Five on Friday #45

UNO

Teh Dad and Teh Stepmom will be here tonight!  I should probably vacuum up the muddy paw prints all over everything (thanks dogs...) and make sure there are clean towels in the guest bathroom.  What with having a broken washing machine, this could be a situation, but there's always beach towels!  I keep it classy.

Speaking of towels, Woot Home had some bath SHEETS on sale yesterday.  Normally priced around $30-40 per towel, I managed to get 4 for $55.  WOOT.  Haha, see what I did there?  I had to talk myself down from buying a new king size comforter for $20 on Meh yesterday.  I don't really need it, but I'd like to have one, so I said the sale would be back eventually and I might get one then.  The comforter I have is a queen size, and while that is the size of the bed, I've learned that having a size bigger comforter means less blanket wars in the middle of the night.

DOS

Speaking of my broken washing machine...  Mr. Scrooge has this problem where he only likes to do things HIS way.  This resulted in some serious drama on Tuesday night when I started the process of investigating if there was a clog somewhere because, of course, when I asked him before I started everything if he could look into the situation his response was to tell me to call someone (aka, he might have an engineering degree but that doesn't mean he cares to take apart the washing machine to see why it's not draining).  Of course when I started lifting the washing machine up on paint cans (thanks how-to wiki for that suggestion) and trying to figure out how to get the front piece (aka the 3 sides not including the back), he came to "help."

After some youtube help, we finally managed to get the stupid machine apart, only to discover ZERO blockages, which is unfortunate and means that we probably have a bad drain pump and my desire to fix that is minimal.  Looking for a blockage is one thing.. actually doing maintenance.... WOAH, I'm not an engineer people..  And this one time, I had the engineer in my house build a bookshelf.. yeah that was a disaster and took forever and I should have just done it myself but I was giving him a chance to be "manly" and shit.  There was lots of cussing and instructions with no words were baffling him and apparently, I'm just a bookshelf building pro (NBD) and I judged the shit out of him AND he put in the shelves upside down... he has an actual engineering degree and has driven Navy ships and deals with nuclear crap on a regular basis, but a bookshelf stumped him.  He's cute, remember?

Teh Dad said something about looking at it while he was here, but we'll see.  I won't stop him, but I'd rather do fun things (GO KARTS!) like not deal with the washing machine while they are here.  Then again.. if Teh Dad is working on the washing machine, that means that Teh Stepmom and I can run errands (aka shop for crap Mr. Scrooge hasn't picked up to prep for his surgery yet).

TRES

I wanted yesterday to be Friday so bad.  I'm jealous of the rest of the world and their snow days and snow shoveling and ability to build snowmen (Because YES I WANNA BUILD A SNOWMAN!).  Granted, I could have just pulled out my jeans and pretended it was causal Thursday (like many people here do throughout the week anyways), but I need to maintain my dress-wearing discipline (it wasn't a cheap investment).  I can do it.  Even if it's cold out.  I can wear dresses and tights and flats and survive.

And I mean, they were sparkly tights and it was a sweater dress, so I mean there's that awesomeness.  EVEN IF Teh MD Roomies told me I couldn't wear glitter flats with my sparkly tights.....

QUATRO

I hate being an adult and dealing with dollas.  I mean I don't hate dealing with dollars, I like having them, but I hate dealing with storing them and planning for the future.  For instance, USAA doesn't offer Healthcare Savings Accounts (HSA) which is fucking stupid as shit.  So fine, I looked to another bank instead, my NC bank which DOES offer HSA... except that you practically have to sacrifice your first born to set up a freakin' account without going in a branch... oh but it's immediate if you go to a branch to set it up.  I DON'T LIVE IN NC SO THAT IS NOT AN OPTION FOR ME NCSECU CUSTOMER SERVICE PEOPLE!  (sorry for that caps explosion, it's still a sensitive topic).

So I figured, Teh Sister looks like me... she can do it.  I mailed her one of my IDs (I have 2 SC licenses).  Nope, she got cock blocked by the reception guy at the desk when he asked her if she was setting up the account for herself or Megan, even though she signed in as me.  Asshole.  He doesn't understand my needs.  After finally receiveing the paperwork in the mail a month after I requested it, it's probably for the best that she didn't get past the front desk because there is stuff there that she wouldn't have known how to answer.

Moving on... Now I'm trying to roll my TSP over to my new John Hancock (JH) retirement account.  Yeah, please just give me a rusty knife so I can gouge out my eyes instead.  Because I deposited money into TSP while in a combat zone, they won't roll those funds into my JH account for some mysterious stupid reason.

Additionally, I'm money retarded.  I don't understand the different in TYPES of deposits in regards to retirement accounts.  Did you know there's a such things as a 401(a), 457(b), 403(b), AND the standard 401(k) plus all the roth options?  STUPID.  ALL OF IT IS STUPID.  Just take my damn money and make me some extra money so when I'm old I can do whatever I want.  It's not hard... unless you're me, then it's like saying no to Meri when she's being cute (which I'm awful at).

CINCO

I might have done a little dance when Kimmi dropped my name in her confessions on Wednesday.  I am wee but mighty (or so I tell myself) and having Gentle Reader friends makes me happy.

SEIS (an necessary extra but I saved the best for last!)

Teh Bitit finally told Teh MD Adult Roomie about her surprise.  After posting about how badly I wanted to do the Disney Glass Slipper Challenge, Teh Advising Sister messaged me and said she was interested since she needs a workout goal AND Teh Bitit messaged me and said she wanted to surprise Teh MD Adult Roomie and pay her way to do the runs with me.  I was ELATED to actually have people interested in running a stupid long distance with me in one weekend.

The invite is open to Gentle Readers as well!  It's official, we'll be doing the Disney Glass Slipper Challenge in 2016 (it's at Disney World, FYI), you're welcome to come hang out with us!  You should be properly warned though, I'm a crazy Disney fanatic and I saw that people had the characters sign their running bibs and I'm TOTALLY going to do that too because IT'S SO AWESOME!!!!!!

Let me just show you my reaction via gifs:

Happy Friday, Gentle Readers.

Linking up with these ladies since it's FFFFRRRRRRIIIIIIDDDDAAAAYYYY!!!!!!!!!

http://meetatthebarre.blogspot.ca/ | http://farmerbell.blogspot.com

Confessions {2/25}

-I'm pretty sure I'm going to keep Spotify Premium.  Mostly based on the fact that I can search an artist and listen to all their albums on shuffle... and the Deep Focus playlist helps me get so much work accomplished... and because several Gentle Readers told me that it's worth it.

-That said, listening to Imagine Dragons on shuffle has brought me great joy.

-I get acne when I'm stressed.  I can pinpoint events that spawn certain zits.

-If it's going to be less than 38°F, it should be snowing out.  I don't care how far south I am.

-I'm unbearably jealous of everyone who got snow days and fluffy white stuff, but I swear to Buddha if I had to see another FB status about everyone getting their workout from shoveling snow, I was going to shake a baby.  I fully supported the person who just admitted they would have paid someone to shovel their driveway.  Seriously though, why don't I just move to Canada and become a hermit? (Wolverine reference, anyone?)

-Mr. Scrooge said somethingrecently about me "going back to DC" and then had to add on that he meant visiting Teh MD Roomies.  I found it highly suspicious and awkward.  I'm letting it go (but only after I tell someone (you, my Gentle Reader) about it).

-I clean out my hair brush every time I use it.  I hate hair.

-I hate how most of my original posts have missing images because I was adding images to Teh Blog through URLs.  The problem with that is photos go missing and my photos don't show up.  Le sigh... and I'm too lazy to go back through those old posts and fix that shiznit.  Oh well.  #bloggerproblems

-I think stress may be the highest contributing factor to my weight gain/lack of weight loss.  Despite working out 3+ times a week, I'm seeing weight GAIN instead of loss and it's not like I'm doing any weight lifting to bulk up.  Also, I've recently consumed a shit ton of starch, which makes me wonder what would happen if I went gluten free.  Thanks for that brain-seed, Kathy...  :(  I wasn't really eating much starch last year around this time.  I stuck to veggies and a meat.  I used to be a HUGE pasta fan and now I'm not really interested in pasta/rice/potatoes.  It doesn't make me feel fuller, it's just something else on my plate to eat, which leads to over-eating... which could also be another culprit of the gain since I tend to eat when I'm stressed.  FML.

-Teh Dad and Teh Stepmom are coming to visit this weekend and I have no idea how to entertain them since there's really nothing to do in Charleston besides eat, which I know you've seen me rant about over and over.  Update: I scoured Groupon and LivingSocial and found tickets for indoor go-karts and bought 4.  HA, Saturday entertainment complete.  They also requested to go to the market downtown, so we'll do brunch (eating, of course) and then hit up the market and maybe the battery depending on the weather. 

-I've already suggested to Teh MD Adult Roomie that we should do go-karts when they come to visit.  3 solid reasons: 1- HELLO GO-KARTS!  2- Practice for Teh MD Teenage Roomie's driving skills.  3- Said practice for Teh MD Teenage Roomie means more practice without having to involve Caroline (Teh MD Adult Roomie's car).. and after curbing Yurtle preeetttty hard that one time (seriously, never living that down, me for letting her drive or her for hitting the curb so hard), some practice wouldn't hurt.

-One of my least favorite parts about the work computer (Mac) is that the oils from my fingers/lotion from my hands gets on the keys and then it goes on the screen and the keys get slippery and it's kinda gross and I feel like I need some Clorox wipes to get the oil off.  This is awful because my knux are super ashy and need lotion, but when I put it on it feels so icky on the keyboard. #firstworldproblems

-The gym is doing renovations and they are currently on the weight room phase which means I don't have to walk through the bro-smell every day when I'm leaving/entering the gym.  It's awesome.  That said, WHERE ARE ALL THESE PEOPLE COMING FROM TAKING MY MACHINES AND SHIT!?!  (I have a hankering feeling that they announced the PRT (physical readiness test) is in 10 weeks or close so all these nuke babies feel the need to start getting their workout on.  Meh.)

-I had to use a different style of elliptical last week when all the other bitches had taken the ones that I usually use..  You member... the ones that incorrectly calculate my calories?  Yeah those shitty ones.  Whatever.  Anyways, I use a different one and holy shit my ass hurts so bad.  And my back and all my pieces.  I'm thinking it's more of a stair-stepper elliptical than the other elliptical.  The best/worst part of it?  It felt like I was workin' hard AND it calculated my calories more accurately than the other machines I was using, so I'll probably keep using it.  When I put my workout into Runkeeper and the calorie count was 1 calorie off, I was impressed.  With a longer workout there was more of a distortion (machine low, RK high), so I just averaged and called it a day.  But really, all my pieces hurt so bad I had to sleep with the heating pad.

-I can't wait to work from home on the 3rd so I don't feel guilty about how little work I actually do sometimes, although my boss informed me that once we get funds for our next project, I won't be bored anymore and I should enjoy the downtime while I have it.... meaning he's totally seen me on FB 95% of the day.

-I want to be friends with the 3 other women I work with, but women are vicious and they aren't letting me into their group yet.  I'm sure it just takes some time, but seriously... I just want to be friends!  (no really, I need to make more friends here.)  Ok, or maybe I'm just standoffish and I'm difficult to get to know?

-We have a receptionist that sits at the front door and since our office is a suite in a building, to get to the bathroom or cafe, you walk by her.  It's always awkward for me to walk past her without saying anything, but I feel like if I sat at the door, I wouldn't want people always speaking to me.  I just want to be friends!!!

-I was super pumped about not having to sitting through 2 days of meetings this week when we start this new project... then my boss forwarded me an email last Friday from the government rep asking for someone to take minutes at the meeting and didn't Company just hire a tech writer?  FML.  These meetings are going to be soooo painful since I have to actually pay attention to take notes.  PS. I still love my job.

-To the asshat who drove on the median (which was as wide as his Camry, it reminded me of someone driving on the sidewalk), I hope you get a flat tire from road debris for being an asshole.

-You know you're officially an adult when you eat dinner before 5:30, go to bed before 9pm, and make the choice to leave earlier in the mornings so you don't have to deal with rush hour traffic.  Not only does this mean I get to leave work earlier, it means that my commute takes 20 minutes instead of 30.  WIN.

-Yep, I'm making up for last week's lack of confessions this week... apparently.

-I want to run a Disney 1/2 Marathon or 10K.  Really I want to do the 10K, but there's the Glass Slipper Challenge which is the 10K and the Half in one weekend and it might be horrible, buttttt ALL THE MEDALS!!  And of course I would do the princess runs.  DUH.  But there's also the coast to coast challenge where you do a DW run and a DL run in the same year and you get a medal for that.  I have a problem.  But seriously, anyone wanna do the Glass Slipper Challenge with me 18-21 February 2016??????  Seriously.

-The new PostSecret app only being available on the Apple Store infuriates me.  I would almost be willing to pay $8 for the app... oh but they don't have for Suzy2.5.  No Megan dollas for you PostSecret..

NC Quizzy Things..

In my heart, I'll always be a North Carolinian and so when I see North Carolina quizzes online, I'm a sucker for them.  I know they are vague and inaccurate, but I miss NC on the regular.

Recently, I took 2 NC quizzes.  Here's my results:

What Kind of North Carolinian Are You?









Truthfully, living in Raleigh would be a dream come true.  I loved it when I went to NC State.  I didn't really enjoy the city in all the ways I should have because I was young and dumb (and poor).  I would do many things differently if I were to relive that time in my life.  I'd be afraid to see what the other personality types were options for the quiz... but why do I feel like Mountain Hick Recluse was one?



Which City in North Carolina Should You Live?









I find great humor in this since living in Blowing Rock would be unbearable.  Granted, there's a Kilwin's there and the store where Teh Worldwide Jesus Lover and I discovered StoryPeople, but really it's just the main street of Blowing Rock, highway 321, and a whole bunch of expensive houses built on the side of mountain where only really rich people live during the summer when they want to escape the heat of Florida and see the leaves changes in the fall and ski during the winter or rent out to other tourists.  Also, Blowing Rock is practically in Boone, which is a college town (the east coast ASU, for those of you who associate ASU with Arizona) and it's BOOMING.  So while the population of Blowing Rock is about one thousand people.. In 2010 there were 17,000ish people living in Boone, a mere 8 miles of curvy roads away (so really less than 8 miles, if you want straight to distance).  BUT.  Living in Blowing Rock would mean being SUPER close to Teh Worldwide Jesus Lover, which would be awesome (I didn't just put this in here in case she reads this post, although I know if I hadn't put this in and she did read it, she would CALL me and tell me about how awesome it would be if I lived in Blowing Rock.  I just KNOW these things).

So yeah.
Also, NC > SC, ev'r day, all day.  (It really doesn't help that Charleston smells.)

Weekend Review {2/23}

FRIDAY

The best thing about flex hours is my ability to tack an extra 30 minutes on M/T/W/H and get off early on Friday.  This is awesome for 2 reasons.  1, it meant that I got to go to the gym early and beat the crowd.  2, I was able to schedule a vet appointment for Friday afternoon AND still go to the gym before.

I managed both dogs with the magical aids of Phil's rubber booties and Meri's (new) gentle leader.  I will still never take both dogs on a trip to the pet store by myself, but this wasn't too bad.  I was slightly irritated at how long I stood there waiting for them to give me paperwork/get the new patient stuff sorted out since I was standing at a counter with dog leashes wrapped around my legs as Meri was going under Phil to smell all the things and investigate all the noises, rather than just having me sit down with the paperwork.  Whatevs.  They finally got us into a room after standing around for about 10 minutes, which was way easier.  They still didn't really give me time to fill out the forms, but at least they weren't late seeing us.  The bill was only $220 for both dogs, which was way less than I had anticipated.  Meri got her 3 year rabies and both got their Distemper.  Since the Lyme vaccine doesn't cover all varieties of ticks, I opted not to have that and I also didn't get the Lepto vaccine for them since there's very little possibility of them getting that (knock on wood).  We don't board so we didn't need kennel cough either.  I was pleased that the vet didn't really push the other vaccines on me, which totally happened at my MD vet.  Both dogs were ruled as healthy, happy, at a good weight, dogs.

THOSE EARSSSSS.. /swoon.

I explained to the vet that I had become concerned with them being too skinny recently and while I attributed it to the cold and increased walks with Mr. Scrooge, I had also become slightly paranoid after hearing everyone and their brother tell me that my dogs are too skinny.  Per the vet, my dogs are at a good weight.  Then again, I'm not really certain on that since I told him that Phil raced at 76 and that's currently what he weighs and it is considered good practice to add about 5 lbs to that for a "healthy" greyhound, but the vet seemed unaware of all this.  With Meri I have a hard time telling if she's too skinny since she's so fluffy.  She feels like skin and bones, but she gets 1/2 the amount of food that Phil gets and she's 30lbs to his (soon to be) 80.

<3 boy="" br="" my="">

Overall, I was concerned since my vet doesn't seem particularly greyhound savvy since they are a "special" breed (in certain ways) and the techs didn't try to win my dogs over with treats, which is what I always expect on a first visit.  I want my dogs to like you and I don't want them fighting a vet visit, so I expect the techs and vet to make it a positive experience.  They weren't even gonna give either dog treats after their shots until I mentioned it.

After we got home, I wasn't really in the mood for leftovers, so Mr. Scrooge agreed to sushi for dinner.  We have never went to our sushi place that early on a Friday night and it was terrible.  Not the service or the food, but all of our "neighbors."  We were sitting in a booth beside the wall and on the other 3 sides there were small children.  This wasn't really so much a bother until one set of parents was letting their toddler watch some stupid baby show on their cell phone and we could all hear the stupid voice.  Beside us was a 6 top with 3 teenagers, 1 mom, and 1 grandmother.  My judging was on high because when I saw the server bring each of them a "yum yum sauce" and then later bring 4 more cups of sauce to the table, so 7 total cups of this unhealthy (abet delicious) sauce, my eyes almost bulged out of my face.  2 of the teenagers and the mom weren't skinny by any means, but after seeing 7 sauces on the table, I kinda understood why.

Then, after the family behind me left, the Bros came and took their place.  Which was only obnoxious because the booths at the sushi place are shit, so anytime someone moves on one side, everyone can feel it, and one of these guys kept falling back and I was ready to slay them all.  I only passive-aggressively heaved my back against the booth once so maybe they would understand to sit-the-fuck-still, but it didn't work and Mr. Scrooge said I shouldn't confront the Bros, despite how badly I wanted to.  The people behind Mr. Scrooge were planning a wedding and there was a kid who kept creepily looking over Mr. Scrooge's shoulder and it was freakin' me out.

We finished our meal and headed home to watch Game of Thrones and eventually head to bed.

SATURDAY

I hadn't planned on going out on Saturday, but then I realized that Teh Dad and Teh Stepmom are coming next weekend, which meant that I wouldn't be able to go out and run my errands next weekend and that is the last weekend before Mr. Scrooge's rhinoseptoplasty, so I had to get my stuff done.  Mostly this was MORE (ugh) grocery shopping and running by the jewelers to get links taken out of my new adult watch and batteries replaced in the watches that Teh MD Adult Roomie gave me.

Mr. Scrooge went out on a ride and we were meeting at 1 for a food truck gathering downtown.  It was fun, but not at the same time.  The lines were incredibly long and it took us 45 minutes to order a pizzazilla (a pizza quesadilla essentially, with no pizza sauce, yay!) since they were out of pizza slices.  Then we got in line for the greek truck, but realized after standing in line for 15 minutes that we weren't in the mood to stand in line any longer, so we headed out.  Mr. Scrooge for more riding and me to run my errands.

After getting the errands done, I came home and unloaded the groceries and fed the dogs and put on Lilo and Stitch since I had said I was going to do a Disney movie marathon.  I hadn't seen it in a while and I needed a happy ending.  We also watched the 2nd Stitch movie, which wasn't as good, as expected, but I hadn't seen it before, so now that box is checked.

Kudos to Disney for those hidden adult jokes..

After leftovers for dinner (which was part of the reason we went out for dinner on Friday, I was over eating leftovers), Mr. Scrooge went and took his nightly bath (seriously though, more baths than anyone I've ever met in my entire life and he will stay in there for 1-2.5 hours, it's crazy) while I got the dog food ready and prepared for bed and eventually got in bed to read.

Since he had been in the bath for over 2 hours, I decided I was tired and put a pillow over my head and tried to go to sleep.  Eventually, Mr. Scrooge got out and informed me (after I grunted at him that I was still awake) that he wasn't tired so he was going to watch some TV.  I fell asleep until Mr. Scrooge came to bed at 1230.  At which point, I could NOT go back to sleep.  I was super irritated.  I tossed and turned trying to get back to sleep until 0230 when I finally got up to take something to help me sleep.  Within a few minutes of getting back in the bed, the bedroom lights up like it's Christmas and I realize that it's my phone going off.  At first I thought it was my alarm going off, which would have been strange, but then I realized it was a call from Teh Humanitarian.

I answer the phone at 3am for very few people, but she would be one of them.  When we got off the phone 45 minutes later, I went to bed and crashed.

SUNDAY

2 hours later, the dogs woke me up because they were ready for breakfast.  Instead of pretending to play dead (which is the most effective trick ever), Mr. Scrooge made as much noise as humanly possible when he rolled over after the dogs had settled, which only roused them all over again.  At which point, I gave up and got out of the bed to feed them, since he had been on weekend dog duty on Saturday morning.

After feeding them, we all went back to bed.  Mr. Scrooge got up at some point and I slept until almost 11, when I told myself that if I didn't get up, I would never get to sleep at bedtime.  When I came out of the bedroom, Mr. Scrooge was making breakfast.  It was supposed to be breakfast in bed, but I ruined it by getting out of bed too soon.  Oops.  Instead, we ate on the couch.

After breakfast, Mr. Scrooge went out on a ride and I sat at home fighting (and losing) the battle the take a nap since my head was hurting.  I did manage to write this post and talk to Teh Dad and edit some photos for Teh MD Teenage Roomie, so I mean, I did accomplish something.

Eventually, I finally did the laundry and put the pot roast in the slow cooker for dinner.  Then I went and took a nap and Meri snuggled with me and it was awesome.  After I woke up, I went and took photos of the broken fence for our new property manager (who I'm hopefully going to love more than our prior relator), did more laundry, and watched some Downton Abbey.

Knowing Mr. Scrooge would eventually come home, I started some risotto to go with the pot roast.  I was pleased to see that it was gluten free, mostly on principle but also because I'm loosely trying not to over do it on the gluten (says the girl who had pizza-quesadilla for lunch on Saturday).  I felt like the pot roast was wayyyy chewier than it should have been, but flavor wise, it was spot on.  It was probably the whole mushroom I added about an hour before we ate it.

After watching an episode of Game of Thrones, per Mr. Scrooge's request since he "hadn't been home all day".... and eating dinner, I tried to get set up for the cyber book club meeting.  Of course at 15 till 8 I was having internet issues.  I managed to finally get everything setup and couldn't figure out why I wasn't getting a call.  I still have no idea.

I was pretty disappointed I didn't get to join in since I had purposely read Where'd You Go, Bernadette for this.  I signed up again on the website, thinking maybe I did something wrong, but I still had the original confirmation email from when I signed up last month.  More than a little bit crushed, I shut down the computer and tried to stop caring.  I had been anxious/nervous about my first cyber anything with strangers, but then it didn't work out.  PS, I wasn't a huge fan of the book, but I've been waiting until now to discuss it with other people.

Over everything, I gave up on the internet, checked that the clothes in the dryer weren't still sopping wet (since our washing machine seems to be clogged and not draining properly, ugh) and went to bed to fight the headache that hadn't went away all day long.





Linking up with these ladies:
Weekend Recap w/ Bella and the City | Weekending w/ B Loved Boston

Five on Friday #44

UNO

Mr. Scrooge is having a rhinoseptoplasty done in early March.  He's never had surgery before and he thinks that his subsequent convalescent leave (specifically the day after the procedure) will be spent playing video games and having a good ole time.  His instructions to me? "Make sure there's food in the house and leave me alone."  Mkayyy, buddy.. whatever.

Despite his arguments, I have INSISTED that I will be working from home the day after.  I remember post-surgery days and I just wanted to DIE.  I was relieved that I was in the hospital for my gallbladder since that meant someone else was waiting on me, despite that whole vitals check waking me up every.single.time.  And if Teh Dad hadn't been there to assist my broke ass after my endo surgery I would have wasted away and Phil would have had to poop in the house.  Granted, my surgeries weren't on my face, but on my abdomen area, but I feel like if I had my nose re-broken and fixed and whatever else they are doing while they are up there, I'd be feeling worse than after my 2 laproscopic surgeries.  He keeps trying to tell me to go to work and I have to fight the urge to let him learn the hard way and just give in and let him have his way.

Do I want to sit at home and listen to him whine?  FUCK NO.
Do I want to make sure he's comfortable after his surgery because I know he's going to be miserable?  YES.
The asshole in me is battling with the nice person in me and the struggle is real.

DOS

I got mega-support on Wednesday on my Confessions post.  My Gentle Readers rock.  I was really trying hard not to whine, but sometimes you just feel better when you get it out.  I was also in a funk and being on Pintrest wasn't really helping, but it was kinda, in a different way. 

In a super-drama queen way, I keep thinking of Mark dying on Grey's and how he got better before he finally kicked the bucket.  All the doctors knew what was happening except for Derek who refused to believe it.  I feel like that's the way my life goes.  Shit is bad then shit gets better and then shit just falls apart completely.  I guess time will tell if I'm right or not.

TRES

I couldn't figure out why Teh Flamin' Kindle wouldn't let me update my Goodreads book statuses, so I contacted Amazon (against my better judgement, but with the hope that since it was America-daytime that I might get support that wasn't using a script).  Yeah.  That didn't go well.

I do try not to pre-judge obviously foreign tech support.  I appreciate when Amir doesn't say his name is "Steve" and I understand that he's just doing his job, whatever that may be.  I start to get impatient when the time between messages is 3-5 minutes per message..  I understand that our chats are GOING TO SPACE, but it's 2015, quit jerking off and give me 5 minutes of your attention to solve my problem.

The first tech passed me to an app tech since my problem could be pushed off.  Way to delegate dude.  App tech not only asked me which app I was having a problem with, but also if I had purchased the app.  The problem with this is that in my initial contact, I stated my device (Kindle Fire HDX) and that Goodreads was giving me an error (and actually put the error text in the message) when I tried to update my progress.  I gave the app tech the benefit of the doubt that maybe they hadn't seen my initial message.  I told him Goodreads.  Then.. oh then, the fire (only slightly intended pun) was lit.  He asked me if I had purchased Goodreads.. Why wouldn't the Kindle App guy know that Goodreads comes preinstalled on Kindle's?  Amazon owns Goodreads now (from what I've read), so it would make sense your tech support would be aware of these things.  Because my issue was on a preinstalled app, he passed me off to a Kindle tech.  Way to delegate, dude.

Then.. oh then.  After waiting 10 minutes to get the party started with this tech (and having already become irritated by the first 2 techs, a problem when you just keep passing a customer around), he finally started asking me questions... which, of course, insulted my intelligence, despite my being aware they go on a script and have to cater to the stupidest person and are just doing their job.

-Did you restart?
*Yes
-Is your connection strong? 
*Yes
-Do you have a lot of files on your Kindle?
*No.  I have over 50GB of space remaining.  Definitely not.
-Do you mind if we do a factory reset? 
*YES, I mind very much.  I have sideloaded books.  I don't understand why that would be the first solution without trying ANYTHING else.
-Have you cleared out the app data?
*Yes.
-I'm going to have to transfer you to blahblahblah support please stay with us.

At which point I ended the chat.  I couldn't handle it anymore and I had realized what the problem was when I said my books were sideloaded.  Unless the books are downloaded from Amazon, the progress won't update, which is stupid, but whatever.  I feel like that is just a way to get people to buy more books from Amazon so they will be in your library instead of finding them via their own sources, but iz not for me, kthxbye.

Seriously though, why would a factory reset be the first solution offered?  I'm still reeling from this. 

QUATRO

I signed up for NetGalley and I'm afraid to request books because I don't really leave book reviews anywhere, so I'm afraid they are going to automatically deny me.  I feel like I could go back and do reviews for most of the books I've read, but that really seems like a lot of work when I can just continue downloading books and just not reading soon-to-be-released books.  #firstworldproblems

In annoying reading news, when I finish a book on the Kindle, it never says 100% complete for some reason and it makes me crazy.  In other reading news, I'm finally getting on the bandwagon and reading Let's Pretend This Never Happened by Jenny Lawson.  I can't read it while working out because giggling messed with my breathing and it caused me to almost fall off the elliptical (more than once).

NOT me.

CINCO

Philbo and Meri-Meri have a vet appointment this afternoon for their yearly.  I was originally going to start taking them to Banfield and do their wellness plan, but it ended up being cheaper to find a vet for the annual visit and have to eventually figure out something for Phil's dental situation.  This vet is also closer to home, which is convenient for me.  I never realized quite how spoiled I was living in close enough proximity to get to things that I needed (like a place that does dentals for dogs for under $500).

Semi-related.. anyone wanna take in a woman and her 2 dogs for an overnight stay in the Richmond/close proximity area sometime in the next few months?  I'm thinking Phil can get dropped off to get his teeth cleaned and Meri can go see her favorite groomer and I can do some shopping then fetch both dogs and go from there, lol.  I'm super versatile, see?

Happy Friday, Gentle Readers.

Linking up with these ladies since it's FFFFRRRRRRIIIIIIDDDDAAAAYYYY!!!!!!!!!

http://meetatthebarre.blogspot.ca/ | http://farmerbell.blogspot.com

Confessions {2/18}

-I often eat pudding cups with a fork because I'm too lazy to get up and get a spoon.  If I have a spoon on my desk, I'll use it though.  #lazy

-I have a friend who is going through a very difficult time and I've been thinking about her constantly and I wish I could do something for her, but she's so far away I'm not sure what I'd be able to do.

-Due to this past weekend being a long weekend, I thought Tuesday was Monday and it took me 3 times to remind myself that this morning was confessions day and I didn't have my post drafted yet...

-It will probably be a while before we host another fish night.  Holy shit that was expensive.

-I have been struggling with some of my own stuff recently.  I don't know how to make "LOVE ME!" any more obvious, but I'm sure that being an asshole isn't going to do it.  I struggle with the fact that I reflect how I'm treated no matter how lofty my goals are of treating others the way I want to be treated.  There's only so many times I can be turned away before I shut down completely and stop caring at all.  I know I'm dangerously close to that point though and all I can think of are these 2 images I've seen floating around on social media:

-Last year at this time, my longest relationship ever was ending and I was surprised and relieved.  I almost feel like I need to do something to commemorate it, lol.

-It's crazy how much things stay the same, despite the passing of time.

-I'm OVER being ridiculed for being me.

-There's a difference between being together and being together. 

And now for Lazy Megan Confessions:

Jumping on the bandwagon. February Book Review

I'm not gonna lie about this.  I have a reading problem.  Ok, it's more like several problems, but let me explain.

1.  I enjoy reading.
2.  I feel like I can't find the time to do it, so I read while I'm on the elliptical at the gym (which we've discussed before), which sometimes is my sole motivation to go to the gym.
3.  I have so many books I'd like to read.
4.  Reading takes up so much time.
5.  Reading keeps me up at night (this is accurate because when I'm reading really good books, I want to know what happens and then I have these dreams about the books I'm reading and woah).

THEN.. I discovered that a whole lot of the bloggers I already read do these book reviews/suggestions...  THEN I realized it was a linkup.  I knew I was screwed.  At first, I was totally fangirling all the review posts.. but now I've decided to just drink the damn kool-aid already and do my own post so I can join the linkup (not that anyone is surprised in the least).  Seriously though, I read through those posts with GoodReads open in the next tab so I can just immediately add things to my "Want to Read" shelf.  Soooo many books!

So yeah.. Not only do I want to read all the books that people are saying are so awesome, I want to blog about all the books I've been reading.  Granted, I'm a few days late this month, but next month, I'll do better (I hope).  BANDWAGON JOINED!!  WOO!!

What have I conquered read this past month since 2015 started?
Lets have a looksie (in order of date completed, yay Goodreads!).

Rating scale:

1/5 - Hated it, didn't finish.
2/5 - Tolerated it on principle to finish.
3/5 - Eh, didn't love it, didn't hate it.  Had some good parts/kept me interested/finished it on principle.
4/5 - I liked it.
5/5 - I LURVED it and I'd read it again.


Girl, Stolen by April Henry 2/5
I struggled with this book.  Probably because it's YA and very much aimed towards teen girls with angst.  All the elements of mystery were there to get me interested and it was an easy read, so I just kept going knowing I'd burn through it quickly.  Once we finally got to the pivotal part of the book, I was hooked and had to know what happened.

TL;DR: YA, easy read, not my favorite.

Safe Haven by Nicholas Sparks 3/5 (until the end, then 2/5)
On Veteran's Day, Mr. Scrooge and I went to Books-A-Million while we were passing time before our dinner reservation.  I ended up buying a few clearance books and this was one.  I'd been talking a lot of shit about Nick Sparks and his writing formula (NC setting + tragic life event + couple that gets together despite difficulties = happy ending).  I figured since I hadn't read any Nick Sparks in years, I'd give him another shot.  .....Yeah, about that.

Of course this book follows his formula.  Of course, I was drawn in because North Carolina and this mystery woman with 2 names is all mysterious and I want to know what her back story is, then there's abuse and I'm all up in arms and then there's the guy (Prince Charming, of course) and his problems.  Predicable spoiler: They end up together.  Surprise, Nick Sparks, surprise.

Actually, there was a surprise at the end.  I HATED IT.  It was ridiculous and I'm not going to ruin it for you if you haven't read it and/or want to, just know.. it was a copout of trying to "change" the formula he always uses and it flopped.  I think it also probably went with what everyone else was writing about the year that it was published, but I can't be sure about that hunch.  I had tolerated, and even enjoyed, the cheesy romance of the formula until Sparks through in that twist at the end.  I wanted to throw the damn book against the wall.  Just let me have my cheesy ending and the end. 

TL;DR:  Nick Sparks formula + surprise twist at the end = me wanting to catch this book on fire with my eyeballs.

The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd 5/5
I loved this book.  I love when life just works without explanation, because it hits home with me.  Also, they mentioned the city I currently live in, as the book is based in South Carolina, and I just squealed with glee.  I stopped reading and pointed it out to Mr. Scrooge who just looked at me like I had 3 heads because who gets excited about something like that?  Me, duh.  Technically, I live outside of Charleston, but let's just say I live in Charleston, it's just easier, mmkay?

Additionally, I love books set in the south because when authors write in a Southern dialect, my heart swoons and my brain sighs with relief because I use some of those words in real life (don't judge me).  I was kinda scared that it was a mother-daughter relationship type book, but it wasn't really, kinda, ish.  It makes sense when you read it.  Finally, I love over-arching themes that come full circle.  The bees are always there.  Its perfect.

TL; DR: If you love books set in the South and don't mind some civil rights struggles/themes while reading about a teenage girl who does some crazy stuff, this is a book for you.

Just One Year by Gayle Forman 4.5/5
After reading Just One Day, I couldn't sleep NOT knowing what happened.  AND I wanted to find out if Forman is a formula writer like Sparks.  Having already read If I Stay and Where She Went, I was worried because this was a 2 book "series" so I knew the potential was high.  The books had similarities, but were not the same, so I was relieved.  Possible spoiler alert: I got my happy ending.

I like that Forman gives you the 1st person POV of both primary characters.  It's a personal preference, probably because I like knowing how people operate.  Despite the YA aspects of the book, which were strong in Just One Day, they weren't overbearing so my loathing of teenage angst didn't distract me from the book (which happens when the angst is at Twilight levels).

TL;DR: Less YA feeling than Just One Day, I wanted to know if they get together or not, which made it difficult to sleep, because I NEED ANSWERS!  Suspenseful, slightly cheesy.. right up my alley.

Something Like Magic: On Remembering How To Be Alive by Brian Andreas 5/5 (completely biased)
I own all the StoryPeople books.  So when this one came out a few months ago, I honestly thought I had pre-ordered it because I wanted the special vellum that came with pre-orders.  Apparently I didn't actually ever order it because my book never came (or my order was lost, but probably I didn't order it since last spring was kinda crazy).  Since I discovered this issue in October, I added it to my Amazon Wishlist since Christmas and my birthday were coming.  Gentle Readers, the wait has been difficult.  SOOOO difficult not to just buy it myself.  Teh MD Roomies didn't disappoint me though and they got it for me for my bday since they're the best.

If you're new to StoryPeople, you have to look past first impressions.  Yes, the drawings are bad.  Yes, the stories are usually 10-20 words.  But those stories speak to the heart.  Something Like Magic is very lovey-dovey, which I've missed from Andreas in the last few years.  It's really more of a feel good book for me because it helps give me perspective of things bigger than me.

TL;DR: I waited for this book for a very long time and I love it.  Check out the StoryPeople website before you make this commitment.  I'm not sure if it comes in an e-reader format.

Where'd You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple 2-2.5/5
This is the cyber book club book and it was one of the first books loaded on Teh Flamin' Kindle.  I wanted to enjoy it way more than I did.  The other problem was that I was expecting it to keep going after it ended because Teh Flamin' Kindle doesn't calculate pages left the way I expected it to.  Meaning, the ending snuck up on me.  That's the thing about ereaders, you can't FEEL how many pages you have left.  #firstworldproblems

Honestly, this wasn't my favorite.  I was torn between hating the mom and wanting to like her.  Actually, that's how I felt about all the characters.  I wanted to like them, but they were all so ...themselves, that I struggled.

Also, I just keep telling myself the daughter is 13ish years old since she's graduating 8th grade or something like that and it just seems like too much.  Maybe I have that incorrect, but that still doesn't change the fact that I questioned the premise.

TL;DR: It wasn't the worst book I've ever read, but not the best.  It invoked too much reader-self-conflict whether I liked the characters or not and when I made the commitment, I changed my mind.  I wasn't sure what I was supposed to think.

The Girl You Left Behind by Jojo Moyes 5/5
I loved this book.  Seriously, it was causing me to loose sleep because I just wanted to know what happened to Sophie.  You start out during WW1 and then go to present day and something about a painting during WW2.  I was all the confused until I finally figured out the connection then I couldn't stop.  I seriously stayed up late on a week night to finish this book because I knew I wouldn't be able to sleep knowing I was so close to the end.  My only struggle with this book was that the beginning felt tedious and slow and I was ready to move on.  It took me a significant portion of the present day section before I wanted to finally get back to the WW1 time period.  I'm not overly fond of war time settings, but this one wasn't bad since it didn't over take the book.

Not to sound insensitive, but war is sad and we get it.  Living the day to day life of German occupied France?  Cue the Jeopardy music.  I felt the same way when I read A Thousand Splendid Suns by Hasseni when he discussed war time in Afghanistan.  It's sad and horrible, more often than not.

I found this book from several other bloggers on their monthly reviews within the past few months.  After reading Me Before You by Moyes, I was happy to read another one of her books.  After reading 2 of Moyes books, now I'm glad I already downloaded all her other books.

TL;DR: Read this book if you like a happy ending and good writing and like putting together the pieces that link different characters.

Weekend Review {2/16}

Technically, the weekend isn't over since it's a 3 day weekend in Teh Household, but I never planned for that to be the case, so I'm kinda sad about it (this whole civilian vacation/paid time off thing is wayyy different than Navy leave/vacation/holidays).

Either way, it was a great weekend.  Let's talk about it, shall we?

FRIDAY

After not really being tasked all week (aka, I was super bored at work all week and spent most of the days on FB/reading blogs), Friday held plenty of things for me to do, le sigh.  To include being asked to generate a document from scratch based on someone else's document (which makes it infinitely easier) at 1:30 when I was leaving at 2.  Fortunately, they didn't need it until next week, which means yay for having things to do next week!

I was going to go to the gym, but after dealing with all the soreness earlier in the week and then being sore from Thursday's workout, decided to skip it instead.  I had something to return at Target and I needed to pick a few items up.  On my way to Target, I stopped at Payless to look for a blue heels, which I couldn't find in my comfortable brand.  While I was in Target, Mr. Scrooge called me to barter saying that he'd do all the grocery shopping Friday night (to include dealing with rush hour traffic) if I did all the cleaning.  I wasn't a fan of this plan, since I had been planning for us to both go out, and the trip out was going to include a dinner stop.  He told me to hurry home because he didn't want the traffic to get bad.  I guess he's not fully aware of how Friday evening traffic works, because he wasn't pleased when there was already traffic at 3:30 when we left and I had to explain that people (like me) leave early on Fridays, so rush hour starts sooner... at least in my experience.

We went by Lowes to pick up stepping stones for the backyard, hoping that they will help solve some of the dog tracking mud issues we get when it rains.  Mr. Scrooge was completely unbearable and I couldn't figure out what his problem was.  When I offered to help, he said yes, but then wouldn't move to let me help him load the stones on the cart thingy.  Then when I was trying to put a stone in the truck (while trying to be very careful not to scratch the bedliner because OMFG if I did that, the world could end) he flipped out at me, at which point he got a lovely FUCK YOU yelled at him in the middle of the Lowes parking lot for everyone to hear and I got in the truck and let him load the other 14 stepping stones (which are actually quite heavy) in the truck by himself.  Bitch, please.

Then, Detective Teh Megan solved the problem.  When we were leaving Lowes I asked Mr. Scrooge what he'd had for lunch.  He said nothing.  Yeah, I'm not the only one who gets the hangar.  Sooo he hadn't eaten anything but cereal for breakfast all day.  Good talk.  I then suggested that we just do dinner at that point since I was super excited about my egg salad sammich and I could eat since I had early lunch and he hadn't eaten at all.  He wasn't a fan of this idea (he's not a fan of any of my ideas when he's hangry, just to be clear).  I finally got tired of trying to be patient and gentle with him and exploded with, "I want to go eat dinner now because you are absolutely UNBEARABLE."  He then told me to quit yelling (which I had escalated to, because I was frustrated with trying to be nice and gentle and patient and being met with his impatience and rage hangar).  I just quit speaking, to further highlight my pissed off-ness.  Since the place we were having dinner was on our way to the grocery store we were told was awesome, I was silently relieved when he pulled into the parking lot.

But seriously though, he was being unbearable and there's only so much niceness I can fake when you're being a dickhead when I'm going out of my way to be nice to you.

His demeanor was much improved after eating.  MUCH IMPROVED.  I didn't point it out to him, but I took satisfaction in knowing that I was right.  We went to the "Super" Bi-lo, which happened to be exactly like the Bi-lo we usually go to, except with a big pharmacy and HBA section and more space.  Mr. Scrooge had been told they had an awesome fresh meat counter, but there wasn't a meat counter at all.  Le sigh.

We were doing a Low Country Boil (potatoes, corn on the cob, sausage, shrimpies, and crab legs and we added scallops) and a Fish Fry (we used Cod instead of Cat Fish) for dinner for Saturday night's gathering/late birthday party, so we were looking for fresh supplies and ended up having to buy frozen.  Fortunately, most of the stuff was on sale since it was Valentine's Day weekend.  Mr. Scrooge started to whine on the way home when we hit a bubble of 5 o'clock traffic that if he hadn't waited on me he wouldn't be dealing with this traffic and I pointed out to him that if he hadn't been with me, he wouldn't have gotten crab legs for the boil (they weren't on sale), so he stfu.

While I put the groceries away, he unloaded all the stones from the truck (his choice, I just went with it).  I also fed the beasts to keep them distracted while I put the groceries away.  I feel like I would leveled up if I was a human parent by figuring out how to distract my children with food while I'm trying to accomplish something.

We sat around for a short bit watching tv (him) and catching up on the internet (me) and finally we gave up.  Mr. Scrooge went and took a bath and I went and laid in bed, reading.  This was at 7pm.  We're like 90.  I have no idea what time it was when Mr. Scrooge emerged from the bathroom to go out and play video games, but I know the water had to have been getting cold.

We didn't actually go to sleep until 10:30-11ish, but I was IN the bed at 7pm.  I'm not sure where the old lady in me came from, but ok.  When I got up to get ready for bed, the dogs started being super adorable, so I had to take a photo.

SATURDAY

Since Teh Sister and Teh Mom left Fayetteville at 8am, it meant I had to get up slightly early to start cleaning the disaster-house.  I had discussed with Mr. Scrooge a divvying up of chores and he hadn't given an approval, but I was going with it.  I was to clean the bathrooms and swiffer the kitchen floor and he just had to vacuum and beat out the rugs (his job because the rugs are unwieldy since I'm so small).  I did get both bathrooms completely cleaned to my standards before they arrived.  Granted, I was in the shower when they arrived, but not the point.  Mr. Scrooge on the other hand wasn't done with his vacuuming since he didn't start until 10:15ish.  Whatevs.  Later I learned he "cleaned" the kitchen floor with my clorox wipes and had to ask him (for the 2nd/3rd time NOT to do that, since we actually have stuff to clean the floor with that is SIGNIFICANTLY cheaper than buying a new container of wipes...).  At least the floor was "clean."  When I got home, I could barely tell the rugs and kitchen had been vacuumed because the dogs had already tracked in so much dead grass from the yard.

Cleaning equipment.
You know you're a blogger when....

After I got out of the shower and got ready, it was time to head downtown for Teh Sister's wedding dress appointments.  I scheduled appointments for her at Southern Protocol and DeBorah's Bridal.  I honestly just looked up places on the googly and called each place I had found to see if they had the type of dress that Teh Sister was looking for and to see if they had appointments available on Saturday.  I really hadn't heard anything about either place until I called.

Southern Protocol was helpful on the phone and they said that their dresses were completely customizable, which meant that if Teh Sister wanted one shoulder, it could be created for her on a strapless dress.  I liked how nice they were on the phone.  I probably should have realized from their location being downtown that they were going to be a tad pricey, but we had nothing to lose but time and Teh Sister was going to narrow down options regarding what she wanted EXACTLY.

Having only ever been to David's Bridal with Teh Sister before, I didn't expect to walk into a place this classy.  We got complimentary champagne.  Which was excellent for my liquid lunch.  Oh yeah, I was feelin' it after my glass and half of Teh Mom's.  We didn't really have time for me to pick up lunch and I hadn't eaten breakfast since I was cleaning.  My bad.  The most important thing was that I didn't get a headache, which didn't happen.

While all the dresses at Southern Protocol were completely customizable, they were also extremely expensive.  If your dress budget is 3k+, this is the place for you!  I mean, while I enjoy the idea of someone making a dress to fit me EXACTLY, I do NOT like the idea of paying someone more than a month's pay to make said dress.  Sorry, can't do it.  Nonetheless, it was awesome to get to experience a classy dress shop after the David's Bridal experience.  We were the only ones in the store other than a few ladies who came looking for a fur shawl and one of the owner's husband and kids and dog (which we were super pumped about) who came to deliver the owners roses since it was valentine's day.

Free champagne, apparently a theme in my life for this month.

IT HAS POCKETS!
too bad, it made Teh Sister look... "fluffy".

The dress she ended up REALLY liking there.
ONLY $4k, but french silk and french lace.

After our Southern Protocol appointment, we dropped of Hema (Teh Sister's car, see I'm not the only one who names things) at Hendrick Honda to get an oil change.  She hates her Honda place so much that she made sure she got an oil change while she was in Charleston.  During the drive, Teh Mom gave me a Snickers since I hadn't eaten and all I could think of was the Snicker's commercial.

Then we headed to DeBorah's Bridal.  We arrived slightly early and were told that our consultant was still with the previous appointment.  I still hadn't eaten lunch, so we asked the lady where a good place was to get something to snack on.  She recommended Manny's, which was in the same strip mall as the dress shop, which was awesome since we could just walk there.

We ended up ordering cheese fries and the Mediterranean Trio (Hummus, Babaganouj, & Tzaziki).  The hummus rivaled Bahrain hummus.  I wanted to eat all of it by myself, but I didn't.  I tried to focus on cheese fries as well.  Since the appointment was supposed to start at 3:30, I sent Teh Sister and Teh Mom to the dress shop to get started while I closed out our check.

Sadly, DeBorah's didn't allow photography since some of their dresses are private collections... to mean that of course I took photos, but I'm respectful enough of the place that I'm not going to post them on the internet.  After trying on over EIGHT dresses at DeBorah's (and 4/5 at Southern Protocol), Teh Sister found THE dress, which took the addition of red lipstick to be sure, but it was THE DRESS.  She also discovered that she really does love the birdcage veil.  I was the genius that suggested finding/making one where the veil detaches so you don't have to wear the veil for the reception.  I'm a big deal, whatever.

Post THE dress being picked.

By the time we left DeBorah's, it was 5:30 and we still had to pick up Hema.  We magically made it home by 6:05, which was 5 minutes after I'd told people we would have food ready.  Oops.  I had tried to call Mr. Scrooge 3 times on my way home, but he misses the point of having a cell phone and often leaves it on silent, which I've yet to really understand since he can't have his phone at work, the only time it would interrupt us with the noise is at night.  He makes ZERO sense so often.  It's good he's cute.

Anyways, the boil didn't get started until after I got home, which Mr. Scrooge couldn't blame on me since he didn't answer the phone.  SCORE!  We also learned a valuable lesson about frying stuff..  the oil can't be 500°F and actually cook whatever is on the inside.  After an initial bad batch of hushpuppies, the rest came out PERFECT.  Also, it's good that the man is a genius in the kitchen.  I mostly managed the boil while Mr. Scrooge did the frying of stuffs.

That huge bowl was actually full, but I got distracted with eating before I remembered to take a photo of our masterpiece.

Everything turned out amazing.  I think Mr. Scrooge and I were both quite surprised.  After noms, a few people headed home and Kate from Target and her BF arrived and they helped eliminate some leftovers.  After we put the leftovers away and cleaned off the table, which was easy peasy with the newspapers, Teh Wisconsin Blond, Teh Sister, Kate from Target, her BF, Mr. Scrooge, and I all sat around chatting.  I had pulled out Cards Against Humanity and Things to play, but we seemed to be having fun chatting, so I didn't even suggest a game.

By 11, everyone had left and we headed to bed.

SUNDAY

Sunday morning, Teh Mom and I went to church.  The service wasn't as good as I had wanted it to be.  I'm trying to stop letting my MD church taint all the things, but it's so difficult because I enjoyed that church so much.  After the service, Teh Mom and I met Teh Sister and Mr. Scrooge at Another Broken Egg Cafe downtown for brunch.  I would have like to have also taken Teh Sister and Teh Mom to walk along the battery or to rainbow row, but we didn't really have time (we did actually, but we didn't since we wanted to be at the Bridal Show at noon when it opened).

My first thought when we walked in was that there wasn't a lot of vendors.  It kinda just looked like the pet expo... but after going to every.single.booth in the place and signing up to win free crap (apparently bring address labels would have been a HUGE help) and eating free samples and having fun in 4 photobooths, I was tired and it was 2 hours later.  There was also supposed to be a show of some sort (I assume wedding dresses?) that we weren't super interested in.  Sadly, you had to be present to win the honeymoon trip and the drawing wasn't until 4:45 and that was a long time to wait, so we left.  As we were leaving, we all checked our phones and Teh Sister had a voicemail from one of the vendors saying she'd won something at the Belk booth.  WOOT!

The Mom and I rested while we waited on Teh Sister to go retrieve her free gift, which ended up being valued at more than we paid for the tickets (and we had an extra), so it was a worthwhile trip.

The boudoir photography vendor had a lot of fun stuff, to include a an antique 4-post bed.

Teh Sister modeling some fake boobies.
We found great joy in poking these.

Photobooth fun.

Crazy eyes.

It almost felt like I was a part of the super bowl show with this hat on.

As we were getting out of the car, we noticed ladies carrying bags in with them and thought that might be a good idea to do as well.  So we brought in my 31 bag, which ended up being an outstanding idea since it was packed full with jackets and information and magazines and free pens and cookies and coozies.  Teh Sister and Teh Mom were also carrying bags they had gotten from The Knot booth that'd put stuff in so what you see in that photo wasn't all of the stuff we ended up getting.

The Knot bags.

Teh Sister's free crystal photo frame.

The most fun part of the show was all the photobooths.  Seriously, they are my new obsession and we didn't have to pay for these!

After the show, we headed back to Casa de Teh Megan where Mr. Scrooge was napping away a headache.  After sorting out all our goodies, Teh Mom and Teh Sister headed back to Fayettenam.  Then it was my turn for a nap while Mr. Scrooge took Teh Puppies out on a walk.

Soon after they got back, I got up and we started the dinner discussion.  We decided we weren't ready for leftovers for dinner, so we ordered Chinese instead.  After dinner, Mr. Scrooge took a bath and I was doing some internet shopping for Meri since she could really use a housecoat, which is different than jammies because a coat doesn't have the legs, which Mr. Scrooge thinks are ridiculous.

MONDAY

The weekend shall continue through today with a nap since Phil and Meri didn't want us to really sleep last night.  Phil was up barfing and left us a pile of poop in the floor this morning and Meri had to be let out at some ungodly hour of the night.  Since Mr. Scrooge had handled the middle of the night business, I got up and fed them, which was extra effort since I forgot to refill the food container last night.  Meh.

The rest of the day is up in the air, but I'm considering a nap, putting away some dishes, doing some laundry, and trying not to leave the house.

YAY WEEKEND!!




Linking up with these ladies:
Weekend Recap w/ Bella and the City | Weekending w/ B Loved Boston