health, rest, pets, adult stuff

Random thing: I'm trying to figure out if it's smarter to get my knee looked at this year, since I've met my deductible (but am halfway through my "Out-of-pocket-Max"), or if I should enroll in a different healthcare plan that covers more, and wait until next year. I am pretty sure it will require surgery and I think I pay 15% of whatever it costs... I think? Health insurance is so confusing. Merp.

Also I looked at lasik. That's definitely not covered by insurance but it's at the top of my list.

Anyway, this weekend was my ME weekend-- the weekend that I blocked off way in advance with no plans so I could do whatever I wanted.

Y'all, Saturday was so good.

I woke up late, made muffins, sewed a few things, napped, went shopping, did laundry, and it felt great to not have any obligations and take care of random stuff around the house. I even got some picture frames for some of those pictures I had printed.

I've lived in this house for over a year and there are no pictures of people I love anywhere. Well, I fixed that.

Sunday I spent with FG's family. His dad was in town and they wanted to have lunch. I originally was like, "No WAY this is MY weekend," and insisted that he go without me. But on Sunday I actually felt like hanging out with them, so we spent the day visiting and I had a lot of fun. I really like his sister; we have a similar sense of humor and I think we've figured out each other's vibe.

It's such a cool and significant thing that we don't dread hanging out with each other's family. Like, a few weeks ago we went to Frank's for lunch and FG was so excited to see everyone and even had a small gift for dad.

But anyway, back to things.

I lost the other big fish. While we were in Memphis, I saw my mom on the security cameras with a shovel and a grocery bag... Houston had some really heavy rains and I guess he jumped out and didn't make his way back in. Poor guy, he was a cool fish. Now, there are a bunch of small fish and a couple medium fish in the pond and I'm that much closer to filling it in. ($$)

Pumpkin. She wasn't eating, even with the steroids, and I was concerned enough that I asked the vet about how we approach this "end of life" thing. Like, logistically, how do you know when it's time to euthanize, and if I come home to a dead cat, what do I do with the body? I can't dig a hole that size in the back yard, and what if I'm traveling and mom has to deal with it?
Apparently you can cremate pets for a moderate price and there are a bunch of overboard options like framed pawprints and such. I'm not sure if I want ashes back, or if I just want them to take her and do whatever they do with dead animals. I joke about taxidermy... that sounds so hilarious and badass but it's probably way over budget and in reality it would probably be kinda creepy.

Well, I started mixing tuna in with every bowl of food and now she's eating very well and looking really good. That's good, because I'm obviously not ready to say goodbye yet. Her kidneys may be slowly failing but she's still got a little spark.

I am considering looking into a financial adviser. I have a little extra cash and I'd like to see if I can invest in something. I'm sure it couldn't hurt to go in and talk to someone and see what my options are, because it's just as confusing as health insurance.  WHY don't they teach us shit like this in school??

small bursts of joy

Today I had to wait around for a while to get my flu shot at CVS.

(PSA: The flu is starting early this year, people. Every single lab I've visited in the last 2 weeks has had positive flus already. Get your flu shots and wash your hands.)

Anyway, while I waited, I downloaded the CVS app and started uploading some of the old pictures in my phone to get them printed. I'm always a little worried that something will happen to my phone, or my SD card will get corrupted and I'll lose some of my favorite photos. By the time I got my shot, they were done.

I would up printing 76 photos. Here are a few:

I put some in extra frames I had, but definitely don't have 76 extra frames laying around. So I started putting them around my house in random places. Tucked into a mirror frame, stuck on the fridge, etc. I'll eventually get another album and a few frames to put them in. But for now they're all random.

They make me so happy every time I see them.

wait...what.

I want to take a few minutes to record something that I noticed.

The hotel room in Memphis was... not up to my standards.

It was gross. Dirty. Probably not to a normal person, but to me it was.

The first thing I do in every hotel room is wipe down the door handles, light switches, fridge handles, remotes, etc. When you travel as much as I do, you statistically are exposed to more germs than you would be if you went home every night, and those places are statistically higher risk for exposure. It makes sense, and I want to stay healthy.
Usually it's a precautionary measure, and I don't uncover much filth, which is nice.

Well, in this hotel room I started wiping, as I do, and with every surface that I wiped, the cloth came back dirty and black. It seemed as if everything was grimy. Even the bedside table had something that I can only assume was a booger, and the dining table had a coffee ring on it. It was like housekeeping didn't wipe ANYTHING down. I was seriously grossing out, and it escalated as I attempted to clean each new surface and each time the cloth came back dirty.

I frantically exclaimed my disappointments, as FG quietly unpacked his suitcase into the dresser, which I had previously wiped out because there were hairs and dust inside the drawers. He didn't say anything, except that maybe no one ever cleans the remotes except me, and it wasn't until today that I realized how chill he is.

He could have agreed with me, fueling the fire.
He could have disagreed with me, which might have caused a fight.
He could have told me to calm down.
He could have pointed out that I was overreacting, which would have caused tension even though he was right.
He could have suggested we change rooms, which would have evoked even more anxiety.

He could have done a hundred things.

But, no. I was too fired up to be rational, and he knew it.

This man went about his business, stayed chill, and let it pass. I honestly don't even know what he did while I whizzed about the room wiping things down because he stayed out of my way.

He patiently let me have my ridiculous moment, didn't stress, waited until I fizzled out, and then when I calmed down we carried on with life, happily.

Oh my God.
What a freaking genius.

I wonder how much he does that?

Memphis

FG and I are getting pretty good at this thing where we take cheap trips to random cities.

Two big factors that make it possible and enjoyable:
1. Use points for airfare, hotel, and rental car.
2. Purposefully do not schedule anything before 2pm. This way we can sleep in and leisurely eat breakfast/ get moving. We like the idea of exploring a new city but we also like to relax on vacation.

Basically, like with previous trips, I compiled a list of things I found on Pinterest and we picked what we wanted to do. I made a rough itinerary, and if we felt like doing it, we did. Saturday we planned to go hiking but instead we spent most of the day lounging around. It was awesome.

Here's what we did:

Wednesday night
Land in Memphis and check in to hotel. We had planned to go to Beale Street but were too tired.

Thursday

Graceland- THIS WAS SO COOL. We spent the whole afternoon there, and it was a lot of fun. We did the Elvis Experience + the planes. Lots and lots of walking so we were worn out and decided to have drinks on the patio of a nearby bar, where we talked to some locals about things to do around town. Made us glad that we were too tired to go to Beale Street because they said it was kinda shady and had a lot of crime.

Friday

Riverboat cruise- This was neat and mellow. Boats are not really my thing, but it was nice to take a little ride on the Mississippi. We learned lots of fun facts... and they sold booze.

Big River Crossing- I made a mistake and we missed the light show. Oops. But we did take a little walk on the bridge and it was neat to walk over the water at night. (A little hard to find, so it's helpful to put The Church of the River into the GPS, takes you right to it.)

Beale Street- We did check it out, and it's kind of like a mini Bourbon Street. Lots of bars and music and quirky shops. The street is closed off and you can walk around with alcohol. Yes, it's a little seedy; homeless folks asking for money and it smelled like urine in spots. I can see why the locals discouraged it, but what else do you expect from a street lined with bars?? You have to have realistic expectations, I think. We went at dusk and the vibe was festive and fun.

Saturday

Levitt Shell at Overton Park- They have this summer music series with free concerts. We took a sheet off the bed, spread it on the grass, and chilled to the tunes with snacks and purse wine. It was a pretty impressive show for a small free outdoor amphitheater. Good sound, video monitors, and solid lighting. The weather was gorgeous, too.

Sunday

Bass Pro Shop Pyramid- Yes, I'm serious. We spent several hours in here. This used to be a sports stadium and now it's a huge Bass Pro Shop. The decor is so over the top, plus they have this elevator that takes you to the top and you can look out across the city. There are 2 restaurants, several aquariums, a hotel, a gun range, a small museum, a gift shop where they make fudge, arcade games spread throughout the store... it's worth a stop.

Crosstown Concourse- I really wasn't sure what this was until we got there. Basically they took an old Sears warehouse and converted it into this multi-use space. There are private businesses, retail stores, restaurants, random cool art... all in this cool old building that was renovated but still has some of the original grungy features. Such a cool, funky place. We wandered around for an hour, checking out the different floors.

Stuff we didn't get to do:

Hiking Options:
TO Fuller state park
Shelby Forest
Herb Parsons Lake Trail
Overton Park

Other Neat Stuff:
-Memphis has a ton of those bikes and scooters that you can rent through an app. We didn't use them this trip, but have tried them before and they're a lot of fun.
-Broad Ave Arts District- We drove by on Sunday and hardly anything was open.
-Railgarten- Parking is limited, definitely a place to uber.

Other Notes:
-The speed limits are stupid. 55mph on the freeways, with cops every couple of miles. We are so used to driving 65+ that it was really difficult to stay at such a low speed.
-Parking is pretty good in this town. We didn't have issues finding it, and any parking that we paid for was pretty reasonable.
-Lots of free public activities and outdoor spaces. Overall, it was a cool town.

Friday eve

I woke up this morning and said to myself, "Today is going to be a good day."

And it was.

Last night I went to bed early. At 9:00 I was struggling to stay awake, and then I wondered why I was trying so hard to stay awake... for what? Nothing, really.
So I went to sleep.

I got up semi-early, leisurely drank my coffee, did some yoga, and headed to the lab. Finished validations and reviewed the reports with the customer, so tomorrow all I have to do is head home, stopping at the 100% gluten free restaurant on the way... and maybe start painting my bathroom? We will see how much energy I have left.

Also... my Saturday plans fell through so I have a free day! What a luxury! I'm sure it will fill up, but at least maybe I'll get to sleep in.

tired.

I am tired.

Why is it only Wednesday? It feels like it should be two Fridays ago.

I've been working on this install all week, with a definite hard stop date of Friday. I absolutely need to finish validations and hand over the reports by Friday because I have no additional time this month to come back and work on it.

This should have been an easy install, but there have been a lot of random setbacks. Like no plasma onsite, and the waste being plumbed to nowhere, and frozen reagent trays, and the water being shut off.

I'm on track, but the lack of wiggle room is a little stressful and has me putting in some long days just so I can get some wiggle room but I can't seem to get it, so maybe the long days are necessary.

But today, my uterus has been hurting and I had to really focus all day long, and my lunchtime coffee did nothing, and now I'm plain drained.

I planned to go to yoga but worked too late. Got back to the hotel room and made a taco casserole from some leftovers, then got up and made some more, and now I'm full and wondering if it's too early to settle into bed.

Still wrestling with the guilt that comes from leaving Pumpkin alone for so many days. If it wasn't for that, I think I'd really enjoy all this traveling a lot more.

I had more to say, but I'm tired. Peace.

too blessed to be stressed

We are firmly tucked into the armpit of summer.

It's hot. So damn hot. It's humid. So damn humid. It's gross. You get the idea.

The grass is crispy, the sunflowers wearily line the roads as the sun beats down, and our electricity bills are soaring. Even Target is struggling to keep its temperature at the normal icy 60 degrees.

I'm tired of this heat. Why do I live in Texas, again? Oh yeah, no state income tax.

It's that crappy time of year when the rest of the country celebrates pumpkin spice and corduroy pants and light sweaters, while we continue to sweatily pull out our tiniest pair of shorts and threadbare tank tops that have been worn 5,000 times since May and have popsicles for lunch.

This weekend, I joined FG and his family at our friends' property (referred to as Sandyland because, well, it's sandy). His daughters were there with their significant others and applicable kiddos, and his ex-wife was there without her man, because he came down with a cold or something. To round things out, our buddy was there with his sweetie pie daughter. It was a good crowd.

We all "camped out" in campers lined up in a row. Flushable toilets and air conditioning for the win. We day drank and I grilled burgers and hot dogs (heck yeah grilling competence), and we swam in the pond and roasted marshmallows over the fire at night. It was actually a lot of fun. It was largely a family affair, and I felt like a part of it.

FG's ex-wife -- I have to come up with a nickname for her so I don't have to keep calling her his ex-wife -- made extra sure no one cross-contaminated any of the food with gluten, even stopping someone who was about to gluten the mayonnaise and squeezed me out an aliquot just to be safe. I wasn't anywhere around, she just had my back. That felt really nice. Preventing cross-contamination of food is one of my top love languages.

Also, at one point, FG's oldest daughter took a selfie of the two of us and posted it to snapchat with the hashtag, "Stepmom Vibes." I wasn't sure if it was sarcastic, but she's not that type of person so I took it as a very loaded compliment. FG was particularly amused and pleased when I told him.

When we all hang out, someone gets to be DJ and play their music over the bluetooth speaker. We usually get a good mix of all kinds of music. Lately, I've really been digging Sarah's reggae playlist. Totally into this band, Rebelution.
Really... try to get upset sitting in traffic while listening to this jam.

After driving home and scrubbing off the grunge of camping, I cranked down the A/C and am enjoying a nice charcuterie plate for dinner because screw cooking. Giving the cat some attention and relaxing because every single day of September has something scheduled. Six weeks ago, I blocked off the last weekend of the month that doesn't have anything scheduled just so I could have a breather.

I know this busy vibe will snowball right into the holidays, so I'm taking every calm second I can get.

Reggae music (with a glass of wine) helps.