The Tuesday Seven...?

*this blog may contain some TMI for my male readers, you have been warned*

1. **possible TMI alert** Went to a new *cough*gyno*cough* today. I was uncomfortable enough with my doc being male (I've only seen women in the past). Then 3 women follow him into the room. It's bad enough to have 1 set of eyes starring at your womanliness let alone 4... ugh I want to crawl into a hole and cry. At least I have birth control again. That's all that matters.

2. The nurse who checked me into my appointment is lucky I didn't hit her. *steps on soapbox* I'm small. I realize this. I'm 5'5ish and 110 pounds. I realize that 90% of people who see me think I have an eating disorder. Fine. But keep your f-ing comments to yourself. I have no need for you to smirk and tell me how it must be nice to be so thin. No it's not nice because of assholes like you. I'm sorry that I have a super-high metabolism and that I can say no to McDonald's. I bet you don't say shit to fat people so why is it ok to make fun of people who are skinny? Tell me. Bastards.

*steps off soapbox* Sorry, especially to anyone who thinks I'm being paranoid or overly-sensitive (like my husband).

3. I have a consult with Suz's chiropractor on Friday. Yippie. I want to say a very public "Thank you, you are awesome!" to her for finally giving me the motivation to get my back problems taken care of. Now I just need to convince Husband to cough up the money for me to actually see her and get my back adjusted.

4. I did close to 30 minutes of yoga Sunday on my Wii Fit. I felt like I was dying (God I'm out of shape). I was filthy (construction home=dirty home). And I was also molested close to a hundred times by my dogs. This is why I don't like doing yoga at home.

5. I've really been making a sincere effort to read a little every night in my vain attempt at reducing the amount of unread books I currently own. Although reading bizarres books like Brave New World right before bed probably isn't the best idea. (talk about some weird dreams) Now if only Barnes & Noble would stop sending me coupons...

6. I've been trying to clean out some of the clutter around the house. I finally took apart several half-used notebooks and put them in recycling. I kept hanging on to them thinking we'll use them but it's been over a year since I looked at them last so... I console myself by saying they aren't going to a landfill... I also emptied some 3 ring binders. It feels nice. We also gave some clothes and our old pots and pans to Family & Children's Services a few weeks ago. I think all the construction motivates me... in some bizarre way.

7. I'm annoyed with this season of Heroes and I can't put my finger on it. It's not for the same reason other people seem to be annoyed with it. It's just... I have no idea. I'm usually so worked up after watching an episode that I can't shut up analyzing it and lately that hasn't been happening...

I ran out of steam people, sorry.

When will it end?

Why?

As if we didn't already have enough to do.
Our shower stopped working after Husband repaired the broken water line.
In trying to fix it, the wall apparently crumbled.
And now I have this staring me in the face.

I need some cheering up people, stat.

Bling, Bling...

-So I bought myself a new watch today. I decided it was time for a change. This is one helluva change for yours truly. Thing is though... I fell absolutely head over heels in love with it. The flashy bits aren't really my thing but there's just something about this watch that screamed "buy me!" So I did. I love my old watch, I have loved it for over 4 years now but alas it wasn't meant to last forever. I promise not to abuse this watch as much. Speaking of which I need to find a cheap one to wear to work... hmm

-The repairs on the house... they go slowly when they go. We have discovered the bathroom floor will need to be replaced, again, because of a future 2 inch height difference once the bedroom is finished. Husband twisted his ankle falling out of our back door. He broke a water pipe under the house today. I will have no hot water for who knows how long now. Like I say... it goes.

-I've started looking for a place to take yoga lessons. Yoga studios are expensive. And no, I do not want another gym membership *shudders*. I also have plans to find either a chiropractor or an acupuncturist or both. My back, hips, and neck are killing me. I feel like my body is revolting against me. I just need to make some calls and see what, if anything, I can make my insurance cover for me.

-I did have other things to talk about but my mind just went blank. I suppose it's time to lay down and let my aspirin kick in.

p.s.
Yes I do read your blogs, Yes I suck at commenting. I'm sorry.

Case of the Mondays...

How Karen has been feeling lately...

I'm tired of being what you want me to be
Feeling so faithless lost under the surface
Don't know what you're expecting of me
Put under the pressure of walking in your shoes
(Caught in the undertone just caught in the undertone)
Every step I take is another mistake to you
(Caught in the undertone just caught in the undertone)

I've become so numb I can't feel you there
I've become so tired so much more aware
I've becoming this all I want to do
Is be more like me and be less like you

Can't you see that you're smothering me
Holding too tightly afraid to lose control
Cause everything that you thought I would be
Has fallen apart right in front of you
(Caught in the undertone just caught in the undertone)
Every step that I take is another mistake to you
(Caught in the undertone just caught in the undertone)
And every second I waste is more than I can take

I've become so numb I can't feel you there
I've become so tired so much more aware
I've becoming this all I want to do
Is be more like me and be less like you

And I know
I may end up failing too
But I know
You were just like me with someone disappointed in you

I've become so numb I can't feel you there
I've become so tired so much more aware
I've becoming this all I want to do
Is be more like me and be less like you

I've become so numb I can't feel you there
Is everything what you want me to be
I've become so numb I can't feel you there
Is everything what you want me to be
Numb - Linkin Park

It's not in response to anything specific. And yes, everything is perfectly blissful (well as blissful as can be in the midst of a disaster remodel) between Husband and I. It's just that... I suppose when one is faced with defending their entire personality and way of interacting with people it can make you feel a little moody.
I'm tired of trying to be perfect for everyone else.
I'm tired of trying to play the part for a million different people.
I just want to be me.
Imperfect and neurotic me.

Inspiration comes in all forms...

I love this girl.
She is phenomenal and a real inspiration.



I can't wait to get her movie from Netflix.
Her blog is here.

S.Y.T.Y.C.D

The long awaited event was last night. Even though we had crappy seats it was a glorious time. Enjoy some of my crappy photos and 1 very crappy shaky video I shot.


Husband and I being super excited before the concert.


All the dancers on tour (plus some stupid woman's head). There were 13 total, the top 10 plus 3 alternates.


A really fantastic group routine performed to Money, Money.
(sorry no good you tube videos exist of this performance)

Katee and Joshua doing a very lovely samba.


(actual performance on sytycd)


Mark and Courtney doing a really bizarre and amazing contemporary routine.


(actual performance from sytycd)


Chelsie and Gev doing a jive routine.


(actual performance from sytycd)



Gev and Courtney doing a cha-cha-cha routine.


(actual performance from sytycd)


The final group number to You Can't Stop the Beat.

And last but not least:



Mark and Chelsie perform a contemporary routine to Bleeding Love.
(My absolute favorite performance of the season!)


(The actual performance from sytycd... seeing as how most of my video is out of focus... lol)

We had the best time.
It was totally worth the money.

This Old House, re-revisited...

(This is a copy/paste job done from my old 360 blog, but since some people have been asking questions about the house I thought this might answer some of those, plus I just really liked this blog)

This old house, episode 1

Welcome to the first edition of This Old House, in today's episode we take a look back on the house that Karen and her husband Mr. Karen bought four years ago. Pictured above is the happy naive couple posing in front of said house after purchase. Some background info on the house. It was reposed by a bank and sat unoccupied for several years prior to their purchase. The house had been home to several homeless people and wild parties as evidenced by the internal damage to the house. As said before, they were young and naive when they made the purchase. They no longer wanted to rent but couldn't really afford much in the way of housing. They thought it would be a fun and exciting project to undertake. I mean who doesn' t love a fixer-upper?! Little did they know what was in store for them.

The house is a 1 bedroom in what has been referred to as a shotgun style house. (one room right after the other in a straight line) It sits on approximately 1/3 of an acre in the city limits of Tulsa. Let's get on with the home tour shall we?

First we have the livinroom painted in a breath taking dusty rose and forrest green with matching wallpaper. Featured in the far right corner is an enormous bookcase/fireplace that sits upon a raised section of tile in forrest green. Along the right wall the floor is no longer attached. One can bounce upon the floor because the joist haven rotted out. One window along the far right wall is completely busted out. It is of course a double pain window which is quite expensive to replace.

Here we have the far left side of the livingroom. Here we see what appears to be remnants of a sliding glass door. It now stands as a giant hole in the wall. Not featured in this picture is the forrest green tile that marks the entrance into the kitchen or the forrest green carpet that adorens much of the livingroom.

Next we move into the kitchen that is painted forrest green with light wood panneling along the bottom half of the wall. On the far left side of the kitchen we notice the frame of what used to be a sliding glass door. If you look closely however, you can see the remains of the sliding glass door shattered into a million pieces on the floor. One should also note the carpet that was glued upon the kitchen floor and hence has lots of nice ridges. We can also not forget the hole that was knocked in the wall just past the sliding glass door.

Here our lovely model Mr. Karen shows off the other half of the kitchen. Note the bright pink tile in the background. Behind Chris is the giant planter window that has to be boarded up because it was completely busted out. Not pictured is the mold and mildew behind the counters because of a leak in the sink. The floor is also completely rotted out underneath the cabinets. It felt much like a trampoline when one stands there.

Here we have the family viewing the small space otherwise known as the bedroom. Note that the window behind Karen's mother is busted out, like every other window in the house. The carpet in the bedroom is green, to match the rest of the house obviously. The bedroom features a slopped roof that Mr. Karen can barely fit under at it's lowest. Unknown to the Karens at the moment of the purchase is that the flooring in the bedroom was rotting out and actually slopped in the same manner as that of the roof.

Next we move onto the bathroom. The linolium in the bathroom was the only thing holding up the toliet which was clogged with something unmentionable. The bathtub was covered with an insane amount of mildew that would not come off no matter what product was used on it. The towel rack on the far wall was not actually screwed into the wall which a distraught Karen found out the hard way. The mirror was bespeckled with some unknown substance that was dared not questioned. The floor was by far the worst in the bathroom. One was risking your life by even going in there.

This was the backyard. The Karens actually had no idea how far their property went back until they spent several weeks clearing out the brush. One of Chris's siblings, and Karen's dad both came down with nasty poison ivy in the effort to clean this up.
And thus concludes our first tour of the house of the Karens.

Join us next time won't you?

Bedroom photo blog, part 2

Beware: This blog may take forever to load. Crap load of photos to follow. But I promised destruction so here you go... (my captioning will probably suck as Husband took most of the photos and I have don't understand all the technical stuff he found)

Floor, post carpet.

Post carpet, again.

Post carpet, duh.

Our hallway, after the tiles were removed. (Looks like crap eh?)

A close up of previous photo.

The rest of the hallway.

Apparently the jerks who owned the house before us knew the floor was falling so what did they do? Put down wooden spacers and laid a new sheet of plywood on top. Don't fix the problem, hide it!

Wooden spacers... ugh.

First cut that went all the way down.

More spacers, and Husband's tools. (Love the pitch fork!)

Picture out of bedroom into the hall.

Another spacer/tool picture. Can you see the hole in the floor? Husband didn't do that, after the first layer of plywood was removed... it was there. ugh!

Crap piping and rotten wood picture.

I think this was supposed to show how low the original floor had sunk.

Husband's junk pile, middle of day 1. (I actually took that one)

Again... I don't know.

He likes repetition.

Taken from inside bathroom doorway. Husband fell through this part of the floor.

Termite damage (?) from the section of floor Husband fell through.

The bridge he laid for me to get to the bathroom. I was terrified of dying.

Same section of flooring minus my bridge.

Rotten wood that we found once the floor was gone.

More rotten wood.

Where a joist used to be... Notice the crumpling cinder blogs underneath.

Mas rotten wood.

The half floor joist that we found intact. This was the only thing holding up our bedroom.

Up close.

Aren't Husbands knee pads awesome? lol

Random bricks and rotten wood.

Shot from the bedroom towards the hallway.

Our backdoor... and the huge drop off.

The hallway.

Husband had to cut off sections of the drywall to see if anything was actually holding the walls up. Sadly... do you see anything?

Same story in the bedroom.

The door that was to our hall closet. Husband decided we needed a new one. I won't argue.

Husband fitting a new joist into the hall.

Laying a joist in the bedroom on top of our cinder block wall.

The rebuilt joist under our backdoor.

Rebuilt joist for the hallway.

Husband trying to fit a vertical joist under a section of wall.

So there you have it. All the photos taken thus far in the great bedroom remodel of '08.
Oh... Husband and I got a great deal on some 5/8"(inch) bamboo flooring! We bought enough that we taken out our crappy/cheap laminate flooring and do the whole house in the same thing. I'm so happy, no more carpet!!!! Yippie! The tankless water heather though is another story.