March 04, 2022

Friday Night Photos

Well, that was short-lived (my excitement about running outside yesterday). My knee is killing me. I didn't hurt it when I was running--it felt totally normal--but later, I knelt* down to put clothes away and when I stood up, the usual crackle noises were replaced by a popping noise and I've been in terrible pain ever since. It's the same knee that I injured when I knelt down in the garage, my knee landing directly on top of a screwdriver.

*Edit: spelling

Anyway, I went grocery shopping this morning and my knee gave out on me a few times (which is totally embarrassing--just walking along and suddenly tripping over myself in the middle of the aisle). I can't straighten my leg and whenever I try to, there is a super sharp pain just under my kneecap. This has happened before and it usually goes away on its own within 24 hours or so, but this time feels different; my knee giving out like it did at the grocery store is new.

When I got home, I grabbed an ice pack from the freezer and sat with my legs up, ice pack on my knee. I was supposed to run 2.5 miles today, but I didn't even want to attempt it. I *really* hope this doesn't mess up my training and race plans! I'm going to rest it today and tomorrow, and then re-evaluate on Sunday for my long run.

Anyway, I'm feeling bummed about that. I don't have many photos from this past week, but here goes...

I saw this on Pinterest and took a screenshot to send to Jerry. I'm SUPER adamant that the toilet paper should hang going over rather than under. I don't know why it bothers me so much when it goes under, but I have this compulsion to change it. Jerry couldn't care less which way it goes, but once in a while when he replaces it he puts it the *wrong* way simply because he knows it drives me crazy  ;)


It really actually makes more sense to put it under; when Chick and Duck were kittens, they unrolled it a few times by swiping down with their paws.

If you're not into Wordle, this will mean nothing to you. But my whole day Tuesday I couldn't stop thinking about the stupid word. I usually work on the Wordle as soon as I wake up (about 4:30 AM). I never spend more than a few minutes on it. But I was completely stuck after my third attempt on Tuesday.

Usually, I start with a word that has at least 4 of the good ol' RSTLNE letters (from Wheel of Fortune). They are a good stepping stone to narrowing down the word. On Tuesday, however, I stepped outside the box a little and started with MEANT (no idea where that came from). Then after my third attempt, I was stuck:


I couldn't come up with a SINGLE WORD that would fit with what I had to work with. I didn't want to put in random letters (I never do that). I studied it for way too long. Took a break, went back to it. Still nothing. I even busted out a notebook and wrote down all the possibilities! (*Nerd alert*)


I started crossing off the ones that didn't look like they could be words, and then realized I'd crossed out everything, haha. Finally, I decided to try to first figure out what the other vowel was--it could only be U or another E (possibly a Y). I figured the best way to do it would be to pick a word that had both a U and two E's. I put stars next to those to narrow it down.

I figured I could try either RUPEE or REPUE (the other two just looked like they couldn't possibly be words). I chose to try RUPEE because I felt like the second letter should be a U.

And after all that, I *finally* got it right! I had never, ever heard the word RUPEE in my life. It didn't help that Jerry got it in four tries--he hates Wordle because he's not very good at it. (Clearly, I put WAY too much thought into it, where Jerry doesn't have the patience--or the desire--to.)

The next morning, I went back to my RSTLNE strategy and I guessed it in two! Then Jerry showed me his. Poor Jerry, hahaha. (Mine is on the left and Jerry's is on the right)


Okay, enough Wordle!


Duck needs almost constant stimulation at certain times of the day or he gets bored. One morning, I was super busy and I couldn't play fetch with him, so I decided to turn on YouTube and play a video for cats. Duck was all over it. The scene changed every 60 seconds.

Duck is super smart, though, and soon he started looking behind the TV to see where the things went when they went off the edge of the screen. He tried to hit them on the TV screen side while he moved his head from right to left, looking in front of and behind the TV.



I felt sorry for him because he obviously can't "catch" the thing he's trying to, so I turned it off. I don't like using the laser pointer for the same reason. I don't know if the cats care at all, but seeing Duck look totally confused made me feel bad enough to stop what I was working on and play fetch.

As I've said before, Duck will only play fetch with wadded up balls of paper--no cat toys or anything. They always wind up under the furniture, so we make more. And once in a while, I'll run the Swiffer under the couch to pull all of the paper balls out. Well, I pulled all of the paper balls out and was shocked to see how many there were!


It's so funny how normal it feels to walk around the house and see little balls of paper all over!


Here is one more picture of Duck. Jerry bought me the stuffed black cat for Valentine's Day. We named it Chuck (a combination of Chick and Duck). When I saw Duck sitting next to it, I had to get a picture.



Yesterday, Jerry and both of the kids were home all afternoon, so I took advantage and declared it a family board game afternoon. The kids like trivia games, so we did Trivial Pursuit and then this new game I forgot that I bought on clearance after Christmas. It's called Tension (Kids vs. Adults) and it was SUPER fun!

You play in teams (adults vs. kids) and on your turn, you are given a category and then you have to name as many items that fit into that category as you can before the timer runs out. There are 10 items on each list, and the other team checks them off as you throw words out. Here is an example list:


The other team tells you "Monopoly Properties" and flips the timer. Then you have to start naming Monopoly properties while they check them off (by pushing the little button next to the word). The adult cards are blue and the kids' cards are pink (I didn't think there was a huge difference in difficulty, though). Eventually, we just started shuffling through to find one that looked good for the other team.

Anyway, here is a (affiliate) link to the game on Amazon, if you're interested. We loved it.

I think doing the teams of two was a good number; if there were too many people (maybe eight or more) it would get confusing having four people shouting words while you're trying to check them off. I don't remember what got the kids cracking up (and then Jerry; I didn't get the joke, apparently!) but they were crying-laughing. I love that!



Again, I keep forgetting to post the random fact of the day. I'll end this with a couple that I thought were interesting:



And that's all I have! Going to nurse my knee tonight and hope that it feels better tomorrow. Have a great weekend!  xo

5 comments:

  1. Knealt isn't a word but knelt is.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I read about your knee injury at the same time I injured mine on our steep driveway when I was walking our dogs and slipped on the gravel. I have a thick scar and it's not been the same since, but not as bad as yours. I want so bad to read that you kicked ass on the race with your brother. I did my stair workout this morning and it's 52 steps and 4 floors. I'm doing 38 reps nonstop, no breaks, and I work up a sweat! I'm worried sick about our little rescue dog. She is getting old and has issues with her teeth, but it seems the vets are trying to milk us dry. We lost our lab a year ago and we want to take good care of this little dog. I know you are an animal lover too and we do the best we can. Reading your blog every day means a lot to me. I am donating a quilt to a 15 year old boy who has had 2 brain tumors, and now needs a liver transplant because the chemo destroyed his liver. They are going to do a fund raiser in our neighborhood.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Knelt: https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/knelt Have fun

    ReplyDelete
  4. My husband had the exact same symptoms with his knee recently. He had an MRI and saw an orthopedic surgeon. His is a torn meniscus and it the second time it’s happened. He had a piece that is completely torn off and keeps moving around. He had pain when it moves back under the knee cap. He isn’t going to have surgery now because they can’t do it for 6 weeks and we are going to Italy in 7 weeks. The doc said to allow two weeks for recovery. Luckily the pain comes and goes so he is good most of the time. He may have surgery after we get back though. You may need to have yours looked at if it’s not better in a few days.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Your injury sounds exactly like my torn meniscus. I did not have to have surgery, but it took 6 weeks for it to really heal. If you go to a doc and they suggest surgery, wait. Surgery used to be the go to thing, but more recent research shows that you do better with more meniscus, even if it's torn, than less meniscus. I sure hope it's not that, but the popping sound and the fact that you can't straighten your leg are symptoms of that.

    ReplyDelete

I used to publish ALL comments (even the mean ones) but I recently chose not to publish those. I always welcome constructive comments/criticism, but there is no need for unnecessary rudeness/hate. But please--I love reading what you have to say! (This comment form is super finicky, so I apologize if you're unable to comment)

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