Month: May 2018

Memorial Day Weekend

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Saturday (5/26) we hosted a game night with our friends B, C, and T. B&C are married and big Disney fans like we are so there was no shortage of conversation topics. Interestingly enough, Joe was having a convo with C and the same time I was speaking to B and we were essentially talking about the same stuff! I learned they watch the same podcast as I do of this couple who live in Florida and have season passes to all the Disney and Universal Parks. Too funny. The last time this group got together was in May 2013 so it’s been a long time! We had way too much food (veggie tray, chips, tortilla chips, frito dessert, and brownies) so half didn’t get touched. B&C brought a nice party tray with salami, cheese, and crackers plus an angel food cake. Will need to make a point not to go overboard when only inviting 3 people over next time! The evening was fun, though, even if we only played one game – Taboo – because we were talking too much. Everyone left a bit before midnight and the night flew by.

Sunday (5/27) – Joe washed our cars while I washed two welcome mats, then we organized some of the garage, and I organized the spare bedroom and moved perishables in there from the garage. We were dying from the heat after that and later in the evening we visited the pool which had just opened for the season the day before. Not to self – just before 6 pm is the perfect time for a swim because it’s not very crowded. We actually had the pool to ourselves at one point and this male ducking kept flying overhead. I made a joke how he was scoping out the pool and no sooner had we gotten out did he and his wife come flying into the area, landing in the pool. The lifeguard tried chasing them off but they refused to leave until some kids got in the pool.

Monday (5/28) – We got up early to beat the impending heat (it had been in the 90s for days) to scope out the location for a wedding I’ll be photographing on Saturday for a friend. I’m really not thrilled about doing it because people photography is not my jam but it’s low-key and I’ll make some extra money so at least there’s that.

Afterward we went to Savers where Joe got some shorts and I got a green tank top, a white tank top with green and purple pattern on it, and a Blackhawks t-shirt. We also went to Kohls and I ended up getting a pair of grey addidas running shoes, grey shorts, and two Marvel t-shirts – Deadpool and Groot from Guardians of the Galaxy.

For lunch we ended up grilling a rack of pre-seasoned ribs we picked up from Costco on Sunday. They came out amazing and were only $10! So that might become a new Memorial Day tradition instead of burgers and hot dogs. I’m not a huge rib fan but these were so good I wouldn’t mind having them a few times a year, in fact.

That Time I Called 911

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Picture this: It’s 5:45 am and you’re home alone standing in your bathroom naked except for a pair of underwear when your little dog starts growling and barking at the front door. Suddenly the doorbell rings and someone starts enthusiastically pounding on the door. You wait, hoping they go away, but they keep ringing the doorbell and pounding with an increased sense of urgency. You slowly make your way downstairs to see if you can peak through the side window without them noticing and see a big burly guy wearing a white t-shirt and tan jacket. You run upstairs to check if there’s any vehicles parked nearby to explain his presence but there’s nothing out of the ordinary. Meanwhile the ringing/pounding continues. What do you do?

Well, if you’re me, you dial 911 scared out of your mind. Which is what I did this morning. They took my address, name, number, and a description of the guy and then after checking their computer informed me that it was probably the fire department since they had a call for a carbon monoxide leak in a townhome at the end of my attached building. 911 was cautious about everything, however, and instructed me not to open the door until it was 100% confirmed. They also still sent a patrol car (it drove by just as everything was confirmed and I was opening the door). At that time two uniformed firefighters were coming out of my neighbor’s unit with the guy that, if I had nine lives, reduced mine to only eight today. I apologized for not answering sooner and for calling 911 but they were very understanding, as was the 911 agent who assured me I did the right thing by calling. They came inside to check the CO levels in my house and then promptly left.

In hindsight, I feel pretty silly but I was legitimately terrified while it was going on. I recall saying “please hurry, I’m really scared” to the 911 operator. In my defense, the guy at the door was not in uniform, nor did he announce who he was. I also subscribe to the fuck politeness theory and never answer the door unless I’m expecting someone, so I think it might be time to invest in a smart doorbell.

After calming down a bit, I posted what happened to Facebook and was reassured by many of my female friends that they would have done the same thing.

I really hate how hard it is to see out the front when people come to the door. We only have the side window next to the door which I have a shear drape over, so it’s pretty obvious if I look out there and still not answer, so I usually don’t even see the person. There’s awnings over the door area so looking out the side window upstairs reveals nothing, and the front windows are useless because the door is set back so far you can’t see it. It might be time to invest in a smart doorbell!

Deadpool 2 FTW

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Saturday (5/19) morning Joe drove to my parents’ house to pick up J to spend the weekend with us. On their way back to our place I purchased tickets to the noon showing of Deadpool 2 at Classic Cinemas. I guess that is one perk to being able to buy ahead of time – you don’t have to worry about arriving early to get your preferred seats (although the theater didn’t end up being crowded at all). The downside is the extra $1 per ticket service charge, plus they raised the ticket prices to $6 sometime last year (most likely to fund the improvements) so it cost $21 for the three of us. J got to see Ken, our favorite ticket-taker, who is known to say “enjoy the movieee” which we always get a kick out of, and he did as well.

We stopped at McDonald’s beforehand for a quick late breakfast before the show so we wouldn’t be starving during it as it was almost two hours long but J got an order of nachos anyway, LOL. He shared them with us but we were pretty full so I only tried a couple.

Deadpool 2 was, dare I say it, even better than the original! So so funny. I just love that character to pieces and I cannot wait to see it again. It was better than any of the Avengers movies by far.

After the movie we headed to the mall so we could enjoy lunch at Red Robin. Surprisingly, J opted for a side of fruit instead of fries with his burger. I got my usual (Banzai) and Joe got the mushroom swiss. They had a buy one get one 50% off special, plus I had a gift card, so it didn’t cost anything out of pocket. I earned a free burger on my account too so we’ll be heading back there again sometime before mid July.

After lunch we stopped in FYE so J could look around. He always finds something there and this visit was no exception. He got a movie and a wrestling DVD for $10 total.

I had also planned to pick up my new glasses but my stomach was bothering me so we skipped that and headed home.

We spent the evening watching YouTube videos and playing a few games (Dumbass and Split Decision). I ended up cooking us dinner (grilled chicken breasts) around 9 pm because we weren’t hungry until then thanks to our late lunch. Everyone went to sleep sometime around 11:30 pm.

We didn’t do much Sunday (5/20) morning. We were up around 9 am and just got ready but skipped breakfast because we decided to have lunch at Warsaw Inn before dropping J back off at home. We stuffed ourselves silly and even though I still felt hungry when we left an hour and a half after arriving (holy crap!), I didn’t end up eating again until the evening.

Joe and I stopped at the mall to pick up my new glasses before heading home. When I tried on my new glasses I noticed the prescription on the one pair, which I was planning on using as my main one, seemed much stronger than the other. Also, I could see more reflections even though I got the anti-reflective coating on both. I was assured by the staff they were made the same but since the frame on that pair is thinner that could make the lens different. That’s the downside to having a strong prescription and small head – I have to buy kids’ frames but the lenses can only be made so thin. I guess I will just try them out this week and see if I can adjust. I keep reminding myself that I’m always unhappy at first with change and then eventually adapt.

Rain, Infinity, and Flowers

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Rain ruined plans to visit the arboretum this weekend.

Saturday (5/12) – Avengers Infinity War @ Classic Cinemas with new reclining seats you have to choose at purchase. Not a fan that you can’t choose seats that leave a single one between groups. At least feet can touch floor when seat isn’t reclined.

Movie was a disappointment. I liked Thanos more than the heroes, plus I was bummed there wasn’t an Ant-Man appearance.

Beef Shack for lunch thanks to Groupon.

Sunday (5/13) – Joe gave me a Mother’s Day card from Wookie. So cute and thoughtful! He even used a stencil he found online to draw the paw prints.

Mall to purchase glasses from Visionworks. $473 for two pair (and one of those was technically free). They will be ready for pickup in a few days.

Five for $23 deal on Wallflowers at Bath and Body Works. Got all new floral scents with the exception of the Pistachio Ice Cream.

Afternoon visit to Lilacia Park. Very crowded thanks to holiday and live band. More tulips than lilacs which bloomed and started to disappear (probably due to our weather going from warm to cold and raining and then back again).

Long walk at Camera Park with Wookie. Can’t stand that park, though. Would rather travel further to a nicer one.

Past Two Weeks Wrap Up

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Saturday (4/28) we went to my parents’ for the first time this year to celebrate brother J’s birthday. My other brother couldn’t make it due to health reasons. Beforehand we stopped at the mall so I could exchange a Christmas gift I didn’t want. I could only get store credit due to not having a receipt, so I just got the following items which added up almost perfectly to the amount of the original gift.

Pictured: Chinese medicine/stress balls, elephant ring holder, lemon essential oil, and coconut incense.

I ended up getting a cute video game related gift bag at Dollar Tree for my brother’s gifts. I got him a can of pizza Pringles, a t-shirt, and a $25 Amazon gift card. He gave me grief about the card but last time I got something off his wish list he had purchased it himself so I was afraid to run into that scenario again (plus the thing I really wanted to get him wasn’t in stock).

He ended up giving me two belated birthday gifts that were delivered after we last saw one another. He knows me so well.

Pictured: Sarah’s Scribble’s book and Lego Batman on DVD.

My mom also gave us some belated Easter items including treats for Wookie. I was surprised she knew Wookie liked those. Apparently she saw them on Wookie’s Instagram feed.

Sunday (4/29) we had planned to organize the garage but I just wasn’t motivated due to how cold it was outside, so Joe worked on his car and I went through my marbles, candle holders, and some clothes and ended up with two boxes worth of stuff to donate.

Monday (4/30) I had lunch with my friend, C. When Joe got home from work he filled the bird feeders and planted some flower seeds we picked up at Walmart now that it’s FINALLY getting warmer out. I was also able to wear the capri leggings I bought months ago from Walmart. They are so comfy! Glad I got three pairs.

Before going to bed we used some gorilla glue to seal a gap in the dining room floor. A bunch of gaps keep opening up and it’s been driving us crazy. Hopefully our little experiment works and we can fix all the gaps once and for all.

This Saturday (5/4) was Tails on The Trails at the arboretum so my friend and her dog joined us. Even though we got there earlier than last time the line was still insane! People sure love their dogs!

We ended up spending approximately three hours there including eating a picnic lunch we packed. My friend spotted a tick crawling on Joe’s shirt (thank god it was light grey so it could be seen). That freaked us out and we checked ourselves when we got home to ensure we didn’t have any hitchhikers.

The next day we packed another picnic lunch and took Wookie to a park for a nice long walk.

Today I went to Savers looking for some dresses I can wear with my new capri leggings that I got from Walmart recently, but didn’t have any luck. I did end up with this Star Wars t-shirt (for only $1.25) and a sweatshirt ($5.50) so it wasn’t a total bust.

I almost got a small wristlet wallet and a makeup pouch but I really didn’t need either so I put them back.

Our accomplishments this past week:
Joe planted some wildflowers in the wood planter on the patio. They are already sprouting!
I used wood glue to seal the joints in the dining room floor that keep coming apart lately.
We dropped three boxes of donations off at Savers.
I cleaned the dining room and front door windows.