Five on Friday #91

EINS

The possibility of my going to DC for work in the next few weeks is VERY high and I'm trying NOT to get my hopes up about it, but OMG I'M SO EXCITED!  I'm hoping that I can go next week, which would mean flying up towards the end of the week for a meeting, then spending the weekend with Teh MD-AR, then going back to DC for a meeting on Monday, then flying home so I can be home on the 8th to vote.  SC doesn't do early voting, because #stupidbullshittary and the process to absentee vote is complicate and requires the USPS and #aintnobodygottimefordat.

I'll just cast my vote in person on the 8th, which will also mean I'm home for the 10th.  I'm not sure what is happening on the 10th, but Teh German added an event to the calendar that says "Surprise" and won't tell me anything about it.  I won't lie, I did google events in Charleston on the 10th and after some analysis, no solid assessments could be made.  Additionally, I don't really want to ruin the surprise. 

It's very rare that anyone surprises me, so I'm pumped about this.. even though I know I have a surprise coming.  #itshardtobeme

ZWEI

I shaved Meri myself (with some assistance of Teh MD-AR holding Meri) to save some dollas.  I felt like every time I've had her groomed, with the exception of her first session which was done by a someone I personally knew who is awesome, I've had complaints and I was tired of paying money for something I wasn't happy with.  So, I did it myself and holy balls it was difficult.  It took us around an hour and a half to shave her happy ass.  That did include a few breaks for her to fetch her mousie and the other dogs were out at first and were very distracting.  Nonetheless, I'd call it a success and I'd probably do it again since I saved myself $60+ dollars.  I only paid $55 for the clippers, so I did at least break even doing it once myself. 

In the top right photo you can see that she changes color when her fur is long (whiteish) vs when it's short (brown).
In the photo, her back in brown and her sides are white.  It's crazy weird.

Olive and Phil supervised from the backdoor.
That's Phil's special glare for me when he doesn't get something he wants.
Cute, right?

Olive was ready to shake for treats.

My fuzzy girl!
I just love her shaved.  Her ears look magnormous and she looks so dainty.
Kinda like a gazelle.

DREI

From the phone:

I found Phil in the guest room the other day after looking for him downstairs, in our room, on the couches upstairs, and on the guest bed.  I couldn't figure out why he'd choose to lay on the dog bed, but then I remembered that Teh MD-AR had put blankets on the bed for Olive to sleep on.  My Phil boy must be missin' his other Momma and the girls.

New ID photo.  I'm going to have to come up with a new face for the next one.  Also, I should have crossed an eye.

I've been lazy about dinners this past month and after a week of soup and a weekend of eating out, all I wanted was salads.  This was from last night.  Huevos rancheros themed salad (I didn't follow the recipe exactly) with Kathy's chicken and avocado salad with a side of baked corn tortillas (I make my own so we don't have bags of tortilla chips sitting around since Teh German tends to make those disappear very quickly).

So much protein!

VIER

From the internet:

~Funny photos.

~I don't watch SNL, but I did actually look up their skits on the debates because I knew they'd be gold.  Spoiler alert: I wasn't wrong.

~You know about Clinton's classified email situation.. but do you really?  Did you know that some of the emails contained information that was classified after she sent the email?  Did you know that the classification of information is subjective?  Did you know that information that isn't classified can be aggregated to create classified information?  Did you know that it takes multiple known offenses to get your security clearance downgraded and something significant to get it revoked?  Did you know that some politicians don't even have to have a security clearance to have access to classified data?

I'm not trying to change your mind about who you're voting for, but I am trying to tell you that there is more to every story (and meme and veteran telling you'd they'd be in jail for doing what she did (actually probably not)) than what you're being force fed by the media.

~What it's like to run as a woman...

~THIS THIS THIS, an article from National Geographic about Galgos and Podencos!  I know we have sooo many issues facing us today, but this one is near and dear to my heart: animal rescue.  You may (or may not) know that Meri is a Podenco from Spain.  Often when I tell people that exact statement, I get a lot of, "Padenko? Never heard of it."  That's fair, me either until I became a sighthound person.  I could educate you, but I'll let you read up about the breed on your own if you're interested.

Nonetheless, these dogs are shunned by society and often tortured and killed.  Granted, this has a lot to do with culture, and having lived/visited other countries, there are some countries where dogs are treated as pests rather than pets.  This article conveys everything you need to know about why I adopted a dog from abroad rather than a shelter pet from the US.

PS.  I personally know the lady with the 2 dogs in the photo at the top of the article and she's awesome!

FÜNF

10 things that made me happy this week:

1. Sharing secrets with Teh German.
2. Shaved Meri.
3. Sunset photo sessions with the dogs, despite the mutant mosquitoes.
4. Potentially seeing Teh MD-AR much sooner than we had originally anticipated.
5. Finally setting an official date for Teh WJL's visit.
6. Halloween Oreos.
7. Riding Mike into work today.
8. Messages from my aunt in NY with a photo of the snow on her back porch, already.
9. Planning Halloween weekend activities that include a neighborhood party and brunch with our neighbors on Sunday since they have friends coming in from Germany.
10. The feeling of satisfaction from cleaning out my personal inbox (and my work inbox, which is way more manageable)

Happy Friday, Gentle Readers.

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

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