Just keep swimming...

 It's a funny thing, life.  Some days you're on top of the world and other days you feel like the lowest of the low.  I'm finding more and more that my potential spending power affects my mood.  For example, when 95% of a paycheck is ear marked for bills, it stresses me out!!  Stupid inflation has me buggin'!  Even my older sister texted me the other day wondering what happened to Wendy's $0.99 nuggets!  Apparently they are $2.49 now.  Gas prices seem to be trending in the right direction, so I am thankful for that.  Saw them at $3.64 today and did a seated happy dance in my car.  Speaking of the car, it needs an oil change... sigh.  Always something, isn't it?  I'm thinking of all my purchases in terms of tanks of gas.  My groceries yesterday were 1/2 a tank of gas... if I get (insert cute clothes here) from Torrid that's a full tank of gas... an oil change will be 2 tanks of gas... I guess that's just gonna be how it is for a while.  Good news is that working only 4 days a week has cut my gas consumption down (yay for tracking spreadsheets), so that's something

I did have a fantastic time at the Fort Worth aquarium.  It's in a mall and it's called Sea Quest.  My friend and I went kinda early so as to avoid a massive amount of children, which was a good plan since there were about 5 groups lined up to get in as we were coming out.  It's a super interactive aquarium where you can feed the fishies and touch them as well.  We didn't pay any extra for food or 'tokens' to play with the animals, but we still had a good time.  After the aquarium we went to Bath and Body Works to smell all the good Halloween-y smells (yep, they are out already), and we also got jalapeno pretzels.  I must have got the MEAN jalapeno because my mouth was on FIRE.  The rest of the weekend was spent staying in watching Jaws (all 4), Piranha, Event Horizon, and other crazy movies that I mostly hadn't seen.  Event Horizon is good if totally screwed up... I feel like Sam Neill always has a good time playing a bad guy.  Of course, now I want to watch Daybreakers.  Forget Christmas in July, how about Halloween in July?

Wallaby

Such happy rays

Felt a little slimy tho, not gonna lie.

SHARKIE

Big sharkie

Small sharkies

Funny fish

Lotsa tiger fish - no clue if that's their name, but that's what I'm calling em.

Hold on tight, buddy, you can do it!!

Big tortoise wanted to bring him home for Mom, but no dice.  Also he's from Egypt and that's... slightly different climate from WY.

Fun green guy.

BIG SNAKE

We played with a millipede... it's the centipede that hurts when it bites you, apparently this one will kill you if you bite it.

More sharkies!

Om nom nom

Black tip sharks... like Gordon!

The side eye is strong with the capyburra.

OTTERS

Too fast to photograph

Stop for expected treats

Bengal cat... also a critter I wanted to take home to Mom.

Another unimpressed fish

Pretty tho

Want a shrimpie?

Nemo in his goth phase.

EEL

Swim fishies, SWIM

Iguanas chillin on their tree

With the turtles underneath

Excuse me, are you going to feed us?

We'd really appreciate it if you'd feed us.

This weekend is shaping up to be FABULOUS.  My bestie is coming up from San An and we are going to go have margaritas and Mexican food at our FAVORITE place.  Then we need to go thrift shopping for her (one thing about losing weight, you gotta go clothes shopping), and then it's a M&J lazy weekend.  Food, drink, and movies shall happen, along with plenty of friend therapy because Mandi is STRESSED.  Mostly I'm able to not think about the stress, but then it messes with my stomach and I'm fighting nausea which makes me even MORE stressed and then it snowballs and then I'm not really pleasant to be around.  It was pretty bad on Monday, but I didn't have much contact with people so at least I didn't inflict myself upon too many unsuspecting innocents.  I think I'm learning the down side of working 4 days a week.  After a long weekend of wonderful laziness and doing what I want to do, I really, REALLY don't want to come in to work.  Which is nuts, it's only 4 days!  But that first day back is a DOOZY.  I know I'm also a little hormonal, so that doesn't help things, and the continuing fire means that my bosses haven't really been around, so I feel a little directionless at work.  I'm also waiting on people to get back to me so that I can finish some projects, and you KNOW how patient I am... NOT.  LOL

The River + Friends = My happy place

 I really, really missed being able to see my people when I was home last year.  I know I got sad a couple of times simply because I was missing people... not to say that I don't love my people in WY, I get sad missing them sometimes, too.  It's just summer in TX means going to spend time at the river with my bestie and her hubby and we always have SUCH a good time.  Even when I'm feeling crappy cuz my tummy is upset and so we just watch TV for a bit, there's a comfort in being in their company that I can't really describe, but if you have people like that in your world then you know.  You know.  

It was even better because I was able to spend dinner on Thursday with A, then drove down (took I-35, so I stopped in West, which means I got KOLACHES and SAUSAGE ROLLS from the Czech stop: TX road trip destination and nostalgic stop from the first trip to the river in 2006).  Then on Friday I got to see my older seester who was coming thru TX on I-10.  We met up in Seguin and I took her to a couple fruit stands (only 1 of which was open, Frederiksberg peaches), and then we went to HEB which had suffered a power outage, so they were re-stocking their stuff and couldn't sell us things until the temps came back down, so we had to go to Walmart.  Since I can't exactly leave the car running and lock the doors, we had to come up with a heat-friendly solution for the puppy... she was MADE to be a purse dog.  She was perfectly happy under M's arm.  Then we went for lunch and ended up at Arby's (didn't want to leave puppy or try to get her in a Mexican restaurant and it was TOO HOT to be outside).  I was able to give her the b-day presents that I had bought and have introduced her to the wonderfulness of the squishmallows (she has decided her watermelon slice needs a friend).  I then dropped her and the pup off at the truck and went back to NB.  (Her hubby was sleeping, as he drives at night.) 

Bag pupper!!

Happy pupper and laughing seester.

D and I spent some time on the river and then... he told me that Earthbound Trading Company had an outlet at the outlet malls in San Marcos.  So after dinner and some more grocery shopping we went to the outlets in San Marcos.  The outlet for ETC was disappointing as the prices were standard, not discounted.  However, we also found a DISNEY STORE OUTLET!!  Those prices were MUCH better and I ended up getting a fun stuffie (Pua from Moana... such a soft, cute little piggy who is going to help me when I'm raging at traffic).  

Saturday J came up and we met at our favorite bfast place, then spend the majority of the day on the river.  We went to a fun bar and grill for dinner and ended up eating a bunch of delicious fried food which may or may not have contributed to my sour stomach for the next 24 hours.  It was delicious, I regret nothing.  I (reluctantly) went home on Sunday.  

El Tamarindo - best bfast tacos in NB

River smile!  Princess float blue in the background.

Swimsuit selfies!

Cool car outside the bar

Bestie drinkies!  I had a couple amber beers, hers is a 'social butterfly'

2 of my very favorite people EVER!

I am excited, J is coming up to DFW for my B-day and we'll be going to our 2 favorite Mexican places.  We've heard that #2 place is back to original management, so we're going to see if the margaritas have improved.  We also are going thrifting as she is in need of some new clothes and I'm ALWAYS down for treasure searching.  Hehe.  I love having my bestie close.  She gets to hear all the dating craziness that I don't write about here... LOL.  I mean, if anyone wants to know you can always call, email, or FB me (those who know me, anyway)... those who don't, you're gonna have to wait until it's all serious and stuff.

If you are of a religious mind-set or sending out good vibes/calm feelings, please pray/think good thoughts toward Glen Rose.  There's a fire raging nearby and it's affected some of the people I work with.  The hospital has also been out providing IV fluids to the first responders.  It was pretty scary seeing the PLUME of smoke last night... Texas is dry, dry, dry.

A thought as my b-day approaches... it took until now, but my bag (purse, to some) is officially partially a pharmacy.  Mostly for pain and tummy issues (which have been RUDE lately).  However, with longer hair comes being prepared - clips, hair claws, and hair ties now live in the bottom of the bag.  Lipstick is still a feature, tho not used as often at work since we have to wear masks in common areas and I'm too lazy to put it on unless I'm taking selfies.  Finally comes the hand sanitizer wipes and mouth-to-mouth barrier that comes from working at a hospital.  I may not be a mom, but it appears that I've reached the age of the 'mom-bag.'  Of course, I have a friend who is apparently carrying around a 'baby bag' (AKA diaper bag for my fellow Americans), so maybe it's just a question of whatever works.  LOL

Background changes... what do they MEAN?

A lot of stuff is going on beyond my control.  My apartment complex changed owners.  Good news is that I can now pay my rent without any additional fees, which is nice.  I'm also checking on the closet doors, but not holding my breath.  I do need to get a vacuum cleaner since I stepped on broken light bulb glass the other day... it's migrated to the carpet.  My student loans are also about to be managed by another company... apparently nothing is going to change there.  

I did make a HUGE decision (for me) to get another credit card.  This one has better cash back options and a $200 cash back bonus if I spend $500 in 3 months.  With gas prices the way they are, that's not going to be difficult.  There is a 0% interest rate for 15 months as well, though I'm not planning on taking advantage of that particular feature (unless something goes REALLY haywire).  There was a bit of a flub when it comes to the raise I'm supposed to get, but in a couple paychecks I should know where I am.  When the new card comes in, the other card will be retired and only used for emergencies.  Gotta build that credit, after all (such a crock of... snarl growl... ridiculous nonsense the rest of the world doesn't deal with... growl snarl.. we need an overhaul).

Looking forward to the weekend in NB with J&D.  Should be a good time of floating the river and possible shenanigans.  Perhaps we'll even remember to take some pix and share them!  None in swimsuits tho, k?  The weight loss is SLOOOOOOOOOW with me.  Sigh.

Anyway, I haven't taken many pix to share (other than some more of the dogs that I was watching over the last week/weekend), so here's some fun memes I've saved on my phone.  

I want to do this some day!

The more you know!

It's a travesty that when you become an adult no one asks you what your favorite dinosaur is anymore. I like the one that's a combo of shark and swordfish.

Whoever did this still thinks of Pluto as a planet, and that is beautiful, IMO.

If you see it online, it must be true!  Also, apparently there is already Halloween stuff out in stores.

Shark attacks - bad for business, keep beaches open.  Godzilla, RUN AWAY!

C sent this to me and I think it's both apt and heartbreaking.  I'm a huge proponent of spreading kindness because you have no idea what burdens other people are carrying - it's heartbreaking to consider how many are just trying to survive.  It also makes me think of my own life and how often I've just been trying to survive... perhaps more often or for longer periods of time than I'd like to admit.  I'm generally optimistic about seeing a light at the end of my own tunnel, but so often the light is merely an interlude between tunnels.  Always the goo, never the butterfly (not to mix metaphors, but... ).  

There's other stuff going on, but nothing that I really want to get into on here.  Suffice to say that we're never in the kind of control we'd like to think that we are.  Sigh.  In other news, my friend J is back in Korea and making me MISS KOREA AND HER SO MUCH!!!  She texted me about Salady - I want my chili bacon wrap now please, thank you.  Started looking at how to make the chili sauce... I can probably replicate the wrap but it would be SO much easier to just go get one... and they wraps are so much less expensive there.  *sob*  I'm Korea-sick today... I need to make a trip into K-town in Dallas... even though it won't be the SAME.