Weekend Review {2/13}

FRIDAY

Despite the desire to sleep in, I came into work at regular time since I knew I was leaving early to meet with our photographer.  Work was uneventful.. until I left.  As I was leaving, we got word that we rewon one of our big contracts.  While everyone is excited, because yay paychecks, I've kept quiet because the customers are idiots and super needy and ask for things that really aren't achievable so we end up jumping through a lot of hoops, obviously my opinion, which is what matters in this space.

I saw all these messages about it as I was driving downtown.  I arrived downtown around 1:30.  I lucked out and found a meter spot that still had 1:15 left on it!  SCORE. It was actually a double win because one of the last time we had went downtown, I had used almost all my change for parking.  I managed to find some not pennies in my wallet and fed the meter.  Since I had so much time on my meter, I bumped it up to almost 2 hours and with some of my remaining change, I added time to my neighbor's meter that had run out.  Conveniently enough, I saw the meter maid coming out to check the meters as I walked away from the car.  Good deed of the day, complete.

I had gotten downtown early because I had wanted to stop at a Black Tap Coffee to pick up a new coffee for Teh German to try.  I could have ordered it online, but I'm cheap and shipping costs are stupid when I live in the same area, so I waited until I knew I'd be downtown to swing by.  I'm certain the barista (or is it baristus since it was a dude?) thought I was quite special.  I explained to him that coffee wasn't my thing, but I was getting it for someone who would probably just add water to the ground and just drink it that was if it wasn't so crunchy.  He did at least laugh at that and recommended 2 different bags.  Not one to make these decisions or have a desire to need to go downtown for any reason in the near future, I bought both bags and had them ground up so I wouldn't have to do it in the ninja (ghetto, I know, but it works).

Coffee in hand, I headed to Thoroughbred Club to wait on my photographer.  Doesn't that name alone make you want to just not go there?  Ok, well it did me because it only looks like $$$$$$$ to me.  I think he suggested it because it's in a centralized place downtown and it's classy.  I made it to the plaza and sat down at the bar (after looking for the photographer) right at 2. And proceeded to wait.  And wait.  Finally, at 15 after 2, I called and left a voicemail and texted.  My bitch mode was on high because 1- I don't like to be kept waiting and 2- I might have made a poor life choice and only ate half of someone's loaded fries for lunch, so I might have been a little hangry.  Also, I was in a super classy restaurant in a hoodie because it was maybe 40°F outside (don't worry, it was 75° the next day) and I was uncomfortable because these were not my people.  Finally, there was another lady sitting at the bar, eating her (I'm certain) overprice chicken tenders and fruit as loudly as possible with her mouth open.  Have I ever mentioned that chewing sounds get under my skin?  Yeah.  If I can hear you chewing from 5 seats down at the bar, you're doing it wrong.

Almost immediately I got a call back from the photographer saying that our appointment had been deleted from his calendar somehow and he'd be there in 15 minutes.  I was so ragey.  I knew I needed to calm down, so I did what any sane adult at a bar would do, ordered a beverage. Specifically, I ordered a Pimm's fruit cup because someone on FB had mentioned it and I couldn't stop thinking about it (you know who you are).  It wasn't the best, imo, but it did the trick.  Especially on my mostly empty stomach.  While I chugged sipped my drink, I also pulled out my phone to read.  Maybe it was the drink, maybe it was the book (Jojo Moyes, how I adore you), but by the time Nick arrived, I was maintaining my bitch face to make a point, then I lightened up as he apologized and explained how embarrassed he was.

We chatted for a while.  Had it not been a professional meeting, it would have felt a lot like a date.  It was mostly a get to know you type of meeting, but also I had some questions about the wedding and engagement shoot that he was able to answer.  The biggest thing he helped me with was the time line for the day of.  What this means is that I was able to finalize the website and I can get started on the invites since I know the ceremony time now.

Knowing my meter was a tickin' and the meter maid was prompt, I explained that I needed to head out.  His girlfriend had been waiting in the lobby, so he understood.  Overall, I'm really excited about Nick has our photographer.  I'm hoping the same can be said of the DJ.  What is with these wedding vendors cutting me so deep?

I made it back to Yurtle with 3 minutes left on the meter.  #likeaboss

Since it was after 3:30, I knew I was going to have to deal with some Friday rush hour traffic, ugh.  Thankfully, it wasn't too bad.  I had texted Roux's Humom to let her know that I was on my way to the gym and we met there.  After a much needed sweat session, I headed home, where Teh German was waiting.

We didn't have anything planned for the evening.  We agreed to go on a short walk with Roux and his Humom and then we came home to be lazy.  We did decide to do a take away order from Sushi 101 since I had a $2 coupon.  This later came to bite us in the ass.  Teh German had agreed to pick it up and when he got there, they charged him again!

When he got home, he seemed to be mad at me for the situation and I explained that we could go back the next day and take care of it.  Not really that big of a deal, just an inconvenience.  Nonetheless, the evening was kind of soured.  I wanted to comment about how it tends to happen every weekend almost that something happens that sets him off which puts a damper on the entire weekend, but I just let it go.

After dinner, we cleaned up and set to the task of holding down the couch.  I worked on the wedding website, setting up the domain, while Teh German social media-ed.  We stayed up later than I expected, but Teh German finally called bedtime and we headed upstairs.

Side story:
Since Wednesday evening, Phil has been lame.  He's been limping and not using his left hind leg.  But my dogs, despite their cuteness, are incredible drama llamas.  It took me hundreds of dollars to learn that they need an observation period before I run to the vet with them.  I purposely didn't post about it because I know a lot of people who are immediate "take it to the vet" people.  Don't get me wrong, that's fine, but that doesn't work for me.  Every time I've done that I've been told "Well, it's normal, come back for a check up in 2 weeks/if it gets worse."  Phil's original phantom limp (which was because he didn't like wearing a sweater), Meri when she "ate" Motrin (which I don't think she did more than chew on a few pills, but we couldn't be sure), Meri when she had blood coming from her bum (normal in dogs apparently). 

On Thursday evening, things seemed to be getting better.  But on Friday morning, I had made an appointment with the vet for Monday, just in case he needed it.  On Friday we went for a stroll because he seemed fine!  Then Saturday he wasn't using his leg and was having a hard time lifting it to get on/off the slumber balls.  He was also hopping on 3 legs through the yard.  Honestly, I would have taken Phil to the vet on Sunday if they had been open.  Knowing we had an appointment on Monday, I administered more tramadol, which I had been giving him since Thurs to control the pain, and hoped for the best.

SATURDAY

Teh German had to work, but I stayed in bed and Meri snuggled with me and tried to exfoliate my face with her frito feet.  So cute.  I finally got up around 10 and started being a human.  I did more work on the wedding website.  I had some issues Friday night but quickly found out that my adblocker was causing the problem and it's a wix issue that they are aware of. Around 11:45 Teh German came home and we had a noon Skype date set up with Papa G that I had requested on Friday morning while I was having a mini breakdown about the hotel situation for the visitors.

We discussed the dates that they were planning on being in Charleston and I asked where they'd like to stay: near the venue, near downtown, or near our house?  I didn't realize I had walked into a trap.  The Germans apparently needed invitations NOW.  So they could figure out the hotel situation.  I explained that I had just finished the website the night before and it had all the hotel/event info they needed.  I even sent them the address.  Yet, Papa G insisted that they needed something formal.  With as much calm as I could muster (very little), I finally said, "The wedding is 10 months away!"

Of course, that was met with the laughs from Teh German and Papa G that Germans like to plan, blah blah blah.  He repeated they needed invitations by the end of the week and I point blank said, "No.  I can probably have invitations to Germany by the end of March."  I gave myself a month to generate, receive drafts, and have our invitations printed out AND sent to Germany.  Unacceptable.  Again, Germans need something formal, a save the date, something.  Instead of trying to explain I gave up.  Teh German could tell I was frustrated, but still said, "Ok, we'll send save the dates by next week."  Uhhh, what the what?  The conversation restarted in German, but I didn't try to understand because I was so frustrated.  When we ended the Skype call, I had my first wedding planning breakdown.

I tried to remain as calm as possible and explained to Teh German that we had scrapped our save the dates idea because we were planning on sending out invitations early.  My goal was to have invitations to invitees by the end of April, which would (technically) leave 6 months to plan hotels and flights.  Except that Papa G had already been talking to the Germans, they knew the date, so it wasn't like they could plan the hotel/flight situation.  Teh German said that wasn't early enough. 

I finally reasoned it out to him and explained why I had said the end of March was the earliest we could get invitations to Germany.  IT.TAKES.TIME.  The only decision Teh German has put forth regarding invitations was saying "that one" out of the 4 options I gave him.  Not overly difficult.  I explained that we had cut out save the dates when we decided to send formal invites (which I hadn't wanted to do because it's just a piece of paper that will most likely get thrown in the trash and said piece of paper cost me at least $1 just to have printed.  That doesn't include any stupid enclosure cards or RSVP cards or special lettering) and he said, "Fine, I'll take care of it.  I'll take it out of my own checking account."

Queue breakdown.

I said, "That's not how this works!  We created the budget!  We said we weren't going to do it!  And really, are you gonna go hand write save the dates just to send to Germany?"
Him, "Yes, if I have to."
Me, "Ok, have fun with that."

I then went on to tearfully explain that I had worked for over a week and a half on creating the stupid wedding website and no one had even bothered to look at it and see what was there.  Obviously Papa G had just received the link, but if he would take the time to even look he would see that most of his questions were answered from the website.  The date, the time, the hotel situation.  And had Teh German bothered to look at it, he would have been able to tell Papa G that instead of just saying ok to whatever he demanded.

Instead of trying to reassure me that it was going to be fine, Teh German just sat there and messed with his phone.  The conversation was over.  I went back to the computer to tweak the site (which feels never ending) and try to calm down. 

A bit later, Teh German said he was going to head to the outlets to pick up some new crossfit gloves and go by Sushi 101 to get his money back.  I had planned to go with him, but I would have needed to shower and I was almost finished with something on the computer.  I had asked him if he was planning on riding the bike and he said no since it was too windy.  As I finished what I was doing, he said, Ok, I'm leaving then.  Rather than explain that I had planned on going with him, I just let him leave since it seemed like he kinda want to go by himself.

I finished up the site (as good as it's gonna get) and called Teh Running Bestie to have a meltdown.  She wasn't available, so I started reading.  I was drained, so I eventually laid down for a nap.  Teh Running Bestie called back 30 seconds before Teh German got home and I didn't answer since I was laying down, which worked out since Teh German was home so soon after.

I was still laying on the couch when he came in.  He didn't check on me, assuming I was asleep, but let the dogs out and ran upstairs and came back downstairs and let the dogs in and went out into the garage.  Eventually, I got up and did some laundry.  Then I decided I should just shower and get out of my funk.  I turned on some jams and showered.

I was messing around the kitchen when Teh German finally came in and announced that both vehicles had been washed (I think he washes both vehicles to be able to use the pressure washer for longer).  Calmly, I explained to him that when there are tears, I really just need some reassurance, hugs and kisses are also a good option, but him sitting there looking at me like I have 6 heads isn't helpful.  To which he responded, "7 heads," and kissed me.  He's such a cute jerk.

Since it was close enough to dinner time, I headed up leftovers and we sat down to eat.  We agreed that we would go to the neighborhood ladies/couples night later that night... and we discussed this save the date issue.  I explained to him that there were many things at play during our conversation with Papa G.  1- Teh German is very reactive to Papa G.  What he says goes.  2- Teh German always gets stressed out by Papa G.  3- I am very empathetic and when Teh German is stressed, I automatically take on/share that stress, which creates a very volatile situation.  4- We were being told something we have to do, for our wedding.  5- I knew that Papa G's problems would be mostly solved by using the website.  All of those factors combined = my first wedding breakdown. 

Teh German said something about save the dates for just the Germans so they could have a date to plan around and I fully gave in and said fine to German save the dates.  But I had criteria.  1- The solution had to be cheap.  2- He was required to help.  If I was working on designing them, he would be sitting with me NOT on Instagram or Facebook.  With some searches, I discovered save the date postcards.  That seemed easy enough.  I could design something simple in Photoshop, print them out, and send the group to Germany for Papa G to apply postage and mail out.  My only cost would be labor and the paper we picked. 

While Teh German showered to get ready for the neighborhood event, I almost went out and bought postcard paper, but told myself to calmith my titith.  When Teh German came downstairs, I explained that we needed to go buy paper on Sunday for the save the dates and then we could work on the design, which he needed to google and find something simple for me to generate.  He agreed.

Neighbors picked us up around 7:30 and we headed to the party.  It was actually a really good time.  There was food and we got to hang out with more cool neighbors who we don't usually see on "International Blvd".  My only issue was that I had worn flip flops and we were asked to remove our shoes when we came inside... I had no socks so I had to walk around barefoot all night.

Our ride decided it was time to leave around midnight, which was fine by us, since we were pretty intoxicated, but had been chilling in the living room on the couch with most of the others who were also tired of standing in their bare feet on non-carpeted floors.  Our drive home was quick, duh, and we were in bed soon after the dogs were taken care of.

SUNDAY

For the 3rd day in a row, Phil woke me up while it was still dark outside with his whining.  Because he was drugged, I was feeling extra bad for him, and he's hurt so fiiiiiine, I'll let him out.  Additionally, my head was killing (because of pressure changes and being slightly hungover), so I wanted to take something for my headache.  Since it was 0530, I went ahead and fed them so I didn't have to get up again in an hour.  When I finally got back in bed at 06, I murmured to Timo that the dogs were his problem for the rest of the day since I had done middle of the night duty for the past 3 days.  He got up around 0745 and was headed downstairs when I realized what was happening and told him I'd already fed them.  I don't think he was ever more grateful to come back to bed.

We finally got up around 10.  We agreed to eat breakfast at home, then go to Michael's to pick out save the date paper, go by the grocery store, then come home.  While I wasn't in a hurry, Teh German Time was too much for me and I had to motivate him a few times.

We made it to Michael's and took about 5 minutes to decide on paper.  The pad we got was 5x7 cardstock and when we got to the parking lot, I checked to see if any UPS store were open so they could cut the paper down to 4x6, which is regular postage price in the US.  They weren't open, so we headed to Publix.  While there, Teh German realized he was kinda hungry.  He kept wandering away, being lured by snacks and other foods. 

When we left Publix, I asked Teh German if we could stop by the new pet store that just opened 2 doors down from Pubilx and he said yes.  We checked out the store, I spent a quarter of what I had just spent at the grocery store at the pet store for the dogs, then we headed home.  We hadn't gotten far when Teh German remembered he needed to go back by Sushi 101, so we turned around for that. 

Once he got his refund from Sushi 101, we headed home.  While I put away groceries, Teh German took care of the beasts.  After groceries were put away, I pulled out a frozen pizza for hangry McGee's late lunch and headed outside to scoop poop and call Teh Running Bestie.  We chatted for a while and Teh German even delivered my pizza outside and we ate while chatting with Teh Running Bestie on speakerphone.  After we got off the phone, I texted Roux's Humom to bring Roux over for a play date. 

While we sat outside with the beasts, Teh German and I worked on the save the date.  Meri and Roux weren't really playing, so Roux's Humom took him home and we agreed to go to the gym at 5.  As I had predicted, I was late because I was working on the save the date.  I arrived to the gym at 5:30, after having to walk down the street some to see if her car was in the driveway.  I didn't realize we were meeting at the gym.  Oops. 

After a decent gym session, I headed home to Teh German and heated up leftovers for dinner (this is what happens when I cook all week).  While I had been at the gym, Teh German had worked on the translations for the save the date cards and had written up his proposal story for the website!  So productive!

After dinner, I set about adding his proposal story to the website, which was the final step the site actually being complete.  Then I went back to working on the save the dates.  After fiddling with the layout and getting Teh German's "approval" for the final design, I started the process of trying to print this mofo out.  I should have known better.

My Epson printer and I have a hate-hate relationship.  Mostly I use it to print out coupons for shopping and other crap jobs, so I don't overly care how the print looks.  But now, I want to use it for something legit.  Despite cleaning the nozzles and resetting all the settings (much to my dismay), the printer and I are still at odds and after some googly research, I learned that it might be due to my not-Epson print cartridges.  Black is printing grey and the colors are very light.  Fantastic.  After getting the printer to print properly and realizing my ink problem wasn't fixable that night, I went on Amazon and ordered Epson ink cartridges (this is me waving at the idea of "cheap" save the dates) and finally headed upstairs to bed.

Of course, I had to come back downstairs no less than 3 time for various things.  The most important of those trips was tell Phil good night.  Because of his hip/leg thing, he's been sleeping downstairs.  This pains me because it upsets our routine.  While I was telling him good night, I explained that I know I had told him that whenever he's ready, I'll be ready to do whatever he needs me to do, but this year, I wasn't ready.  I promised him a cheeseburger if the vet visit ended with "it's not cancer." 

After 11, we finally crashed in bed.

________________________________________________

Overall a roller coaster of a weekend, but mostly relaxing.  While I could have spent my Sunday reading, instead I spent it staring at my computer screen playing in Photoshop.  While I do enjoy the challenge, it was not something I wanted to do, so I'm kind of bitter about it.  That said, the design is done, so as soon as the ink arrives, I can print them out and get them on their way to Germany to quell the German panic from Papa G.  That said, since the Germans are receiving save the dates, I am way less inclined to get their invitations to them by the end of March and I will probably make it more like May, partially because they've been notified, partially because I'm an asshole, and mostly because I spent a VERY long time working on the website and bitches better use it.

I took all of 6 pictures this past weekend and they were mostly of Meri outside being adorable.

Cantaloupe juice is the shiznit.
Essentially just put cantaloupe in the blender and voila, juice.

lots of this all weekend.

with spurts of this.

Oh and "I" vacuumed this weekend.
And by I, I mean that I moved Roomy the Roomba upstairs.

My yard decoration

Her broken ears.. she thought she was in trouble because I made her stay for the photo.
BTW, she has a mouse behind her too, so that makes a total of THREE mice close-by.
At least she brought ONE in with her.

Monday update on Phil:
At 0845 this morning I called the vet to see if they had an cancellations.  An 1120 had opened up, so Phil and I went in for that appointment.  While it was a traumatic experience for both of us for me to lift him into the car and then at the vet I tried to lift him out and when he refused to let me, I stood and begged him to let me help him out of the car, he decided to just jump put on his own like he was fine.  Dick. 

Most importantly, the vet said that she didn't see any cancer in the leg xray, which was the most important thing due to his age and his breed.  We aren't sure what caused his injury, but he had fluid in his leg and might be fighting an infection.  His temp was fine and this morning was the first time he seemed uninterested in eating, but he still ate most of his breakfast.  Meri was kind enough to finish it off for him when he went outside.  He jumped in and out of the car after our vet visit because he's a dick.

As I had promised, I stopped at McDonald's on the way home and ordered cheeseburgers for us for lunch.  I didn't eat all mine, so I let Meri have the remains and Phil got a burger all of his own.  This is a first.  Never, ever, evvverrr have my dogs gotten to eat more than a few bites of leftover burger or fries from a fast food place.  They've had ice cream cones and whipped cream, but nothing like a burger.  That's how you know it was a BIG deal.