Weekly recap

Chicago night 1

 I loved Chicago.  It is probably the best dancing/choreography I had even seen in a show.  I am heavily influenced by my love of Fosse so I may be a little biased.  My sister saw that I had gone already and asked if I was sure I wanted to go back for night 2 and I told her I was all in.  For some reason she thought I had seen it with her before but I hadn't even seen the movie.  I had no idea what the plot was, I had danced to several of the songs either as a kid or in the musical theater class they used to have at the studio.  It was great fun.  

I met up with HMF at the Brook, our usual, but it was pretty busy.  There was a 30 minute wait but I found 2 seats at the bar and camped out there.  We ended up eating there and it was pretty good, the food came out faster than expected and the bartender was great so it worked out well.  She told me that the public school she works for didn't renew her contract, which would have given her tenure.  They told her she could reapply but she wasn't about that at all.  She teaches a few classes online for Baylor and they said they might have a post doc research position for her and by the end of the week they had already offered her the job.  They decided to take A out of hockey because of the politics of the organization (how sad is that) and he has gotten very involved in BMX racing, earned a spot in the intermediate level over the weekend after only racing for a few months.  He wants to play football and they are considering it since it isn't much more brutal than hockey.  I am against it 😒but for some reason they didn't ask my opinion, lol.  Hockey is also very expensive.  We don't have enough teams locally to form a league so almost every weekend requires a 4 hour one way trip to either Dallas or KC.  I know that gets exhausting. When HMF went to work at the public school they allowed A to transfer there even though it is outside their school district and he has done well there and she is afraid they will make him change back to his school district.  I guess they will find out soon.

My sister Barbie and her friend Val at Chicago night 2

Night 2 of Chicago.  My sister made reservations at a place called the Daily Grill.  Her friend ordered a bottle of wine and had poured me a glass before I got there.  I really wasn't in the drinking mood but I drank about half the glass.  I ordered the slider appetizer and it had an amazing flavor.  The show was just as good the second night and I was able to watch the background dancers a little more closely and enjoyed it as much as the first night.  I was afraid I would be too keyed up to sleep but I was tired from the first night and pretty much slept as soon as I got home.  It wasn't as bad getting up the next morning as I had feared.  

Thursday was full of meetings at work.  We had our monthly branch meeting that AP requires we attend in person, even though it could be done as a call in.  Not sure what her obsession is about having to meet in person.  She seriously needs to chill the fuck out.  

Friday I went in to the office and took a baby ranger on a field trip to help train him on the sign program.  It was just as interesting as it sounds.  He is a brand new ranger, only been full-time for 4 months and I am not at all happy about the way they are training him.  The told him that he asks too many questions and he needs to just figure it out.  Well at 4 months I would be worried if he DIDN'T have a lot of questions.  We stopped at a place for lunch and he told me that his girlfriend had his debit card so he was just going to snack on some fruit he picked up from the hotel that morning.  I was like absolutely not.  If you want food get it and I will pay for it.  I mean he totally could have used his gov't card but I am not sure they explained to him how it all works given his training and all.  He appears to be a good kid but it was exhausting.  I got back about 2 because I needed to meet with one of the sharp advocates on some stuff and fill out some paperwork.  I was kind of surprised how fast the week went by.  

Saturday I picked my mom up and took her to lunch at a greasy diner.  They have the best onion rings and I hadn't had them in a very long time.  It ended up making me pretty sick, not sure if it was worth it but it was good at the time.  It was also pretty expensive for the kind of place it was.  My mom couldn't think of anything she really wanted to do.  I had picked up some conditioner at Ulta when I meant to get shampoo so I exchanged that while we were out.  By then my stomach was really unhappy so I took her home and laid down for a few minutes before heading back to the house.  While I was laying there I got an email that Fluevog was having a sale.  In a moment of weakness I indulged. 

I had calls on Sunday starting at 8:30 and got a call at 8:27.  They weren't sure what the deal was and the ER nurse asked for the SANE nurse to call them.  I called the SANE and gave her the info.  She sent me a text about an hour later saying they never answered or called back.  I was up and dressed so I ran some errands.  I needed to go to Costco, Sprouts, and Braum's.  We used to get frozen grilled cheese sandwiches at Costco.  You stick them in the microwave for a few seconds then put them in the toaster to get them crunchy.  It's perfect for work.  I guess they stopped carrying them because the last few times I have been they have been out.  I am going to have to experiment and see if there is some way you can do that an home.  It is so stupid easy and convenient.  I haven't found anything else to replace it.  In the meantime Sprouts carries a brand of lunch meat that I actually like so I have been buying that to take to work for sandwiches.  I give it another month until I am so sick of turkey sandwiches I won't touch them for awhile, but for now it is doing the trick. Our office is a PITA to get in and out of to leave for lunch and we have a Subway (no thanks 👎) and a convenience store with very basic tacos, reheated cheese like substance nachos and a random daily special that can be anything from meatloaf to turkey and dressing to chicken chimichurri, all of it cooked in bulk so it isn't very good.  You never know what it is going to be until the day of. There is a deal through Amazon where you get 'free' delivery for Grubhub but you have to order over $15 and it is more expensive than regular menu prices.  To add to that we are in one of the towers of a complex that has 3 buildings, one is 10 stories one 60 and ours is 20 and has controlled access.  There are multiple lobbies so it makes meeting up with them difficult.  I decided I had to do better about bringing stuff and not eating out so I am trying.  I don't like the texture of most food after it is microwaved so that limits me a lot on what I will eat.   At any rate, I got my errands ran and made it home to start getting ready for Jimbo's Drag Circus.  

Barbie bought VIP tickets for some reason, even though she knew nothing about the show.  We went to dinner before and brought the husbands along.  Dennis and her husband get along really well.  We went back to the Brook as it is right across the street from the venue.  It was packed.  We found out there were 3 shows going on, the one we went to, a Herbie Hancock concert, and a world theater play.  The restaurant was very understaffed.  We only had to wait about 20 minutes for a table but service was slow.  As part of our tickets we had meet and greet passes but we didn't think we would make it in time.  As luck would have it we were the last ones they allowed in.  

The guy taking the pictures would say and pose between pictures so I felt the need to 'pose'

Jimbo was amazing and very nice.  They seemed to be gracious and very patient as the groups got autographs and took pictures.  They asked our names and complemented me on my dress.  I said they were stunning and she told me that all it took was several hours and a bucket of paint.  The show itself was so funny my stomach hurt.  Barbie has never watched drag race so there were a few references she didn't get but she enjoyed it.  I have some videos that would probably violate some kind of  standard but there was a chest piece with whipped cream cans built in and she went into the audience and sprayed people.  There was also a bit where she throws bologna that we were sure would hit us.  Sure enough one fell into Barbie's lap.  It was a unique experience for sure.  After the show she hung out on the stage and talked to whoever came up and wanted to meet her.  I was impressed by how nice she is.  When I got home I was keyed up and didn't get to sleep until after midnight.  I need my drug induced beauty sleep but I got a solid 6 hours since I teleworked on Monday.

Which brings us to Monday.  I had a doctor appointment at 9:30 with the surgeon.  The date to remove the band is 4/25.  I will have to miss a work trip to Seattle, which I am a little bummed about but I don't like the committee it is for so it isn't that big of a deal.  Depending on how much scar tissue there is I may have to stay overnight in the hospital.  He told me to bring a change of clothes just in case.  I have a note saying I can't lift anything over 10 pounds and that I may work remotely until 10 June.  I know AP is going to have a fit and say that I can work around the limitation by getting a rolling bag or having someone carry my computer. I am going to fight it as much as possible.  Given the location there is a big possibility of getting a hernia.  AP is teleworking today so I will talk to her tomorrow.  I wish my boss was in, I would really like to talk to him about it but he has been out the last 2 weeks.  Plus he is so wishy washy he would tell me to talk to her anyway.  So sick of this bs.  The surgeon is in the same complex as us so if I need to I will appeal to him to write the note differently that I mush telework for 6 weeks.  I mean, I'm giving up a trip to PNW!  

eclipse watching with baby daddy

I got home in plenty of time to set up for the eclipse.  We were in the 95% range.  If I hadn't had the doctor appointment I would have gone to Little Rock and stayed with Brooke in the line of totality.  She went to their family farm with her in-laws.  They have a 3 year old and when the moon started to crest (or whatever you call it) she said "it's getting late, Emma goes home now" So stinking cute.  The next one in 2046 will go right over Tulsa.  I hope I am still able to enjoy it.  I might be like Emma.  It is unreal to think about how old I will be for the next one.  It doesn't seem possible.  I don't feel old but things like that make me feel ancient.  

Alright, time to get back to work

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