Friday Night Photos #122

Usually, I try to write some sort of intro to these posts, but I'm not sure what to write today! So I'll just jump right in.

Ever since Eli's car accident, we've had to change things up around here. Basically, we gave Eli the Edge that was Jerry's car, I gave Jerry the Renegade, which was mine, and Noah has his own car that he bought. We weren't able to sue the woman who caused the accident (I talked to attorneys, and they said that is exactly the reason that Michigan switched to the "no fault" state--so that people can't sue for damages).

Whenever I needed to get away, whether from chaos in the house or anxiety in general, or whatever the reason, I used to go for a drive. A few days ago was one of those times, but then I remembered that I didn't have a car. So, despite the fact that it was pouring buckets of rain, I decided to go out for a run. It's a healthy habit that I should get into whether I have a car or not.

I actually really love running in the rain (when I'm not freezing). I wear a visor and that keeps the rain out of my face. I definitely wore the wrong pants for this (they are a thin nylon material that just made them cling like static to my legs (only it was from the rain instead of static).

In the pictures, I was trying to show just how drenched I was, but because there wasn't a dry spot on me, there really was no reference! You can definitely see how red my face is, though--for some reason, I always love to see a red face after a run. It makes me feel like I did something good for my body.

That same day, with the rainy weather, Jerry and decided to bust out the Wii, hook it up in our bedroom, and play some old school games. We played Dr. Mario (I used to LOVE playing that game with my older brother when I was a kid) and Toe Jam & Earl (from Sega). Jerry had never played Dr. Mario before and I felt bad kicking his ass when I was on level 15 at medium speed--so we started at the very easiest level on low speed; and if/when I let him win he managed to beat me, we'd move up a level. Well, we played for a few hours and only made it up to level five or so. Hahaha!

Dr. Mario (Nintendo) and Toe Jam & Earl (Sega)

As for Toe Jam & Earl, well... it's just awesome. This was another favorite when I was a kid. (I was the only kid in my friend group that had a Sega when we were young, which made me feel cool. Everyone loved to play Sonic the Hedgehog--that's an awesome game, too!) I wish it was possible to continue to download games to the Wii, but I guess they disabled that feature.

Yesterday, I was scheduled for a run and I really was procrastinating. It was super humid and the air felt thick. But I wanted to stick to the schedule so that I don't quit, and I headed out for a run-walk of 30 minutes. Actually, I had Jerry drop me off 2.5 miles from home on his way to work--that way I could just run home and not have to do a loop or out-and-back. (I ended up having to circle my block though, so I guess I'm getting a little faster.)

The whole way, it felt SO HARD. The air was so thick and I just wasn't feeling very good. I *almost* called Noah to come pick me up, but I knew I could finish. I took this picture as I was running past a long stretch of crop fields, and I kind of liked how the pic turned out. (By the way, do you think can I pull off a ring in my nose rather than the stud I've always had? I am thinking about getting a second one just behind the first as a "reward" when I get back into my happy weight range.

THEN... when I later looked through my camera roll, I found a picture that I absolutely did not intend to take. It must have happened when I was fumbling with my phone to either take a picture or skip to a podcast or something. It's such a mortifying photo that I almost didn't post it, but Jerry talked me into it. SO flattering, no? BAHAHA. Pretty sure you can see my brain through my nostrils if you zoom in closely enough.

Let's just forget that photo ever existed. (It is funny, though.)

When I got back from my run, I uploaded the running data to Garmin Connect. While I was at it, I looked at AccuWeather because I was curious what the humidity was after breathing in that thick air. Well, I was a little stunned to see this:

The air quality is "Very Unhealthy"--even healthy individuals are likely to experience difficulty breathing and throat irritation. Well, no wonder the air felt so thick! I should have checked the weather before I left. (I very rarely look at the weather app.)

The wildfires in Canada have caused really poor air quality in Detroit and a lot of the midwest. The air looks really hazy. We closed all the windows and turned on the air conditioning, which is a bummer--I love having all the windows open! Of course, this is trivial to even mention when you think of all of the Canadians being affected by the fires.

I know I posted this picture earlier this week, but I was so excited to get to play with my nieces and nephews all on the same day! (Hunter isn't pictured--he really didn't want anything to do with me! Hahaha, Laura (Jerry's sister) said that he'd just started teething so he was in a bad mood.)

When Jerry comes home, he usually finds Duck lying on me like this. And every time, I ask him to take a picture. Because who doesn't need 10,000 pictures of a cat sleeping on your neck?

By the way, you know how I mentioned that I'm not freezing cold anymore since starting the new iron supplement? Well, I don't even need to sleep under the regular comforter anymore. I sleep on top of the bed with an airy muslin blanket. It blows my mind.

I actually got out some real cards and played solitaire one evening (I played Grandma's Game--here is a link to my game tutorial from ages ago.) I've still ever only won the game one time. I'm not a fan of digital card games yet--maybe someday--but I'm still old school when it comes to playing cards.

Before Jeanie drove up north with the dogs, she asked if I could sew together a rip in one of the dog beds. The cats were SO CURIOUS about the bed, but none of them would go on it. I tossed one of the cat beds on there, and suddenly it was the happening place to hang out.

Since I gave Jerry the Renegade, I took my "Squirrel Whisperer" decal off the back window (it was a sad moment). I was going to replace it with the same Star Wars decal he had on his Edge, but I decided to surprise him with something a little different. I think he'll like it! (He hates that I gave him the Renegade, but it made the most sense, since we can't afford to buy another car right now.) It will be paid off in two months, and the house should be paid off in 14 months. When that happens, I really want Jerry to get his dream truck--and then I can have the Renegade back :)

I finally... FINALLY painted my nails (fingers and toes!). It's been, oh, maybe a year? Or maybe not that long, but probably at least nine months. I hate using gel polish like this because it pretty much destroys my nails, but it works so good--and it lasts forever. Regular polish chips off my nails within the first day because I use my hands so much. (And naturally, I forgot to take an after picture--but they're just black, which is what I usually paint them.)

Jerry was at Kroger a few days ago and he found some frozen vegan pot pies. They were on "manager's special". He bought a couple of them for us to try, and when I opened the freezer, I happened to notice the expiration date... "sell by 3/13/21". Yes, 2021! I haven't taken them back yet, but I'm definitely going to. How could they not notice that, especially when marking them down?

Jeanie sent me this picture of the dogs, who were all completely wiped out from playing. She said Walter (her special needs basset) slept from 3:30 PM to 5:30 AM without moving a muscle--haha! I'm so glad they're having fun together.

Again, I posted this earlier this week--my older brother gave Noah a "one chip challenge" and he split the chip into thirds so he, my dad, and Eli could all do it together. I wrote a commentary about it here. It was entertaining, to say the least.

This was so funny! When I started Duolingo a couple of months ago, I added the Spanish keyboard to my phone. Well, you all know how slow I am at texting, so I started using your suggestions--either voice-to-text or the sliding-typing feature (both have helped a lot!). Well on this day, Eli texted me to ask about a car that he found on Facebook Marketplace. I was putting away laundry, so I just tapped the microphone and replied. I had no idea my phone was even capable of this kind of issue, but my entire voice text was done while the Spanish keyboard was active, and it ended up looking like this! (The bottom picture is the gist of what I'd said.)

So funny! And that's all I've got for this week. Have a great weekend! xo