Saturday Photos

I had a busy day yesterday and I decided to just save my "Friday Night Photos" post for today instead. It's only noon right now, and it feels so much later. Noah wanted me to go with him and his girlfriend to Eastern Market (a large farmers' market in Detroit). Jerry is off work today and he hadn't gone to the market since 2012(!) so he wanted to go too. We left at 6:30 this morning to get there early (it gets super busy in the late morning).

I was happy Noah asked me to go! 

Jerry and I both groaned about getting up early, but it was worth it. We didn't plan on buying so much, but it's hard not to when you see how good everything looks!

When we got home, I actually took the time to cut up the cauliflower, green beans, and collard greens. Usually, I tell myself I'll do it later; then, I tend to procrastinate and may or may not do it at all. Now, I have no excuse not to use them.

Those little tubs with the blue flower on them in the middle of the photo came from my favorite vendor at the market. He makes vegan butter in different flavors, and it is SO SO good! I've gotten his herb butter and garlic butter; today, I bought the lemon pepper flavor. I've only ever used it on toast, but he told me it's really good for cooking--the garlic butter with sautéed mushrooms, the herb butter with corn on the cob, etc. I'm definitely going to use it to cook with!

This is the vegan herb butter on sourdough toast:

Speaking of meal prep, I got very ambitious one morning and made a bunch of spice mixes and sauces. I like to have sauces on hand in the freezer because it's super fast to throw dinner together. The jars in the top picture are for tikka masala, so I add either tofu or soy curls; the white-ish jars in the middle picture are truffle mac sauce, so I just have to cook pasta and add that. On the bottom is a spicy orange sauce, which I add to tofu, seitan, or soy curls. The spices I mixed were for Indian-spiced potatoes (I make them frequently) and tikka masala spices. Jerry and I love Indian food if you can't tell, haha.

Jerry really wanted a southwest salad recently, and it actually sounded good to me. I'm not a salad person, but when I do eat one, I like it to be like THIS. It was absolutely delicious! (Black beans, corn, tofu, homemade vegan ranch, salsa, guacamole, and tortilla chips.)

While I'm on the subject of food... Luke and Riley asked Brian if they could have a food fight! Brian thought it sounded like fun, so they went to the store and bought the stuff for a spaghetti dinner. Then they sat on the picnic table outside, and a minute later, the fight began. He took a video of the whole thing and it looked so fun! I wish I'd have thought to do that with my kids when they were little.

I saw some bowl (cozies? holders?) on Pinterest and I thought they were really cute, so I decided to make some. When I tried to look at the site for the pattern, there were SO many ads that I couldn't even see the actual page (literally). So I improvised and made these--I love how they turned out! I'm used to putting a paper towel under my bowl in order to hold it while it's hot (it gets heavy when holding it by the handle). 

While I was sewing them, Duck noticed that they were slightly bowl-shaped, and naturally, he thought it was perfect for him to sit in. 

They are perfect for eating chili while watching football on Sundays in the fall. Football? Yes. Remember how I said Jeanie taught me the rules of football when I was up at her cabin in July? I told her I'd try to watch it this fall. Well, on Thursday, she called me and told me that I really should watch the Detroit Lions game that night. It was the first NFL game of the season and it was in Kansas City, who are the "defending Superbowl champions" (Jerry told me what to write there, hahaha!). Jeanie told me to put on a Lions hoodie and send her a selfie before the game.

I don't have a Lions hoodie, but I *do* have a Lions onesie! I was actually saving it to give to her.

I really wanted to try to understand the game, so I watched it--and I followed it surprisingly well. I found myself getting excited and nervous at all the appropriate times; it was fun, even though I was watching by myself. And the Lions won! It was a HUGE deal, so I'm told. ;)  I think I'll watch some more football this season; I was excited that I was able to understand the general concept. Jerry's actually watching right now while I write this.

Eli started his senior year of high school on Tuesday. It's bittersweet for sure! Of course, I had to get a picture of him on the first day, and he humored me.

I'll finish with this picture of the kittens. (We'll probably always call them that, even though they're three years old now.) A wasp had gotten in the house and was flying around the skylight in the kitchen; they were fascinated, so they went on top of the fridge to get a better look.

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

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Three Things Thursday: Media

I used to write posts called "What I'm Reading, Watching, and Listening To" and I really liked them because readers would comment with suggestions of other books/shows/podcasts/etc. that I might want to check out. I've found some of my favorite media that way!

Last summer, I had so much going on. I literally had not read a full book since March, and before that it was November. I do tend to go through phases where I read a lot--several books in a row--and then I won't pick up a book for months. My head just hasn't been in it. Until now.

So, I thought I'd do my "three things" today about what I'm reading, watching, and listening to...

1) Reading

I happened upon this book when I looked up Oprah on Instagram a while ago because one of the kids' friends didn't know who she was and it made me feel ancient. But when I looked her up, her latest post was where she introduced a book for her book club: Demon Copperhead, by Barbara Kingslover.

Oprah's book club was how I'd discovered The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett--which is my favorite book of all time. There were a couple of other books she'd suggested over the years that made it to my top favorites, too. When she posted about Demon Copperhead, I was intrigued. It's an epic, which I love, and even better, a coming-of-age novel.

I'm not done with it yet, so I can't say whether I recommend it; but so far, I love it!

This is the description from the publisher:

Set in the mountains of southern Appalachia, this is the story of a boy born to a teenaged single mother in a single-wide trailer, with no assets beyond his dead father's good looks and copper-colored hair, a caustic wit, and a fierce talent for survival. In a plot that never pauses for breath, relayed in his own unsparing voice, he braves the modern perils of foster care, child labor, derelict schools, athletic success, addiction, disastrous loves, and crushing losses. Through all of it, he reckons with his own invisibility in a popular culture where even the superheroes have abandoned rural people in favor of cities.

I've reached the point in the book where I just want to keep reading and not stop until I'm done. There are little hints here and there of what's to come later, and it makes me very curious. It's written in first person, and Damon (the main character, who begins the narrative at age 10) will say something interesting, followed by "...but that's a story that I'll tell later."

After I read this, I may go through some of Oprah's old picks for her book club, because I've really liked what I've read of her suggestions.

2) Watching

Maybe part of the reason I haven't read a book in a while is because of my obsession with the show Criminal Minds. Holy smokes. I'd seen several episodes a long time ago, but I didn't really get into it right way. Earlier this summer, I was looking for something to watch (kind of in the background) while I was working on a project. Criminal Minds has a million seasons (actually 16, but it seems to go on forever), so I picked that.

The show is a bit dramatic in the way it's structured, but once you get invested in the characters, it doesn't make any difference. And it's actually a pretty dark show when they get into some tough cases. Basically, the show is about a unit in the FBI called the Behavioral Analysis Unit (BAU)--a group of agents who do criminal profiling to catch serial killers. Each episode usually concerns one case, and then moves on to a different one in the next episode, but some cases are ongoing throughout the season.

I got SO hooked on it! I absolutely love the characters, who come and go through the seasons. My very favorites are Spencer and Penelope. I just finished the most recent season, which is why I decided to dust off my Kindle and finally read Demon Copperhead.

3) Listening To

I've written about my favorite podcasts several times, and the list doesn't change very much. My go-to favorites are still This Is Actually Happening, Sword & Scale, True Crime All The Time, and Stuff You Should Know. Oh, and Beautiful/Anonymous. While a lot of people listen to music, I like listening to podcasts and audiobooks.

Branching out from my usual and familiar sort of podcasts, I started listening to one called Feeling Good Podcasts with David D. Burns, M.D. I actually looked him up after my psychiatrist recommended a book called When Panic Attacks (written by Burns). I started reading the book but when I got to the "homework" part, I was kind of stumped in applying it to my life because my anxiety is so generalized.

However, when I found the podcast, I discovered all sorts of great mental health info.

Burns is a psychiatrist who has studied in depth about the effectiveness of medications for mental illness like depression and anxiety, and how it compares to therapy (both alone and/or with medication). He's written several books that focus on how his research has helped him develop ideal cognitive therapy approaches.

Aside from that, I just like listening to it because the episodes are full of helpful techniques we can use on our own to help with depression and anxiety (there are episodes about other mental illnesses as well, but a lot of the focus is on those).

I like to listen to it while I'm falling asleep; not because it's boring, but because it helps me to feel good. Haha, I just typed that and then realized that "Feeling Good" is literally the name of the podcast. Well, I can attest to that! It definitely makes me feel good and hopeful and motivated to work on emotions I'm going through.

---

And there you have it! I'm hoping that I'll continue to read more after I'm done with this book, so if you have more suggestions, please feel free to share them.

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Wednesday Weigh-In: Week 119

Even though I've been weighing in every week, it didn't really hit me until a couple of days ago that it's been well over TWO YEARS since I started losing the weight I'd gained in 2018. It's kind of hard to remember what it was like in May of 2021 when I started counting calories again. And it certainly feels like a lifetime ago!

I can't say this with certainty, but I'm pretty sure that this is the first time I've ever been the same size a year later. My wardrobe is the same as it was last year at this time and it's such an odd feeling! I don't have any clothes that I'm holding on to because they're too small and I hope to get into them someday. Instead, I've altered most of my clothes to fit me well at this size (with room for a little fluctuation).

The fact that I managed to go a whole year without counting calories and don't have to replace my entire wardrobe is kind of hard to believe. My weight didn't stay completely steady through the year, of course, but I took care of my winter weight gain before it got out of control and took the weight off before I felt like it was "too far gone".

And regardless of what my weight has been, I've continued my healthier eating habits. Being vegan played a huge role in that. I also learned a big lesson recently that I think is going to be key to maintaining my weight loss. I started to write about that here, but realized it really should be its own post because it's kind of hard to explain.

Anyway, my weigh-in:

I was at 129.8 today. Last week, I was at 129.4, so I am happy with it! I consider "maintenance" to be within a 3-4 pound range or so. Sometimes, one particular meal the night before a weigh-in will make my weight go up by a couple of pounds and I certainly don't want to obsess over that. What's important to me is that I know I made healthy choices all week.

This has actually been a really great week for me! My mood has done a 180, I've been working on implementing new habits into my life, and I've had a lot more energy. I've been on top of meal prepping, which is a big stress reliever, and I do have hope that the bad luck my family has experienced over the last year is going to turn around.

Speaking of, last night was kind of funny. Since we only have one car between Jerry, Eli, and me right now, we've had to change things up. Jerry was off work yesterday and Eli had the car at work. Jerry decided he wanted to ride his bike to Kroger for a couple of things. If we lived in an area that prioritized bike riding, this would be great! It's only three and a half miles away, so we would probably do it frequently.

However, the roads here are not at all bike-friendly. Not only are the roads made of rough concrete (uncomfortable to bike on), there are also no bike lanes. For a mile on one side of the road is a so-called bike lane, but it's essentially just a small shoulder that abruptly ends halfway down the road. There are no shoulders on the rest of the road. For cyclists and pedestrians, it's pretty dangerous.

Drivers regularly drive 10-15 miles per hour over the speed limit of 45 mph and paying attention to the road seems to be a very tough concept for many to understand. I have to be very aware when I'm running, and it's kind of scary! I don't run on that road very often, and never past the point of where the shoulder ends.

Anyway, Jerry brushed a few years' worth of dust from his bike and filled the tires with air. He wanted me to time him for his round-trip; I guessed it would take him about an hour. After he left, I started thinking about how the last couple of months have come down to us having to ride bikes to Kroger and it made me laugh out loud.

And then it occurred to me that Jerry doesn't have a bike lock, and HOW FUNNY it would be if someone stole his bike while he was in the store! A year ago, it wouldn't have been funny at all; but our perspective has changed for sure. I almost thought about asking my dad to drive me to Kroger so that I could prank Jerry by moving his bike so he'd think it was stolen when he walked out.

When he got home, I asked him what he'd have done if he went outside only to find his bike was gone, and he agreed--he'd think it was hilarious. He said he would probably "laugh maniacally", haha. So, I think we're finally at the point that all we can really do is laugh about our situation (either that or we've lost our minds).

The person handling our claim at the car insurance company has been on vacation (yes, seriously) and is *supposed* to be back today. Let's hope so!

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Deep Thoughts With Jerry #23

Jerry hasn't done a "Deep Thoughts" post in a while. I'm kind of embarrassed to even publish this one because he gets kind of gushy about me! But he's insistent, so here he is...

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It's been a while. Usually I get on here and answer some questions that I find on various websites, but it's been an eventful time for me, so I'll write about that.

In late July I was asked to go work at a plant down in Texas for two weeks. They had been experiencing turnover and by losing some of their key operators a lot of knowledge was lost. So, they asked me and three others to go down to cover for the guys who were going to be training the new hires. 

The guys I was helping cover for were a select group that performed hot work on the assets and also traveled the world to other plants within my company to help. I have zero problem working in the extreme heat, and I actually enjoy it to a certain extent. I took the opportunity to learn as much as I could, working without complaint or hesitation. I learned quite a bit and had gotten some praise for my efforts. Hopefully this will afford me some other opportunities in the future. 

Texas. Texas was hot AF. 

I would get up around 4:45 am for work and it was already 85 degrees. When I would go to bed at 10:00 pm or so it was 100! Never seen anything like it. I had a case of water in my room and plowed through the water at work but it never seemed like enough.

We had the weekend off and the managers at the plant bought us tickets to the Texas Rangers game in Arlington. It did not disappoint! The seats were great and the game was a nail-biter. And the stadium, gorgeous. And it should be, seeing as how they spent $1.6 billion on it.

The next day, we went to a flea market called First Monday Canton. Apparently it's the world's largest flea market. In October they have somewhere close to 7,000 vendors across 450 acres. However, the weekend we went they "only" had about 1,000, and that's just because of the heat. Overall, Texas was a good time. 

After being gone for two weeks in Texas, I was ready to be home. And I had a whole week off work, which was nice. I'd already had a trip planned with some old high school friends for the 3rd week in August. I hadn't seen these friends in quite some time, but we had all somewhat stayed connected in the 24 years out of high school.

The plan was to go out to my friend's cabin on the west side of the state for five days. That almost fell through with the torrential downpour and flooding we had with some storms during the night before we left.

On my way home from work that morning, I decided to take another route home because my normal route had become somewhat flooded and I didn't want to drive through that. Everything was cool until I came upon a section of road that was getting completely covered with water. I had slowed down because I didn't want to start hydroplaning. Another vehicle had other plans.

This person was driving super fast and started hydroplaning when they hit that section of road, which caused them to come into my lane. With the fear of getting hit I started to get over a little and that's when the car started floating, completely out of my control, right into a ditch.

After dealing with the tow truck taking the car, the drive home (Eli picked me up), a call to the insurance company, no power at home, and a panic attack I was just ready to call the weekend. Be done with it. Katie was super insistent that I go out with my friends and enjoy the time. So that's what I did. It was great to connect with good friends and just pick up right where we left off. I'm hoping that this will become an annual thing with us. 

*Gush alert*

After all my time away Katie had her hands full. She knows the opportunity that being in Texas was for me professionally and was beyond supportive of it. In many ways us being apart for two weeks helped bring us closer together. And then with the trip I had planned with my friends... what can I say? She was so insistent that I go, even though the timing was the worst ever.

To say I have the best wife ever would be an understatement. I truly lucked out with having a wife that I can talk to, someone who looks out for me and has my best interest at heart. We've been together for 24 years, married for 20 of them. We've grown a lot and essentially became adults together. I'm so crazy lucky that I found my soulmate so young. 

*End gush*  [Katie here--I *swear* I did not write that myself! And he neglected to mention that I was in a very grumpy mood and I didn't even want to hear how much fun he was having while I was at home with no power.]

As for the future? There are some things on the horizon for me, hopefully they come true. Talks at work of me getting back on day shift again are still on-going. I'm still trying to create as much value as I can for the company, making me less expendable, and hopefully I'll be compensated well for my efforts and knowledge.

Personally, at home, things are starting to look up. Noah started a full-time job as well as continuing his college classes. Eli started back to school today and everything seems to be tracking in the right direction for him. Katie and I, we are good. As I type this I'm watching her read her Kindle on this floor pillow she has and she's so f**king adorable. She's way out of my league.

PS: Thank you all for the support you've shown our family over the years. It means a lot to me to know that Katie has had so much support from total strangers when she needs it the most.

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VEGAN RECIPE REVIEW: Sweet Potato & Black Bean Chili (Crockpot)

I haven't done a recipe review in a long time--mainly because I haven't been cooking new recipes. As you know, I've been having a really tough year; the last thing I was worried about was cooking new recipes. But I'm feeling SO much better--I have more energy, I have been thinking more positively, and I just feel more motivated in general.

Yesterday, I went for my morning run (my very, very short run around the block) and when I got back home, I felt like I had some energy to burn. I decided to prep dinner--and better yet, I chose a crockpot recipe. I love being able to prep dinner in the morning and not have to worry about it until dinner time.

I happened to have all of the ingredients on hand, and I'm sure most people probably would (except maybe the sweet potatoes). I thought this would be a good recipe to post because it doesn't have "weird" vegan foods in it. It looked like a recipe that vegans *and* omnivores may like.

Because this is a crockpot recipe, there aren't many steps--so this will be a relatively short post. I found this recipe at Eating on a Dime. You can find the full recipe on the site. I will link to it again at the bottom of this post.

Duck is helping me write this today. He is so sweet and it absolutely melts my heart when he wants to be close to me like this. (Pressing the Return key isn't very easy, but every cat lover knows what it's like trying not to disturb a sleeping cat.)

First up is the ingredients list:

onion
green pepper
minced garlic
black beans
sweet potatoes
diced tomatoes
chili powder
cumin
paprika
cayenne (optional; I used 1/2 tsp.)
oregano
salt
broth (I use homemade bouillon, which I wrote about below)

To prep everything, I just chopped the onions and pepper. Then I cut the sweet potatoes into large chunks (I wanted them to hold their shape after the long cooking time in the crockpot). I opened the cans of beans and drained and rinsed those. 

For recipes that call for broth, I use homemade vegan bouillon powder mixed with water. It's very similar to a chicken bouillon powder. I usually use 1/2 Tbsp. of powder for every 1 cup of water. But any broth will do.

Then, I just dumped everything into the crockpot and set it on low heat (planning to cook it for about five hours).

I'm very familiar with cooking soups, stews, and chilis in the crockpot and three cups seemed like a lot of water, especially considering the amount of vegetables that would give off water as they cooked as well. 

Usually for recipe reviews, I do everything exactly as written. However, instead of the three cups of broth that is called for, I used two and set the third aside in case it was needed. After giving it a stir, I decided holding off on the extra cup of broth was probably the way to go, knowing there would be more liquid as the veggies cooked.

Other modifications: The recipe called for 1/2 an onion, which I never do--why not a whole onion? So I used a whole one. I also cut the salt in half, figuring I could add more later. (In the end, the extra broth and extra salt were not needed.)

I cooked it on low for about five hours. I gave it a stir a couple of times because I didn't want the sweet potatoes to get overcooked and mushy, and I also wanted to see if it needed more broth. This was about halfway through, and you can see there was a lot more liquid:

The house smelled heavenly of chili spices while it cooked. The kids (and Jerry) asked what was for dinner, and I told them Sweet Potato & Black Bean Chili. None of them seemed thrilled, hahaha. I have stopped trying to cater to everyone's wants and decided to cook healthy meals that I thought sounded good--they can take it or leave it. Or cook dinner themselves.

When it was done, I tasted a chunk of sweet potato and was surprised at just how good it was. I've never added sweet potatoes to chili before; I like sweet potatoes, but I only ever really eat them as a side dish  (and even that is only occasionally). Sweet potato casserole, baked sweet potatoes, sweet potato fries. I tried them in a hash one time at a restaurant and wasn't a fan. So, I wasn't sure if I was going to like them in chili.

The sweet potatoes had completely absorbed the flavors of the spices, and I honestly couldn't tell that they were sweet potatoes (judging by taste). The texture was really nice in the chili--a contrast to the usual bean chili (vegan) or meat chili.

Jerry and the kids are *not* sweet potato fans, so I totally didn't expect them to eat it. However, I wanted them to at least taste a piece of the sweet potato because I was sure that it would change their minds. And I was right! Jerry's face went from extremely skeptical to pleasantly surprised. He said they were amazing--the taste and the texture.

Eli was at work, but I gave Noah a piece to try; his face was skeptical as well, but he agreed. (I love that he is open-minded about trying foods that he thinks he won't like.) Just like Jerry, he was very surprised that he liked it. I was thrilled! Sweet potatoes are so healthy and I want to incorporate them into my diet more, so having the family on board is a bonus. I'm going to see if Eli will try a piece today. (I would bet my life that he'll say, "It's not bad". I don't think he would ever admit to liking sweet potatoes.)

Jerry took the chili to work with him and said that he "really liked the sweet potatoes, but the beans didn't have any flavor". This both surprised and confused me--canned beans are canned beans. I use them all the time in chili and he's never said that before.

I had a big bowl of it (too big, actually--I felt uncomfortably full afterward). I loved it! This is something I will absolutely make again. I would like to utilize my crockpot more, and this recipe was super easy. Noah actually ate a bowl of it for dinner, too, which I didn't expect.

Final thoughts: 

-super easy!
-lots of fiber
-tons of good nutrition
-use a whole onion
-cut salt in half
-reduce broth to 2 cups instead of 3
-good sweet potato recipe for people who think they don't like sweet potatoes
-the spiciness was PERFECT for me (if you don't like things spicy, then leave out the cayenne)
-leftovers reheat really well
-a good recipe for days when the groceries are running low

This was delicious and I definitely recommend giving it a try! You can find the recipe at Eating on a Dime.

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Friday Night Photos #127

It's been a long time since I wrote a Friday Night Photos post! I went back to August 11 on my camera roll, and there are so many pictures that I feel like I already wrote about, but looking through my recent posts, I guess I didn't. Or maybe I did, I don't know--but I have several pictures, so I'll get right to it...

Luke and Riley were at Brian's for a couple of weeks last month, so Jerry and I took them out for Riley's birthday. We did our usual trip to Barnes & Noble and let them each pick something out. Riley had SUCH a hard time deciding--finally she said I could pick out three things and she would choose from those. So I picked up a few things she'd liked and she ended up choosing a diary with a lock (that came with all the glittery pens and unicorn stickers and things like that).

For Luke, I saw a set of practical jokes that I remembered doing when I was a kid and I thought he would like it. Brian used to practice all of his practical jokes on me, being six years younger than him; Luke loved the idea of the jokes, so that's what he chose.

Instead of going out to eat somewhere, I decided to pack a picnic lunch and go to a park. We all enjoyed that more than a restaurant--there was a playground right there, so Luke and Riley played on that until it was time to go.

I went on the swings with Riley; I *love* swings! They make me feel like a kid again for sure.

Riley is starting kindergarten and Luke first grade this week. They grow SO FAST.

Noah and his girlfriend, Claire, drove up to Jeanie and Shawn's cabin in the upper peninsula for a long weekend. Claire sent me a bunch of pictures, and I loved seeing how much fun they had. Noah was really excited to bring Jerry's mom's DSLR camera to take pictures on their hikes--and out of all of the things to forget at home, he left the camera!

Eli and his girlfriend, Ava, planned a fun date. They have some notecards that have different date night ideas on them, so they blindly choose one from the deck each month. For this one, they bought the stuff to make homemade pizza, and then took turns blindfolding each other and directing the blindfolded person to put together the pizza. You can't see Eli very well here, but he's next to Ava, telling her where to reach for the cheese and pepperoni and all that. It was cute! I only stayed for a moment and left them alone after that ;)

I love it when Joey sleeps with his tongue sticking out! 

On Jerry's and my 20-year wedding anniversary, we went through our "memory box" of stuff from the last 24 years (when we started dating). We have stuff like movie ticket stubs, little notes and cards, receipts from places we went, etc. Going through them, we noticed that we had unknowingly given identical greeting cards to each other--not just once, but TWICE. We really do think alike, I guess!

We always like to have one of the kids take a quick picture of us on our anniversary, but we totally forgot. It was 11:57 PM when I realized we hadn't taken a picture, so we did a couple of selfies.

Even though he's 19 years old and in college, Noah humored me by letting me take his "first day of school" picture. He was clearly thrilled ;)

I had a big knot in my shoulder after a long busy day, and I pulled out my TENS unit. (If you're unfamiliar, it uses electrodes to send impulses to your muscles to help with tightness, soreness, etc. It was prescribed to me when I was dealing with chronic pain.) I turned it up as high as I could stand it and I had put the pad on exactly the right spot--it was super painful but in a good way. The next morning, I felt like I'd been hit by a truck--the knot was gone, but wow.

I was putting away laundry a couple of days ago and it was driving me crazy that socks always wind up missing. They have to go *somewhere*, but where? I figured they had to be under the washer and/or dryer, so I cleaned the laundry room and had no luck looking underneath the appliances. Next, I decided I was going to open up the panel that covers the lint trap. I want to make it clear that I clean out the lint trap before *every* load of laundry--so I was stunned to see so much lint underneath!

And even more surprising was the amount of change I found. Most of the coins were dimes and pennies. There were a few nickels and NO quarters. When I counted it later, there was $10.75!

I didn't find a single sock, however. Not one! Today, I took the back off of the washer and found four socks, but none of them were mine--they were all Eli's. I have to know where my socks have gone. How do they disappear?!

I wrote all about this on Wednesday, but it's my most recent clothing alteration. I LOVE how it turned out! I took a hoodie and a pair of pajama pants, put them together, and got this adorable hoodie.

This was so funny. Chick was minding his own business, grooming himself, and then Estelle just started glaring at him. He stopped what he was doing to stare right back at her, with his leg sticking straight up in the air the whole time.

Duck was lying on my lap one morning and SO comfortable. I love it when cats flip their heads upside down when you pet them. He sprawled out, flipped his head over and slept like that for a little while.

I bought this game called Tapple at a thrift store a while ago and Jerry and I played it yesterday. It's so much fun! And you really don't even need instructions. There is a round plastic board with letters on it--the letters are buttons that you can push down. 

To start, you draw a card that has a category on it. Then the first person starts the timer by pushing the button in the center of the board; the timer is nerve-racking because it continuously beeps while you have 10 seconds to come up with a word that fits the category.

In the category "Emotions", for example, the first person might say "Happy" and push down the H button. Then they press the timer button to reset the 10 seconds and it goes to the next person who might say, "Anxious" and press down the A button. The letters can only be used once. 

Play goes on like this until the person whose turn it is can't come up with a word within the 10-second period. You would think that I, of all people, could win the "Emotions" category in my sleep, but as soon as the timer starts, it's like your brain just forgets everything you've ever known, haha.

Jerry's softball team has this big pink shirt with a K on it, and if someone strikes out, they have to wear "the shirt" (the "K" is a symbol for strike out in baseball). Jerry struck out, and Eli took this picture of Jerry wearing the K shirt. The guys all love to give each other a hard time about it! Jerry wore it proudly ;)

And that's all I've got. Well, I have probably a hundred more, but nothing significant; I already shared the flood photos. This past month felt like the longest month in history. I'm hoping for an uneventful September!

Have a great weekend. XO

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