Weekend Review {08/26}

FRIDAY

The older I get, the more I notice how sensitive I am to other people's feelings.  Not sure if I'd called myself an Empath or a Highly Sensitive Person, but maybe kinda?  IDK.  There was a lot of frustration and irritation running rampant through the office on Friday and I picked up on it and I felt MYSELF being irritated for NO REASON.  Kind of annoying, honestly.  One coworker was so angry/frustrated that she announced she'd be cleaning up the game room and it meant that I could FINALLY move the table that has been sitting in the fire exit that makes it difficult for me to turn off the alarm in the morning, so I volunteered to help.  We turned on some jams and got shit done. 

When we were taking a cleaning break to accomplish some work things, I noticed that the dive shop had posted on FB that they had some openings for a chartered dive trip on Saturday and I asked Teh German if he was interested.  He was.  I ended up having to be the one to call and put us on the list, and the ONLY information I got was that we should be at the dive shop by 0700 on Saturday, and then the shop had a call, so I didn't get more info that that.  Kinda frustrating, but I knew it would be fine.

When I left work, I still felt the irritation of my coworkers.  I didn't end up leaving work until almost 5 because I was kinda avoiding going home because Teh German and I were having a "not fight" over things we were both not wanting to discuss, because he's an ostrich who sticks his head in the sand when shit happens instead of facing it, and sometimes I encourage that behavior by also not acknowledging issues right away... Just call us the ostrich family. 

Because it was so late when I left work, I didn't go to the gym.  I could have, but my irritation wasn't motivation to beat myself into submission on an elliptical, so I went home.  Found this strange urchin/snail situation when I got home.  I was actually alarmed because we couldn't figure out who was eating who in this situation.  Teh German said there was a dead snail in the tank and hopefully that's what it was and the urchin was eating it.  Nature being cruel, as it is wont to do.

In more stress, the anemone had moved in the middle of the night, but when we got home, it had put itself under a rock and Teh German was HIGHLY stressed about the fact that if it stayed there, it would die because it wouldn't get any light.  In the photo below you can see a bubble of a sort between the rock and the sand, that's the anemone foot.  Eventually, it poked it's tenticles out from that spot and put it's foot down under the rock.

After Teh German showered, we agreed to head to Sesame for dinner.  We went to the Citadel Mall location since we wanted to sit outside.  Because Sesame does happy hour from 4-7 Monday-Friday, we got there during happy hour time and I enjoyed TWO adult beverages, like the lush I am.  This is what happens when it's too late to order sweet tea.

After dinner, we stopped by a shoe store in the mall for new flippy floppies for Teh German and then to Target to pick up bread for dive sammiches and puzzles because why not.  I almost went by Dick's and picked up a pair of new school shoes for myself, but I was tired by that point and I had placed a Puma shoe order since their shoes were 50% off earlier, so I'm going to wait and see what I keep before dropping the dollas on the Brooks shoes.

Turkey burger, pimento cheese, mushrooms.
It was more delicious than it sounds.  I, too, was skeptical.

When we got home, Teh German fetched the dive gear out of the storage closet and I went through it to make sure everything was there.  Teh German loaded it up in the truck and I prepped food stuffs for the next day.  Then, we opted for an earlier bedtime since we had to get up at work-day time.

SATURDAY

Alarms went off at M-F time, which wasn't overly pleasant to be completely honest.  Teh German wanted to get up at regular time so he could enjoy his coffee and take care of his Teh German Time before we left the house.  We made it to the dive shop by 0710, which wasn't a problem since we knew that they'd have to load all the stuff and we had some buffer time.

By 0840, we were on the boat and headed out of the Charleston harbor.

Ravenel Selfie!

Bye CHS!

Because of some intense diesel fumes and moderately rough seas while in a small craft, I got sea sick.  I didn't puke, but I wished I could.  I tried sitting in different places on the boat to avoid the fumes, to no avail... andddd it took over 2 hours to get to the dive site, a sunken barge with some submarine things that have become a haven for fishies and coral.  It was actually super cool.

We did 2 dives in total.  On the first dive, I found several shells and an urchin shell!  I was super pumped about the urchin shell because they are super fragile.  I handed it to a dive master with my fins while I was getting back on the boat and then he crushed it when he came to get back on the boat and I didn't cry, but I really wanted to.  I tried to hide my disappointment, like why wouldn't you just hand the shit off before you try to climb the fucking ladder, but it didn't matter because the shell was crushed.  He did apologize and he obviously felt bad.

Between dives, I tried not to be sick from the rocking.  I almost got sick, and then it didn't happen and I was super disappointed.  When we went down for our 2nd dive, I searched everywhere for another urchin shell, but the one that had been crushed was obviously the only one that existed at that wreck.  The dive master admitted that he also looked for a replacement urchin.  He did find a different shell that he gave me, so, he gets a gold star for trying.

When we got out after our 2nd dive, we started breaking down our gear while dive masters were pulling up the anchors.  As soon as the boat was turned on and the diesel fumes resumed, it finally happened, I finally puked.  But it was like a puke and rally, because I felt infinitely better after I puked.  I felt bad because there were people eating as I'm squatting on the dive deck regurgitating stomach acid, but I had no where else to go.  They, fortunately, all understood.

That wonky horizon.. Ugh.
#BoatSelfieProblems

Once we finally started heading back to dry land, the seas were calmer than when we went out and the forward motion really helped disperse the fumes.  I was one of three females on the trip and we'd all been feeling, at least, some mild sea sickness on the way, and another diver mentioned how well we'd all recovered on the way back because we were all smiling and laughing and eating on the return trip.  I was relieved not to be sick on the way back.  The feeling kinda returned when we slowed down to get into the marina and the fumes got bad again, but I managed.

It's hard to see, but a film was fucked up on my glasses and it made seeing very difficult,
especially with the added salt water.

We made it back right in time.  We'd went through a few sprinkles on the way into the harbor, but when we turned around and noticed a huge rain cloud over the place we had just been, we were grateful for perfect timing.

Adventures with Husband are the best.
Even if my new name is Red Skull (because sunburn)

I did manage to get a pretty wicked sunburn on one side of my face because sea sickness removed any self-preservation thoughts I could have had regarding protecting my skin from the sun.  And, when we'd left, it was pretty cloudy so it wasn't even sunshiny.  #LessonLearned.

I've suffered worse burns and this is mostly just on the one side of my neck/ear, so it's nothing worse than I've dealt with before.  Any burn where your bra straps touches is infinitely worse, trust me.

While other helped loaded up the truck, one of the other female divers and I sat in the truck and enjoyed the AC, since when we returned to dry land, it was hot and humid AF.  Honestly, being so sick took everything out of me.  I also realized that we were going to miss doggy dinner time and Mom Guilt had me frantically texting Teh PT Wife and Roux's Humom.  Roux's Humom went over to release the beasts and feed them dinner for us, because she's, seriously, so fucking awesome (have I mentioned lately how lucky we are to have such good neighbors?). 

We finally left the marina after 6 and made it back to the dive shop by 6:30.  Teh German had to rinse out his rental gear and since it was already set up, I went ahead and rinsed my gear as well.  We finally made it home around 7:30. 

So here's a small world story for you.  While I was rinsing out my gear, a dive shop employee was looking for one of the rental regulators that happened to be in our dive bag.  I caused some confusion with my answers and she ended up seeing my Aqualung BCD and regulator in the dive bag and she said, "That's exactly what I would have sold you!"  I said, "Well, I got that in GTMO."  She was like, "Are you serious right now?!?"  Me, "Yes." 

And then it hit me, SHE SOLD ME MY GEAR.  I thought her face looked familiar, but I just associated her with the dive shop.. I had associated her with the WRONG dive shop.  She ran the dive shop in GTMO for YEARS.  I'm not sure what brought her to Charleston, but I made sure to send our selfie to my former GTMO dive partner.

Noticed this sexxxyy Teh Dad Tan on the way home.
Teh Dad is notorious for wearing shorts and getting his thighs burned.

Teh German and I hung up our gear to dry in the garage so Teh German could still get his truck in and then we headed over to Teh PT House for some minimal socializing since, originally, we had committed to being there for the afternoon for a gathering.. but then the dive opportunity came up.

We stayed for a short while, but we were both wiped, and probably weren't really good company.  Teh German didn't even enjoy smoking time and only had ONE beer.  I stayed in the AC and chatted with Teh NY Chef after everyone else went outside.  Eventually, we headed home and showered and it was bedtime.

SUNDAY

Sunday morning, I woke up at 0400 because my toe was itching because something bit it and then I had to pee, so I got up to pee.  Meri got up, trying to get her breakfast early, and I was like, "Definitely not," which roused Teh German who was super confused.  I ended up having to tell him to go back to sleep.  It took me almost an hour to get back to sleep.  I didn't actually hear the dogs rouse for breakfast, but I guess Teh German did so he got up with them and went downstairs and didn't come back up.  Oh well.

I slept a short while longer, then couldn't sleep anymore, so I scrolled for a little while, then finally got up.  I went ahead and got dressed and took the beasts on a walk and it was absolutely perfect outside.  A nice breeze, a "cool" 68°F, PERFECT for shorts and a t-shirt.

When I got back from the walk, we opened the windows, ate leftovers for breakfast, and I made the week's dinner menu.  Then, I started the laundry and I changed into pants so I could go to Lidl and pick up the groceries we needed for the week since it's always the temperature of the arctic in that place.  I also made a stop by Dollar Tree for some new baskets to organize the closets.  I love baskets for organizing!

After I got home from my errands, Teh German helped me put away the groceries and I set about my basket business.  I cleaned up the dog closet, which was the original motivation for buying baskets, then headed upstairs to reorganize our bathroom cabinets.

I finished up the laundry after finishing up the cabinets.  There are few greater feelings than an aired out house after organizing the shit out of some cabinets and accomplishing all the laundry/chores.  So much bliss.  When I finished, I headed downstairs for a snack, and Teh German and I continued our Marvel trek.

A blue tailed lizard on the succulents box.
It's good Meri didn't see it.
She's a lizard chaser.

My middle toe is the bit toe.  This photo doesn't do the red, itchiness justice.
I'm assuming it was a spider bite.

The rest of the afternoon was spent watching movies and snuggling with my Monkey-Doodle.

We had leftover for dinner and then watched another Marvel movie before turning off the TV.  Teh Dad called right before I went upstairs, so we chatted for a bit, and then it was finally pre-bed-chores time and bedtime.

______________________________________________

Sunday night felt like Saturday night, which was mildly disappointing, but dive adventures were worth it, despite the sea sickness, sunburn, and price.  It was my last weekend before school, so it was spent well, IMO.

This week includes:
-All day, off-site meeting on Tuesday, thoughts and prayers requested.
-School starts Wednesday, thoughts and prayers requested, lol.
-Saturday is my next tattoo appointment, more thoughts and prayers requested, lol again.

Also, please send out a cool weather dance for us.  It was so delightful on Sunday and I need more of that in my life.  I posted on FB about how I'd like a hurricane to come so the temps would cool (and a hurrication never hurts my soul) and some people got really upset over it.  Twin Mom suggested maybe a few tropical storms and I agreed with that.  I don't want people's shit to get ruined, I just want temps in the 70s again.

Happy end of August, Gentle Readers!