Five on Friday #218

EINS - Random Shit

I had an appointment at the VA to re-access my back disability rating and add my neck to it so I've not been to the Chiro since right before Thanksgiving.  I wanted to be at my worst for my VA appointment.  As someone who usually goes at least 2x per month, it's been rough going.

I went on Thursday after class and I felt like I was walking on clouds.  My pops were so thorough my nose was running.  I tell myself that nose running = everything is no longer backed up and stuff is back in alignment.

I told Chiro that I'll be running Kiawah this weekend and he said, "You're going to undo all our work!"  I said, don't worry, I'll be back on Monday for a massage AND to see you again."  He was satisfied with that... but I knew I could NOT run 13 miles being as out of whack as I was.

________________________________________

Teh PT Wife expressed how impressed she was with seeing Lion King on Broadway and that was enough to talk me into going.  I conned Teh German into going with me after telling him that Teh PT Kid would go with us if we went and "Uncle" Teh German would do almost anything for Teh PT Kid, so away we went.

There was some ticket strife after I bought tickets and we thought there was a conflict, but it ended up working out.

Yoouuuu guuuuyyyysss... Lion King on Broadway was phenomenal.  SOOOO GOOOOD.  I think most of the original songs were performed, plus some not from the movie.  Also, the lady that plays Rafiki?  #HERO

I know we weren't supposed to take photos, but I had to send Teh Sister something!
I picked a scene from Be Prepared by Scar.

________________________________________

Due to Hurrication, the last day of class was pushed to Thursday instead of Tuesday.  I only have 2 final exams (hallelujah) since 3 of 5 classes had final projects in lieu of final exams.  Unfortunately, one on Sunday afternoon and the other on Monday morning.  Siiiiiigh.  My field of fucks is completely barren and truthfully, I just want better than Cs in all my classes and I'm satisfied.  Truthfully.  No self guilt.  Cs are acceptable after this semester of hell.

________________________________________

Matilda talked me into doing the Kiawah Half Marathon and I definitely didn't train enough.  I know it will be fine, but it's going to be a struggle.. also if it's raining and 40°F I'm going to be disgruntled.  But the medal is pretty cute and I've not earned a medal since May... so fineeee.  Additionally, the shirt is Christmas-y but also from a race, so technically I can wear it year round.  Technically.

Matilda will arrive on Friday evening and it's bittersweet, but it means that we'll leave my company holiday party early/when it ends and won't be post-gaming with my coworkers, like we have done in years past.  But, it's also ok because Teh German is currently taking it easy and I won't be going crazy since I have to run on Saturday morning.

Also, what does it mean that the thing I'm most looking forward to about doing the Kiawah race is the pre-race nap where I make a Megan-rito and sleep on the floor before the race?  This excludes my excitement about getting to hang out with Matilda.

________________________________________

I got a new phone on cyber Monday.  It wasn't really planned, but I'm not overly surprised.  My Pixel 2 had started doing weird freezing.  When I checked, my phone was worth $97 (which was a disappointment, but understandable) and that value will only go down in the coming year, so rather than have to spend full price later, I took the 50% off and the $97 from Google to upgrade to the Pixel 4 XL.  XL because when Cadet Spouse* compared his Pixel 2 XL with my Pixel 2 and I realized just how much more screen there was, I was sold.

*Ya know how sometimes there are people that are always associated with each other?  That's me and my Cadet Project Partner.  Remember the Cadet I bitched about last year during my Circuits class who drove me absolutely bonkers and I had to yell at him in front of other people that one time?  Well, anyways, that all happened and he's a CS major who happens to be one of the most responsible Cadets I've come across (other than that first semester when I was considering killing him) so we decided after that rough start that, whenever possible, we would be each other's partner for assignments.  We're so much associated with each other that PITA Professor asked me where Cadet Spouse was in a class Cadet Spouse wasn't even in.  I had to explain the concept of "work spouse" to the Cadets after making a joke that Cadet Spouse was my "school spouse".  Then they were all, "Yeahhhh, that totally makes sense," and started making their own school spouse associations.

100% will miss Cadet Spouse next semester because he's graduating this semester and I'll have to be partners with other CS majors and that brings me pain in my brain.  Siiiiigh.

________________________________________

A new phone meant new screen protectors and phone case.  I'm always #TeamOtterbox and the only colors they had for the Pixel 4XL (at the time) were black, navy blue, and yellow.  Of course, of those options, I went with yellow and now my phone is known as Big Bird.

When discussing this new name with a Cadet who asked if I got a new phone, she informed me that the guy that had played Big Bird on Sesame Street had recently died.  I was super sad, but then I had to judge the shit out of her millennial ass when she said, "He played Big Bird and that Grouch character... I can't remember his name."

I dead-eyed her and said, "HOW CAN YOU NOT REMEMBER OSCAR THE GROUCH'S NAME?!?! HEATHEN!"  Then we laughed.  But really, how do you not remember Oscar's name?  He's one of my personal heroes.

Also, does doing a factory reset on any device give anyone else crippling anxiety like it does me?  Because resetting my Pixel 2 was almost debilitating.

Can you hear my heart palpitations from this photo?

________________________________________

Despite having shit to do, I did paint swatches anyways.  It brought me great joy until I realized now I have to live with my entire house covered in paint sample swatches until we make a decision and get some painters out.  #JesusTakeTheWheel.

Unfortunately, the colors in the photo are not the true colors.  Despite editing the photo to be as close as possible, the colors are still a bit off.  I can't describe the colors accurately to explain the difference but these are the colors we're looking at.  There are more swatches in the bedrooms.

I was originally thinking green in the bathrooms and blues for the bedrooms and a fun blue color for the office, but decisions are hard.  So I spend my teeth brushing time now staring at the wall trying to decide which colors I love the most for what rooms.

________________________________________

My Web Development class that I wanted to take is going to get cancelled because there are only 5 people enrolled in the class and The Citadel requires 10 people be in the class to not cancel it and there's no way I can make that happen.  I've already registered for a German class to replace it and keep myself at full time status.  I could take another, easier/less work class, but I've really missed my German class.

________________________________________

Speaking of German things, I did a loose interpretation of Krampus for last Friday's Christmas parties and like 2% of people got it.  I didn't get a photo with my full branches, but I was carrying sticks around and someone asked me if they were Charlie Brown's Christmas tree.  SMDH, fucking Americans.

________________________________________

IDK why the home improvement bug bit me in the ass, but I also signed the contract with Lowe's to contract out someone coming to put up a backsplash in our kitchen.  With the backsplash and paint situations going on, Teh German decided to put motion sensor light strip in the pantry and now it's lit up like daylight in there and it's something I didn't know I needed.  Now he will remove the awkward chandiler from the kitchen and cap the space and then the kitchen will be done.

The next big project will be the dining room ceiling molding.  It will get painted at the same time as the rest of the house, then Teh German will mount it.  In the end, we wanted to put Hue lightstrips in the molding, but I've been waiting to see if the lightstrips would go on sale and so far they haven't.

________________________________________

After Meri's new jammies came in from Australia, I HAD to order some for Paximoose.  They came and then it got hot, because fucking Charleston, so I had to wait to put them on.. but I finally did.

IT IS GLORIOUS!

Awkward dog is awkward.

EARS FOR DAYS.
If there wasn't already an abundance of personality in Teh Ville, the personality of these ears alone would alert people what they are in store for.
Please also note that Pax's ears match which is odd.

________________________________________

0/10 would NOT recommend going to the Charleston VA hospital.  It's not the service that's the problem it's the fucking parking.  It took me 6 minutes to get to the VA hospital from school for my appt on Tuesday.  Then I spent 35 fucking minutes circling the parking lot looking for parking/waiting on the free valet to come for me.  I managed to get a spot before the free valet came available.  HHHAAATTTEEEEEEEE.

This is not a single occurrence.  It has happened to me before.  Next time, I will make the 35 minute drive to another clinic and then be 35 minutes closer to work/home.

________________________________________

I've had my end-of-semester massage scheduled since October at my Chiro office.  It was extremely convenient that the appointment fell after the Kiawah half.  YAY for recovery assistance.

I also went ahead and scheduled my pre-semester massage for after the Charleston half marathon.

I've come to terms with my massage habit.  Some people get their nails done regularly or get Starbucks.  I get massages.  #NotSorry  Also, my body is ALWAYS tight as a rubber band and monthly massages is not actually enough for my body to be relaxed... but multiple massages per month is not in my budget, so I'll stick with my current schedule.

________________________________________

Life has been so overwhelming lately that when I get in the car, I don't turn on my audiobook or music.. I just let it be silent.  I love/hate it.  Love because my brain feels better, hate because my road rage is worse without the book to distract me.

________________________________________

We had this stupid optional bonus credit assignment in my operating system class and I selected the Super Nintendo to write the paper and presentation on and the fact that I could understand the assembly language instructions and the circuit diagrams meant that I learned something in college!

It was so surprising to me how much I was enjoying understanding the memory maps and circuitry diagrams that I made sure to stop by and tell my Circuits professor that he had actually taught me something.. and maybe if we had been building a SNES instead of a microwave for our final project, I'd have been more motivated, loooool.  JK.

________________________________________

The company holiday party is tonight and the dress code is 1920s or holiday themed.  My only possibly 1920 wear would be the same dress I wore last year.  Also, it's supposed to be chilly and rainy and I don't want to be traipsing around downtown in heels, cold and wet, so it's looking like "holiday themed" for this fam.  #NotSorry

________________________________________

Test anxiety inducing situation:
"All answers have a 200 word limit, and brevity is encouraged."

WUT?
My answers were all brerite (that is not a word, I just made it up to be funny and it wasn't even that funny.  Don't be like me = lesson of the day).

________________________________________

Ok, I'm going to confess something now that the non-dedicated Gentle Readers have scrolled to the bottom to see the images and funny things...  In my mind, wearing camo anything means you're a redneck.  Now, I'm aware, as an adult, that is stereotyping and I need to not project my personal beliefs (right or wrong) onto others.  That goes hand-in-hand with the fact that I never owned anything that was camo.. like ever.  My NC family is more the farmer type than the hunting type... sooo more overalls than camo (and yes, I wore the shit out of some overalls).

Now being a redneck isn't something to be embarrassed about per say (unless you are an ignorant fuck who chooses ignorance over intelligence because you're lazy and would rather not be worldly out of self-convenience), but I was always kinda embarrassed to potentially be considered a redneck because it held such a negative connotation, even in my Podunk hometown of mostly rednecks...

All that to say, I never owned anything camo because it would mean I'm a redneck and I'm not a redneck because I'm college educated (x2) and well-traveled and worldly and shit.  Side note: I'm sure there are college educated rednecks and in reality, those are probably my spirit animals... and here's why.

For Halloween Teh German bought a pair of camo house slippers from Walmart.  Like legit, RealTree camo house shoes.  He bought them because they were the cheapest shoes available in his size.  Here's what NO ONE EVER TOLD ME about camo: that shit is comfortable and warm.  There's a reason rednecks wear camo!  It's COMFORTABLE and WARM!

Timo already has Birkenstock house shoes (oh, yes I know how German that is and so does he) so he didn't really need another pair, but since we were going out in our house shoes, he couldn't wear his actual house shoes because they never leave the house (also, I know how German that is (with the rule following and such) and so does he).  Soooo, since he doesn't actually wear the camo shoes, I adopted them.

THEY ARE THE MOST COMFORTABLE SLIPPERS I'VE EVER OWNED AND NOW I'M OFFICIALLY A REDNECK BECAUSE I HAVE CAMO SOMETHING.  I bought a pair of fleece lined Crocs last year to be my house shoes because I always have cold toes.  Those Crocs just manage to get my feet super sweaty, which means I take my feet out of them and because my feet are sweaty, my feet get even colder, then I put them back in the shoes and start the process over again.  NOT WITH MY CAMO SLIPPERS!  They are the perfect balance of warm but not too warm so my feet don't get sweaty.

LONG LIVE THE CAMO SLIPPERS!
PS.  I anticipate that these slippers will be the only camo thing I have unless someone gifts me something camo that I can stomach.

________________________________________

It's a not-secret that I'm the favorite child of my Dad (even if he refuses to say it outloud, we all know it), with the exception of Teh German who knocked me off my high-horse with his accent and engineering background and ability to do things around the house without having a meltdown about it.  But more importantly, I am my Granny's favorite grandchild and she is my favorite elder family member.  Like, if you come at my Mom, fine, she'll take care of you, but if you come at my Granny, I'ma fight you.

So anyways, my Granny has been taking care of people, kinda like unpaid, uncertified home health nurse for years.  This last person has been her former brother-in-law (former because he and Granny's sister got divorced) and he and his family have taken advantage of her for so long and she has let it go on and it makes me so fucking mad that "family" can be this way.

Anyways, I learned that she signed for financial responsibility of this former BIL for something that I'm not sure of and I almost went through the GD roof.  And within 15 minutes of finding that shit out, I also learned that former BIL died.

I'm going to be honest, I was GLAD.  This man had been taking advantage of my Granny for years and I'm not sure why she let it happen, other than the fact that she's too old to be taking care of anyone and she's mentally declining in a way that she refused to acknowledge, that I've been going on about for years.

Soooooo, for the last month or so, Granny has been staying with my Mom since the former BIL was in the hospital for something, idk, idc, not my fucking problem.  Since my Granny has been with Mom, she's called me more and I don't mind.  She's expressed the desire to "move out west" with my Mom and I'm 200% for it... buuuttt I also know that my Granny doesn't do anything she doesn't want to do, so I have to be careful about how I encourage it.

Truthfully, I want my Granny to move out there because I don't think my uncles at Home, Home would take care of her when the time comes and I know my Mom would.  I also know that I would go crazy and my marriage would probably implode if I had to take care of my Granny.. sooooo Mom is the best option.

When I found out about the financial responsibility stuff, I was ready to drive the 4 hours to Home, Home and beat down some motherfucking doors... In all honesty, even after finding out the man died, I was still ready to go beat down some motherfucking doors... but it's probably not worth it.  Also, I don't know where they live, so they are saved.

Buttt, I did admit to Teh German that if my Granny said she would commit to moving to live with my Mom, I would have her fly into CHS, she'd be with us for a few days so she could sit in the Sam's parking lot and watch the planes fly over, and then I'd take her to Home, Home and we'd pack up her necessary things, and we'd drive her car to Mom's.  Like, I'm ready.  Do I have the PTO for this?  100% most definitely NOT, but you guys, I'd do anything for my Granny.

So much so, that despite my boycott of speaking to my Mom since January 2018, which has made my life infinitely less dramatic and less stressful, I considered texting my Mom to tell her that I'd do what it takes to get Granny to live with her.  I haven't done it, but the fact that I even considered it speaks volumes.  After talking to Teh Sister, I was almost ready to call Mom and start planning for Granny's move.. but ya'll, I just can't bite the bullet yet.  I'm not ready.  Part of it is stubbornness, which I mean, the apple doesn't fall far from the tree, sooooo that.  But also, I'm still pissed at my Mom for the scenes she made at the wedding and for the Jan 2018 scene that was the final straw to make me stop talking to her altogether.

BUT FOR MY GRANNY.....
It might actually happen.

Truthfully, I don't want to deal with it right now.  I was looking forward to my stress-free, no school time... but I also know that this is my ONLY time to take care of a family "emergency" situation like this until June.

BUT FOR MY GRANNY....
I'd do anything.

________________________________________

Circling back to that Mom drama.  I know that it's stupid to be angry about something for so long.  Like, I should just let it go, but Gentle Readers, for over 30 years of dealing with my Mom, I let so much go.  I wouldn't call it forgiveness, but I definitely practiced that whole "offer the other cheek" thing.  There was a lot of mental abuse going on that I didn't recognize because I was a teenager.  Not just from my Mom, but also my Dad (in the sake of calling a Spade a Spade), and there was not a greater day than the day I moved to NC State to live without my family.

People say that you only have one family, one mom, one dad, etc.  I know that I might have regrets about shutting her out, but I also know that the lack of drama and stress, coupled with the marginal guilt about the fact that she is my mother, is more healthy for me than the drama roller coaster I rode for so long.

So like, I get it, but also understand, I've thought about it A LOT before finally shutting that shit show down.. and it's hard to let it back in, knowing how often I've been burned by that fire.

ZWEI - Money Shit

-Groceries
-Gas
-Bojangles
-Christmas leggings
-Phone
-Necessary phone accessories
-At Home trip with Twin Mom
-Hue bulb for the new office lamp
-Backsplash (Merry Christmas, Husband)
-Lion King tickets

DREI - From My Phone Shit

When you go to visit your husband at his office and he's not there!

New phone accessories, sans Big Bird case.

This monster was demanding attention.
He's not usually QUITE this demanding.

If this doesn't make you giggle, you need to lighten up.
Every single time I look at my feet when I'm wearing my Clawz, I giggle.
So much so that Teh German knows EXACTLY what I'm laughing at.

Stuffie DOWN!
Skinny caterpillar went into Dr. Mom's tailoring pile.

This Monkey.
/swoon.

<3 <3 <3 

I think this is going to get printed and framed for future Christmas decorating purposes.

annndddd here she is being ridiculous because I was scratching her butt and she was twerking.

If you're looking for a Christmas gift for our household, any of these awesome toys from Target are accepted.
Or just an empty-handed visit.  Butt scratches (for the dogs, kthx) and socializing with the humans is completely acceptable.

New lamp! LURRVVEEE!

Meri's new office chair bed.
She loves it.
Pax is super jealous.  Sorry buddy, you're too big for chair sleeps.

Point made.
See also: His HEAD is on MY couch pillow and his ASS is on MY couch blanket.
Teh German's dog my ass.  #MamasBoy

Be still my heart.

VIER - From the Internet Shit

The fact that Curve is still a thing blows my mind.
Nothing screams, "Megan's teenage era" quite like Curve.
I didn't wear it, but I know MANY people who did.

#NOTSORRY

Take heart.
Breathe deep.
You are further along than you think.
-MHN

All along,
You were stronger than you were able to see.
MHN

Even here, you are allowed to be proud of your progress.
MHN

I hope you can give yourself a little more credit.
I hope you can remember that this road has not been easy for you.
I hope you can see where you are as progress even though so much is still unknown.
MHN

👏👏👏🙌🙌🙌

FÜNF - Things that made me happy this week

1. End of classes for the Fall 2019 semester.  ONE.MORE.SEMESTER, Gentle Readers.  One.more.fucking.semester.
2. Definitely making an A in one of my classes.  It's not a surprise, but still a pleasant certainty.
3. New phone life.  Truthfully, it doesn't feel like much changed except the size, but it's new and fancy and I love new tech and the camera is on.fucking.point.
4. Chatting with Teh Sister.
5. The Lion King on Broadway.  It was more than I could have ever expected.
6. Dogs in jammies.  My dogs specifically, but I'm not always picky.
7. The smell of my laundry while I'm not at home actively doing laundry (aka, the reward of my Laundry Fairy efforts).
8. Company flexibility.  These last 2 weeks have been very school demanding.
9. Matilda coming to visit!
10. A new medal for the rack.  As much as I love/hate running, I've missed it.  Also, please, thoughts and prayers for my bad hip as it's been super achy the last 2 weeks.  And yes, I'm still going to go run a half marathon on it this weekend and again in a month.  #JesusTakeTheWheel.

Happy Friday, Gentle Readers.
2019 is almost over.
🙌🙌🙌🙌🙌🙌🙌