Walls Are Up

Throughout this past week David and Alpa have been working on our drywall. Today all of the drywall will be up. Woot! We have walls again!! Sometime this week they'll start taping, etc. As expected, this isn't something that's going to be done within a weekend. Given both David and Alpa's schedules, they've been trying to get some done here and there. I'm thankful for any and all progress. As we speak they're still putting up the final pieces, but I snuck in the room to get a few shots.....

Reminiscing Through Organization

I know that Dad already posted something about this but I had my own "whoa" moment just a few days ago.

As with the past 6 or so months, we've been digging through our house cleaning out. I consider myself quite clean and organized, but there's always room for more organization. This past week I started going through my CD's, placing them in a book that's actually in one piece, and not falling apart.

First off, I can't believe how many CD's I have. I really don't have that many considering David has books upon books of CD's. But even still, it's hard to look at the quantity when now I just take something that's smaller than my palm and everything that's in the book fits in it. Weird. I take my iPod with me everyday, listening to all the songs, and don't think much about it. But when you see them side by side.....I had to take few moments to wrap my brain around it.

Another thing....the type/genre of CD's I have. I'm still a huge soundtrack fan as I was then, but some of my CD choices.....they were interesting. None of them are bad, but once again, it's just something that dates itself, the time, and even me.

Thinking about it, I just sit here and shake my head with a multitude of emotions including, but not limited to, amazement, surprise, disbelief. It's just crazy how things change and evolve. When you're a kid adults tell you, "Things change" and you think, "Yeah, yeah....." It's inevitable, you know it's going to happen, but when it actually does.....Whoa.

Changing the subject, yet staying on the subject.......
Looking at the CD's brought back memories. Good and bad. It's cool to listen to a song or see a CD and have it take you back to a different time. Not only that, but a specific moment in time. For instance this song below.

Although some of my CD's don't fit my style today, it was still refreshing to take a step back in time. And for those that I still enjoy, my iPod library just got a little bigger.

I remember driving over the Crescent City Connection bridge in New Orleans, heading to work, listening to this:

YouTube won't let me embed, but you can watch the video here.

The lyrics:
Sometimes I shave my legs and sometimes I don't
Sometimes I comb my hair and sometimes I won't
Depend on how the wind blows I might even paint my toes
It really just depends on whatever feels good in my soul

I'm not the average girl from your and I ain't built like a supermodel
But, I learned to love myself unconditionally
Because I am a queen

I'm not the average girl from your video
My worth is not determined by the price of my clothes
No matter what I'm wearing I will always be India Aria

When I look in the mirror the only one there is me
Every freckle on my face is where it's supposed to be
And I know our creator didn't make no mistakes on me
My feet, my thighs, my lips, my eyes
I'm lovin' what I see

I'm not the average girl from your video and I ain't built like a supermodel
But, I learned to love myself unconditionally
Because I am a queen

I'm not the average girl from your video
My worth is not determined by the price of my clothes
No matter what I'm wearing I will always be India Aria

Am I less of a lady If I don't wear pantyhose?
My momma says a Lady ain't what she wears but, what she knows
But, I've drawn a conclusion, it's all and illusion confusions the name of the game
A misconception, a vast deception
Something's gotta change

Don't be offended this is all my opinion ain't nothing that I'm sayin law
This is a true confession of a life learned lesson I was sent here to share wit ya'll
So get in where you fit in go on and shine
Clear your mind, nows the time
Put your salt on the shelf
Go head and love yourself
Cuz everything's gonna be all right

I'm not the average girl from your video and I ain't built like a supermodel
But, I learned to love myself unconditionally
Because I am a queen

I'm not the average girl from your video
My worth is not determined by the price of my clothes
No matter what I'm wearing I will always be India Aria

Keep your fancy drinks and your expensive minks
I don't need that to have a good time
Keep your expensive car and your Caviar
All I need is my guitar
Keep your Cristal and your pistol
I'd rather have a pretty piece of Crystal
Don't need your silicone I prefer my own
What God gave me is just fine

I'm not the average girl from your video and I ain't built like a supermodel
But, I learned to love myself unconditionally
Because I am a queen

I'm not the average girl from your video
My worth is not determined by the price of my clothes
No matter what I'm wearing I will always be India Arie

Eat

A russian tortoise eating isn't all that exciting. However, if he's been on a hunger strike it's very exciting. For some reason we've only seen Herbie eat once since we've acquired him. We knew that he may not eat that often, but he needs to eat some! In addition, he seemed in a funk yesterday. We worked on his habitat and I gave him a bath this morning in hopes of stimulating him. When I left for work I left food with him. When David got home his food was gone. David gave him more and he went to town. Whew. He had his vet tech mama quite worried. Not to mention daddy too. =( David even had went to the store to get a new lightbulb and asked the manager for assistance. They offered to trade him in. We'd get a different tortoise and Herbie would go to a special vet to be seen. As with Lily we didn't want to give up on him. At the same time we don't want a dead tortoise either. We've done our research and am trying to supply him with the best habitat we can. Only time will tell, but hopefully he continues on adjusting to his new environment.

Froggy Mornings

I think it's safe to say that we've kidnapped Elwood =/ I can't help it. I fell in love with the little bugger. Never in my wildest dreams did I ever think that I'd have a reptile and/or amphibian in our house. Not to mention, actually have them grow on me and care for them as much as I do. It's just crazy. I'm even purchasing, caring for, and feeding crickets to Elwood. It's been years since I hunted crickets as a kid. Thankfully they have all of these creative setups to avoid contact with the crickets. Even so, dealing with the crickets doesn't bother me. I just find it funny. He's so neat and has such a personality. Of course most people will call me crazy for saying/thinking that, but it's true.

As time goes on Elwood's becoming more and more comfortable and settling into a schedule. He's nocturnal so he comes out at night, I spend time with him, and then he'll still be out when we rise in the morning. About a week ago I was vacuuming in the morning and I heard a noise. I stopped and found that the noise was Elwood croaking. Cool! David had already left for work, but I told him about it. He has made the noise since, but David has never been able to hear it. I've only heard him do it while I vacuum and in the morning hours. This morning I thought I could make him croak for David so I grabbed the vacuum in hopes of motivating him. He proved me wrong and no noise was made. After David left I started to actually clean with the vacuum and there he went croaking away. I thought, "Aha! I'll catch it on camera." So I grabbed the camera, started recording, and started to vacuum. Nada sound. After 3 takes it was a no go. I'm started to feel like the guy in "One Froggy Evening." with Michigan J. Frog. He'll only perform for me. Don't know if that's a good thing or not. Maybe I should feel special.

Our Own 1812 Overture

When we purchased our house there was a buttload of carpet and paneling....not really our style. It's overwhelming to think of what you need/want to do. It helps to look back to see what you have done.

~Carpet torn up in all but 1 room - only 1 of those rooms still needs the floor re-done. It's not something I'm looking forward to undertaking due to space, dust, and cost.

~Carpet's been torn up on the stairs and repainted them.

~Kitchen cabinets have been redone.

~Living room and dining room has been painted.

~Stairs/hallway walls have been painted.

~"David's room" has been painted and our bedroom has been painted.

~Made a Willy Wonka door to access an attic from inside and "refinished" the attic.

~Outside of garage painted.

~Downstairs bedroom painted and added new light fixture.

~Siding/insulation applied.

~2 new doors installed along with 2 screen doors.

Even with all that's done, being homeowners, there's always more to do. You get to a point where your "can do" attitude and budget reaches it's limit. We took a year hiatus from us doing manual work (we had the siding done professionally). The downstairs bedroom that we call the "animal room" has been a work in progress for over a year. We had torn down the paneling and refinished the closet for a "litter box" room. But unfortunately the walls were FUBAR. (Google it). We had huge holes and cracks in the plaster. We researched patching and even skim coating. Ultimately it came down to it not able to be repaired and drywall it is. We'd love to hire a professional but the budget doesn't allow for that....not that it allows for any improvements at this time. Thankfully Alpa knows the basics of drywall.

So....we decided to drywall.....BUT the plaster and lathe has to come down first. We were trying to decided what to do yesterday. Originally we were going to drive out of town. But instead on a whim, we decided to take that down last night...you know, use the money we would've spent and put it towards our project. Real....smart....move.

First off....the dust. We knew it'd be dusty and prepared accordingly. Blocked off the door, wore hats, gloves, masks, and safety goggles. We even got it down to science climbing in and out of the window to reduce tracking in the house. But geez. I couldn't see David a couple feet from me. I couldn't help but think 9-11. Yeah, morbid I know, but it put it into perspective. Then, nails. Yeah, being smart I wore crocs. (sense the sarcasm?) Ultimately it was a good choice. They aren't ruined like David's shoes, and I was easily able to wash off my feet. But, those nails are wicked and puncture right through croc rubber. I had a few close calls and one a bit too close, but there was no blood and my tetanus shot is all up to date. (No worries Mama Jan!)

As always we've found that David and I work well as a team. We don't say much. Just a few expletives here and there when plaster came a tumblin' and decided to hit up in the head.

The demolition started out as fun. I kept thinking Extreme Home Makeover and, "Ha! I'm punching holes in a wall with a hammer. This is cool." That lasts able the first half hour. After that your forearms start to ache and you got the taste of plaster in your mouth, and can't see in front of you. Being the smart one, I took pain medication before heading into the war zone.

It was one of those things we didn't really think through....like where we'd put all the shit we'd pulled off the wall. We did some quick thinking and brainstorming. Alpa has a truck so we borrowed that and started throwing stuff out of the window into the bed of the truck. Unfortunately it's not real shovelable, meaning it all had to be tossed out by hand. Back to the drawing board again, we came up with filling buckets first, then throwing them out the window. It helped a bit. We got most everything cleaned up but the floor and called it a night.

BUT, that wasn't the end. Having been going in and out of the window we didn't know what we'd see on the other side of the door. Well, it wasn't horrible. But there was definitely a dusting in the rest of our downstairs. Excellent! So, here we are buck naked at 2am, dusting and mopping our house. Honestly, we were tired, but couldn't help but laugh. By 2:30am we were in bed.

Upon waking we looked at each other and said, "Do you feel that?" It's the weirdest feeling, but it still felt like we were covered from head to toe in dust. And my hair.....not only did I got to bed with wet hair, but also that funk. Whoa. Think Robert Pattinson. Unfortunately I can't make it look so hot.

I went downstairs to clean up the floor in the room. That was a pretty big job in itself. That's when Alpa came to replace me. The guys made their game plan for today. Unfortunately or fortunately I'm not in on the game plan. They've hit a few roadblocks but are moving right along. Additional 2X4's had to be placed along with insulation. But even before that we found additional lathe had to be removed. The plan is to get the drywall tomorrow and continue on. We're not sure when this will end and really I'm ok with that. I don't have an issue with this being an unfinished project. Remember it's looked like crap for over a year. My issue is the dust. If it's contained to that room, I'm cool with it.

So, we missed the fireworks, but needless to say we were making our own 1812 Overture explosions. Not as pretty, but that's ok. Won't be the first fireworks we've missed, or the last, I'm sure.

I'll leave you with some pictures mid-progress.

Purple

I'm not one to take the quizzes on Facebook, but I found this one intriguing. A friend took it and it was right on. I figured I'd give it a try.

What Color Suits Your Personality

You are purple! You are probably an emotional, deep person. You tend to be a mix of red and blue - passionate and a dreamer. Your life is probably a bit of a rollercoaster, but you wouldn't have it any other way. You love the drama! You love easily, laugh easily, cry easily, hate easily, and are probably a bit emotional all around. Not to say that you're "emo" or anything, you are just more emotionally inclined than most. You can be strong and determined...and more than a little hard headed. Intelligence may come easily to you, or maybe you're just very determined. Either way, you probably do well in most things (whether it be due to natural talent or hard work). You can be a total perfectionist. You love your friends sooo much. You probably have many acquaintances, but few real friends. Once you find those real friends, however, you devote yourself to them completely. You are also very courageous and loyal, and you aren't afraid to take risks. You're not always so deep and emotional, however. Sometimes, you love to just kick back and have a good time with your buddies. You, in a nutshell: Emotional, deep, loving, determined, hard working, adventurous, loyal, dramatic, passionate, dreamer. PURPLE! .

Decision

I'm pretty sure I've made it known that David and I do not want any children of our own. This is something that we decided about 2 years ago. Over that time our decision was solidified through our own day to day life experiences. It's not that we don't like children, we just feel it's not for us and that it's not our calling. These past few months we have met and spoken with several doctors in regards to our views to see what our options are. After speaking with them and doing our own personal research we have come to a final decision on the action we'll take to make our choice permanent. I'm sure our choice to make this permanent may catch some individuals off guard as we are younger in age. However, given that we have been together for 10 years and married nearly 7 of those 10 years, we are definite in our decision. We have also spoken to both sets of parents and they are more than accepting of our decision. Of course we are the ones to make the final decision, but having the support of your parents is appreciative. We're ready to take this step and will do so within the next month. We are also looking forward to the peace of mind it will give us.

Our New Weedeater

David has been wanting a Russian Tortoise for over a year now.....so to celebrate his passing the boards and an early anniversary gift we went out and added a new member to our family. His name is Herbie. David named him for herbivore....I see it more as he looks like a VW bug. Either way, he's cool. He won't get big and should live for a long while. He likes to keep busy but he's still working on coming out of his shall. Ha! Ha! I never wanted to be considered an "animal house" but I think it's safe to say we are. Ah well. They bring joy to our lives and I hope we bring joy to them.

Welcome Herbie!

Mind Games

I went to bed with the mindset it was going to rain so I didn't prepare for a morning run. It didn't rain, my mindset wouldn't change, so no run. Eh. I'm sure it will rain tomorrow morning and I'll be running in the rain. Actually I like to run in the rain. I just made that excuse so I didn't have to run today. Oh the mind games we play with ourselves.

Proud Of The Boy

David received notification today that he passed his Boilers Licensing Examination.....meaning he can apply for a boilers license. I'm very proud of him! It's a huge weight off of his shoulders and a relief to both of us. He plans on staying with the school system, but we hope this opens doors for more opportunities. Way to go Boy!