Happy New Year!!

Happy New Year!  It is official.  The holidays are over.  We now can go back to our normal scheduled lives...right?  It's cold here in Indianapolis, Indiana.  I think I heard some snow overnight and below freezing temperatures.  I've done this for 35 years.  You think I would be use to it by now.  But still I complain and wonder why I don't live someplace warmer.

This year has gotten off to a little bit of a rocky start.  I'm not surprised.  It is an odd numbered year.  Have I told you my hatred of odd numbers...3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 15......STOP!  I know I am totally weird.  I dislike odd numbers.  Nothing good ever happens when I am an odd number (which also happens to coincide with the year for me.  Example 2015, I am 35.)  Odd numbers surround me.  I live in apartment 1113 (but as my dear friend Lee was quick to point out when I moved in, that adds up to an even 6.  I'm glad he gets me.)  Born on 12-29-79.  My car is a 2011.  Yes I am not weird!!!  I better stop before you think I'm really craycray!

New Year's was boring.  I always dream of being invited to a fancy party and getting to wear black tie attire.  But alas I spent this one alone and in the comfort of my own home.  I'm okay with that.  In preparation of the New Year, I felt the need to have a clean apartment at 8pm.  So I spent my evening watching TV and cleaning away.  Had to finish unpacking from Christmas and just went at the dusting, wiping everything down, and vacuuming.  Rang in the new year kicked back in my recliner, with a nice glass of Moscato, a kitty on my lap, and Kathy Griffin and Anderson Cooper on the TV.  The world did not end and life still continued.  (Remember Y2K???)

My view on New Years.  Not shown is the adorable kitty curled up on my lap.

So here we are back at it again.  Trying to get back into the swing of things.  After being on and off work/school for the past couple of weeks.  Have you taken down your Christmas decorations?  Mine have been up since mid-November and I think I might get to it this week or weekend.  I'm in no rush but I think I'm ready to put it away finally.  My kit cat Sabrina will be so sad to see her tree go.  She loves to sleep under it.

Can you find Sabrina?  This one is always watching me.......

What put my New Year in such a sour mood?  Nothing really.  I guess I'm just in an after the holidays funk.  Oh wait.  I did break part of my back right tooth off flossing!!!  Uh-huh that's right.  Came flying off as I pulled the floss out.  I have a hole in my back tooth now.  Hillbilly.  Doing something like flossing, really who does that?!  Long story short, the dentist built a bridge between 2 teeth on each side of my mouth.  I have a large gap in the back from where my braces were.  Food would get stuck all the time and it was painful.  My amazing dentist built a bridge and it was life changing.  The bridge is what broke.  It has happened before. Because of a night time retainer issue.  (I'm fun to sleep with.  Braces retainer on the top, bite plate on the bottom for grinding, and a Cpap machine for breathing.  No wonder I'm single.)  It is just a pain in the butt to go get fixed.  Maybe I shouldn't have tried to open my niece's drink with my teeth the other day at Target.  That probably did not help matters.  Last time I got work done, I did it without Novocaine.  I couldn't feel them working anyway.  After having braces for 2.5 years, you just get use to people working on your mouth.  (Have I mentioned I have an extreme high threshold to pain?)  Hopefully I can do it again with no Novocaine.  I hate to come back to work drooling.

I hope to get back into the swing of blogging again.  Got lots of ideas floating around in my head.  (I promise that is a good thing.)  Thank you for reading as always.  I had over 10,000 blog views in 2014, which just blows my mind.  Thank you and Happy New Year!!

My Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Week and Weekend

Sorry for the radio silence last week.  I wish I could say I was on a fabulous vacation with no internet/cell service.  (Wouldn't that be nice!)  That unfortunately was not the case.  I've had a lot going on. Some good, some bad. 

Let's start with the good.  I had a very busy, fun-filled weekend.  I will tell you all about it on Friday.  For now here are some pictures to tide you over.

My 2 favorite people in the whole entire world.  Nieces are the best.

Now for the bad.  Personally I've been struggling in the last week with lots of pain in my left leg and back.  For those of you who don't know me personally, I had back surgery 2 years ago.  I had herniated/bulging/degenerative discs on my L4 and L5 of my lower spine.  Which means I suffer from lower back pain and numbness in my left leg/foot.  After surgery, my lower back pain pretty much disappeared.  The numb leg/foot never went away.  I knew going into it, the surgery may not fix either problem.  For me the worst pain was in my back.  I've learned to live with the numbness in my leg/foot.  But the nerve pain in my left leg has gotten really bad in the past week.  I don't know if it was from all the driving I did over Labor Day weekend or something else I did.  I like to think of myself as having a pretty high threshold of pain.  (I took no pain medicine after surgery.  Because I had none!)  This leg pain takes my breathe away.  I can't walk, can't sit, can't stand, can't sleep, can't get comfortable.  Nothing relieves it.  I took it really easy this weekend and tried to stay off my leg as much as I could.  I am happy to report it has gotten better.  Sometimes it really just stinks living alone.  I really could use a housekeeper who can cook, clean, and go grocery shopping.  (Forget a man!  They are worthless.......okay I kid.  But ladies you know I'm right...............*wink *wink)

Now that I have offended all the men who read my blog, let me share a funny story that makes me look like an idiot.  Saturday I agreed to do a favor for someone at work.  All I had to do was come in for about an hour or less.  Easy enough!!!!  The favor ended up taking a little longer than I expected.  For multiple reasons but mostly because I locked my keys in my car!!!!!!!!!!!  I haven't done that since I first started driving.  Mom rescued me and my friends at Cedar Point that time.  This time good ole Mama was 4 hours away.

2 things I can't live without?  My cell phone and my keys.  Lesson learned.

I got up Saturday morning, threw some clothes on, and went to work.  Apparently I was still not awake because of what I did next.  I dropped the car keys in my purse and started to get out of the car.  I suddenly decided since the favor wouldn't take that long, I didn't need to haul all my belongings in.  Including my purse, which I hid under my back seat.  I hopped out of the car and locked it by hitting the button on the door.  (Don't ask me why I do this.  I've done it forever and ever.  Could be because I haven't always had automatic locks/windows.  Who knows?!)  As I started to walk away with only my cell phone in hand, I realized what I had done.  Some profanities came spilling out and I walked back to the car praying I hadn't locked it.  No such luck.  I walked into my office building and tried to figure out what to do.  I couldn't even get in my office because those keys were in the car, too.  (Along with my McDonald's breakfast that was getting cold.)  My only option was to call Kia roadside assistance.  Thank goodness I had stored that number in my phone.  (Which by the way only had about 15% battery left.  Doh!)  Even if someone could drive me home to get my spare key, I couldn't get in my apartment.  That key was in the car, too!  Two long hours later, I was in my car and driving home.  I was done with the world for the day.  World-1, Megan-0.

These pictures are from last fall after I bought it.  Now LET ME IN.  LET ME IN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Did you catch my reference to this book in the title of my blog post?  If you were a child of the 80's, I know you've read it.  I always think of it when I have a bad day.  And it makes me smile.

Here is to hoping this week is better!!!!

High Five for Friday

Hiya!!!  Thanks for stopping by.  TGIF!  It is payday and a long weekend for me.  I'm looking forward to some time off.  This has been a slow news week in 'Megan' world.  (Which is a good thing!)  But here are a few highlights for the week.  I hope you have a wonderful weekend!

1.  Do you have big Labor Day plans?  I'm heading home to Norwalk, Ohio to visit my family.  I haven't been home since mid July.  I am excited to see all my family members.

2.  So excited to see these faces!

I'm telling you.  This one.  She is too smart for her own good.  She is a little Mommy and a little Meggie in the making.

She is the happiest baby EVER!  Thanks Andy for the pic.

Somebody is learning how to pull herself up.  And always smiling!!  Photo is from Gammy.

3.  My good friend from high school sent me this picture.  Thanks Elizabeth!  I'm thinking it was somewhere between 1993-1995????  We were hanging out in Liz's room. I remember this day like it was yesterday.

That was my favorite shirt!!!  My obsession with Paris started at an early age.

4.  A random high five.  (I told you I was struggling for news this week!)

There is nothing better than a summer storm.  Indy and Mother Nature put on some pretty amazing lightning storms this week.  (I know my view is terrible.  He-he.)

 And some cat pictures.....................#crazycatlady

I call this 'Cat in a Tub'.  Nosy girl!!  I haven't gone to the bathroom alone since Sabrina arrived 6 years ago.

This is how we roll on rainy days.  Cuddles in the recliner.  My two faced kitty with pointy ears.

5.  My last high five of the week is a funny story.  On Tuesday, I went to our corporate office across the street for a health screening.  (We get a little discount on our insurance if we do this.)  It takes less than 10 minutes to do.  No big deal.  So I start to go through the screening and was asked to take off my shoes so they could get my height.  I was dressed up that day and had on these cute sandals.

Was wearing these shoes but in black.

The problem is they aren't exactly easy to put on.  (I don't unfasten.  I slip on and pull over my heel.)  Well as I went to put them back on.............wouldn't you know the strap broke!!!  And these aren't the kind of shoes you can wear if a strap is loose.  They don't work like flip flops.  I finish up the screening and walk out into the hall in my bare feet.  I panic.  I don't know what to do.  I'm in the corporate building where our president is.  I just can't walk through the lobby with no shoes on!  I go into the bathroom and put my one good shoe on.  I try to figure out a way to make the other one work.  I tried tying the strap together but it doesn't work.  Here I am, stuck in the bathroom with one shoe.  I need to walk through the main lobby, to the elevators, take up to the 4th floor, walk across the bridge to my building, up the elevator to the 6th floor, and down the hallway to my office.  I mean really, Megan!!!  How do you get yourself into these messes??!!!

I creep out of the bathroom with only one shoe on.  I peek down the hallway and don't see anyone.  I walk down the hallway quickly.  I get to the main lobby and throw my broken shoe down.  I slip it on and slide across the lobby floor to the elevator.  At this point only about 4 people see me.  I hit the elevator button and race in.  My shoe falls off as I hit floor #4.  Thank goodness I'm alone.  When I arrive on the 4th floor I take the shoe off and just start walking as quick as I can.  I see a man in front of me and slow down so he doesn't see me.  He gets into an elevator and is gone.  I make it across the bridge and head straight for the elevator.  (I'm almost there!!!)  A man gets out in a hurry.  I don't think he notices me.  I take the elevator up alone to the 6th floor.  I get out.  It is lunch time at this point, so I see a lot of people walking into the cafeteria at the end of the hall.  At this point I don't care anymore.  These people know me.  I race down to my office door and I am finally safe!!!!  I throw the shoes across my office in disgust.  Luckily I keep a pair of tennis shoes at work and put them on.  They don't go with my outfit but at this point I don't care.  Next time I won't be wearing sandals to my health screening!  That is what I get for trying to look nice.
 

I'm linking up with The Lauren Elizabeth for High Five for Friday.

A quick funny for you!

Sunday was an adventure for this city gal.  It was a beautiful spring day in Indiana.  Not too hot, not too cold.  It was state park free admission weekend so Lee and myself met up with Cis, T, D & P, Ryan, and Beth at McCormicks Creek State Park.  Sadly I don't have one picture to show for the adventure.  We all enjoyed a lovely picnic made by Cis, T, and P.  (Those ladies can cook!)  Our first real adventure was hiking Trail 9. I was told it was an 'EASY' hike and only 1.2 miles.  1.2 miles and easy?  More like 9 miles and way too many hills!  I think I was cursing everyone under my breathe and said some crazy things like get me out of these damn woods.  (Me, dramatic?!)  Anyway I made it through and got about 8000 steps in on my FitBit.

Do you know what my prize was for finishing the trail?  Getting peed on by a puppy.  Yes you read that right.  A cute little beagle puppy was finishing her walk at the same time as me.  I just couldn't resist her cute little face.  I bent over and starting petting adorable, sweet Millie the pup.  Well as any puppy does when they get excited.......they have to relief themselves.  My left foot just happened to be in the way.  At this moment I thought even though I'm the idiot for wearing flip flops on this hike, at least I don't have tennis shoes on.  Millie went on her merry little way and I was left with a wet, sticky foot.  Something like this only happens to me.  Next time a jelly fish stings me, I will call on Millie to save the day ;-)

A BIG shout out to Ryan who stayed with me on the trail.  He was Jillian Michaels from the Biggest Loser......cheering me on.  We had a nice heart to heart as well.  Love ya Ry!

Ryan's adorable selfie on the falls at McCormicks Creek.  My hero!