October 07, 2022

Friday Night Photos #86

This week has been super busy--after not coaching from 2020-2021, I didn't remember just how much time is spent on cross country stuff. I love coaching and I've certainly missed it--but wow, my days (and weeks) feel so short. And the season is almost over already! I feel like we just started.

I had a few appointments this week--I went to the lab for blood work (just my yearly lipid profile for insurance stuff, plus a few others that I requested: iron, ferritin, vitamin D, calcium, B-12, and some others I can't remember off the top of my head). 

Remember how I mentioned how calming the waiting room was when I had my mammogram? Well, the lab is in the same building. On Tuesday, I had a therapy appointment just down the road from the lab at 10:00 AM, so I deliberately left my house early enough in order to have an hour between my lab work and my therapy appointment. Why? So I could read my book in the waiting room, HAHAHA. It just feels so much calmer and quieter than my house.


The book I'm reading is one of the YA dystopian novels in the series I mentioned (The Cure Chronicles). The books are very out there--unrealistic and a little cheesy--but I can't stop without finishing the series. I'm almost done with the fourth book and there are five total.

The waiting room was so cozy again... except for the fact that they had music playing this time. And I've had Whitney Houston in my head ever since. Ahh! I hate getting songs stuck in my head because they sit there for DAYS, and sometimes even longer.

On the way home from my doctor's appointment today (yearly wellness visit), Google Maps routed me in a way that I don't normally take. I stopped at a little store that I used to go to with my mom when I was a kid. We called it "the fruit market" but it was basically a little market that had local produce and several hard-to-find items. And everything was so cheap! 

When I stopped there today, it's definitely changed--there are a lot more packaged items--but I was able to get a few things for much cheaper than Kroger. The bulk mushrooms were $3.49 a pound at the market, and they are regularly $5.99-ish a pound for a package of not-so-fresh looking mushrooms at Kroger. These ones looked really good.


I also love green onions, and the last time I was grocery shopping, I was picking through them to find a batch that wasn't limp and soggy. I didn't end up buying any. The market had some great looking ones, though.

I wanted to get the kids something fun and/or unique, and I picked out these mini buckeyes. When I got home, I was feeling a bit creative, so rather than just leave the package on the counter, I put some into empty spice jars. And then I wrote each of them a card (a "love note" from their mom, haha).


As they get older, I have really been feeling time slipping away and I've been trying to do more little things for or with them. While I was at the market, I also bought four big pumpkins for us to carve. Jerry is off work this weekend, so I think we'll carve them tonight or tomorrow.

Speaking of Jerry, remember on his "deep thoughts" post when he said his favorite outdoor activity is camping, which I NEVER KNEW? I felt so bad that we haven't gone camping in at least a decade (I'm not a camping-person) and I told him he should try to make plans with our friend Jack, who loves camping as well. They both play disc golf, so they went to a campground near three disc golf courses. I was so glad that Jerry got to go camping (and with great weather!) and I didn't have to ;)  



I *love* Asian pears and I hadn't had one in probably 2-3 years (I think). I'm always on the lookout for them, but I haven't had any luck (even at the huge farmer's market in Detroit). My mom happened to find some at Walmart of all places, but they were really expensive. She knew how much I love them, though, so she got me one.


It was tiny, but it was SO delicious. And I even gave Noah a couple of slices because he loves them too. Then he started shopping online for a tree--the one we have is huge now but we don't get any fruit from it. I'm hoping if we get a second one, they can cross-pollinate and we'll finally get some fruit.


Chick is SO funny--he loves getting his armpits rubbed. When Noah picks him up, he sprawls out and reaches his arms above his head so Noah will rub under them, haha. And he just lies there on his back, totally content.




Noah sent me this picture and asked me if I could make him this costume for Halloween. I think it would be pretty easy except for the shoulder part. I'm thinking paper mache would probably look the best, but it's so time consuming and I have never done it before. So if anyone has ideas of how I could make it, please let me know!



Drywall dust EVERYWHERE. This was when I finished sanding. My brother would tell me that if I would perfect my drywall knife skills, I wouldn't have to sand so much. *eye roll*  I've gotten pretty good at it, but definitely far from being able to sand minimally. Besides, drywall dust makes the BEST dry shampoo! (I'm actually not kidding--my hair felt SO thick after that)



On Tuesday, Jerry spent the afternoon removing our old fire pit. It was HUGE in the backyard and it just seemed to be getting bigger over the years. He had to move a ton of huge rocks, then shovel out all of the old ashes. We still want to be able to have fires, though, so we just replaced it with a ring and bricks around the outside (which you can't see in the picture).


It looks so much smaller, but I like it because we can actually hear each other without yelling across the pit, haha. We had a fire on Tuesday night and the boys came outside with us for a little bit. It was nice to spend some time with them. (Now that everybody has different schedules--work, school, cross country--it's rare that all four of us are home at once.)


I used some of the jalapeño jam I bought at Eastern Market in Detroit. It's called "Sweet Jesus!" jalapeño jam, and I was surprised that it was actually pretty spicy (I love spicy food). I put it on a grilled "cheese" sandwich (I used a vegan nacho cheese recipe from a cookbook for the cheese). It was so good! For a few bites. But the sweetness of the jam got old very quickly; it was hard to even finish eating it. I loved the jalapeño flavor, though, so I'm going to make sure to add jalapeños to my next grilled cheese. 




We had our second cross country meet last weekend and it was such a nice day! We had all 17 kids show up, too. Tomorrow is our next meet and Renee isn't going to be able to make it. One of the moms is going to help, though, thankfully! It's hard when the boys and girls run separately and there is only one coach. 


It's a race I've never done with the kids before (I think they started doing it in 2020, the year I stopped coaching) so I'm looking forward to it. I'm familiar with the park because my boys played baseball there for years, and I think it looks like a fun course. The temp is going to be in the 40s--perfect running weather!

And that's all I've got. Have a great weekend! xo

3 comments:

  1. Costuming foam might be a good option for the arm pieces on that costume. Rachel Maksey is a youtube channel I watch that does a ton of costumes, and she uses it quite a bit for that sort of thing, so I feel confident in recommending it even though I've not personally used it. Michaels or other similar craft stores should carry it.

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    Replies
    1. I was just going to say that foam pieces would work much better than papier mache--and I say that as somebody who has made many a papier mache pinata in my time. You could make it smooth enough, but I think the costuming foam would be more comfortable and easier to work with.

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  2. Great work with the cross country. SO MUCH (great) WORK! Congrats and glad the season will finish soon. And I adore the drywall hair photo. That stuff is ridiculous.

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