a visitor

Today, Matt and I went out to the lake house, much like any other weekend. We rolled up, unlocked the door and went inside. Indy was running around outside, I went to put my things in our room and Matt started opening up the blinds.

My husband is a brave guy. Bugs and creepy crawlies do not make him squeamish. This is one of the reasons I like him, I'll be honest. So, when I heard him scream from across the house, I immediately knew that something was not right. And, while bugs and creepy crawlies don't make me terribly squeamish either, I was not about to run right over to see what the cause of his outcry. It didn't matter much as he began calling for me while coming over to me.

"I need your help."

"After hearing that scream? No thanks, I'll pass." [laughing]

"No, really. I need your help. We have a visitor. It's small and furry."

"Augh! In that case, no, I REALLY don't want to help!" But, my curiosity is totally getting the best of me. "Wait, no, what is it? Where is it? Can I see it? No, just kidding! I will NOT help you. Okay, fine, I will. Let's see what it is."

Matt pointed me in the right direction and I crept over to the corner.

"What is it, Matt?"

"It's a bat."

"A WHAT?!?!"

[Totally freaked out]

So, what happened was this: The bat was on top of the blinds, somewhere. When Matt opened them, it fell ON HIM and then landed on the ground. He thought it was dead because it didn't move. Nope, not dead, just sleeping. And then suddenly very, very awake.

Wait. Wow, this would be a good topic for a blog post. I wonder if Matt will think I'm really weird for thinking that, of all things, right now. "Can I take pictures of it???"

"Uh, sure. But be quick."

We took the bag off of him and he bared his teeth at us, ready to pounce and eat us. It sent me screaming into the back hallway like a little girl. I am not making this up.

Here, let me show you a close up of this beast. Please note the spider in the background as well.

I'm pretty sure he was actually really scared and did not, in fact, care much about eating us. Matt grabbed some grilling tongs from the kitchen. What he planned to do with those, I haven't the fainest clue. But, it didn't seem like it would work. We trapped him with a plastic container, which he really did not care much for.

I was alternating between wanting to get good pictures and freaking out and running away screaming. It was quite the sight, I'm sure. Oh, and did I mention that Indy was outside going nuts?

I got this last final video of the thing only because my pictures did not capture the truly creepy sound Mr. Bat made while trapped. Seriously, he was freaked the heck out! Yeah, I'm a jerk. But, really, listen to that noise and tell me it's not creepy!

At this point, I actually really started to worry about the bat and how scared he was. I didn't want to hurt him and I wanted to make sure he would be okay. Bats don't come out in the day. Will he be able to see? Will he be blinded by the sun and die? Has it been starving and stuck in the house for weeks? The animal lover in me came out in overdrive and I was really, really worried for him.

I am happy to report that we got the bat outside just fine. We set him on the table where he sat for a moment before flying off. In my head, he said "thanks you guys for saving me and not killing me!" as he flew off. But, in reality, he probably totally has us marked for certain death the next time we come near that house.

seriously, blogger?

I've got an awesome post that just wouldn't be complete without the accompanying video. Why should it have to take me over an hour to upload said freaking video??? Ugh! Is it really too much to ask?

Update: Ah, FINALLY! Please see above.

eleven weeks

The triathlon that I want to do is in 11 short weeks. The training plan I've been loosely following with the promise that I will start to follow it religiously once it is the appropriate time away from the race is an 11-week plan. That means that if I want to do this, I need to start Monday. Um, what?

A part of me is regretting this crazy decision right now.

It's crunch time. Do or die. Or whatever other silly expression you want to insert here.

Long Weekend, Short Week

The good thing about long weekends is that, well, they're long. The other good thing is that the following week is short. The bad thing is that it seems to fly by and before I could blink or take a breath, it's already Thursday evening. You win some, you lose some. Really, I don't mind and kind of would like to work 4-day weeks every week.

So, let's see, what did we do on our awesome long weekend? For starters, I ate. A lot. My entire weekend seemed to have revolved around eating.

My parents rolled into town sometime in the early morning hours on Friday. I was lucky enough to get out of work early on Friday afternoon and that, combined with the long weekend ahead, just about saved my life. We met up with my parents, my grandmother and Matt's parents for dinner at the Bavarian Inn. Have you ever been? It's like a walk back in time and Matt and I always joke that we're the youngest people there. Is it really a joke if it's true though? We happen to really like their Friday Fish Fry and German beers. The polka band is only an added bonus.

Saturday, I woke up and went for a run, which was the only physical activity I've had in the past six days now. We took my mom and dad to the Maharaja for their kick ass lunch buffet at which I managed to put myself into a food coma with very little effort. It's just all so good! The weather on Saturday wasn't the greatest around these parts, so we spent the afternoon driving my parents past our dream houses and introducing my dad to some of our favorite neighborhoods. We ended up at Matt's parents' house and stayed there for several hours. Matt had made pulled pork shoulder for dinner Saturday night. You may find it interesting to hear that even I had some. I can eat some pretty strange things, but you put barbecue sauce on just about anything and I'll eat it. Including meat!

On Sunday, we were determined to get out to the lake. The weather seemed iffy, but we decided to go for it regardless. I am SO glad we did. It was FREAKING GORGEOUS out in Oconomowoc! It was easily 15 degrees warmer out there than it was at our house--it really is cooler by the lake! We didn't have any of the boats in the water yet, but we enjoyed just sitting out in the sun, eating and drinking. I scored myself a rockin' farmer's tan on my arms. Indy had a ball and jumped off the pier into the water approximately 1,842 times. To say she was exhausted at the end of the day is an extreme understatement. My dad had never been out to see the lake house, so I was pretty excited that he finally got to see it, even though it wasn't quite all ready yet. We grilled brats that night (not brats for me!). Delicious!

On Monday, I could not have been happier when my alarm went off bright and early as usual and I got to turn it off and then go back to sleep. It was pure heaven! The weather looked pretty nice again, so we decided to go to the lake again. Matt's sister met us out there and we were a little more productive than the day before and we got both wave runners and the ski boat in the water. We went out on a cruise around the lake to really show my dad where we spend our summer weekends. The weather really was in our favor and we totally lucked out. It started to sprinkle just as we were closing up the house to go home. I scored myself a rockin' spider bite on the back of my leg.

We definitely ate a lot, but I was quite surprised to step on the scale Tuesday morning and only see it up 3 pounds. For me, that's nothing considering my weight fluctuates about 5 pounds each day. It just completely killed my get up and go and I've been a lazy blob all week.

And, back to that spider bite. I noticed a bump on the back of my leg on Monday afternoon and, out of habit, immediately started poking at it. Monday night, I looked at it and saw that it was red with bruising in a ring around it. Not really thinking, I figured it was bruised because I was poking at it and/or I bumped it. I mean, let's be serious, I'm always covered in bruises that I don't remember getting so the fact that I had a bruise was hardly earth shattering. Tuesday at work, I happened to be using the restroom and noticed it again (had totally forgotten about it) and thought hmmm, it's really bruised, I bet it's a spider bite. I did what any logical person would do and WebMD'd it. Have you ever punched your symptoms into WebMD? It will tell you you're dying, every time. The pictures of the spider bites that came up were NOT something I wanted nor needed to see during lunch and only convinced me I had been bitten by a black widow and I was sure to die or, at the very least, lose my leg in a matter of moments. Since it is now Thursday and I've neither died nor lost my leg, I am happy to report that, while the bite is still there, it has not gotten worse. Success! Unfortunately, the farmer's tan has not seen such improvement. I guess it's a good thing that our dress code at work doesn't allow us to wear sleeveless shirts.

Unfortunately, as I'm sure you've noticed, this post contains approximately no pictures to prove my weekend was as awesome as I claim. You'll just have to take my word for it. The camera works, I had it with me, but I didn't use it.

It was tough going back to work after such a great weekend. I had so much fun seeing my parents again--I just wish they'd come visit more often! And, this weekend really got me itching for summer and I can't wait to spend as much time as I can out at the lake.

wears a lot of black

This past week, all I wore to work was black. Monday, I wore black pants and a black cardigan. Tuesday, I wore black pants and a black sweater. Wednesday, I wore grey pants and a black sweater. Thursday, I wore black pants, a black and white shirt and a black cardigan. Friday, I wore tan pants and a black shirt. Anyone else see something wrong with this picture?

And, it's not just this past week. It's every week. I own a few pieces of color here and there, but the majority of my wardrobe consists of the following colors: black, grey, white, black, black, blue, black. I try to add in some color, but even at the store, I gravitate toward the blacks. I do feel like I can wear my black clothes more frequently and it won't be as noticeable. Whereas if I wear something bold on, say, a Tuesday and then again the following Monday, people might whisper and say "she just wore that not even a week ago". Since black is so basic (see also: boring), I feel like I can get away with the repeats more often. Right? So, what I'm really saying here is that I'm lazy when it comes to putting together something to wear.

Sure, black is classic, black is slimming, black goes with everything, blondes look good in black and everything else you've ever heard about it. Those are all excuses. The real story is that black is easy.

But, really. Sometimes, I need easy, so I take it where I can get it.

I love him!

Today, I came home to this:


Pretty spring flowers from my hubby! Say it with me: awwwwwwww. A lot of the flowers have yet to open up--tulips and irises, mostly--and, apparently, the woman at the shop claims this bouquet should last for a few weeks [we'll see]. I also LOVE hydrangea* and couldn't stop staring at it.

My husband rocks. I love him.

___________________
*It was formally decided (just tonight, of course) that my "real" house will have hydrangea bushes outside of it. Because I can.