  We decided to push a DC/Annapolis trip off till Saturday, after the adoption stuff was taken care of.  Instead, Drew found another state park (Calvert Cliffs) in Lusby, over the bridge.  If it was just as dead as the lighthouse state park, we'd check it out then leave.

We finally passed the road that goes to my apartment.  We went through Lexington Park.  We crossed the bridge.  We discussed why there has been no invention of heating elements for bridges to prevent them from freezing before the road.  We started toward Prince Frederick.  The state park was on the right and not very far off the highway.  We had already decided if we had to pay to get in, we weren't going.  Especially after paying $5 to drive to a closed lighthouse already.  We stopped at the guardhouse to pay (no jk), but there was no one in it.  There was also no where to leave the money, like at the previous park.  So, we drove on.  We saw some orange construction tape up, but we still stopped at a map to see what this park was about.

Calvert Cliffs has several hiking trails.  We figured, what the hell, and decided to test out one of the trails.  I parked and we started walking.  Drew had seen that the red trail was the one being worked on, but was open on the other end.  The area we walked to was where the orange, black, and red trails started.  He asked me which I wanted to do and I just shrugged.  Till I saw the sign about how hunting was allowed past the sign we were standing at and that bright clothing was suggested, at which point I quickly decided that my clothes weren't vibrant enough to be in huntin' land, so the end of the red trail it was!

After walking for a while, I started to become curious why the park was called Calvert Cliffs.  I hadn't seen any cliffs, just small mounds and lots of trees (no complaints).  But I could tell that we were going down in elevation, and Drew said that maybe the cliffs were at the beaches, since the photo showed the cliffs near the water.  We kept going and found a decrepit pier type walkway into a water area where most of the trees had been knocked down/cut down/gnawed down by the beavers.

Huh.  I'm not sure that's safe.  Interesting, nonetheless.

We kept walking, because Drew said that eventually the trail would end at the water.  After some runner scared the bejesus out of me, a pit stop at a far out porta-potty (which was pretty conveniently placed AND, impressively, had toilet paper), and a little longer of walking.. we finally arrived at the water.  I still didn't see any cliffs.  But I did see some strange thing in the water and another disappointing MD lighthouse down the coast a pretty good distance (I knew it was a lighthouse from the light on top).

Drew then climbed a mound of sand and discovered the cliffs, which he promptly pointed out to me, so I'd stfu be satisfied.  I took the opportunity to get some photos, since the entire day was supposed to be about exploring/taking photos and neither of us had done much of the latter.

Enjoy this self-done photo shoot.... and the captions.. :)

Drew:  See there ARE cliffs.
Me:  *Sticks out tongue*

I was sure that a huge wave was going to miraculously appear and swallow Drew since he was in the Danger Zone..

Hey look!  Actual cliffs, like in the pictures.  Huh.

Drew was being an adventurer while I was just snapping photos.  You can see the lighthouse in the distance.  Barely.  Kinda.  Ish.  If you have good eyes.

I'm actually not sure what was in the middle of the water.  But I took a photo anyway.

Then Drew and I decided to be silly and get some photos together.  We got the cheesy kissy photos, but I'm not sharing those here because I have rules.  I will share some of the funny ones though.

Note:  Drew does have the option to edit these posts.  Most of the time he doesn't unless its a shared opinion post.  But, I will still probably get shit from him for putting some of these up here, but I made sure to pick ones where we both look silly.... not just him.. :)

hehehehehehheheheheheheehe.
Ok, lets be honest, most of those were of me being silly and I just had to even out the silly face tallies with this one.

Did I mention it was cold outside?  Cause it was.  I was wearing a sweater AND my jacket.  I was wearing BOTH hoods because my ears were pretty chilly.  We didn't even hold hands on this stroll because our hands were shoved in our pockets.  At least we can say we're hardcore walkers.  That and if one of us had tripped on a root/rock/the ground/random uneven spots in the ground, we'd have probably taken each other down.

The path we took was about 1.5 miles long.  Neither of us had been prepared for a 3 mile hike that day, but we were both pretty glad we'd worn tennis shoes.  After we finally arrived back at the car, there was a celebratory photo to show that we'd survived the wilderness together (and didn't got shot by any hunters).

Yurtle the Turtle/Indigo Montoya between us.. and a very redneck camper/truck thing behind me, which I assessed to be a vehicle of a hunter.  Just a feeling.

Edit:  I got my days mixed up on the snow.  Oops.

Up next:
I make a lunch for Annapolis.
We pick out a dog.
We do some more stuff.

PS.  Previews make this so much more fun!  :)

Adventures with Teh Bear... part 10

Feb 3rd is my birthday, if you weren't aware.  Birthday have always been a pretty big deal in my family.  Drew says thats not the same for him, but I think he's picking up on the fact that his birthday is a big deal for ME, even if he doesn't really see it that way.

This was the first year that Drew and I were able to do something awesome on my birthday.  We were in GTMO for the first one, and I'd been in a car accident the weekend before which "pulled some muscles" in my back (or so the docs said) and I was lying in bed writhing in pain that year.  Last year, I was in Bahrain.  But this year, Drew arranged for his vacation to include my birthday!  YAY!

Just for the record, for Drew's bday (Dec 18th), in GTMO, I made him cupcakes.  I was baking cupcakes for a bake sale the weekend prior and we were hanging out one evening and I told him I needed suggestions for what kind of cupcakes I should make.  He said chocolate with white icing, so instead of making those for the bake sale, I made them for his birthday.
Last year, since I was in Bahrain and couldn't bake cupcakes, I ordered cupcakes from Sweet! and had them delivered to his workplace.
This past year, I lied and told him I was going to Philly to visit some friends, which instead I was planning on swinging by Orlando on my way to NC for Christmas.  Not really on the way.  He was only kinda surprised.  Nonetheless, I was there for his birthday, despite how un-surprised he acted.

A the day before my birthday, I was leaving for work and when I walked out the door, I noticed a big box from Amazon and a smaller envelope with a book inside.  I knew the small envelope was the Retired Racers for Dummies book that I had purchased about Greyhounds, but I hadn't ordered anything large from Amazon, so I was curious to what the box was, but didn't have time to open it.  I brought the box inside and put it in the living room floor so Drew wouldn't trip over it and brought the envelope with me.  When I came home later for lunch, the box was gone.

I asked Drew where the box was and his response was, "What box?"  Subtle.  I teased him a few more times by asking where it went.  He went so far as to tell me that it was actually the neighbor's box, so he gave it to them (the UPS man has delivered some of my neighbor's packages to me during Cmas, so it was plausible, but I still didn't believe him).  Since my birthday was the next day, I let it go, because I wanted it to be a surprise.

I woke up on my bday and got ready for work.  When I finally got to the kitchen to make my breakfast shake, I noticed a HUGE, wrapped box on the dining room table and my doggie halloween gift bag.  That definitely explained why it took Drew so long to come to bed the night before.  Sneaky, sneaky.  There was also a card. I went ahead and opened my StoryPeople card (Drew knows me so well!), and waited on the presents cause I wanted him to be there for me opening them (he was still in the bed).  He actually got out of bed before I left for work so I would/could open my presents.

I went for the bag first because it was smaller and looked more manageable.  It was a Slow Cooker recipe book!  I immediately knew what was in the box!  A slow cooker that I'd had on my Amazon wishlist.  I had asked for one for cmas, and hadn't gotten it, so I put it on my birthday list.  Drew knew if I didn't get it for my birthday I was going to buy it for myself anyways.

Sadly, I had to open my presents and run, but I was definitely excited!  I was able to get out of work early that day, which was awesome.  You know your coworkers don't know you well when they don't even know its your birthday.

It was definitely buttercream icing.

When I came home for lunch, Drew was icing my birthday cake.  That was pretty exciting.  He'd made 2 round funfetti cakes, chocolate mousse told hold them together and had attempted my buttercream icing recipe... except that he ran out of powdered sugar.  Nonetheless, the effort was still there, kisses were exchanged and I said that we'd eat it no matter what!

The mousse was a little too dark chocolate for me, and the icing was a little too buttery for both of us.  I told Drew that I'd make new icing and we could scrape off the buttery-cream and replace it with better icing.  I did a few days later and it was MUCH better.  The cake was delightful no matter what, cause Drew made it for me.  ;)

Since it was my birthday, I had to decide dinner plans.  In my family, we always go out for birthday dinner, and the birthday person gets to pick what restaurant.  I really wanted seafood.  Which actually proved to be more of an experience than Drew or I could have imagined.  We picked a local Southern Maryland seafood place that was in no-man's-land from the help of Yelp.com.  When we arrived, there were actually 2 of the same type of restaurant at the end of the street where we had directions for.  One looked like a restaurant and the other looked like... well a shady bar, imo.  We opted for the one that looked like a restaurant because it had cars in front of it.

Apparently, most of the cars belonged to the employees.  Nevertheless, we still ate there, since I'd wanted seafood.  Drew ordered some large platter of stuff and I ordered soft shell crabs.  Everything on the menu was pretty expensive, so I figured we'd at least get a decent amount of food.  Eh, not so much.  I also had never had soft shell crab before, and I was more thinking crab legs than crab body.  Lesson learned.  Luckily, Drew shared some of his food with me so I wouldn't starve.  I definitely wasn't impressed, although the hushpuppies were decent.

After our BFE experience, we traveled back into civilization (if you can call anything in Southern Maryland "civilized"), and headed to Twist, the only liquor store in town that doesn't look like you're going to get mugged in the parking lot.  Drew and I had decided to do some drinking and I suggested shots night.  The downside to this was that I only had Sailor Jerry, Cruzan coconut rum, Malibu, Amaretto, and 2 things of Absolut vodka.  So for shots night, I pretty much had to build my liquor cabinet from scratch.  I spent $127 at the liquor store.  Apparently for every $500 you spend you get a $20 store credit, so I signed up for that wonderful, alcoholic enabling program, since I was already over 1/5th of the way there.  We bought so many bottles that they took a wine box and put all the liquors in it for easier carrying.  Thats when you know someone is serious business, when they carry a box out of the liquor store.  Screw the brown bags buddy!

We also stopped by the grocery store for the essential mixer juices/stuffs.  Fully stocked up, we headed back home.  Drew turned on the Craig Ferguson stand up from Netflix, which I only partially paid attention to.  Despite his Scottish accent, he just kept making animal noises, which wasn't funny to me... even as I got drunk.

Properly bartending.

A few nights prior to my birthday, Drew and I had decided to have some drinks and he started to make them without even adding ice.  Quickly, the bartender in me was exclaiming, "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!"  Drew was confused of course, but since I'd questioned his pouring authority, I was delegated to make the drinks from then on out.  Automatically, on my birthday I was the bartender.  Which was ok with me.

For a detailed list of what we drank that night.. click here.

Drew suggested some pacing, but that wasn't my style.  Since we'd started drinking around 9, by midnight I was ready to pass out.  Now I know why Rena and I never started drinking till late (despite that fact that it was usually because someone was coming home late from work).

All in all, it was an awesome birthday.  I could get all mushy, but I won't break the internet pda rules.  Lets just say, I was glad Drew was here.  :)

These pics are from the night that we were drinking earlier in the week... this can of pineapple juice was sent from the devil...

Trying to open the pineapple juice.
This is the start of Drew's WTF face.

It quickly became ridiculous how difficult this can was to open!
These are only half of the marks that were made in attempt to open this can.....
At least we were persistent!

Eventually, Drew was able to open the can, but not after we'd both tried to open it.  He blamed the can's lip when I threatened to get a knife and just stab it until I made a big enough hole to pour from (no, nothing about that sounded safe, but that was the frustration level we were at, and I'd vowed not to throw anything anymore).  Eventually, we were able to enjoy some Corazon sunrises (ice, coconut rum, pineapple juice, splash of grenadine).


PS.  Teh Bear got me a slow cooker, a slow cooker recipe book, and a stay at a B&B in Williamsburg.

Teh Bear made pizza sauce with the cooker!  Twice.  hehehehe..
The first batch was really good, then it burnt overnight.
The 2nd batch... well, lets just say the recipe makes a lot and I'm still using the sauce.

Adventures with Teh Bear... part 9

Before Drew arrived in MD, I already had tasks waiting on him.  Part of it was that I knew he'd be sitting in the apartment, presumably bored for the week that I was working.  So, in effort to save him from boredom while I was away, I left him some.... household tasks that he could complete.

A few months ago I (finally) ordered chairs for the dining room table.  I ended up getting the X back ones, btw.  They were cheaper, had a little bit of personality to them.  Whatever.  I put 2 together so that way I'd at least have something to sit on, but I saved 2 of the chairs for Drew to put together when he got here.  I also ordered 2 end tables, an entryway table, and a mirror.  I saved all of those items for him too.  There was also the painting that I bought way back in November that needed to be hung, along with a picture frame I purchased when I went to NJ to visit for Mr. Voice's 30th birthday celebration, and the other random stuff that hand been on the walls while I was in Bahrain.  Finally, I also needed some curtain rods/curtains hung.

His list kept getting longer while he was here because he kept thinking of things that I "needed".  hehehe.  Like the shelf to hold the blu-ray player over the fireplace.  Drew suggested a 4 shelf unit for my kitchen "spill-over" items, which I wasn't a big fan of until I broke down and bought it and he put it together for me and I put stuff on it, which created SO MUCH SPACE in my child-sized kitchen.  He also suggested a wall shelf for the dining room or a mirror, but that didn't happen yet.  He also brought the tv adventure on himself because he was the biggest push/peer pressure-er in regards to the tv.

Lets just say it was a super awesome thing that we had borrowed the drill because it definitely got put to use!  It was awesome to watch the apartment transform from looking like a college student lived here (no offense to my college student readers, but I have a feeling you know what I mean) to a potential adult living here.  No more tv trays as end tables or entryway stand.  Actual wall decorations.  Mirrors.  A nice tv mounted on the wall.  Curtains!

Pictures are better than words in this case!

What we started with:
I had a rug and couches.. and TV trays as end tables.  Classy.

Drew made PLENTY of messes like these.  Most of which he cleaned up.  The messes were being made for my benefit so I tried to keep my OCD complants to a minimum.

Lookie, he hung the mirror!  That is the "Will is fall?" face.

Added project:  paper towel holder.
Yay for a little bit more counter space.
This was obviously drinkin night.

Finally mounting the tv to the wall.

Final look of the living room:
tv, shelf, curtains, orchid, and the tv tray (which was actually being using for its true purpose)

Final look of the entry way
Table and mirror completed by Drew.  I just helped hand him stuff and held stuff for measuring.

Final dining room look
All 4 chairs, shelf unit, painting hung (which later got raised to higher than the shelf unit), no more Cmas table cloth.
Now the dining room looks a little different due to the crate.

Drew also hung my Bahrain painting in the hall and one of StoryPeople prints in the bedroom (I have to get the one he gave me Cmas this year framed before I can hang it, yay for one on each side of the bed!).

The funniest story from all of these construction events was when I came home for lunch one of Drew's first few days in MD.  He was standing outside on the porch, seeming to enjoy the weather.  I thought maybe he was just chillin' outside for a few minutes.  Actually, this wasn't the case.  He had brought some of the empty boxes from completed construction projects to the dumpster and locked himself out.  Not only had I not given him a house key (mostly because I couldn't find my spare), but he hadn't brought any keys with him anyways, so even if I had've, it wouldn't have done much good.  After he told me what happened, I asked him how long he had been standing outside.  He said about 15 minutes.  Which made me giggle a little more.  I asked him why he hadn't gone to the front office to be let in and he couldn't remember the hours where they charged you to be let into your apartment and he didn't want them to charge me.  Smart thinkin, since the charge is $75.. but its only after business hours.  Then he also was worried they wouldn't let him in since they didn't know him and he wasn't on my lease..

In the end, he was lucky the weather was nice that day and I came home for lunch.  As for me, I'm still gigging. :)

Picture for your entertainment:

Sometimes, I miss this place.  And I feel oddly guilty for missing it.  GTMO was definitely a love-hate relationship.  But if I could go back (and still not be a guard in the camps), I'd probably do it.

Adventures with Teh Bear... part 8

The first week that Drew was in MD, I was going through command indoc.  Essentially, they are supposed to tell you about your new command/location...  mostly the career counselor told us about things we "needed to know"... for 4 days.  And in between his rantings, other briefers would come in and talk about sexual assault and drinking and driving and going IA and having dependents.  Nothing much about VX-1 in specific, which made me pretty sad.  For Drew that meant he got to apartment sit for me while I was at work during the day.

I would have taken vacation his entire time in MD, but I didn't want to use all my leave days.  Lucky for him, since I decided to go ahead with the tv purchase, he was able to be entertained via Netflix all day while I was gone.

During the first few days of indoc, my phone started acting up.  I was only able to type in a few characters at a time, if any at all.  This was extremely frustrating to me, since I couldn't respond to text messages or even post smart ass status updates on FB.  I came home the 2nd day Drew had been in MD and had an extreme fit of rage and threw my POS phone.  This isn't so much surprising for me, since I've been known to throw my phone when I get pissed off at it or anyone.  Except that...  I threw it at the fireplace...  Which would have been ok, except that the tv had been placed in front of the fireplace until it got mounted.

Drew had been in another room and said he heard a crack.  I fetched my phone, which landed on the floor (with an insignificant thud) in front of the tv, and still was unable to type a response to a very important email.  I could feel the frustration mounting again, at which point Drew took my phone away from me and told me to use my computer to respond to the email.  I didn't want to do that, but did it anyways.  I was pretty upset but after sending my email and snuggles from Drew, I calmed down after a few minutes (he really excels at calm me down).

After a few minutes, I went back to the tv and turned it on.  Where the phone had hit was a black abyss, void of color, and the rest of the tv was a colored snow channel with lines moving up and down the screen, drawn to a star-y point at the black abyss.  At which point I broke down and bawled.  I had effectively made a $500 paperweight.  Go Megan.

What a $500 paperweight looks like.

The next day, Drew had to deal with no tv, he was stuck with only the internet as his entertainment while I was at work all day.  Since the tv had come messed up, Target accepted it for an exchange.  And thats why I love 18 year old girls (as cashiers of course).  We brought the tv home and before Drew would take it out of the box, he made me swear to not throw anything at that entire side of the apartment, although I one-upped him and said I wasn't going to throw things in fits of rage anymore.

Drew had to re-update and re-set up everything.  He's great like that cause he did it twice.

It was a difficult lesson.  It was my first tv purchase and I felt like I had done a pretty decent job of picking out a good tv, and then I killed it with my rage.

This was only the START of the television adventures though.

Drew went to mount the tv (haha, not like that, of course!) and we found out we needed a drill.  I was able to borrow one that evening from someone I work with.  Then when he went to mount it, we realized the screws for the part that goes on the tv were too short.  Le sigh.  So we ordered a $60 cheaper one from Amazon and since Drew was testing out Amazon Prime for a month, we got it a few days later.  It's screws were also too short for the tv part.  Le growl.  It was starting to become ridiculous.

Hard at work!

We made a trip to Lowes to find screws that would work.  4 screws were $7!  Even the cashier was like, wtf?!  When we got home, Drew found out the screws we had picked out were too long.  Le sigh.  Drew went back to Lowes (I let him drive Yurtle unsupervised!  Some people will realize this is quite a big deal) and purchased a different size screw.

After MUCH hassle, the tv finally got mounted on the wall... over a week after being purchased.  We were very relieved to finally get that sucker on the wall.  Drew had been afraid that we were going to have issues because the tv was positioned over the fireplace.  We had to find the studs, but there were some other difficulties that I tried not to pay attention to.

Final, completed project.  hallelujah!

I did more womanly things, like finally hanging a Pinterest project I started back in December!  It did require a hammer, nails, and pliers, so it counts as home maintenance right?



And for a teaser photo (if you didn't already know I got a new dog):

This is Phill and I.  He doesn't like slippery floors or stairs and I don't like it when Phil farts.

Dog Name Drama

So... let me tell you a short story (very much out of order of a larger story).

I adopted a Greyhound.  He's awesome.  Seriously.  He is.  Even though I've only got to hang out with him for about 20 minutes.  He's awesome.  And I'm picking him up from his foster family on Friday.

Nothing about that is dramatic.

Dramatic:  This Greyhound's name is Pal's Spot Light.  Y.U.C.K!

More dramatic:
Teh Bear and I had decided we were going to rename him, and we were working with S names because we figured he was called Spot Light.  Only spent 20 minutes with the dog, cut me some slack.  Greyhounds aren't usually "called" by any particular name since they aren't really "pets" until they retire, which is when they start getting called by a name and being a pet.

We finally decided on Sprocket, cause that was cool.  We liked Spock for a while, cause that's all nerdy.  Apparently, Sprocket was also nerdy in a way that I didn't understand.  Then I called the foster mom and she said that she'd been calling him Pals because he seemed to be responding to that better than Spot or Light or any combination.  Which meant that Teh Bear and I were back at square 1 with a name.

In reality, we could still name him something entirely different from a name that he is answering to, its only a matter of training and time.  But for my sanity's sake, I wanted something similar to something he was already answering to so the transition could be fairly smooth.  So we started brainstorming P names.

Photo reminder of the cuteness in question.

We've been pretty torn about this re-re-name.
I liked Pixel the best.  But we came up with a list.

Pixel

Pluto

Phil

Porter

Poseidon

Poindexter

Pancho

Pinto

Puck

Rasputin

Moose

Baldric

Oswald

I think Teh Bear really liked Phil, which could grow on me.  

But time is dwindling and I'm ready to make a decision on this dog naming business.  

Teh Bear left MD today (/sad face), so now I have all this quiet time on my hands to write blogs and contemplate dog names, but I need help with the 2nd part!

What are your opinions?

Adventures w/ Teh Bear... part 7

(for parts 1-6 (which took place in Bahrain) check here: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6)


While Teh Bear was starting to make preparations to come to MD, he became increasingly concerned over my lack of a television.  He explained to me, besides Black Friday, the 2nd best time of the year to buy a tv is around the Super Bowl.  I told him to do the research and we'll see what happened.  I didn't want to spend more than $500 on a tv, and I didn't want it to be bigger than 50" (which has been my rule since the ex-fiance). We did some online research, but its really hard to decide on a tv without actually seeing it in person, so we both said we'd go look at tv displays before Teh Bear came up to MD.

While I was in DC a few weekends ago, my friend and I went into Target to burn some time before our movie started, since we'd already spent over an hour in Barnes & Noble.  My Dad called while we were in Target (since it was a Saturday), so while I was chatting with him, I meandered over to electronics and semi-gazed over the tv display.  Mostly to satisfy my part of the deal.

Honestly, I wasn't interested in buying a tv.  I rarely watch tv.  It baffles most people, but its true.  I watch dvds/my tv shows on my computer, and since I do it so rarely, it doesn't bother me too much to deal with my 17" screen from my lap.

Teh Bear arrived in DCA at 230p.  At 245p I was running through DCA to the baggage claim.  Running on those moving walkways makes you a SUPER speedy runner.  He was patiently standing there waiting on me.  In my defense, he was the one that had insisted that I come inside the airport to greet him.  My curbside pick up service never runs late (although I'm sure it will now that I've said that).  After hugs and kisses, we started towards the car, which wasn't as difficult as getting to baggage claim.

We had to make a stop at Bed, Bath, and Beyond in Waldorf, which had been planned since we knew Teh Bear was coming.  Since we were already in a "more civilized" area, I also agreed to stop at Hhgreg and Best Buy to look at tvs.  After looking at those 2 stores, I decided I didn't want anything smaller than 40", I'd go down to 37" if the price was right, but 32" was too small (haha, you member your parents' huge box that was 28" and it was HUGE, that they might still have?).  I had succumbed to commercialism, congratulations America.

After our short stop in Waldorf, we headed down south and decided to do Red Robin for dinner, since Teh Bear had never been there.  PS, the Bonzai burger is amazing.  Our original goal of being able to see the same brand name of tvs side by side to see the differences in LCD/LED/plasma still hadn't been accomplished.  I knew that I had seen the Phillips side by side at the Target in DC, so we stopped by Target in Pax River hoping they'd have the same setup.  We were also aware that the Phillips was on sale for $499.  Luckily, they had the same display that I'd seen in DC, so Teh Bear was able to see the difference between the colors of the LCD/LED of the same name brand, finally.  I decided that I liked the LED more, and Teh Bear didn't argue (which I took to mean that he approved of my decision).

Then we left Target without a tv.  Because I still wasn't set on buying a tv.  I suggested we go look at BJ's (kinda like Sam's Club for those of you that thought I was being dirty) to see if they had any comparable prices.  They didn't and Teh Bear insisted we go back to Target and get the tv that I had liked (the Phillips 40" LED 1080p 120hz with internet capability and 3 HDMI ports).

At which point, I was no longer able to resist.  We went back to Target and I bought the tv (although we were lucky because it was one of the last ones in stock).  I also purchased the Phillips blu-ray player (it was the last one and came in a very abused box) and the  wall mount.  Can I just say that buying a tv is an investment?  I'm tired of home investing.  Seriously, its breaking the bank.  $750 later we walked out of Target, me as the proud owner of my first tv.  I don't think have too bad of taste, if I might say so myself.

Hello new tv.  Good thing it wasn't cold the week Teh Bear arrived!

We brought it home, Teh Bear wouldn't even let me help him carry it in.  In less than 15 minutes, the tv was set up, sitting in front of the fireplace on a table that I've had since I was in college (I really need to make a purge since I got all this new furniture).  It worked for the time being (and since we needed a drill to attach the wall mount to the wall, which I had to borrow from someone at work).

The only issues we've noticed are that it does take a while to turn on (10ish seconds) and that while you're streaming online the volume bar doesn't show, which is slightly annoying.  Otherwise, I'm still in awe over the  picture and I'm not disappointed with the sound (which we worried about at first since the tv was in front of the fireplace and the speaker are in the back of the tv).


What I have learned since buying a tv and Teh Bear being here:
TEH BEAR LOVES TO WATCH MOVIES/TV.  Not in a, he won't do anything else type way, but the tv is almost always on when I come home.  He definitely gets the money's worth of his Netflix subscription, no jk.

With internet, anything is possible!

Up next: Megan has bad/good aim, anger issues, and a $500 paperweight.

I got a hair cut!  Not that you can really tell, but its shorter than it was yesterday.

The most Catholic thing I've ever done.

While I should be chronicling the adventures of Teh Bear and I while he is visiting, I'm putting that on hold (bahah, I say this like I've already started blogging about our adventures something) to tell you a funny story.

I was raised/am Catholic.  We might have discussed this before.  I didn't get out of going to church unless I was deathly sick (as in, probably missed Saturday morning cartoons due to illness), bleeding, or dying.  I can't remember more times than I could count on one hand that I missed church while I was living with my parents/either of them.  No JK.. Church was serious freakin business in Teh Household.

Teh Mom converted to Catholicism (from Baptist) when she married Teh Dad.  Teh Dad was raised Catholic and converted to "Independent Southern Baptist" (which is apparently different than just being Southern Baptist, as I was promptly educated when I got it wrong once) when he married Teh Stepmom.  Yes, that last sentence is 100% true, as strange and potentially awkward as it may be.

So, what is the funny story?  Patience, Gentle Reader.

I'm used to the same mass every week, despite not having gone to mass consistently since before I left home, home.  Catholic Mass rarely alters it's course.  Say the same things at the same point during the mass every week.  Sit, stand, kneel, repeat.  There is also Communion each week.

In the past few years, I've tried to get back into going to church each week.  In GTMO, I went to mass several times tour the end of my tour.  While I was in Bahrain, Mass was on Fridays, which was extremely weird to me, but since we worked with the Arabic calendar, their weekend is Fri/Sat, that's when it was.  It did not work with my schedule though, so I never went to mass in Bahrain...  I mean, I got to enjoy prayer call 5x a day, I felt really close with Allah, does that count?  I kid, I kid.

So anyways, now I'm in MD.  I've been trying to find a church to go to.  I went to the base chapel for a few weeks, for the Catholic service.  I just couldn't get into it.  That, and recently someone somewhere made changes to the things we always say, which I struggled with.  So I started looking elsewhere.  I really wanted to go some where that had a 0900/0930 service (not too late, not too early).  I found a United Methodist church that had a 0930 contemporary service, I figured I'd try it out.

I've went the past 2 weeks and enjoyed it, but this week, since Teh Bear is here visiting, he went with me.  He got to witness firsthand my very Catholic habit..

Funny story:

This past Sunday, there was Communion, which was the first time they'd served Communion since I've been going there.  In the Catholic practice, you eat the bread/wafer given to you, then drink the wine from the chalice/cup.  Nothing about drinking after everyone else in the church is sanitary, but you just pray that you don't catch all the germs from all the sick folks.  That's how I've always done it, so that's how I tried to do it.

Oops.  Apparently that's not how its done in the Methodist church.  They give you the wafer/bread, and you're supposed to dip it in the wine chalice...  Which is NOT what I did.  I ate my bread (like a true Catholic) and then the pastor had to give me another piece to dip.  Not even sure what the pastor had to be thinking at that point, but probably something along the lines of, "Silly Catholic girl."  Oops.  Sooooo very Catholic.

Teh Bear was laughing at me when I walked back to sit down beside him.  It was fair, because despite my bright red face, I was chuckling too.

What I'm used to. (image)

NOT what I'm used to.  (image)

I've been to places where they do communion where they give you the bread and the little plastic cup of wine, that was pretty self explanatory, except for the wait for everyone else part....  My bad, again, too Catholic.  In my defense of this situation though, I was raised to sit up front (no jk, we always sat in the very front left pew.  Only when we visited different churches did we move a few rows back, but usually on the left), so I didn't get to observe what was happening due to being towards the beginning and being vertically challenged.

On the other hand, lesson learned.  Less singing in line, more focusing on what people in front of me are doing.  Righto.

Birthday Shots!

Drew is in MD hanging out with me, which is totally awesome!  For my birthday, we went to this VERY much southern MD seafood restaurant.  Today I learned that soft crabs aren't like crab legs but with the body.  It came fried, and that made me sad, so I helped Drew eat some of his food, which was more delicious.  Very heavy, but delicious.

Then we went to the liquor store where I spent $127 on liquors, mostly mixers, for shot night.

As we've started doing shots, my intention is to share the party with you.  I'm listing all these as I did made them, not how I found the recipe.  I was also making shots for 2 people, so keep that in mind before you're like, Holy Drunk Ass!

**I only bought blue curacao, because its pretty.  Blue Curacao = Triple Sec.  Meaning they are interchangeable, you're welcome for this tip..  

***S/S = Sweet and Sour mix

****1/2^2 = Half and half or 1/2 squared.  Cause I'm a lazy, drunk mo-fo.

1.  Girl Scout Cookie

1 oz Bailey's

1 oz Kaluha

1 oz peppermint schnapps

2.  Megan Birthday Creation #1- Green Drink

1 oz creme de banana

1 oz blue curaco

1 oz coconut rum

1 oz white rum

splash pineapple juice

3.  Megan Birthday Creation #2- Fruity Purple Drink

1 oz blue curaco

1 oz creme de banana

1 oz peach schnapps

1 oz coconut rum

splash grenadine

4.  Megan Birthday Creation #3- Chocolate Covered Cherry

1 oz creme de cocoa

1 oz Amaretto

splash grenadine

5.  BMW

1 oz Baileys

1 oz coconut rum

1 oz creme de cocoa

6.  Banana Boomer Shooter

1/2 oz banana liquor

1/2 oz rum

1/2 oz oj

1/2 oz pineapple

splash S/S

7.  Jamaican Dust-Buster (reactions:  this smells like smoke (M), this smells like death (D), there's an aftertaste for ya! (D)).

1 part rum

2 parts pineapple juice

1 part kahlua

8.  Banana Creme Pie (typing has started to become difficult, i have a feeling that proof reading this will be VERY necessary)

some banana liquor

some creme de cacao

some vodka

some 1/2 and 1/2

(holy shit that was strong and tasted nothing like a banana cream pie.  I think I put too much vodka/cacao and not enough 1/2^2 and banana)

Drew says that we're going to take a break till 10.  It's 930.  I think he's a wimp.

9.  Grand Blue

some Malibu

some peach schnapps

some blue curaco

some S/S

(mmm that one was pretty good)

10.  Hawaii Five-O

1 oz light run

1 oz blue curaco

1 oz S/S

1 oz pineapple

(whew that was strong!)

11.  Jellyfish

some creme de cacao

some Amaretto

some Bailey's

some Grenadine

(needed some 1/2^2 to water it down, whew, so thick!)

12.  Fruit Loop #2 (yelled)

1 oz Ameretto

1 oz blue curaco

1 oz grenadine

some 1/2^2

13.  American Flag (but not really since I only bought dark coaco)

1 part grenandine

(pour next 2 layers over spoon to make it layer right)

1 part cacao

1 part blue curaco

(this would have looked cooler with white cacao..  I considered substituting, but figured it was smarter to go with flavor over looks.)

14.  Megan Birthday Creation #4 (Real Peppermint Patty)

some peppermint schnapps

some dark cocao

some amaretto

(added some 1/2^2 to mine to make it creamier after I couldn't finish it all)

15.   .... oops, I forgot to type up the last one.

My bad.