Adventures in Adhesive

We're almost done removing the floor adhesive in the guest bedroom. Almost. Here's what we started with. Wet, mildewing, smelly carpet:

We pulled up the carpet and padding to find 30-year-old vinyl tile (you can't see the tile. I accidentally deleted a bunch of photos off my camera. Oooops.)

We were left with black adhesive:

Um, okay. Here's our after photo:

Not great, but not terrible. I think we're going to have to make a second pass at it before we can stain it and make it look like this:

As I type, my husband is pulling up the cat-pee carpet in the hallway. Praise Jeebus.

That's all I've got right now. I'll post more photos when we actually attempt the stain.

P.S. I'm up one pound since I started walking to try and get into shape for the naked photos. I'm so sad. I don't know what to do. Basically I changed nothing about my lifestyle other than adding exercise 3-5 times a week. Tell me how that makes one GAIN weight?

You Stink

I'm sitting at my desk, and a certain person just came over to talk to a co-worker and he is wearing so much cologne I think I'm going to gag. Not only is he wearing too much, it just flat out stinks in general. LEAVE MY SPACE. GET OUT. YOU'RE STANDING 10 FEET FROM ME AND YOU DON'T KNOW I'M TYPING THIS. I WISH I COULD SCREAM THE THINGS I'M TYPING IN ALL CAPS. Gah. I can't explain how bad it is. I know I could get up and leave, but it's MY DESK and MY SPACE. This is why cubes suck. Get me out of this place. Oh WHEW he just left. I wonder how long the stink will linger.
Props to Monica for quoting Anchorman, one of my all-time favorite movies. Formidable scent, indeed.

In other news, my wonderful husband has almost finished getting up the adhesive in the spare bedroom. (Sidenote: I really hope it wasn't asbestos tile that we found under the carpet. The house was built in 1973, a good year after asbestos was banned, but what do you want to bet some builders had some extra tile and shingles to get rid of and just continued to use it until it ran out? Oh well, I didn't breathe in TOO much during this process. Cough. Cough.) I think we might be able to start the staining process this weekend! I really hope this works because we will have saved so much cash. It was a royal pain in the ass, BUT we're not poor because of it. And there isn't any tile under the hallway carpet, so I'm hoping that continues into the other bedrooms. I don't want to deal with adhesive again. I'll post some photos soon.
Here's the color for the bedrooms (it's basically the same color carpet we had):

And the living room color will be one of the following (although the thought of dealing with a larger space makes me want to throw up a little):

Oh, I totally missed Project Runway last night so no spoilers!!!!!

Insurance - Need it, Hate it

So here's a good one for your Tuesday reading pleasure. I tried to make an appointment for my annual lady-parts exam AND so that my doctor can check out a pain I've been having in my abdomen. Seems simple enough, no? The appointment lady (AL) says, "We can't schedule you for an annual exam and a general exam at the same time." Um, excuse me? I said, "Hmmmm, that's weird." I mean, don't people normally "save up" some questions for their doctor so they can get it taken care of all at once? I can't talk to my doctor about more than one problem in one visit?

The AL goes on to say that insurance companies are starting to not cover exams in which more than one issue is covered.

What the shit is that? I have to make TWO appointments and pay TWO co-pays for something that can be covered in ONE exam. It seems like they are making more paperwork, more hassles and wasting money for everyone involved. AL went ahead and scheduled me for the general exam, since the pain is more important than the annual, and she offered to check with my insurance company to see if they would cover everything at once. Sheesh. Why is it so hard to get your parts looked at?

Update: I totally should have waited to ask her in person, but I'm so dippy when I'm at the doctor I forget my questions and fail to mention important things. I have a history of doing this. I really don't know if it's the insurance co. or the office, but I'm inclined to think the office. Why would the insurance want to pay for two visits? It doesn't make any sense. All I know is, I'm going on Tuesday for the pain (I'm hoping there is nothing wrong with my ovary), and maybe I can sweet talk her into a pelvic exam. If I have a few drinks before hand, I could be extra flirtly.

Lifer

I stole this from SFG, and I totally knew how it would turn out. I'm such a lifer right now it's not even funny. In my defense, I'm currently taking a class on finding my perfect career and so far, it has been pretty interesting. The first class basically reaffirmed that that I need to be doing something creative or working for a company that does something creative. Nothing about my current job is creative except for the rare Powerpoint presentation I create every now and then. In the end, those jobs usually get ruined because the person for which I'm creating the presentation has waited until the last minute and is in a total hurry, therefore squashing any creativity I could have used. I want to go back to school, but the prospect of going back at nights, taking one or two classes at a time, and taking 6 years to get my masters is a hideous proposition to me. I like things to be efficient. I like succintness. I'm impatient. Working part time isn't an option, either. Gah. I should have gone straight through when I was in my 20s. I never understood why people did that, and I now I TOTALLY get it.

I'm a Lifer!

To you, a job is what pays the bills. You put in your hours, follow the rules, and then go home. Occasionally, you consider quitting, but then you think of how bad the job market is and you reconsider. Whatever happiness you get, you get from your life outside the workplace. Relationships, family, hobbies, and outside creative pursuits are what really matter to you. You're probably taking this test at work because you don't have anything better to do.

Talent: 33%
Lifer: 67%
Mandarin: 28%

Take the Talent, Lifer, or Mandarin quiz.

Yippee, it's Friday!

Random thoughts for Friday:

I met with Lucky yesterday morning for the doggy photo shoot. I had so much fun, aside from the heat and my sweaty face. She is such an awesome person. So calm and nice. And she seemed to LOVE Dulce, which is the way to my heart. She sent me one of the photos last night, and it is incredible. She totally captured "it" if you know what I mean.

My good friend E became an aesthetician not too long ago, and she just got her dream job at a great spa, so congrats E! I'm so happy for you!

I have been watching Felicity (SHUT IT) on Netflix and it makes me sad. Not the fact that I'm watching it....the show itself makes me sad. I can't explain it, but I feel like I totally wasted my college experience. Watching that show makes me want to go back and do it all over again.

Very little progress is being made on the stained cement flooring in the guest bedroom. I will be an adhesive removing fool tomorrow and Sunday.

We are still boss-less at work. It's weird.

My husband took our male dog to the vet yesterday. Doc has to wear a muzzle because he gets snappy with the vet techs when they get close to his nails or his hiney. Those are no-go zones for him. No touchy-touchy. The tech kinda got shitty and seemed to imply that we never walk Doc because his nails are so long. My husband wanted to punch him in the face. We walk him about 3 times a week, but his nails are so hard, the asphalt doesn't wear them down like most dogs. So as they were leaving the vet, Doc pissed on their door. Nice.

Our sick cat is still peeing in the hallway. I have ceased to care. I'm in la-la land (you know, fingers in my ears and singing la-la-la-la-la). We are ripping up the carpet this weekend and will be staining the cement along with the bedroom floor.

I have been walking about 3-6 times a week, mostly 4 miles at a time, and I have yet to lose a pound. I am officially discouraged.

I made Kami's banana bread again, and it turned out totally different than the last time, but equally as delicious. Not sure what I did differently. It's more pound cake-y and less banana bread-y. Very pale.

My husband and I went to dinner last night, and there was a kid singing the "Move It" song from Madagascar (we loved that movie). Anyway, he actually smiled, laughed and said it was "pretty cute". Um, who are you and what did you do with my husband? Kids usually annoy the crap out of him. I have to admit it was sexy.

Hey Carrie, I need to know some good condos in Port A that take dogs...any suggestions?

That's about all I got right now.

Hot Shit and Butt Sweat

Most of you won't remember this post about how hot it was last September. That's okay because I will give you basically the same post today, but abbreviated. It's motherfucking hot outside. H-O-T. As in melt-your-eyeballs-right-out-of-their-sockets hot. I think it's supposed to be 101 today, but it will feel like 108 in the shade. That's insane-o. I know I choose to live here, so if I don't like it, I should leave. Weezie did just that, and I'm a tad jealous. I took this afternoon off of work, and I need to go run errands, but I'm stalling because I know that just walking to and from my car, I will have terrible butt sweat. Good thing there aren't any of the paps following me around. I would hate to have one of these floating around the internets:

I also have tomorrow morning off of work and I'm meeting with Lucky so she can do her magic and photograph one of our crazy dogs. I can't wait! Hope you are all staying cool. (Oh, and I chose that picture of Carmen Electra over Fergie or Jenny McCarthy because I'm MAD at her and Dave Navarro for splitting up. I thought those crazy kids had a chance. I really did.)

A Bitch Slap in the Making

I think someone needs to bitch slap Malan. If you don't know who I'm talking about, then you should. Because then we can gossip about how terribly horrible he is. And it will be fun!! His pretentious nature and haughty looks guarantee that I will yell out something like, "Fuck yeah, motherfucker!! Take that!!! You like that?? Oh yeah. SUCK ON THAT" when he gets cut. Not that I've thought about it or anything. Oh, and I love Robert. He's the Nick of the 3rd season. Le sigh. (Yes, I realize I stole that from Pink is the New Blog, shut it.)

Mandy

So here's the deal. This puppy is available for adoption from the rescue organization where we got our two dogs. And I love her. And I want her. But I know we can't have her. We have enough pets right now, and puppies are A TON of work. I'm just saying...look at that face. It makes me happy to know that someone will snatch her up right away and she will have a wonderful family.

She and her siblings were found at the same junkyard where our first dog was found. They had parvo and unfortunately, all her brothers passed away. I wouldn't be surprised if it was the same breeder who dumped our heeler and her puppies. He apparently just breeds heelers in his backyard, and dumps the ones he can't sell. I'm glad she was saved because LOOK AT HER.

I'm sorry but I do not agree with breeders of any kind....."responsible" or otherwise. There are already too many dogs in this world without homes. There is no reason to purposely breed more.

Hell Has Frozen Over

Adam Corrolla is my new hero. I normlly hate him and pretty much think he's a gross piglet, but he HUNG UP on Ann Coulter which makes him okay in my book. You can listen to an mp3 of the call here. It is truly priceless.

The Kid Has No Manners

But we didn't really raise her (she was two when we got her) so we can't be held accountable for the crazy...

(Gimme biscuits and no one gets hurt.)

Kami Don't Lie

OMG, I just made the banana bread recipe that Kami had on her blog awhile back. HOLY CRAP it is good. Really good. I didn't have any sour cream, so I substituted non-fat vanilla yogurt and I don't think it made a bit of difference. It's moist (EWWWWW, I HATE that word) and dense and delicious. Kami, you were right, I'll never go back!

So, I got up this morning and walked with my sister, then grabbed some coffee and came home. The plan was to watch Days of Our Lives. Turn on the TV and damn tennis was on. The ONE day I can watch my soaps, tennis has to be on, so I made the banana bread, mopped the kitchen and bathroom (with a mop! and a bucket! and soap! It doesn't happen very often, I'm afraid) and vacuumed the house then ate a piece of banana bread. YUM. I checked back, and lo and behold, they're playing Days late! Woo hoo! So after that, I'm going to walk the dogs, take a shower and take a nap. Can't wait. The only thing that would make it perfect is if it would rain while I was sleeping. Have a great fourth!

Slow as Dirt

I don't know if that's a real saying, but I'm sitting at my desk, and it's slow as dirt. Most everyone took a vacation day, but I decided to let my co-worker have the day off since he had to work on Saturday. It's just me and one other guy. Since we are boss-less, our HR manager came down here to "check on us". I think she was verifying that we showed up. I wish I had a deck of cards. Or a book. Or a crossword puzzle. I usually copy the one from the paper, but some jackass stole the Life and Arts section. People can be so rude. Anyone else at work?

Naked Photo Update

Just a quick update on what I've been doing to get ready for the Naked Photos. Starting from last weekend, here's what I've done:

Friday: Walked 4 miles with my sister on hike and bike trail
Saturday: Walked almost 3 miles with my sister on hike and bike trail
Sunday: Walked 4 miles with my sister on hike and bike trail
Monday: Walked 4 miles with my sister on hike and bike trail
Tuesday: Pilates
Wednesday: Visitor arrived, so I did nothing.
Thursday: Bowling with the family. Sad thing is, my arm is SO sore.
Friday: Walked 4 miles with my sister on hike and bike trail
Today: Walked 4 miles with my sister on hike and bike trail
Tomorrow: If it doesn't rain, we're going to do a 20 mile bike ride. If it rains, I'm going to the gym.

I feel like I've been moving my ass A LOT. It totally helps that my sister is always up for walking with me. I haven't gotten on the scale because I don't want to go by numbers alone, and I FEEL better and not as bloated. My ass seems a little less jiggly? We'll see. I'll probably weigh sometime next week.

I also made blueberry pancakes this morning (I'm on a blueberry kick since they are the #1 antioxidant and are supposed to be fabulous for your skin.) Here's the evidence. I have to say, they were DARN tasty.
And here's a random photo for HollowSquirrel:

This little guy was tormenting my dogs and looked quite pleased about doing so. My dogs were glued to the back door until Mr. Squirrel decided to run away: