Weekend Review {5/16}

No weekend review last weekend because life.  But this is what it would have said: We pick up shit (a washer and dryer) on Friday.  We moved shit on Saturday.  Heavy shit, light shit, all the shit.  From Shitty House to YAY House!  Then once it was in House, we moved shit around (some would call it putting shit away).  Then I bought shit to organize my shit.  All in all, I really handled a lot of shit last weekend.  And now you are caught up.

FRIDAY

I headed out of work around 2 to go sell our Stingrays tickets for Friday's game.  I was kind of over hockey for the week after not getting to bed until after midnight on Tuesday AND Wednesday.  I didn't break even, but we didn't lose all our money, so that was nice.  I also stopped by Shitty House to pick up the ATT boxes and the items in the freezer.  I did one last walk through and I am officially done with Shitty House.

I'm torn about this.  Shitty House wasn't always shitty.  In fact, Shitty House was my saving grace last June.  It was my ticket out of a super shitty, super unhealthy relationship with Mr. Scrooge, essentially my ticket to freedom.  I enjoyed being able to do whatever I wanted in MY OWN HOUSE.  Just me and the dogs.  I could be as unlady like as I desired.  Sadly, the awesomeness quickly went downhill as battles with the original property management company began.  It wasn't until later that I learned that it was the owner who was causing the problems, not the PM company.  I was sad to have to relay these lessons to the new property manager in January when the owner decided to leave the original PM company.

Another reason I didn't hate Shitty House: That's where Teh German and I began our relationship.  I never stayed at his place (which we can pin on the dogs) so it wasn't like we split time between houses.  Shitty House was also close to everything.  5 minutes to Teh German's work and the Coliseum, 10 minutes from Target/Walmart.  15 minutes from Crossfit/good grocery stores.  10-20 minutes from our favorite restaurants.  But there were so many issues with Shitty House that it kinda put a cloud over all the good.  Oh yeah, then the mold.  Lets not forget about the mold that is still causing me drama.

So I was sad to drive away, but when I came home to House, I wasn't sad anymore.  I love House.  I love that it's MINE (and Teh German's.. and the bank's..).  I love bringing people to visit because I'm proud of it.  I love that it is OURS more than anything.  It's where Teh Ville lives and it's like teenage Megan's dream come true.  I never thought I'd live in the "'burbs" and own a huge ass house with guest rooms and dogs and a fence and a screened in porch (ok those last 2 are in progress).  It felt like that portion of my dream kinda died with that whole failure of getting married after graduating college, have some kids by now, be in my dream career (whatever that is).  Repeated lesson: I do things out of order.  I work best backwards. I should have known how this was going to go.

So after accomplishing a trip to Total Wine and getting home from Shitty House, I took a nap.  I had taken Meri and Phil to Teh SC Greyhound Neighbor's house for our Friday Daycare/Playdate so they weren't home.  It was quiet and it was nap time.  Teh Sister was on her way and we had originally planned to watch Space Jam at Marion Square, but it was cancelled due to weather... and it didn't even rain.  For the 2nd time.  This time, there is no rain date, which is disappointing, but whatever.  I'd already sold our Stingrays tickets, so instead we stayed home and did things around the house.

Teh Sister helped me stuff the slumber balls with foam while Teh German set up the receiver and subwoofer with the ceiling speakers inside.

10 lbs of foam expands very slowly.

For those of you with slumber ball dog beds, I'd totally recommend buying some foam and filling those suckers.  I got 10 pounds of foam for 2 extra large slumber balls and it was PERFECT.  We tried to split the bag of foam evenly between both beds, but it was kinda hard to assess after the foam started expanding.  One bed is a bit taller than the other, but Teh Sister and I tested the beds and they are WAY better.  I don't hit the floor, so I know Meri and Phil aren't hitting the floor.  Also, now I don't feel guilty if our guests decide to plop down on them.

Remember when I told you I may or may not have written a paper for Teh Sister in exchange for Hue bulbs as a house warming present?  Well, Teh Sister may or may not have delivered Hue bulbs to us on Friday night when she arrived.  They are FABULOUS.  Even Teh German said they are way more fun than he expected.  I ordered another set from Groupon last week, so soon we should have all 6 lights in the kitchen as Hue lights.  It will be a slow transition since the bulbs are so expensive, but they are so fun and we love them.  Teh German's favorite trick so far has been to make the bulbs Stingrays colors.

We were all pretty exhausted so we went to bed at a reasonable time.

SATURDAY

Teh German had to work on Saturday morning, boo, and I struggled to get back to sleep after he left.  Finally, it happened, but ugh, apparently our 0515 wake up time is sticking with me.  Teh German suggested we meet for lunch, so I suggested Mex 1.  It was agreed on and Teh Sister and I met him at noon for noms.  After lunch, Teh German was excused from our company to go ride Suzi, as I had several returns I needed to take care of; Teh Sister went with me as I ran my errands.

large, medium, small - weenie jails

We stopped by Lowe's first and we ended up finding some clearance flowers that needed to come home with us.  Most of those were mine.  #WHOAMI

After Lowe's we hit up Target.  We ended up picking up a few things, I introduced Teh Sister to Shopkicks, and I found this gem:

We thought the pads (which were for the dog's belly bands) were an excellent addition to the photo.

After Target, we hit up Old Navy for a return and some outlet walk-in kicks.  It took FOREVER at Old Navy and I should have just came back a different day, but I was tired of that return eating at my to-do list, so I just waited.  My transaction took 1-2 minutes.  We waited for over 15 minutes.  I was a little ragey since it was the Old Navy card holder express line....

After the outlets, we headed to Mount P for coffee at Metto and a Whole Foods stop since Teh Sister wanted to look for Icelandic butter.  She was unsucesful, but my peppermint mocha freeze was delightful.  On our way home, we picked up the dogs from Teh SC Greyhound Neighbor's house.  They stayed on Friday night since I didn't want to go back out and pick them up and Teh SC Greyhound Neighbor had went out to dinner.

With dogs in tow and flowers rearranged in Yurtle, we headed back home.  Teh German was napping on the couch when we got home.  We ended up putting things away and headed to the Stingrays game soon after we got home.

Phil and Meri approved of my slumber ball surgery.

Always need a selfie when it's your first hockey game!

After a piss-poor performance, the Stingrays handed the Wheelers a win.  With 5 minutes left in the game, the Wheelers scored 3 points, tying with the Stingrays.. At which point we had to go into overtime.  In the second overtime, Wheelers scored for the win.  People were trying to blame the refs for bad calls and Teh German and I agreed that it was definitely not the refs this time.  We got cocky and then LET them score 3 times..  It was hopefully a painful lesson that will stick with the guys through the rest of the playoffs.  It's looking more and more like we won't be here for the final round of the playoffs, if we decide to stop letting the other team win and make it to the next round.  Teh German did tell me he'd pay to watch the playoff game while we're in Germany.  I said ok.

After the game, we were starving, so we hit up Wild Wing Cafe for a quick dinner (at almost midnight, ugh).  While we were eating, I realized that I hadn't let the dogs out after I had fed them dinner, before we left.  We left pretty quickly after that.  Fortunately, there were no crate accidents when we got home, there was a present left on the hallway rug, but it was easily cleaned up.  After super late last outs, we all crashed.

SUNDAY

Teh Sister and I had agreed that we'd plant all the flowers before she left on Sunday but we needed to make a run to Lowe's to pick up soil.  It happened to be on sale on Lowe's AND there is currently a $2 off coupon, so we printed off the max amount of coupons per device we could (2 per device).  We ended up with 10 coupons.  That would make each 2 cubic foot bag right around $3.50 after the military discount since they were on sale for 2/$12.  #winning

When we got to Lowe's, there were 2 bags on a pallet with a pallet jack, so Teh Sister and I just loaded 8 more bags on the pallet and drove it around.  We also found more clearance flowers.  There was a huge debacle at the register after the manager didn't want to let us use the coupons since she thought we had copied the same coupon (the cashier pointed out the different numbers on them), then it wouldn't scan properly.  In the end we ended up doing individual transactions for 10 bags of soil.  Saving $20 makes individual transactions worth it.  Then the manager was going to be a bitch about us pulling the pallet/jack in the parking lot (safety hazard reasons, I get it) so I explained I was going to pull up the car and we'd only be going to the fire lane.  I got so pissed at the manager, I ended up letting Teh Sister handle the transaction and I pulled up the car.  See, we had brought Teh German's car since it was parked in front of Yurtle.  Not normally a big deal.. buttt 10 bags of soil and 4 bags of mulch and some flowers later.. Jetta was so low, thugs were jealous.

I was putting the flowers and mulch in the car while the cashier was ringing up the soil.  Finally, on their last bag, I pushed the pallet jack to the car.  Another Lowe's employee was helping me tote stuff to the car and he had lifted the hose for me to go under.  Except there was a man in front of me with a buggy.  I tried to go around him and accidentally hit him in the ankle.  I felt SOOO bad.  Immediately apologized when he turned around and looked at me.  Not like a, I'm sorry you shouldn't have been in my way apology, like a OMG I am SOOO sorry apology.  He pulled forward and let me around him and didn't say anything.  I got to the car and an older lady comes from the checkout saying, "I can't believe she'd do that.  She ran into him!"  Obviously about me, in that I'm-starting-shit tone that bitches take.  I'd know, I've done it.  I looked at her and said, "Are you serious?  I apologized.  It wasn't like I meant to hit him!"  I thought it was just her being a bitch, then she added, "He has titanium in his legs!"  I then looked at him and repeatedly apologized, ignoring her completely as she walked off still running her mouth.

As if blocking the register for a solid 10 minutes wasn't scornful enough, then I ran into someone, completely mortifying myself.  I was never more ready to leave a store in my entire life.  We drove home pretty slow since the Jetta was super low.  We didn't drag the entire time.  I reasoned to the guy helping me load the car that it couldn't be more heavy than 3 200 pound men in the backseat... maybe.

Teh Mom gave me a midget shovel for Christmas one year and it came in handy!  The problem with a midget shovel is when your holes are as deep as your shovel is long, it becomes tricksy.  We had to remove the pine needles from the ground first, then pull out all the plants the landscapers had planted.  Sadly, we got ZERO choice regarding the landscaping, which was really money wasted on the builder's part.  We are taking everything out for the most part.  I would have saved them on bushes and pine needles and had grass up to the house instead of having pine needles all the way around the house.  We also removed the tree from the front yard since Teh German wasn't a big fan.  I'm not sure what we are going to put there, but it won't be whatever was there.

For the record: Megan doing gardening.

While we were outside, Teh SC Greyhound Neighbor came to visit with Edie and her foster that we are calling Piglet who is a tiny female pitbull who is super sweet.  The weenies got a little excited with the addition of new dogs so that was interesting.  Also, we worry about how Piglet will react to certain things since we know NOTHING about her history.  Fortunately, she did really well, despite being overwhelmed at all the dogs.

While we were gardening, Teh German was inside doing work.  He organized the loft and put his furniture in the guest rooms.  He also broke down the tempur-pedic box spring so we could get it back out without dinging up the walls and because it was SUPER heavy.  Obnoxiously heavy compared to the other box springs we moved in.

Side story: When we moved in, I decided that we should take the guest bed box spring for our bed since the guest bed didn't need a box spring since it is on slats.  What I didn't know when I made this decision was what Teh German discovered while were at Lowe's.  When we got home, Teh German came outside with his serious face on and said I needed to come look at something.  I seriously thought the dogs had eaten something or made a mess on the floor or something very bad.  Well, it was bad, but not nearly as bad as I thought.  The box spring that we had decided to get rid of had mold in it.

Remember when we had a mold infestation in our bedroom at Shitty House?  Yeah.. this is from that.  There aren't words for our rage.  Teh German is talking about suing the Shitty House owner if we find more mold when he takes the fabric off the couches to check them.  Truthfully, I have no idea what that would even do for us.  The idea of going through the legal system makes my mouth watery like I need to vomit.  But I can't say I didn't think about it.  I did a googly search to see if there was anything about moldy tempur-pedic mattresses and apparently it shows.  I didn't see any mold on the actual mattress and I didn't even notice this mold since we couldn't actually see it until he took the fabric cover off the frame so that makes me wonder a little.  This could also explain why we were soooo sick in November-January.  We noticed the mold and started cleaning it up in January.  Charleston flooded in October, so by November, the mold was going strong.

So if you know anything about the legal system and mold and renter's rights, etc etc.. please weigh in here.  This is not the first piece of furniture that was affected by the mold.  I also don't have a back on one of my dressers since it was cardboardy-ish so we just tossed the entire piece, it was also on the headboard and under bed storage (which was under this box spring) which I was able to clean.  My shoes and clothes were also affected.  I personally believe that the mold was spurred by the flood and mild temps in October, but persisted due to having a crack in the shower floor that was never repaired.

Sadly, I don't think we have any rights against the owner regarding mold since the mold portion of the lease was so vague.  The gist I got was "don't be nasty and you won't get mold" but I know of others who are dealing with mold issues from the flood in October, so I'm confused.  I don't really want to make a claim on my renter's insurance, but I'm also unsure if our couches or mattress have mold in them and if they do, there is no way to clean or replace those pieces.

Getting back to the weekend..
There are no final photos of our gardening as we were too tired to even think of it and Teh Sister needed to get on the road and I wanted to get something cooked for her to eat before she left.  Once Teh Sister hit the road, I knew I couldn't sit down or we'd never get to the grocery store.  I put away the food, Teh German and I relocated the couches to almost how they are supposed to be, and I swept the entire downstairs.  Then we showered and headed to Publix for groceries. 

The dogs were so tired from all the activity they shunned the humans for the guest bed after Teh Sister left.
Could they be cuter?  Probably not.

After we got home from the store and got everything put away, we sat on the couch and chilled for a bit.  I did my German lessons while Teh German had music playing over the speakers (which I think will be constant unless we have the TV on) and perused social media.  I took the dogs for last out while Teh German took care of the dishes (a task he doesn't despise nearly as much since we have the dishwasher as his personal aid).  We weren't in bed as early as I had wanted to be, but it definitely wasn't difficult for me to fall asleep since I was so exhausted.  My back was also achy from leaning over and carrying heavy shit, so I was just glad to lay down.

We took this selfie since we needed to document our first time actually hanging out at home.
Despite our squinty eyes, Teh German said, "That's what we really look like, it's fine."
I didn't show him the first selfie where I had 6 chins.

______________________________

Overall, it was a great, productive weekend.  Some landscaping was done.  I told Teh Mom she needs to come down and do more gardening for me.  She has some pretty serious flower garden skills.. to the point that I once steered a van into a house instead of even considering steering the van into the flower garden (that's not even a made up story).

Teh Dad is coming this weekend to take down some trees to clear the way for the fence and to cut a hole in the wall in the garage so we can have some under the stairs storage.  Once the storage area is created, I should be able to make more progress on all the boxes in the Office since several of them are Christmas stuffs.  We are to a point now that the house is livable, even if we don't get everything repacked unpacked before Germany.  It was super nice to be able to just sit and enjoy Teh German's surround sound (ok, ours, fine) and our new couch while the dogs snoozed on their slumber balls.




Linking up with these ladies:
Biana @ BLovedBoston