40 things for Friday #75 (24 hour PT, Netflix drama, and the joy that is cooking TikTok.)

1.  My days are swirling together here.

2.  How can it be Thursday night? How can tomorrow already be Friday? How can I be asking the same questions as last week?

3.  Please tell me I’m not the only one.

4.  I took the deep dive on that knee injection this week. Good times.

5.  Pro tip: When a doctor tells you “this won’t hurt any more than a bee sting” respond with “Okay, and exactly how long will that bee sting last?”

6.  Because yes, the needle technically felt like a bee sting…if the stinger stayed in your body for ten extraordinarily long seconds while the bee injected you with some viscous I-Hate-Humans venom.

7.  I had about five hours of numbness that day. It was somewhat disconcerting; on the other hand it was the first time in months my knee didn’t ache so yay!

8.  As promised the numbing agent wore off around hour six. Suddenly I wasn’t such a fan of knee injections. We’ll skim over the rest of my salty language that day.

9.  But the next morning? Things were better. And they got a little better the morning after that, too.

10.  Supposedly things should steadily improve over the next week or two, then I have an appointment in November to do a gel injection under the kneecap.

11.  I’m seeing potential for less pain. Considering I’ve been limping around on this thing since July that’s a big freaking improvement.

12.  Now if I can get the popping and achiness to stop we’ll really be on track. Fingers crossed.

13.  Am I enjoying physical therapy? Let me be perfectly clear: NO I AM NOT.

14.  I can acknowledge the importance of PT and despise it at the same time. No problem.

15.  A large part of my issue is double whammy PT. Knee exercises are one thing, back exercises are another, but having to work both simultaneously?

16.  I mean, one set of these back exercises is supposed to be done every 60-90 minutes. Seriously?!

17.  The end result leaves me feeling like I’m on an endless treadmill. By the time I sit down for ten minutes it’s time to start all over again.

18.  I’m digging deep, y’all, but this is taking a toll.

19.  Because mama didn’t raise no quitter I tried getting back on track with my cooking this week.

20.  I made this Sticky Asian Chicken on the stovetop this summer so I thought I’d give it another shot now that our oven is fixed.

21.  The baked drumsticks are yummy, but I’m thinking next time I might use chicken tenderloins.

22.  Here’s another little something I’d tucked away because it requires an oven: Sweet Chili Roasted Brussels Sprouts.

23.  I’ve been so excited to try this recipe and it did not disappoint. Sweet, tangy, with just the right amount of spice — these Brussels sprouts are delicious.

24.  Which leaves one more recipe I’ve been trying to make for a week now: Soft & Chewy Lemon Glazed Brownies.

25.  Diva recipes always rock so I know these will be fantastic but I’ve had my hands full with regular life [see above]. Maybe this weekend I’ll give them a shot.

26.  I’ve been watching Surviving R. Kelly on Netflix this week and damn, that’s a sad documentary.

27.  These poor girls and their families, I just can’t wrap my brain around it. I’ll also say it’s been eye opening to hear these women talk about how they were taken in and isolated.

28.  We need to stick together. Check on your loved ones.

29.  Even more important, check in on the people who look like they’ve got it all together. Remind them you’re there, you care, and it’s okay to rest a while before picking up the load again.

30.  How many folks panicked when Zuckerberg’s networks crashed this week?

31.  I remember thinking huh, that’s weird, why won’t Instagram load but that was pretty much it.

32.  Someone pointed out we shouldn’t downplay the extent to which some people felt extraordinarily isolated with their main source of connection forced offline.

33.  I agree that’s an issue, one the pandemic only made worse, but ideas for solving it are slow to come. We need some experts to get on that.

34.  No, I am not volunteering. I’m starting to think I may be the least “people” expert around these days.

35.  Also, my brain is really really tired from listening to all the and then she said this because he did that and then he told her such-and-such so she ended up crying updates.

36.  High school was exhausting for me the first time around. Turns out it’s just as exhausting secondhand.

37.  I’ve given myself extremely limited TikTok windows during the day. (If you’re not careful you can lose a couple hours to that feed.)

38.  Like this guy’s spot-on commentary for current events:

39.  Then there’s this guy with peerless commentary on public sightings and teacher life:

40.  And then there is the account to end all accounts. People, I can lose HOURS on this man watching cooking TikTok. Check it out and happy Friday.