Regina Leeds starts the month of April asking us to change our interior tapes. We all have those sad and negative things we say to ourselves about ourselves. "I can't believe how stupid I was to . . . " or "I can't do that, I'm not . . . . enough." She's asked us to write new statements that counter the negativity. "I am strong and intelligent. I do trust my judgment." or "I am enough. I am pretty, smart, good, etc". She calls them affirmations.
I'm not there. Does that mean I don't have tapes to re-write? Does it mean that I am perfect? Nope. What I mean is that I'm not willing to do the work to sit down and think through the things I say to myself about myself. I don't want to do the work to find my negative story that "rules" my life and my mess. I just don't think I work like that. Do my negative thoughts and tapes affect me? For sure they do.
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But let me tell you about my dungeon, the hole. No, I mean, the bathroom. Please don't tell J what I really think. (He knows and feels the same way, but putting words to it . . . well, that . . . .) It's terrible. We have no door; it's just framed in. No walls. The tub is 16 inches off the floor - you know, where the bottom of the tub would sit on the floor in your bathroom?? Mine, is 16 inches up in the air, like on a platform. My plumbing is visible. The walls of the shower - plywood. The floor is two levels. The hot water heater and the furnace make up one "wall".
It's tucked in under the stair case. An after thought. I mean, we live in a church that was built in the 1930s. The whole basement was installed in the 1950s and the bathroom and kitchen were not really well planned, especially the bathroom. To top that off, when we moved in the previous owners TOOK the bathtub with them! And that one (the one they took with them) wasn't even in the same room or on the same floor as the toilet and sink!
What do we do when company comes? We put up a sheet to keep prying eyes out. A sheet! And it's at the bottom of the stairs - a high traffic area! The lighting - two fixtures that sometimes go out when we walk on the floor coming down the stairs.
Oh and the shower curtain(s) and curtain rod. Innovative, but it doesn't quite work. The two curtains that we have up currently are Dora the Explorer and Thomas the Train. They have been torn and cut and mangled, but they still keep the water in, which is better than we had for more than a year. What did we have? Nothing!!! We just showered and let the water go where it chose. It didn't matter as the floor is concrete, mostly. The rod is some copper pipe with a right angle in it, because we have to cover 2 sides of the tub with curtains.
Oh, shelving. A very narrow shelf above the toilet and a 2 shelf metal unit. The sink is just a sink; no counter at all. All the plumbing is visible, even the stuff coming from the kitchen to the drains behind (further under) the stairs, where we have the kitty litter and some storage.
My bathroom is very dungeon-like. I love it and I hate it. At least I have indoor plumbing and I don't have to go outside to do my business. I can take a shower; there was a time when we bathed in a bucket standing at the sink. And then the next "phase" was a tub with a drain. The taps?? A garden hose with a watering head on it! No shower, just the tub and the garden hose.
So as you can see, my bathroom has come A LONG way! And has a LONG way to go. Where do I start??? Pictures to come, maybe. The last time I tried to take pictures (with my cell phone) I couldn't get a decent picture, but I have a better camera now.
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Oh. Just a random update.
Are you ready for this??
Seriously, you might want to sit down for this. . .
You know my oven. The one that hasn't been working for almost a year. (Mom, when were you here, tried to make cookies and the oven was touch and go?? Wasn't it April of 2008??)
I learned to cook on the grill, the bbq, the crockpot, the frying pan. No oven. For almost a whole year.
Remember that oven. The one I have not complained about not being able to use despite being able to save us money on baking our own bread, pizza, cookies, etc.
Remembering that when it went on the fritz I was pregnant with Baby R. Remembering that in order to roast a chicken, I chopped firewood for the bbq at 6 plus months pregnant. Remember.
Well, dh pulled all the insides out - the rack, the "floor" of the oven (which was in backwards and could have caused the issue), etc. He went and got a lighter. He took a really good look at it. Apparently, because it is an old one, it has 2 pilot lights instead of a thermal coupler?? I guess. So. He lit BOTH pilots
and
it
works!
IT WORKS!
I've not been using this oven for almost a year and all that was wrong was a PILOT LIGHT!!!!
WHY?? Why didn't he look at it sooner?
I have NO idea. He has NO excuse.
But I love him just the same. I grew and I stretched. I know how to cook without an oven! I think we both learned a little (or a lot).
And to be honest, it's not as fast as it once was, so, the part could be going. It's still frustrating to have that happen.
A YEAR!!! and it was just PILOT LIGHT!!!!
3 comments:
Wow you have been living with some pretty crazy conditions. I guess I shouldn't complain that we don't have water by our bathroom sink and we have to use pliers to turn the hot water on at the tub.
I once couldn't use my oven for awhile because of a fuse. But it wasn't even close to a year. At least you can laugh about it now...right?
Kind of like camping, long term!! I can so relate to adapting...in my case it's a bit less extreme, but we are notorious for starting home improvement projects and then never getting around to finishing!!
I would like to see pictures of the bathroom! I think it's so cool you're remodeling a church. As for the oven...At least it's true you learned to use what you had. You are the real pioneer woman!
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