Friday Night Photos #85

I'm just going to dive right into my photos because I actually have a lot to write today!

The day I had my mammogram, I thought I'd be there for a while, so I had Jerry drop me off while he went to a few places to return items. I was in and out of the radiology department so fast that I had time to sit in the lobby.

So what, right? Well, this moment I captured was AMAZING--the lobby was completely empty, it was nice and warm and cozy in there, I chose a comfy loveseat and pulled my Kindle out of my purse to read.

The best part? It was SO QUIET. My life has been chaotic for the last few months and I've been so overwhelmed, that this moment in the photo was the most peaceful I'd felt in such a long time. I texted Jerry and told him to take his good old time, and if he forgets to pick me up, no worries ;)

Speaking of my Kindle, I've been reading a new-to-me series that I'm really into right now. It's a young adult dystopian series (my favorite!) and the first book is called The Cure. This book, Awaken, is the second in the series and I'm almost done with it. A lot of it (well, most if it) is pretty far-fetched, but I like the storyline and I'm going to keep reading. I get sucked into the YA dystopian books so easily!

Jerry made dinner yesterday (garlic noodles) and he was very proud of how it turned out--he actually took this picture and said I could "use it on Friday Night Photos if I want". 

Jerry has been with his employer for 20 years and he was given a catalogue to choose a "gift" for his anniversary. The only thing in there that he thought he would probably use was a set of golf clubs because Eli's been really into golfing lately and Jerry figured he could go with Eli sometimes. Well, Jerry is left-handed and he asked if he could get left-handed clubs. It turns out that no, he could not. Instead, he chose this boombox/speaker and it arrived today.

He'd just woken up so he was wearing his hideous pajama pants, and then he started blasting 80s music with the speaker and dancing around the house. (Now I have the music stuck in my head and I *hate* 80s music!). The boombox has lights that change color to the beat of the music and it's pretty much perfect for Jerry.

Naturally, the cats had to take turns getting inside the box that the speaker arrived in.

Duck has been so needy lately because I have been so busy and haven't been able to give him as much attention as he's used to. When I was working in the bathroom going up and down a ladder, he nearly tripped me several times because he was trying to rub against my leg (or make me fall off the ladder out of spite). Finally, I went out to the garage and got a piece of plywood and made a little perch for him to sit and watch me. And of course, as soon as I did that, he lost interest and wanted nothing to do with it!

I had a bad day and was lying on the bed talking to Jerry one afternoon (I wasn't actually asleep in this picture; my eyes just happened to be closed when Jerry took it). Duck has gotten too big to sleep on my head (although he still tries) so he curled up and fell asleep on my ribcage instead. I love when he sleeps on me!

This picture must have been from my "bad day" above--Jerry saw me getting really frustrated while trying to write a blog post and he said, "I'm going to take a picture of you looking pissed." I didn't pay any attention to him, because I was certainly not in the mood for goofing around.

A lot of things were going wrong that day, but my computer was driving me CRAZY. It's from 2015, and considering the amount of time I spend on the computer, I was far overdue for a new one. However, I was avoiding getting one because they're so expensive. I was thisclose to throwing mine through a wall that day.

Jerry hates that I'm so stubborn about buying new things until I absolutely need to. He's been telling me to get a new computer for at least three years; but I don't get excited like he does about buying expensive new things that don't really do anything different from the one I had that was working.

For example, our TV. After a couple of years, Jerry is pretty much begging the TV to die so that we have a reason to get a new one, while I'm like, "WHERE'S THE DUCT TAPE?!"

And my phone... I had my iPhone 6 until fairly recently because it still worked and I didn't want to spend the money for a new phone until the old one died. Then it was so old that a lot of my apps weren't compatible anymore, so I just went in and said I wanted whatever was the closest to the iPhone 6 that I could get--I didn't want the fancy new stuff. (I ended up with the iPhone SE, which is actually very much like the iPhone 6--and it was the cheapest new phone they had.)

This morning, I finally had enough with my computer. I went to the Apple Store and bought a new MacBook. Jerry was super excited for me, but it wasn't a "fun" purchase for me--I just needed a new one. (And yes, I was acting like a child about it.)

I bought what is essentially the same computer I had, only new (and with more storage because I'm pretty sure the 50,000+ photos on my computer weren't helping any with the problems I was having). I was kind of being a spoiled brat about it, even though Jerry was giddy with excitement that I finally bought a new one. I told him that I didn't need a stupid fingerprint ID or a "Touch Bar", whatever the heck that was, and why do I care if I have an M2 chip instead of an M1 chip, whatever that even meant.

I took it out of the box and started setting it up, annoyed that I had to transfer all of my stuff over, etc. And then. This happened...

I looked at the Touch Bar settings only to try to turn the bar off, really, when I noticed that there was an option to have emojis right there on the Touch Bar! I can just tap emojis on there all I want. I yelled, "JERRY! Look at what it can do!" and just like that, my mood went from 😡 to 😆.

And, well, the stupid fingerprint ID isn't bad, either. And the extra storage, I guess that's cool. And the speediness, well, that's alright. I guess I can deal with the battery life lasting more than a couple of hours, too. 😜

(I am currently writing this post on my old computer, though, because I need time to get adjusted to the new one. Primarily dealing with my all of my photos. I don't use the cloud, so I have a billion photos to back-up and transfer via an external hard drive.)

However, my attitude has changed and I'm pretty excited about the new computer. Moving on...

The purple cauliflower I bought at the farmer's market? I roasted it and it was SO delicious! I actually ate the entire head in two sittings, haha. 

After a long streak of not doing very well at the daily Wordle, I was very psyched to have gotten this one in just two guesses! Have I ever used the word USURP? I'm gonna go with nope. But thinking strategically and then taking a big chance with the letter U, I was thrilled to guess it in two. (I also guessed today's Wordle in two, but I don't want to spoil it in case you haven't done it yet.)

Finally, I saved the best for last...

This picture is from last summer with my brother-in-law, Shawn, when we went up north to his and Jeanie's property. Shawn and I have always been close because we share a lot of the same traits--namely, generalized anxiety disorder, haha.

I wrote about Shawn (while keeping him anonymous) in this post about Alcohol Use Disorder. I called him Charlie, and wrote about how proud I was that he admitted alcohol was a problem for him, that he went to rehab at his own will, and was going to be there for a month. (Basically, a very long post about alcohol that was inspired by Shawn.) My sister followed up with a guest post about what it's like having a husband who is getting treatment for alcohol addiction (with Shawn's permission, of course!). 

The reason I mention this today is because Shawn has been sober for six months today! I can't even describe how proud I am of him. When he admitted to having a problem with alcohol and choosing to go to rehab, it inspired another loved one of mine to seek treatment in a facility as well (this person will stay anonymous unless they choose otherwise). And because of their treatment, even more lives were changed for the better.

The butterfly effect that started with Shawn six months ago has made an enormous impact on more people than I can even count!

And I'll end with that. Have a great weekend! xo