Enter the Hymen Store

My Kitchen Smells Like Vomit.... and other tales of living through a remodel

It's true: walk by my kitchen and there is the unmistakable aroma of human bile. Makes me sick. Wanna know why it smells like that? The dudes putting in my new windows accidentally knocked out some of the tiles on the sink backsplash, exposing mortar that smells like ~ you guessed it ~ puke! I never knew! Good thing I didn't have that same tile in my bedroom or I'd really be annoyed ~ got the new bedroom window installed the day before the kitchen one.

I'm also getting a new roof. The roofers were awesome enough to accidentally break one of my ceiling-high windows in the living room..... shattering glass all over my couch. The ceiling in my living room is about a story and a half high and the ceiling in the dining room is regular height, so there are windows lining the wall between the dining room ceiling and the living room ceiling. Five of 'em to be exact. Anyway, I got the couch cleaned of all the shards of glass and the construction foreman came in and vacuumed everywhere. Fast forward to the next day: BAM! The breaking of another window..... Repeat scene from the day before. This was a worse break, though, so I had to throw away my velvet pillows as they had now become velvet-glass pillows.

There's a fine layer of dust everywhere, which is manageable. Plastic is covering most of my windows ~ either covering from the outside or the inside ~ depends on when said window will be replaced.

I no longer have curtains in my bedroom because the sill size has been increased and the blinds that had been there do not fit anymore. What makes this situation all the more awesome is that I have scaffolding right outside my window. Mon-Sat I wake up to Julio and Roberto walking around outside my bedroom window. At least they won't be back until Thursday so I am going to install a makeshift curtain and not worry about these hired peeping Toms. The question is: should I wait until Wednesday so as not to have to compete with the last minute holiday shoppers? Or fend for myself and just get it done today? I'm sure the answer is that I'll do it today..... we'll see.

My spoiled cats used to have their own bedroom as I didn't really use the spare bedroom for much. Now, however, there are holes in the wall and missing panels where a curious kitty could easily dive into and explore. Oooh, so many exposed cables and wires to check out! So, that door remains closed and the cats and I are forced to co-exist in a 1 bedroom place. I know ~ life is tough! Actually, it's not bad. I'd rather them be safe than continue to use a vacant huge room for a couple of cat boxes. This was an easy adjustment.

In all honesty, living through a remodel isn't optimal, but my place is going to be AMAZING when it's finished, so this is proving to be yet another practice of patience. I'm up for it. Deep breath.... (Ouch! Dust in the lungs!) ;)

Did May come early?

I wrote the "Blue skies" post early this morning at 2 am when I couldn't sleep. An hour or so later I feel asleep reciting, "April showers bring May flowers." Interestingly enough, I got an email from my sister today saying that Gertrude bought me flowers and my sister delivered them to my apartment and put them in water for me. Gertrude, sweet Gertrude, bought ME flowers ~ completely out of the blue. That, in and of itself, was so kind and thoughtful that I was moved. The part that was even more amazing: she bought me Gerber(a) Daisies, which are my FAVORITE flowers! She and I have never talked about flowers but this somewhat random 82 year old woman hobbled to the store, decided to buy me flowers and ended up choosing the exact ones that I would have bought myself.

I've only met Gertrude once ~ a month ago. A few days ago she called my mom and told her that she had been thinking a lot about me since we met and wanted to say that there's something special about me that has been drawing her toward me ~ almost magnetically. I'm not trying to sound all hokey, but she did say some pretty deep things to my mom about me, which made us both look quizically at one another. Truly, she and I didn't even talk very much, rather we just sat by one another and enjoyed each other's presence.

The world is an interesting place and I've found that it pays attention when you pause and..... what's the word I'm looking for here? Focus? Connect? Appreciate? Relax? I'm not sure exactly, but I have noticed that presidential style parking spaces and taxi cabs magically appear whenever I've been in need lately......

Blue skies, nothin but blue skies

Today turned out to be an amazing day. I learned that ugly, gray clouds pass by as quickly as they arrived, returning the beautiful, clear, blue sky and the sun shining down on me. And you know what else? That gray cloud passed by on its own ~ without any help from me. So why should a gray cloud ever get me down? It's out of my control and will quickly be gone. I feel the sunshine already!

I also learned that sometimes the annoying piece of sand rubbing against me, pissing me off and filling me with frustration can actually be thanked, because that annoyance will become a pearl that I'll have forever.

The saying goes: April showers bring May flowers. You have to weather the storm to make it through to the other side, and only then are you able to look back and see how far you've come and what horrors you've survived, but guess what? You survived and you're that much more strong, which is the beauty of storms. You've experienced more life and are richer with knowledge. Today I was also reminded that patience is a virtue ~ good things come to those who wait.

Life is beautiful and I'm thankful for today.

Blowin the dust off the ol' blogger page

Five months without writing ~ huh. Don't you hate it when people begin their entries with: It's been a really long time since I last wrote. Or: Sorry I haven't written in so long. Yeah, I hate that, too, so I am not saying that stuff. So I haven't written, no biggie.

I am, however, trying to write more. I've been journaling, but this site doesn't seem the most appropriate for seriously private things...... yet here I am. Nothing really to say..... and saying it anyway.

Thinking about today, it ended up being quite pleasant. That word makes me smile because it reminds me of my former textual relationship with a friend who would write that word as play zen t. Always made me smile. Anyway, it was a pleasant day because I spent time with my mom. We got lost in a bookstore and then she took me to Nordstrom to pick out a pair of dangly earrings for Christmas ~ what a great mom! Oh, and we had a late lunch of crab cakes first. Yup, it's been a good day.

And what to write next..... I had oral surgery a week and a half ago. Hurt like a mother! And it STILL hurts! Then I had to go back in last week so they could finish the damn thing. Honestly, I think I have a high threshhold for pain, but oral pain is a completely different situation. When I was 21 I broke my foot and walked around (rather, limped around) for 4 days before taking the advice of my roommates and getting it x-rayed. Sure enough: broken. This toothache? Worse. Gimme a broken foot any day! OK, not really. I'll settle for no pain if given the option, but this really sucks. I've taken more Aleve, Excedrin, Advil, on and on and on than ever in my life. Can't wait for it to fully heal.

Alright, I know this has been exciting. My mind has been in such a constant and exhausting whirl lately that I'm trying to learn how to quiet it a bit more. Writing helps. Many people have told me I need to meditate.... not sure how, so I got a CD at the bookstore w/my mom today. Think what you want ~ I'm giving it a shot because the peaceful person I was last year is hidden somewhere inside and this should help reconnect with her.

Loves!