Animator vs. Animation

As a designer, I have a great ppareciation for the amount of time this probably took to create. And its pretty darn creative.

New Line!

We were sooooo busy tonight at AE. So, busy that we made paper airplanes and paper hats. It was an exciting evening. Here is Calvin modeling the AE Paper Hat line by Amy Shell:

Help! Let me out!

Ok, some of you may think that I am evil for laughing at this. But if all parties involved laughed, its ok to laugh with them, right? So, the following conversation occurred between a friend and I recently through IM's. But before you read it... here are a couple of definitions for those 'challenged" people who don't know online abbreviations or terms:

LMAO = laughing my ass off
OMG = Oh my God!
piss giggles = Hang on, I have to run to the bathroom before I pee in my pants!

Friend: my boss telling me about his trip to mobile to bury his wife’s father

Friend: about her mom
Friend: who has Alzheimer’s
Friend: she pooped her pants
Friend: and it got on her pants
Friend: no spare pants
Amy: OMG!
Friend: so there in the rest area
Friend: and her mother is trying to walk out of the restroom with no pants on
Friend: his wife had to hold her mother in the stall
Friend: and a smell to high heavens he said
Amy: oh my
Friend: he went on an adventure to find sweat pants for her all over town
Amy: lol
Friend: he said then when he turned on the heater in the car you could smell it
Amy: ooooh no!
Friend: so if he turned on the heater which it was freezing yesterday you smell poo!
Friend: too funny
Friend: i was laughing
Friend: he said yeah it is funny and we laughed about it all the way home in the car
Friend: cause his wife was telling everything her mother said and did while he was gone to get the pants
Friend: she was yelling HELP HELP HELP
Friend: let me out
Friend: im ready to go
Friend: HELP HELP
Friend: GET ME OUT
Friend: HELP
Amy: lol
Amy: OMG, i just snorted I laughed so hard
Friend: piss giggles
Friend: can you imagine some 80-90 year old in the rest area with poop pants yelling
Friend: HELP let me out
Friend: lmao
Friend: too funny

I can't help it! It's hysterical and I had to share!

Free Day!

I actually didn't have to work today at Amercian Eagle so I had the whole day to work on my bathroom! Dad came over this morning and helped me get the toilet re-installed. It was a little tricky because part of the flange broke off when we were getting the toilet out. Once we got it back in there, I decided to go buy a new seat and lid with brushed nickel hinges and a brush nickel flusher handle to match the faucet on the new sink. With those put on it, it looks like a whole brand new toilet.

I also got a toilet paper holder stand (since the old holder is now behind the beadboard) and a glass shelf to go in the shower that I can put shampoo, conditioner, etc. on. I got it installed just a few minutes ago and I have to say I am pretty happy with the way it looks. I drug the new sink upstairs and just set it in there so that I can get a better idea of what the finished product is going to look like. So here are a few pics:

Kick Butt Workout!

So, I finally bought myself one of those exercise balls today. I also got a video to go with it. I figured the stretching might make my back feel better. WRONG! That video is only 10 minutes long and it KICKED MY ASS! I am sore in so many places. But I guess that is a good sign that it will actually work! So, to anybody looking for a good ab workout, I recommend you get yourself an exercise ball. But be prepared, it takes some good balance... I almost busted my tail a couple of times. I'm sure it will get a little easier with some practice.

Still Sore

I'm pretty sore this morning so I'm not going in to work. I just figured I'd give my back a rest since I have to work all weekend at AE and I didn't think sitting upright at the computer all day would help it any. So, I'll be home resting if anyone needs me!

Uggghhhh!

Yes, I had a fender bender on the way to work tonight. Tore up my car and I've got some pretty nasty whiplash. The car is still driveable it just looks banged up. Since my Camaro has such a pointed nose it just wedged right under the other car. Yes, I rear-ended him. And guess what... he just happened to be an auto insurance agent. Oh, the irony! So we stood on the side of the interstate for about 30 minutes freezing our tails off waiting for a cop to come do the police report. It was just a lovely evening. But just for the record... no, I was not on the phone and no I was not speeding. Traffic just came to a very sudden stop and I couldn't swerve off because there were guard rails beside me.

So me and my sore back are getting in bed and I just hope I feel better tomorrow!

Karma Strikes Again!

I got called in to work tonight. I wasn't there 5 minutes before a co-worker farted on me. No kidding. She didn't realize I was in the stock room with her and just totally farted. She was completely embarrassed. A few minutes later, someone else is standing next to her and I say to them, "You'd better not stand too close to ______, bad things are happening." And at that exact moment, a box fell on my head. What else could it be but KARMA! Later, a customer hit his head on a sign and I laughed at him. And then I lost one of my favorite earrings and never found it. So, I am going to bed. G'night everyone!

Boy, it smells good in here!

I bought myself some perfume a couple weeks ago. It was a little box set that came with a big bottle, a small travel bottle and a bottle of lotion. I put the small bottle in my purse but haven't used it yet until today. Sitting at my desk, I remembered I didn't put any on this morning and thought... "Oh yeah, I have that little bottle in my purse." It's that new Be Delicious by DKNY and the bottles look like little green apples. The lid was on pretty good and when I yanked it off, I discovered that the little bottle is not in fact a spray bottle... as it poured on my desk. Great... Well, I smell good and so does my desk.

But here is something that doesn't smell good and made me smile today:

Skanky Thieves

Friday night, I was asked to work at AE even though I wasn’t scheduled. We were putting up the new floor set so I agreed to come in. (Secretly, I was wanting to try on the new dresses that came in our spring collection – sooo cute!) But I am so glad I came in. We had some suspicious looking people in the store, huddling in the corner near the women’s undergarments. The manager went to the back and called security. Four guards promptly showed up and planted themselves around the store. The intimidation factor must have worked because they six people quickly left. After they were gone, we walked around the store picking up garments that had the sensors removed. I have no idea how they get them off but they were ready to head out the door with them. We thought we had successfully thwarted their plans.

A little while later, I was out on the floor refolding some clothes, when one of my co-workers, T, comes up laughing and says “Come here, girl, I got something to show you.” She leads me over to the dressing room and says, “Tonight is the night!” As she starts to open one of the doors, I am expecting to see a massive pile of clothes that we have to return to the proper places on the floor. Not at all… this is what I saw:

Yes, it’s a pair of hot pink thongs! No, we don’t have any of those in the store right now. Apparently, someone tried some on, decided to keep them and was kind enough to leave their dirty pair behind. And I mean D-I-R-T-Y! The picture does not do it justice because there was a skid mark. I mean… seriously? First, if you have that sort of problem, don’t wear a thong. Second, if you have to steal some clean panties, be kind enough to take the dirty pair with you as well.

My manager came in with a big pair of rubber gloves up to her elbows and scooped them up with a swiffer pad. T got a good picture of her picking it up. Wish I had it to post. So, to say the least… Friday night was an interesting night at American Eagle!

More Progress

Tiling inside the shower is finished, including some new decorative edges that I picked out yesterday. I got it cleaned up in there and all the molding is cut and ready to be installed. I even got the mirror hung! I also took the sink out of the box and it looks so good. I can't wait to get it in there! More to come, but here are a few pics of the progress.




I know the lighting is bad, but I'll take better ones soon.

Random & Useless Trivia for the Day

A large sweet tea from McDonald’s looks like a lot more when poured in the floor board of a Camaro.

Pigeon feathers can unknowingly make their way into your living room and onto your furniture.

Splinters and saw dust are hard to remove from socks and even harder to remove from the insides of your shoes.

Space heaters will blow circuits in old houses, especially when it is raining and your breaker box is outside.

Do not playful hit someone on the backside with a piece of tile while they are tiling your shower (especially while they are holding a pocket knife) because they may panic and think the tiles they just installed are falling off the wall.

Note to Self:

Always check the direction of the showerhead before turning it on. Hosing a freshly painted ceiling is probably not the greatest of ideas. Also, be sure to make sure the shower curtain that you just hung back up... that you put the liner INSIDE the tub. Otherwise, why did you really hang it?

Woo hoo!

Tiles are going up pretty quickly on the wall inside the shower. I am getting so excited! It's all really starting to come together and I can really see what it is going to look like in the end.

Blue Da-ba-dee!

The walls and ceiling are now blue. I love it. It's a little dark in there right now, but nothing a new light won't fix... right, Brian??

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Accomplishments

So, renovating really is a learning process. Despite the setbacks, miscalculations and other things, we did manage to get a lot accomplished this weekend.

When I thought my arms were going to fall off and I couldn’t hammer any longer, my dad and brother came over to rescue me. We managed to demolish and remove all of the concrete in the walls down to the studs inside the shower. I was able to get concrete backer board (yes, in my Camaro) to put up. Luckily for me, the backer boards are waterproof so I can shower in there once again. I picked out the paint color and I have put a test spot up on the wall and think I am going to love it. It is starting to look more like a bathroom and less like a cave, so that has got to be a good thing! Here are a few pictures of the progress of the weekend:

My brother, Jonathan looking, oh-so-happy to be helping!

The test spot of paint (the blue, not the poopy brown)

The new tiles on the floor (no more pink!)

The shower with the backer boards up... soon to be covered with the same tiles as the floor.

On the agenda tonight is to paint the walls above the beadboard and the ceiling in the blue. I alos would like to put a final coat of white paint on the beadboard, but we'lll see just how much my arms can handle. Then, tomorrow night I plan to start tiling inside the shower. I've never tiled a wall before so this should be interesting. I'll be sure to keep posting pictures. I am getting so much response to the "30 Things I Learned" that I may post a blog of all the comments I have gotten.

It's great to know so many people read this stuff and actually enjoy it! Thanks everyone!

30 Things I Learned This Weekend

1. Concrete is heavy, even if broken into small pieces.
2. Just because you have a masonry bit for your drill that says “for concrete” does not mean it will drill through it easily or even at all.
3. When using tools in a two story house, what you need will always be downstairs when you are upstairs and vice versa.
4. Flying busted concrete is unpredictable and painful, especially when it is unexpected. I highly recommend eye protection.
5. There is a maximum number of times one can swing a sledgehammer in one day.
6. Montgomery City Waste Management cans have a maximum weight. Wheels and the can will bend if this weight is exceeded, possibly turning over and spilling heavy concrete in your front yard.
7. Concrete is not flexible and this is not negotiable.
8. Large chunks of concrete in your front yard serve as not only lawn decoration, but a new perch for pigeons and other birds.
9. It will rain as soon as you put wood in the back of a pick-up to bring it home.
10. Sheets of concrete backer board will fit in a convertible if you just put the top down. (Note: they will also scratch the paint if you slide them across the car as you put them in/out)
11. You should always be friendly to your neighbors. You never know when you might need them to help you carry something heavy from your car into the house (See 10)
12. When cutting pieces of wood, you should mark which piece you intend to use and make sure you have the right one before you pound nails into it and carry it upstairs to put in place.
13. People who say, “measure twice, cut once” know what they are talking about.
14. When you call someone and ask them to bring you a tool, you will most likely find another way to accomplish your mission before that person arrives with said tool.
15. What you planned to accomplish today almost never translates into what you did accomplish today.
16. Don’t laugh at someone when they hammer their own finger. Remember karma. If you laugh, it will happen to you moments later.
17. Sometimes spare parts can be found in a wall. Don’t panic if you unexpectedly remove a piece of pipe, as it may not have been connected to anything in the first place.
18. If you are sitting in a tub pounding on the wall and you feel something wet on your head, don’t accuse the person behind you of spitting on you. Consider first that they showerhead may be dripping.
19. When using a sledgehammer on one side of a wall, don’t be oblivious the fact that you are affecting the next room. You should check the status of the other side of the wall at random intervals. The wall may crack and chunks of plaster may fall out in the next room.
20. If you are a good climber, you do not necessarily need a ladder to get into an attic.
21. Make sure an ice pack, tourniquet, large bandages, and a crow bar are at least close by as they may be necessary at some point in the process.
22. Color is subjective to its environment. Just because golden brown looked good in the downstairs bathroom, doesn’t mean it won’t look like poop smeared on the wall in the upstairs bathroom.
23. Demolition dust can travel much farther than you think it can.
24. A loyal dog will follow you up and down the stairs as many times as you go, even if you tell her you will be back in one minute.
25. You can’t convince a barking dog that the knocking she just heard was your hammer, and not someone at the door.
26. A dad who's back hurts too bad to push out the garbage can at home can still use a sledgehammer on his daughter's bathroom wall.
27. Do not say "I told you so" to someone with a sledgehammer in their hand.
28. Do not say "Measure twice, cut once" to someone still holding a power tool.
29. Allowing someone to break for dinner, usually translates into letting them quit for the night.
30. The most necessary tool to survive a renovation project is a good sense of humor.

ouch...

My whole body hurts... but its off to the races again. Hopefully soon the labor intensive parts will be over and I won't hurt so much. Making progress... slower than I had hoped, but certainly progress. Will post more when I have time for a longer break.

oh my...

What a mess... This was earlier tonight and we got almost all the tile off. We duct taped some plastic sheeting up there so I can take a shower. Sigh... I am so ready for this to be finished.

Good news, bad news...

The good news (well, GREAT actually) is that my little (well, younger actually) brother got offered a state job yesterday! Not only is it an increase in pay and better benefits, but he also gets a state car (well, van actually). He announced this to me last night while we were eating dinner together at Panera Bread.

The bad news is... I am still a moron. For those of you who aren't familiar with Panera... they have trays and real silverware that you empty and return to a designated area. I walk up beside my brother dump my trash and set down my tray. He looks over at me with his mouth hanging open and a "What did you do?" look on his face. I look down to see that I just dumped my trash in the designated bin for the silverware... not for the trash. We both begin laughing so hard that I have to walk away from him to attempt to regain my composure. I laughed so hard I cried... and even snorted... earning a disgusted look from another Panera patron.

Yep... that's me.

I want a guy...

Just a little something sweet I picked up somewhere...

Can you really call this progress?

This is a picture that was taken of my icky pink bathroom before the rennovation process began. The walls werepink... the floor was pink... Can you say "YUCK!"?

This is the current condition of the bathroom...

I got the beadboard on the walls last night, but they were pretty warped. So it required wedging 2x4s in there to hold them flat to the wall while the liquid nails dried. My bathroom looks like a jungle gym!! But the tiles are looking great and I am really happy with the color I chose.

I also went to home depot last night just to pick a some 2x4s and a few other small supplies. I ended up leaving with a new bathroom sink. I had a pedestal sink picked out that was going to be rather expensive. Last night, they had some new shaker style cabinet sinks in stock and more importantly... ON SALE. I love it! In a moment, I had a guy with a forklift getting it down for me and I was headed out the door with it. This is what it looks like:
I'm getting really excited. I think I have at least reached the halfway point on this project. Let's just keep our fingers crossed that I will be able to get a lot done this weekend since it is a 3-day weekend. I'm so glad it is Friday and I can work on it late tonight and not have to get up early in the morning.

Gambling vs. Relationships

In many ways, the dating game is much like gambling. You scout it out and pick the table where you think you stand the best chance. You sit down knowing that the odds are that the house will win, but the excitement of the chance to win big draws you in. You know what you stand to lose, but the butterflies of hope that this could be “that time” make you play the game.

You are dealt your hand and can change a card or two, but ultimately must work with what you are given. If you think it’s a bad deal, you can fold and walk away, losing only what it cost to get in the game. But if you choose to fold, you’ll never know what you might have won and you don’t get to see the opponent’s cards. So, most often we choose to bet, either bluffing or honestly believing that you can win this hand. You can only win big if you bet big. I am an “all-in and lay your cards on the table” kind of girl. The stakes are high... risking your feelings, your pride, and sometimes even your heart. But the winnings could be so much more... companionship, trust, loyalty and best of all, love.

Sometimes you bet big and lose it all. You can then choose to gather what you have left, move on to the next table and hope for another chance... or you can choose to pack up, go home and give up. So you must choose for yourself whether you can handle losing over and over in the search for the time that you will win big. With practice, you can learn better ways to play your cards and also learn when to just walk away. How many times can you lose to the same opponent before you give up on playing with them? I’m still deciding myself. I’ve shown all my cards and for now, it wasn’t enough. But I know that I am happy knowing that I played the game, even if I lost in the end. Playing fair is all you can really ask for and I got that.

After the last big game I played, I chose to pack it up and go home. I felt like I had lost so much that I would never be able to play the game again. This round proved me wrong. I was afraid that I would never feel that “spark” again... but now I know I can. And one day, that spark will be mutual and I will win. Someday... someday.

The Importance of Spelling

The importance of correct spelling has been an ongoing joke amongst some of my fellow bloggers... but this article sums up just how important it can be. A simple misspelling can really "land" you in a terribly embarrassing predicament.

So much to do!

I am at work but I can't seem to focus. I keep running through my mental "to do" list for projects at home. I've got to go pick out the grout color and buy it so I can complete the floors. Then, I am ready to install the beadboard on the walls. And those of you who really know me, know how big of a clutz I am. I am scared of power saws... for me, thats just asking to lose a finger! I want to get the walls and floor all done during the week so I can begin demolition of the tiles inside the shower. Monday is one of those state holidays in Alabama and I will be staying home to celebrate Martin Luther King, Jr. and Robert E. Lee's brithdays... and of course, to work on my bathroom. Since I only have one shower in the house, I needed to wait until I have a couple days off work to devote to finish it. So, don't be too surprised if I show up at someone else's house with a bar of soap and a towel this weekend.

Also this weekend, I am going to see James and the Giant Peach at the Alabama Shakespeare Festival. I read the book when I was in the 3rd grade and remember loving it! I'm really looking forward to seing how they pull it off and I know the company will be good. It'll be a nice break from the rennovation projects. I know its only Monday... but I am already looking forward to the weekend!

Do I HAVE to go back to work tomorrow?

It's Sunday. It's raining and thundering... and I love it! I am taking a break for a moment from working on my bathroom. I took a break all day yesterday, since I worked at AE most of the day and then went to a bonfire. It gave the tiles plenty of time to dry. So, today I went and got the beadboard and quarter-round for the walls (in between the bouts of rain). So, I am all set and ready for this next week!

This weekend has been really good. I bought myself some new clothes and some new perfume. I saw some friends I haven't seen in quite a while... and I must say, I am really happy to have certain people back in my life. Good friends are hard to come by these days.

Hope everyone else had a great weekend too!

Woot Woooooot!

Ok... please note the name of the person they interviewed... Bubb Rub and Little Sis! And his "Wooot woot" is priceless!

Bathroom Update

I am officially a moron. My dad came by on my lunch break and looked at the damage and helped me figure out how to cut the bolts of the toilet bowl to get it out. I had the toilet tubing running into long tray catching the water which drained down into a large tupperware container so that it wouldn't overflow by the time I got home from work. Dad said it looked like a rube goldberg contraption.

His question, which never once crossed my mind... or Q's either apparently... was why we didn't just to do THIS:

Allow Me to Recap

Tuesday night I began to work on my upstairs bathroom. I was working by myself, so I opted not to remove the toilet yet, but to begin tiling the floor and put all the solid pieces down that wouldn’t need to be cut. I also left the sink in place sink it is fixed to the wall and doesn’t actually touch the floor. I can’t even begin to tell you what a big mistake that was. The removal of the sink and toilet in the downstairs bathroom was so easy that I had a very skewed idea of how easy removing these should be. Those do-it-yourslef shows that tell you to do all demo first… weren’t kidding.

Last night, I lured my good friend, Q, over with pizza for dinner in exchange for his help. While I had somebody to help, I figured the first thing we should do is remove the toilet since I didn’t think I could carry them out of there by myself. I had no idea what I was getting us into. The tank came off the toilet with minimal water on the floor, but the bowl was a different ballgame. For whatever reason, the bolt that hold the toilet down will not come out, so I am going to have to get a metal saw or something and just cut them off. So, we moved to the sink next. Very quickly, he realized that I didn’t have a pipe wrench or any sort of tool to disconnect the pipes in order to get the sink out. Before leaving to fetch the tools from my brother’s house, we notice that the water supply for the toilet is dripping on the floor, so we put it in a bucket to keep the water from getting on my freshly laid tiles.

We trek across town (in a small Honda with a large daisy painted on the hood I might add) to get the tools and end up running a friend of Q’s to get his truck and taking a little longer to get back then we expected. We get back with the tool and go upstairs. Q sits on the floor under the sink to disconnect the sink and suddenly his butt is completely soaked. Apparently that little drip had overflowed the bucket and had made its way over most of the bathroom floor. There was water everywhere! We dried up what we could but I knew that getting all the adhesive wet meant that I was going to have to take up all those tiles and start all over again.

The sink came out without too much work but the mounting plate that was screwed into the wall was a different story. I get out the power screw driver and Q starts to take the plate off. On the first try, the screwdriver spins out of his hand whirling to the ground, bouncing off his foot and then breaking one of the tiles. (And, yes I laughed at him). After what seemed like an hour of drilling and wrenching the stupid plate, we finally got it off.

Next project was to knock off the tile toothbrush holder, soap dish and towel racks which are mounted into the wall. After the other frustrations, we were both ready to swing the sledgehammer a little bit. I knock them all off, managing to break yet another new floor tile. Then, trying to make the leftover broken pieces smooth, Q uses a coal chisel and the sledgehammer. His hand slips off scraping against the broken tile and suddenly, there is blood. And do I have band-aids in my house?? Of course, not! So, what do we use? That’s right… duck tape!

So, after we get him all patched up, we start removing the newly laid tile from the floor. Might I remind you, that I had decided to tile over the existing tile on the floor rather than demo it up. Yet, another bad idea. The old tile was coming up with the new tile. Now, I have to demo up all that tile before I can begin laying the new tile. So, basically… last night we undid any progress that I had made. And yes, the drip is still going. I managed to rig up some larger buckets to catch the water and I only hope its large enough to hold it all until I get home for lunch today to empty it.

Luckily for me, Q has agreed to come back tonight for round two. I’m surprised since every time he comes over he seems to get hurt. This past summer, he worked in my yard and got stung by wasps. I think he even tripped on my stairs once. My house is a Q-danger zone. Maybe I should buy him something better than pizza? So, wish us luck that tonight goes a little better… or at least that there is no blood involved this time!

Q's pimp-mobile!

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