Runs for Cookies: Catch-Up Photos

Well, that was a long, involuntary four-day break! We had a very busy day on Friday and then I blinked and suddenly it’s Tuesday. To catch up a bit, I’ll be posting what would have been my «Friday Night Photos», just a little bit about the week.

Yesterday I had my second mammogram. I can’t believe it’s already been a year since the first one! I haven’t gotten the results yet, but I have no reason to worry; It was just an annual screening.

I also saw my primary care doctor for my annual physical. When she saw my lab work (the lipid profile I wrote about) she was stunned by my numbers. She said people would «kill for numbers like these!» And then: «You must not have eaten a single carbohydrate for weeks before your tests.» Hahaha, this made me laugh. I reminded her that I am vegan and most of my diet comes from carbohydrates!

I did something I’ve wanted to do since we had to remodel the bedroom last year: I took the legs off our bed frame. When the bedroom was trashed and we were sleeping on our mattress on the floor, I really liked it; somehow it seemed more welcoming. The look of our bedroom is certainly not for everyone, but we love it! (Cats too, of course. It’s basically their room.)

Speaking of which, every day I have to grab all of «Chick’s» toys (he’s the only one who actually uses them) and throw them on the shelves in my room. (The top shelves surround the entire room.) Chick LOVES picking them up and taking them down one by one. He makes a super loud meow that sounds like «HELLO?! HELLOOOOO!» when he has one. Sometimes when I go out to the kitchen in the morning, he has all of his toys gathered like this on the floor. (Her favorite of his is the «zebra mouse»: it’s very ragged and nothing special, but it’s his favorite toy.)

And of course, when we get something from Amazon:

The cats take turns testing the boxes. Duck liked to sit here and he didn’t want to come out. Then he decided that he wanted to take a nap, so he laid his head in the corner and fell asleep. It didn’t last long, but it was fun!

I also caught him in the middle of a yawn, and in the first picture he looks like he’s making Jerry’s face.

I had wanted to get my helix (upper cartilage of the ear) pierced for a long time. Since it’s a pretty simple piercing (no nooks and crannies), I used a pair of sterilized piercing needles to pierce it twice. I’m quite impressed with the result – the hard part is getting the angle right. I like them!

I pulled out some sewing stuff to work on a pair of jeans and as soon as I put them down, I walked over to the table to grab something. I turned around and both kittens were already in my stuff! I don’t know what happens to cats, but the moment you put something on the floor, they have to sit on it or in it.

I always put chia seeds on my cereal in the morning, and when I was going to order more on Amazon, I saw that one item suggested for me was a mix of chia seeds, ground flaxseed, and hemp seeds. It was very expensive, but it indicated that the ratio was 9:9:2 respectively. I already had ground flaxseed, so I ordered chia seeds and hemp seeds and made my own mix. A fraction of the cost.

I’ve been putting two tablespoons in my Grapenuts with blueberries and soy milk. I’ve been eating this (with the chia seeds) for breakfast for almost two years! I haven’t gotten tired yet.

This is one of the pictures Jerry secretly took of me this week. (He’s been doing it more often and it’s actually fun to find them randomly on my phone, haha). Here, he was working on the NYTimes Connections puzzle. I use a notebook to write everything down because I’m a nerd and it’s something I look forward to every morning after a run. Duck likes to help.

We had SUCH amazing fall weather last weekend. On Friday I decided to cut down the trees in our front yard. Yes, you read that correctly. The apple tree and the «Asian pear tree.» I put it in quotes because when I was pruning it on Thursday, a large thorn stuck in my wrist; It was killing me. I couldn’t even bend my wrist! I finally started researching online to see if I should be worried, and that led me down a rabbit hole of identifying pear trees.

And you know what? The tree I was hoping to get Asian pears from for LIKE A DAMN DECADE is actually a street pear tree! It is literally considered an invasive species and does not produce edible fruit. I wanted to go out and start hacking it. But I waited until Friday morning and used a ladder and hand saw to cut it out piece by piece.

I decided to get rid of the apple tree as well. When I planted him, I chose Granny Smith because he was Noah’s favorite. Now, no one in the family eats Granny Smith apples, so they are a waste. And if I’m going to try growing fruit (like I’ve been trying for 20 years), I might as well pick something I really want.

We still have to remove the stumps, but this is what they look like now. The patio looks so different!

Since planting a *real* Asian pear tree (Shinseiki) last fall, I’ve had another planted nearby in the backyard for cross-pollination. And for the front garden I asked for a cherry tree. The cherry tree I bought is only about 1-2 feet tall when it arrives, so I have no idea if it will last, but it will be fun to see if it lasts. I’m going to plant it right in the middle of the front yard. It self-pollinates, so I don’t need another one.

We did a lot of yard work this weekend and Jerry wanted to start a fire to burn off some of the remains. I was working on a sewing project, so I took it outside and sat by the fire with Joey. It seemed like such a perfect “fall”!

This is the project I did. I wasn’t crazy about the gray owl shirt (the neckline was too wide on me) but I liked the owl. So I cut it out and sewed it onto a navy blue hoodie I had. I love the way it turned out!

I’ll end with a photo of Eli on his return home. His girlfriend goes to another school, so they had two homecoming dances this fall. They have been together for about 11 months; They make a good couple!