Sunday Funday

We're in playoff time now, so that means there's a lot of time spent at home, on the couch, watching the greater teams weed out the lesser teams.  Hopefully the 4:30 game today weeds out the Texans and we can carry on with Baltimore next weekend.   Since there are so many games this weekend, we've done a lot of couch sitting. Luckily the games are in the afternoon/at night, so I haven't been totally lazy.
Yesterday we spent a good portion of the day in Providence.  Ryan got his hair cut at the Gallery Salon, courtesy of Sara Marsh.  If you live in RI and you need a haircut, check her out.  After the cut we went to the farmers market in Pawtucket and got delicious street food. Namely, meat pockets.  I'm not sure what they're actually called, but the name we gave them is pretty self-explanatory.  It's a pastry filled with meat.  Think pasties if you've ever been to England, except that they only contain meat, no extra vegetables or potatoes.  So, all the delicious, none of the health.  Perfect street food!  We also got a giant Whoopie Pie from some dude in a booth who was selling chowder. Personally I wasn't a fan of the Whoopie Pie.  The filling tasted too much like cream cheese and I would prefer it to be a bit sweeter.  Once we left the farmers market we went to the dog park.  There isn't really a dog park so much as a bit of woods that a lot of dogs run around in.  I say it's not a dog park because it's not fenced in and is right next to the street.  I would be concerned taking my dog there considering we almost got run over crossing the street as someone came flying up in their little Prius.  Rude!  It was a nice little loop but it was horribly muddy and wet.  I, for one, was not a happy camper at the end because my socks and feet were soaked.  I was wearing my Climacools, which are not ideal for walking in mud or slush, and had I known that was a part of the outing, I definitely would have worn better footwear.  What can you do though?
When we got home from Providence we still had to walk Nala, so we headed back out to the marsh nearby.  This time I wore the appropriate shoe, so that walk was fine.  I think it was about 2.6 miles total and the weather was nice so that always helps.  This morning, I went for a run with a small group.  We went a  bit further than last Sunday and made it 4.2 miles.  Hopefully next week we'll make it 5, and the week after 6.  I still haven't signed up for the Great Stew Chase, mainly because the site isn't working.  I also want to get a jump on finding out how to train for a marathon, so I can be prepared for Disney next year.  It is still my plan to run that next January. I don't have much else to say about my running, it's basically been going the same except that the weather has been warmer, so it's been nice to be outside. I know that won't last so I'm enjoying it while I can.
The Google Music app is still giving me some trouble, but I did a force stop the other day and I'm hoping maybe that kicked it into gear.  I figure at the very least, it's easier to force stop the app when it stops working than it is to uninstall/install every 2 days.  Below is a picture of the problem I've been having with my Google Music. I'm adding it in case you're having the same problems. If so, I recommend a force stop, probably completely against anything Google would say.

This is what my home screen looks like when my phone is locked and Google music isn't working anymore.  Note that it shows that a song is playing, but it is actually not.  *Disregard H.M. please

When I go into Google music however, this is what I see.  This is the song that SHOULD be playing, but is not.  In fact, the app is not doing anything. Notice how it also shows that this song is playing.  In reality, no songs are playing, making my day just a little bit sadder. 

I'm still waiting on my zip-ups from JOPWorld and I'm getting a bit antsy now.  I know it's an international order and there have been a lot of holidays, but every time I log in and check the order it still says processing.  My card has been charged so I hope the processing just means that they're waiting on a new order to come in.
And now for something completely different....I found some spare time the other night to do something by myself and decided to paint a new picture.  The last time I painted was when we went to the Urban Art Bar and I really wanted to try the techniques I learned there.  I enjoy painting and drawing, but I've never taken an art class, so I basically just wing it and hope for the best. Usually I paint scenery but I wanted to try something new this time.  Previously I had seen a Chinese Proverb about a red thread and I really loved it.  So for my new painting, I decided to use that as the basis for the picture.  I'm fairly happy with the final outcome. Here it is, touched up a bit for brightness, because it was dark in the house and the flash kept leaving a bright spot in the middle of the picture.

Keep in mind that I am, in no way, a professional painter and I definitely can't paint words in a straight line.  Apparently it's harder than it seems!