Long weekends are the best...

On Friday, I was informed that I might have to work this weekend.  Nothing kills the joy of getting a long weekend like the possibility of having to go into work.  With the possibility of having to work on Friday meant that there was no leaving early on Friday either.  Le sigh.  I guess this kinda worked out for the best though...

As I was driving home, I was about to pull into my apartment complex and there was a dog meandering in the middle of the street.  I debated just letting the dog find it's own way home, but it was cold outside and the dog wasn't staying on the shoulder or in the grass, he preferred the middle of the street.  I was legitimately afraid that he was going to get hit by a car, so I pulled over and tried to coax him to me.  It wasn't working.  Before I finally was successful, 3 cars had stopped as to not run the dog or me over.  That was kind of them.  I gathered up Neutron and went back to the car.  He was shivering because of how cold it was, but otherwise he was fine.  He had a phone number on his collar, which was also how I knew his name.  I gave the lady a call to tell her that I had her pup since he was wandering the streets.  

Gettin' warm.

Phil seemed very unimpressed at the new addition I'd brought home.  I gave the pup a few handfuls of dog food and some water since I didn't know how long he'd been loose.  After that, Neutron settled down and I took Phil out for business.  I still hadn't gotten a call back from the owner, so I tried calling again.  This time, I was successful and she said lived a few neighborhood's down and she'd come pick him up.  Our time together was short-lived, but I could tell Neutron was happy to be back with his mom.

After that, Phil and I had a mostly quiet evening waiting on Kody to arrive.  Except for that one part where I got a random motivated streak and packed several boxes.  My apartment was a disaster when company arrived.  I actually apologized for the state of the apartment, which I don't usually do.  Once Kody arrived, the party winded down and we went to bed soon after.

Kody surprised me when he actually slept on the floor the first 2 nights of his stay.

Like clockwork, every morning Kody would wake us up at 0645.  After being taken out and fed breakfast, everyone was able to take a nap, which happened.  Every.day.  

Kody tried to help me eat my breakfast this morning....
That hole in the eggs was from his help.
I was impressed at how quick my response time was on this impending disaster.

Saturday morning, I was re-woken up by text messages, so I got up and answered the texts and signed onto Skype to talk to Teh Bear.  We talked till he had to go pick up the kids, and then I had spark of motivation.  I showered and went out to rent a Uhaul for moving day!  Then on the way home, I stopped to get Yurtle a bath.  She needed it very badly.  I also had perfect timing because while I was waiting on Yurtle, I saw the liquor store manager collapsing boxes.  I ran out and asked him if I could have the boxes since I was moving and he not only gave me the stack he was working with, he went inside and found another stack for me!  

Clean car meant I could finally "Greyhound-ize" Yurtle!

When I got back, I took the pups out and let Kody play for a little bit while Phil got pettin's from one of the other dog park frequenters.  Proud of all my new boxes, I decided to repack the large bookshelf boxes that were ridiculously heavy into the smaller liquor boxes.  It made them much more manageable.  I told Teh Bear he was welcome for my thoughtfulness.  After the motivated streak ended, I decided it was time for dinner, which was the smörgåsbord of leftovers, and a movie, The Lorax.

I liked The Lorax overall, but I was ultimately disappointed by the use of the Minion characters as the wildlife creatures in The Lorax.  I love the Minions.  Seriously, I do.  But I don't want to see them overused or commercialized.  It just made me think of the Disney Princesses who only exist now to make money, not to be in films.  Or at least that's what it feels like to me.

Kody.  All day long.

After The Lorax, I talked to Teh Bear for a little bit and then finally decided it was bedtime.  I downloaded a free novella for Nook and I was pretty disappointed that it was only 65 pages.  Apparently, you have to invest in books to actually find something worth reading for Nook that isn't 100+ years old.  Le sigh.

Kody was snuggled up tight!
Hooyah, Navy.

Sunday consisted of a super awesome church service in the morning.  I'm a believer in signs and there were just a lot of signs that I was in the right place at the right time and that getting out of bed (even though I really, really didn't want to) was the best decision of the day.  Saturday night I had felt very lonely.  The very first petition (ok prayer, since I'm no longer really a Catholic) was, "For all those who feel alone."  I kid you not.  I had even told Teh Bear when we chatted the night prior that I had just been feeling lonely.  I was exactly where I needed to be Sunday morning.  

After church, I headed to the Commissary to buy meats so I'd be more motivated to cook dinner/lunch for the week than go out day after day, which has been mostly successful (considering it's only been one day and I've cooked twice).  I got home and chatted with Teh Bear for a little bit and then when he had to go pick up the kids, I got super motivated and went on a run and came back and did some core work out.  As I was finishing my workout, Teh Flying Metal Mouth came to invite me over for pizza that evening.  I accepted and told him I'd see them later.  After my workout, I went downstairs because I heard my neighbors outside and told them that they should come and get the loveseat out of my apartment if they wanted it.  They said they were going to go inside and find/make room for it and I decided to relocate the loveseat (that has a foldout bed in it) all by myself to the porch.  Which I did.  All.by.myself.  Because I'm a freakin' beast.  I might have scratched up the wall and door, but the wall was already scratched so I wasn't too worried.  I already have a list of things to fix when I move out anyways.  No big deal.

Proof it made it out of my apartment.

After the loveseat was relocated (reminder: which I did all by myself), I decided to vacuum because there were bone chips all over the rug (thanks Phil) and dirt everywhere (thanks rain for 5 days).  Kody wasn't phased by the vacuum, but paid me back for testing him by eating 4 pieces of parmesan crusted tilapa off the oven... which was kinda my fault since I hadn't cleaned it up after I finished eating.  After I was done vacuuming, I felt more relaxed.  Cleaning is soothing to me, which is disturbing and ok with me at the same time.  I fed the puppies and then headed to Teh Neighbor's house for some socializing, pizza, and baby time.  The other Teh Neighbors came home after being away all weekend, so we all socialized and had pizza and baby time.  I'm going to definitely miss that when I move away.  

Kody don't care none.

I headed home to skype with Teh Bear and we watched an episode of Community and The Big C before I finally decided it was bedtime.  After a bit of reading, I decided to go to sleep and Kody decided to join me for his last night at Teh Apartment.  There's something comforting about sleeping with a dog.  They keep you warm despite how hard it is to get comfortable when they are taking up valuable foot space, but you miss them when they aren't there.  It's really complicated.  I didn't mind that he joined me.  At 0645, like clockwork, Kody jumped off the bed and I figured that I'd be serenaded with his whining to go out, but he settled back down until 0730, at which point the serenade began.  Since he let me sleep in for 45 minutes, I got up right away.  After breakfast was served to all animals and the human, it was naptime again.  

My phone ringing woke me up this time, and it was Al, a guy calling about giving me an estimate on movers.  He said he'd come to my apartment to give me an estimate so I showered and waited on him to arrive.  We came to a deal at $300 for everything, even if it went over 4 hours.  He had originally asked for $80 for 2 men, so it's only $20 less, but he's willing to disassemble AND reassemble my mega-huge bed, in addition to move everything else, so I felt like it was a deal.  His quote was also $150 less than what the local company in town quoted me, so I was happy with it.  

I really didn't want to have to hire movers, but since I'm moving in the middle of the week and know very few people who aren't 1) already moving around that same time, 2) own trucks, 3) would be willing to help me move, it was just easier to hire movers because with just Teh Bear and I it would have taken more than 1 day to get everything moved.

After Al left, I made an appointment with the vet to get Phil's xrays done since his limp seems to be getting worse and worse and worse.  I think some of it has to do with the cold, but he's not even really wanting to run at the dog park anymore.  

Feeling ridiculously productive, I decided to make some lunch while Skyping with Teh Bear.  While I was doing that, my new landlord called to schedule to meet me (and Phil).  We also answered some questions that we had for each other and he seems very reasonable and easy going, so I'm excited!

After lunch, Kody's Mom came to pick him up and my downstairs neighbor asked for a ride to Verizon, which I was ok with since the Verizon store is in the same strip as Starbucks and I'd been wanting a Double Chocolaty Chip Frappuccino.  I brought Phil along for the ride so he could smell all the smells and get him out of the house for a little bit.  

Nirvana in a cup
AKA, what got me through A and C Schools.
AKA, the most delicious cold beverage on Starbuck's Menu
AKA, the chocolate drink with NO coffee in it (although there is a java version).
AKA.  Starbuck's Double Chocolaty Chip Frappuccino 

In a surprising twist of events, I spent a little bit of time editing some vacation photos while chatting with Teh Bear on FB while eating dinner.  I'm a multitasker, what can I say?  As I was finishing dinner, Teh Coast Guardian messaged me on FB and asked if Phil and I wanted to come over, so Phil could have ice cream and I could play WiiParty.  We accepted and headed over a bit later.  Phil was so excited about ice cream he would hardly sit down.  I told Teh Coast Guardian that Phil's overexcitement of ice cream was all his fault.  He agreed.

After WiiParty (where I didn't win, of course), I endured the Jersey Shore episdoe of South Park and the beginning of the inauguration ball.  One Alicia Keys had annoyed me for more than 30 seconds, Phil and I took our leave to come home and be lazy.

This week is filled with medical appointments and minimal manning at work, which always proves to be a good time.  This job is teaching me that I have to take care of myself in order to take care of everyone else, which is a very hard lesson for me to learn.  I'm always very concerned about work and making sure that everything is going the way it should, which if that means being there extra, then I will be.  I might not like it very much, but I have been trying to curb my complaining or at least trying to keep it to a minimum.  

Please note that there wasn't even one snide comment or whiny FB post about my having to go back into work for 1.5 hours on the night that they were calling for inclement weather in Pax River.  It was hard, but I controlled myself.  Being an adult, I got this.

YAY 4 day week this week!!!!

YAY 2 day week next week!!!!

YAY holding hands with Teh Bear in 9 days!!!

YAY MY BIRTHDAY in 13 days!!!

YAY moving in 14/15 days!!!