Weekend Review {9/26}

FRIDAY

After work on Friday, I headed to Walmart to do some returns and pick up a few items that had been on the store list.  After, I headed home and hung out with the pups, waiting on Teh German to get home.  We had an excursion planned at Wild Blue Ropes, a rope challenge course.  I took a nap while I waited on Teh German to get home just in case.

We didn't hit as much traffic as we had anticipated which was nice.  We checked in, got harnessed up, got a refresher course on how the hooks worked, and we headed into the course.  There has been a pressure system hanging over Charleston since Hurricane Hermine rolled through, so we've been experiencing random rain showers throughout the day.  Friday was no exception.  Fortunately, the course stays open unless it's thundering/lightening.  So we were able to continue on despite the rain.   We were on the course for almost 2 hours and while it's fun, we were tired and our hands were sore and we were dripping wet.

Because the adult helmet was too big, I got a kid's helmet and pretty much transformed into a Minion.

If you make this picture big you'll be able to see the rain seriously coming down.
We were dripping.

Our end time was 7:40, but by 7:20 we were done.  We made our way across one last span and then repelled down.  We dropped off our gear and went to the car to fetch our spare clothes.  I had only brought spare clothes because I figured I'd be cold.  I did not anticipate being soaked through.  This meant having to deal with wet socks and shoes and free ballin' through dinner.  The worst part was my wet bra, which was leaving super sexy water marks on my shirt.

For months I've wanted to go to D'Allesandro's Pizza (D'Als (their name, not mine)) for pizza, but it's downtown and usually I think about it on a Friday/Saturday night and neither of us is really motivated to make a trip downtown for pizza at a place with limited seating.  I called as we were leaving Wild Blue Ropes to ask about the wait and when someone answered, they immediately said, "Please hold."  I was on hold for over a minute and told Teh German we could just risk it.

Miraculously, there were plenty of seats open when we got there.  When we checked in on Yelp, we noticed a deal, which is awesome.  We were starving so we ordered an appetizer and we both got a small pizza.

Cheesy garlic bread. NOMMMMM

Top: Teh German's supreme
Bottom: My El Bianco, no sauce, mozz and ricotta cheese with spinach, mushrooms, and pepperoni.

After we had sated our hunger, I inquired if they had cannolis and they didn't.  That makes only 1 thing about D'Als that I was disappointed about.  But, when I asked Teh German if we could make a pit stop for cannolis on the way home, he agreed.  He also admitted to never having a cannoli before and my heart hurt for him.

We stopped at DeSano Pizza for cannoli since I knew they had epic cannoli.  We ordered a white chocolate cannoli (Teh German) and amaretto cannoli (me).  When they were delivered, we got coconut and amaretto cannolis.  I explained that they weren't ours since we ordered something else (also I didn't realize what the amaretto looked like).  The guy who made them made up a white chocolate one and delivered it to the table.  So with 3 cannolis, we dove in.  Teh German thought they were too sweet (because he's a terrorist doesn't like sweets), but he tried all of them.  The amaretto was one of my better life choices.

The entire evening was filled with food wins so I was pumped to be able to have cannoli leftover to take home.

Back: Amaretto
Front: Coconut
Not pictured: White chocolate

NOMMMMMMMMMM.

After cannolis, we headed home to release the beasts, take a tramadol for my gimp toe, and head to bed.

SATURDAY

Saturday morning, Teh German had told Twin Dad he'd help him pick up furniture.  I had zero commitments, so I stayed in bed and read and napped.  I wasn't sure when Teh German would be home.  Eventually, I pulled myself from the bed.  I was productive and scooped poop since 1- it needed to be done, 2- Teh German wanted to do yard work when he got home, and 3- It was a perfect opportunity to listen to Dragonfly in Amber (my current audiobook).

Right before Teh German came home, Twin Mom asked me if I wanted to go to the Southern Women's Show since it was in CHS.  I had a ticket that a coworker had given me, but it was at work (which I learned later we don't have weekend access to our work space), and my motivation to get ready was seriously lacking.  I messaged Twin Mom and explained that my ticket was at work and I still hadn't left the house and she informed me the show wasn't all that great.

When Teh German suggested we ride to Buffalo Wild Wings for lunch and then go to Michael's and check out shadowboxes for the flag project, I said ok. 

Love my Philalicious.

We rode through Charleston's finest on the way to BWW.  Teh German almost got merged into by a lady in a van who didn't even bother to check mirrors before she switched lanes.  Lunch was quicker than I anticipated since usually BWW is pretty slow.  Since it was Saturday, we were surrounded by college football fans.

After lunch, we headed to Michael's.  Before we left BWW, I had checked for Michael's coupons and noticed they were running 70% off custom framing, which is what we were doing.  SCORE.  There were a few people in front of us when we got there, so we patiently waited.  When it was our turn, the lady working at the desk was able to quickly help figure out our order.  While we were in the middle of discussing the flag project, I remembered my 8 Disney medals sitting at home that needed a display box.  I told her to remind me about medals when we finished discussing the flag box.  She was awesome and reminded me after we paid for the flag frame.

As I explained what I had and what I was looking for, she said that my best bet would be to bring the medals in so that way it would be easier to see/work with what would actually be going in the frame.  For 70% off, I was willing to make the extra trip out.  Teh German and I headed home.  Teh German changed and got started on yard work while I chatted with Teh Dad for a bit and then showered, gathered my medals/bibs, and headed out to Michael's again.

When I arrived (at a different location) around 5:30, there was only 1 guy working and I was 2nd in line.  Again, I patiently waited.  When it was my turn, I explained what I wanted and the guy helped me select a frame.  While he worked with the ladies that were in front of me, I worked on arranging the medals in a way that I liked and made sense, this was accomplished much easier after the guy brought me a piece of suede backing that would actually be like the backing of the box.

 The guy had explained to me that there was someone else that normally worked on the shadow boxes and he'd prefer to have her ok on the project before finalized it.  I told him I just wanted to make sure I could get the 70% off.  A manager was called back and she actually called someone to ensure that we could do what we were thinking of.  In the end, they gave me an estimate for my frame and I agreed to come back the next day to see if the shadowbox master had any suggestions to make.  After I finished with the shadowbox layout, I selected some clearance frames (for those still unedited, unprinted Germany photos) and headed to the check out. 

When I got home a little after 7:30, there were dogs in the house, but no humans.  Teh German hadn't been in the garage when I came in, so I checked the backyard and noticed that he was sitting out by the firepit with an empty chair beside him.  After setting all my stuff down, I poured myself some adult juice and headed out to fill the empty chair.

Despite being eaten by the most unappealing of SC's bug life, it was enjoyable to sit outside by the fire.  Teh German and I chatted about life and I brought up the awkward (to me) topic of eventually getting married.  I think he knew this conversation was bound to happen soon because I've been making off-hand comments about it more and more recently.

He admitted that he had thought about getting married, but that he was traditional and he'd ask parents and tell everyone before he did it.  While that was a reassurance, it was NOT reassuring when I asked him what his timeline was and he said he didn't have one.  In fact, my exact response was, "Well, that absolutely petrifies me."  I explained that I wasn't sure why I was so impatient, but then proceeded to talk through the reasons about why I was so impatient (I don't want to be a mom who is mistaken for a grandmother, I will not have kids till after I'm married, I don't want to get married and immediately start popping out babies).  He didn't really have much to say to these things, but to say them brought me a lot of relief since these things had been on my mind a lot over the last 2 months.

I also explained that some of the impatience was possibly pressure from other people in the form of them asking me/us when we were getting married and my lack of control over the entire thing since I was waiting on him to ask me.  I admitted that several people had asked after we got back from Germany and again after Disneyland, if we had gotten engaged.  I added that I worried he wouldn't feel motivated to ask since we pretty much live as if we're married already.  My final comment was regarding culture differences, how Americans are quicker to get married than Germans are and how that feeds into my lack of control.

Teh German accepted all these things and did eventually say, "within a year, probably," after I asked a rough estimation.  Part of me died a little at waiting so long, but part of me thought, "Well, at least I have a number."  I immediately started telling myself he was over-estimating to throw me off the trail of any plans he could possibly have already made.  I know, it's an idiot move, but dammit.  I'm practically a spinster over here, even by 2016 standards, and society won't shut the fuck up and I'd like some pretty bling, ok?!  Gosh.

After I was tired of getting eaten by the bugs (there are approximately 15 different bites all over various parts of my body (I was wearing short sleeves and jeans and shoes)) and the fire had pretty much died, we agreed to go in and go to bed.

While Teh German was showering, I did this puzzle that made me think of Beauty and the Beast.  This cabinet actually looks nothing like the cabinet from B&tB, but it looks like a French-esque style in my limited furniture knowledge.

Once we were in bed, I had one final thing to say about the getting married situation.  I told him part of me was impatient because I was certain about him.  That of all the guys I've dated, I felt like if I had married them, I would have been settling in some regard, but with him, there was no settling.  I don't need to tell myself something I thought was important isn't actually important to be with Teh German.  It's one of the biggest things that makes me feel so confident in our relationship.

Having said my piece, I slept peacefully for the first time in weeks.

SUNDAY

Sunday morning, we got up slowly.  We were set to go back to Michael's to get my estimate approved between noon and noon:30.  We had agreed after that to go see Pete's Dragon, finally.

I started the laundry, then went downstairs to make breakfast.  I made steak and eggs and learned that I'm really just not good at cooking in cast iron pan.  I want to be good at it, but I'm not.  Breakfast was bearable, barely, mostly due to the chewiness of the meat.  I also set up the crockpot to have dinner ready in the evening.

We got ready and headed to Michael's.  The shadowbox lady had no suggestions to make to my design, so I paid and we headed to the theater.  Pete's Dragon was not the same as the animated Pete's Dragon from the 70s.  The story was different, but still really good.  We were the only ones in the theater, so we were able to cry freely.  It made me giggle when Teh German pulled out a folded stack of kleenex he'd brought from home so we I could wipe away our my tears. 

After the movie, we headed home and enjoyed a marathon session of HIMYM.  We paused for bathroom breaks, dinner, and letting the dogs out.  I will admit that as we were leaving the theater, I suggested that we should have snuck into Secret Life of Pets or another movie.

We headed to bed after completing our chores (dishes and laundry).

__________________________________

Other than the obviousness of our serious chat around the fireside, the weekend was excellent.  We knew that next weekend we'd be traveling, so relaxing was a top priority.

On Friday, I was productive and finally made an appointment with a podiatrist to get my toe checked out.  It's been 1 month since the Disneyland run and 2 months since I initially hurt it, so it is time.  This comes from Teh MD-AR suggesting I see a podiatrist rather than just saying I needed to go to the doctor.  For some reason, I'd forgotten that foot-specific doctors existed.  I knew that I didn't want to go to a general physician since it would be a waste of money.

I also was "productive" and picked 3 fictional characters to describe myself after seeing Allison's post.  I might have taken a little liberty with the last selection since she isn't really fictional.  If I had to replace her, I'd probably put in Michael from Office Space because I struggled to find other fictional characters to describe myself.  Or maybe Belle?  IDK.  Describing myself is hard.

Happy last week of September, Gentle Readers!


Linking up with:
Biana @ BLovedBoston