Smoke and Mirrors

An old proverb says that a journey starts with a single step, but I'll bet that person probably has never joined a gym - it's not the single step that will hold you up. There is a learning curve - not the gym - but fitting it in. Since I"m doing this before work most days it took a bit of configuring to figure out how I would do it since I'll have to take my morning shower and get dressed there.. The gym I joined has  2 private showers which was one of the big pluses, I hated shared showers in high school and hate them as an adult. Then I have to bring all my own supplies plus a towel, office clothes, blow dryer, shoes, etc... and it all needs to fit into one bag. I did a dry run on the weekend so I could time the drive, packed my bag and off I went. The whole thing looked better on paper.

Oh, and did I mention there's a sign that asks all gym members to limit their time to 15 minutes? Hmm! The first go around I went over the time limit a bit but that was partially because I forgot to bring soap which is considered an Important Part of any shower. FYI - shampoo will do in a pinch. But all in all it was not too bad and I thought I had it. But like I said - it was a practice run. This morning I got there early early and worked out for over an hour, it felt so good to really break a sweat! As I finished up I saw the shower was open so in I went. First of all just because you stop moving doesn't mean you stop sweating. And when you sweat you're clothes stick to you. Have you ever tried to take a wet, tight sports bra off? It takes on a life of its own, the more you pull the more it rolls and sticks. It was sort of like that scene in Alien when the guy is trying to pull the face hugger off before it sticks it's probe down the guy's throat - but not quite as exciting.

In the shower, that went well, thank you for asking - I had soap and everything this time but the clock is ticking. Pulling clothes on while you're still a bit wet is the reverse of yanking off a wet sports bra and of course everything rolls up like a window shade, clock is ticking. My hair, which is getting long refused to behave and looked like it had been styled by a deranged monkey but I figured I would straighten it out in the car and put my make up on there too. But all in all I looked (somewhat) decent today and as time goes on I'll figure it out. It  also might be time for that haircut I've been putting off. 

Run Around You.

So, as we all know I've been having tons of problems with my weight. I don't know if it's my age, going through menopause, my sedentary job - but at the end of the day none of that matters. I've been on multiple diets, exercise, yada yada yada - would work for awhile, then stop, then I get discouraged, stop exercising, start eating too much again, wash, rinse repeat. The end result is I now weigh more than I ever had in my entire life. How much do I weigh? I'll let you know later. 

I decided I would join a gym - I worked out for years prior to this job and always kept my weight down - and I could have the time if I wanted to.  The biggest problems I had to overcome is time and distance because nothing is close here. I did a mapquest first to see what's around and ruled out a variety for too far, too expense (Fitcross was almost $200 a month but included towels. For $200 a month there had better be someone to dry my hair!). One looked like an assembly of everyone's old basement equipment, on and on. So I narrowed down my search to 3 gyms, 2 of which were near my office, those I visited first. One was way too small, I walked through the first room....and was out of it. But it was cheap and no contract.The second was Glittery and Swanky - it was in a huge black glass building and it was huge! Pilates, Zumba, juice bar, gym staff. The price was reasonable and it was right around the corner. But no, it was way too big.

The 3rd one....was just right. I like the idea of classes but don't have that kind of time, but this gym does offer some if I want it. The equipment is just the way I like it, half machines and half free weights, clean. You get a fob so you can go anytime you want so I can go before work. I took a week to think about it and then joined the 3rd one. I was not crazy about having to commit for a year, but the trade off is this gym is a chain and after the first month you can go to any facility which really works for me as there is one here in Waynesburg and one up by my office. I've gone about 4 times and feel better already. Hopefully this will be the answer I've been looking for.

Walk

Today was the perfect day to go walking, sunshiny, cool but not cold, little breezy. We went to the game lands we haven't been to yet, parked first on the stream side. Because it's been raining so much where you can step over the stream was too wide for me. David jumped over but I saw all that slippy mud and was nope, not today. I am a klutz on the best of days, this was not a good activity for me. So, we headed to the other side of the game lands that has no stream. Nope on this one too - acres of dried cornstalks which doe NOT make a relaxing anything with Reuben. Reuben runs around like he's on a game show and David hollers at him like he is not. 

Back in the van and down the road. There's a little park I pass all the time with a hiking trail so out we got - score! Beautiful little pond and wide grassy path. It went much farther than I thought it would, uphill we went. Reuben still ran like a crazy thing but we could see him (most of the time)  and they were just having the best time. The trail continued uphill, we havent' been walking in a very long time so I'm sure I'll feel it tomorrow, but it was such a lovely day.

And then Molly found a poo. And not just a run of the mill rabbit or deer - David said it was most likely a bear poo. It was huge and nasty - Molly manged to cover her entire back, all her collars, down her sides. At that point there was nothing we could do so we made it to the top with Crazy Reuben and Stink-O-La, what a view! You could see for miles, more than worth the walk. The ride home was interesting to say the least. Molly refused to stay in the back of the van so we rode home with the windows rolled down. The smell! was a combination of low tide, a poorly run pig farm with light notes of month old road kill wafting gently, I was surprised there was not a little black cloud hovering over her

Fortunately she's washable this was not the first time she's done this and it most likely is not the last. I guess you just have to take the good with the bad!

Closed.

So, we closed on the flip house on Monday - it went well and smooth, no 11th hour surprises. They did the walk through at 8am - of course the skies opened up that day but other than that, nothing. I had the day off so no stress there and when we were done it was a weight off my shoulders and David's

We deposited the check at a local bank and as we  headed home, David said to me 

"Well, I guess I can tell you now."

Let me tell you -we've been married for about 35 years and every time he says that I want to stick a fork in his eyeball and twirl it - you have no idea. So I rose to the bait - tell me what? - and he did. Apparently the guy next door, the one with the batshit crazy mother in law that had his shed on our property along with having his telephone pole placed in the center of our backyard  

https://julia-yarnsandtalltails.blogspot.com/2018/04/good-fences-make-good-neighbors-unless.html 

 had taken David to court to sue him for $11,000!  ARRGH. He came out with a lawyer but nothing else. He was suing for replacing the rotting shed with a one car garage, wanted us to pay for his electric hookup and loss of rental income stating that David was driving away potential renters.

David pointed out the lack of electricity was more the cause of no renters to the broken down trailer than him, he had pictures of the shed, a witness, emails from West Penn etc.... The lawyer kept objecting when he spoke so when it was the lawyer's turn David starting objecting to everything he said - the lawyer rather crossly told David since he wasn't a lawyer he couldn't object - so David told the judge he objected to that. Sigh. David doesn't think he'll get anything but stranger things have happened - if it does come to that we can contest it. However, on we go - David is 2/3 of the way to finishing the upstairs, we have the new siding ordered, etc..  onward, ever onward. 

Under Construction

After a year - or so - of living here David has restarted our house. We moved here rather unexpectedly, not that we hadn't meant to buy it, but we certainly had not planned on moving into it so fast. And looking back, we hadn't intended to buy it in the first place. When we buy flips we rarely pay more than 25,000 and before you get all excited about cheap houses, we ALWAYS get exactly what we paid for - holes in the wall, sagging ceiling, free cat pee. When we were shown this place it was well above our usual budget, but there was something about it so we forged ahead. The game plan had been David would fix it up and then we'd decide what to do with it, it pushed our budget right to the edge and then.......

Our neighbor at our previous house sold his home for a really high price. Hmm. So we planted our For Sale sign with the idea it might sell in four, five, months and it sold in less than one.  I frantically packed while working full time, David was over here double-timing it as he'd started the gutting process since he thought he'd have a lot more time. He got a couple of rooms livable - when people asked about my new house I'd just respond "well, I have a toilet and internet" - and that was true. We had no kitchen, the bathroom looked like something out of a 70's horror movie complete with old fixtures and peeling wallpaper. Squirrels danced in the attic, the wind blew in through the ceiling. David finished most of the first floor and closed in the falling apart covered porches, and stopped. 

Because we do not live on air - we bought the house in Mapletown and work commenced on that. It ended up being a lot more labor intensive than he'd originally planned and he lived up to the nickname I've given him - Mr. Pickypants. David's houses sell quickly because of this trait, he nitpicks and micromanages, I've seen him rip out whole sections because it didn't look right to him. The downside is it takes him longer to finish houses, the upside is they tend to fly off the market, so it works out. But he's done and the closing is tomorrow, his attention is back on our house. He's flying through the upstairs but oh, the mess! Dust everywhere - plasterdust, sawdust, dust dust dust. Construction waste, piles of old shingles and 2 x 4's litter my backyard. 

Everything is boxed and piled, it's so much harder than when you aren't living in it. 

But it's starting to come together and yesterday, standing upstairs I could see what it will look like. I don't think we'll move upstairs, we discussed it and right now the idea of hauling all the furniture and our stuff upstairs is overwhelming. We're probably not going to stay here, but who knows? At some point we'll have to stop moving, it does get tiresome never unpacking completely, looking at every new piece of furniture for pack ability instead of function, not feeling settled. Someday, we'll put roots down, someday. But not yet.

Faith Is Best When Given Away

I had to work today, but on the way home I took the backroads - the leaves are lovely and you never know what you might see. As I neared home and at a stop, across the road was a truck with it's emergency lights. The young man on his phone was upset, talking into a cell phone and obviously lost. He had a crew cap, tattoos all over, I was by myself.  But I've been in that situation myself so I rolled my window down and asked if he needed help. He came over to my car, he'd just moved here and didn't realize his gas gauge was broken - two kids in the car, out of gas, emergency service on speaker phone asking him again and again where are you?

I used my GPS to locate the address, was that ridge or run? Castle?, no Castile I spelled for her. She found it and then announced it would be a $100 service plus surcharge, and then the gas..... due when they came - we both looked at each other in astonishment, especially since they weren't coming from that far. I told him to hang up the phone and then I called home - David said he'd be waiting with a gas can. Half an hour later David was pouring enough gas in his tank to get him safely to a gas station or home, I could see him smiling and shaking his head no. The guy came over to my car and tried to hand me money - I told him no too - then I said what I've said before - the next time you see someone who needs help, remember how nice we were to you and help them out, that's all we need today. 

We've all had that unexpected kindness -  the 3 people at the store letting us ahead because they remember how hard it is to shop with kids, someone hands you the dollar you're short at Starbucks - I've had that happen and I remember not only being grateful, but reminded that we all need to help each other out. There are times when your faith is restored in humanity but like today, sometimes YOU have to be the one restoring someone else's faith. Rather hilariously while David was filling the tank this guy's new pastor drove by and rolled down his window to see if he needed help - 

LOL! No thank you man of God, the atheists have it covered!

I hope if that young man ever sees someone in trouble he'll think of us and do for someone else what we did for him today - I knew by the look of relief on his face and smile as he thanked us he'll remember, just like I've never forgotten that kind woman who sent her son down to fix my tire when I broke down on a very rural road with no cell service. So in the immortal words of Ghandi:  

Be the change that you wish to see in the world

Assembly Required

We bought Ikea furniture for the bedroom last year and there was one nightstand that we didn't put together. It's been sitting in the back of the closet and honestly, it annoys me. So today I figured I'd do it. Step One was battling the cat who likes to sleep on an old pillow in the closet. I took Bob out and put her on the bed so I could get to it, every time I turned around she was back. I finally piled the pieces on her pillow and dragged the pillow out. Next was finding the directions.......which were No Where. Of course. Thank goodness for You Tube! 

Just an FYI- you ever buy Ikea every single product they make has a YouTube Video (actually, that's pretty much true of everything these days, isn't it? If you want to know how to Dismember An Ex I sure there's a video of it, but I digress). I started off with The Ikea Hunk and then ended up with a Plain Jane version which was the manual pages, then they would do a Twirling Of The Bits, then demonstrate. So I separated the bits, then had to find the tools which was the hardest part. Since the house is underconstruction they are EVERYWHERE

Some less accessible than others - for the hammer and the drill there was some precarious stepping across joists and then back again. Then down to the basement to rummage about the floor for pliers. SO I had everything together and started. Ikea is one of those things, once you get the hang of it it's not as hard as it looks, it's just getting the hang of it. I love Youtube because you can stop, go back, etc....

I have  an embarrassingly huge tablet - it's a Samsung with a 19 inch screen (my favorite toy of all time I might add!) so I had that set up on the bed so I could see it.

Molly refused to get off the bed invoking the She Was There First Rule, I told her to get off but she squeezed herself in between the parts and hunkered down. So  I spent part of the time feeling around under her for the parts, not helping!

I was pretty proud of myself, it started to look like a real piece of furniture! I did have a couple of stops, I put the feet on the wrong end and then had to take them out. One of the things with Ikea is they are not meant to come apart so I had to carefully pry it out without breaking anything. But the video I had on was really clear which I loved. 

Drawers were next and by the time I hit this part I was an Old Pro

And then - Ta Da! Finished product. It was not as hard as I thought it was going to be and I glad it's done, despite the antics of Molly and Bob.